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technicallymilkshakes · 3 years ago

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Reciprocal ❂ || 1 of 2

A Manager!verse story Genre(s): Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Smut (in future chapter) Pairing: Jongin x Reader Word Count: 4.1k No warnings for this chapter, but note that the next one will contain mature content.

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Less than two hours outside of Seoul, the night air already seemed easier to breathe. The windows were open and a rain-scented breeze blew in to riffle the top of your hair. Brake lights reflected red on the slick roadside ahead of you before fracturing into ten thousand raindrops against the windshield. This was a Friday night kind of feeling. You felt reckless and emotional, free for the first time in months and brimming with life.

Jongin had told you that he would halfsy the drive. Instead, he was deep asleep in the passenger seat, head slumped sideways, shoes kicked off within minutes of entering the vehicle. Promotions had been particularly brutal this time around. Without the other members to help ease the burden, Kai had to be on at all times. He was charming and dorky and witty—he flourished under all the attention—but it came with a toll. You scheduled PT sessions in any brief moments of respite you could cram then in. He slept wherever and whenever he could and when he couldn't, he drank coffee.

Running point for this solo had been just as taxing for you. Time moved in recordings, photoshoots, and appearances. You'd fall asleep and wake up reviewing the itinerary. Promotions were occurring across a variety of platforms and you spent countless hours researching and breaking down offers, liaising with event managers and security, monitoring press reviews and social media. You were in so deep, you didn't even realize you weren't living until someone else pointed it out. Nine, Baekhyun's manager, encouraged both of you to take a vacation. Pronto. Their experience shepherding Baekhyun through multiple solo albums had been invaluable, so you weren't about to argue.

Besides, you hadn't been to the mountains since your first year of high school.

It had stopped raining by the time you pulled up to your destination. Jongin was already awake, blinking heavily at the sight that greeted him.

The mountain lodge was modern but inviting. The lights were on and they spilled pleasantly out into the night. You turned the car off and stepped out into chilled air enlivened with the sounds of leaves rustling, insects chirping, and nocturnal animals stirring.

Inside, golden wood warmed the open space. The retreat was divided into two levels—living/dining area and one bedroom on the first floor and the master bedroom with a balcony that would be rich with fresh vegetables in the summer on the second.

You looked out on the living room. The designer had impeccable taste. Plush seating with cushions and pillows in sumptuous fabrics curled around a fireplace. Your toes sank into lush, layered carpeting, which bracketed and defined the space. It was comfortable and intimate. You could easily imagine yourself sinking into a chair and nestling in for a nap, lulled into a trance by the fire.

The kitchen gleamed in the opposite corner, all straight lines and modern appliances. And the dining area next to it. Table and chairs had been regally arranged in front of wall-to-wall sliding glass doors that, for now, looked out onto darkness.

But there was one particular feature that had clinched the deal when you booked the place.

“There's a spa bath here,” you said, and suppressed a smile at the soft 'ooh' Jongin let out as he disappeared to investigate.

A quietness settled over you in his wake. There was no wifi here, no work to haunt your waking nor sleeping hours. The other managers were under strict orders not to contact you unless there was an emergency.

You felt oddly vulnerable, stripped of the last vestiges of responsibility holding you together. Listless and exhausted, you climbed upstairs and fell into bed without a thought for anything else.

You woke early the next morning, body too used to being tired. You stared at the ceiling for an indeterminable time, thoughts eddying around without any clear distinction, like static noise that only resolved itself into proper words when you concentrated.

You'd been managing Kai for almost five years now. Hard to believe. You loved this, the sense of belonging and the endless opportunities to learn, but the pace was grueling. Five years was a long time. You couldn't imagine how some of the older managers had kept up. You weren't sure how you had kept up. And, if you were being honest, you weren't sure anymore if you should.

But that was too much thinking for this early in the morning. You rolled over in bed and shut your eyes.

After the appropriate amount of indeterminable time had passed, you heaved yourself out of bed. Sleep wasn't coming back for you. Duvet wrapped around your shoulders, you slinked downstairs to find Jongin rummaging around in the cabinets. He spun around, flinching as a drawer clanged shut behind him, then relaxed.

“You too, huh?” he said with a lopsided grin.

You nodded. It was no surprise to find him here. You were just two bodies too accustomed to being together.

You turned your gaze to the counters. “What are you doing?”

“I was trying to make some coffee.”

He looked wan and tired. One armed wrapped around his middle, the collar of his shirt sunk low enough to expose his collarbones... like he was holding himself together, trying to stay warm.

A sense of fierce protectiveness overcame you. You were both overworked. But at least in this small bubble, this moment in time and space, nothing could hurt him, including himself. No work excuses allowed.

“That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen,” you said, and he gave a weak laugh before getting an armful of duvet shoved at him. “Go sit down, I'll bring it over.”

Jongin stood there a moment staring at you. Under-cabinet lighting slashed over his chest, the rest of him slipping into shadow before he disappeared completely as he pulled the duvet over your head.

You felt a light kick to your backside.

“Hey!” You wrestled with the duvet. “As soon as I get out of this thing...!”

But he was grinning at you when you finally pulled it off, and you felt your urge for vengeance abate far too quickly as your fatigue flared. You still punched him in the shoulder, though.

He pouted, rubbing his shoulder.

“Oh, don't give me those puppy dog eyes. You deserved it.”

“I can make coffee...”

“You can,” you agreed. “With adult supervision. Now get the kettle out.”

The sunrise was something pulled from a poet's imagination. The lodge perched along a low ridge and peered down into the valley. Jongin had pulled open the curtains to what only last night had looked out into darkness and now found the world at his door. Together, you watched as the sun spilled over the mountain peaks opposite, then glissaded down powdery slopes to the tree line. The trees across the valley, where the mountains were taller, were still snowcapped, and the first sun rays lit them up like jewelry before setting them aflame with light, their trunks like matchsticks to the fire. Shadows tucked themselves in to sleep at the feet of the brightest places.

Day woke and stretched its radiant fingers across the sky to tangle in the wingtips of greeting birds. And with the sun came some clarity. These last few months had tested your commitment and shaken the bedrock upon which you had built your future. But if everyday the birds could rise and welcome the the newborn morning so lovingly, you thought you could keep trying to find beauty in it, too.

Next to you, Jongin had fallen asleep wrapped in your duvet. You leaned over and tucked his toes in.

The village was quaint and small, situated on a scenic one-lane-each-way route that wound through the mountains. The cashier at the grocery store greeted you as you entered. You felt her eyes on your back as you moved through the store.

The cabin came stocked with various dry foods, but you needed to pick up the perishables. Most of the in-season vegetables and fruit had been grown in the area, with little signs detailing farms and their locations. Strawberries, kumquat, apples, wild parsley and chive, and even shepherd's purse laying in baskets, some of which had been foraged from the mountainside just this morning. There was a vibrant freshness to the produce here that you just couldn't find in the city.

You gathered everything you needed, taking no heed of diet restrictions or nutritional value, and went to ring up your purchases. The cashier gave you small smile and talked quietly of some of the hidden gems to visit around here, hands sweeping back and forth over the scanner as she spoke. She had a soft and lilting accent you found pleasant to listen to.

You hid your embarrassment. Was it that obvious you were from out of town? She probably knew from the moment you had stepped inside. Heck, you hadn't worried about fitting in for so long. Over the years, your accent had eroded away against standard Korean and harsh edges of the city. And the boys had been so welcoming. At least she was friendly, though. Soon enough, you were hauling your bags out to the car, but not before thanking the woman for her advice.

Jongin was still lying on the couch when you got back, barely awake. Two cold mugs of coffee lay abandoned on the table next to him, one still nearly full. He sat up when you walked in with the bags, frowning.

“You went shopping?”

You heard the missing “without me?” and gave him a calm look. “You were asleep and I needed something to eat for lunch.”

He gathered himself up with a frown, wrapping the duvet around himself just as you had this morning. It already felt like a day ago even though it couldn't be past 11 in the morning. He inspected the bags, pulling them open and poking through them. You watched with amusement between putting the contents of the already-poked-through-bags away.

“What are you, a dog?”

“You got pig bars?!” He pulled out the ice cream, the item cradled in his palms. He looked at you wide-eyed, some mixture of reverence and fright.

“Yes. No chicken either.”

He kept staring down at his hands and you chuckled awkwardly to fill the silence. He opened the ice bar and jumped up onto the counter.

As you put the groceries away and then began making soy bean soup with the shepherd's purse, Jongin remained quiet and watchful. You enjoyed living alone back in Seoul, but you found you didn't mind his company. His presence was comforting—a constant, quiet companion. Not a dog, then. Your lips quirked. A cat.

The kitchen filled with the beat of knife against cutting board, the melody of soft burbling from the pot on the stove. You found yourself slipping back into the rhythm of cooking, like a dancer remembering the steps to an old song.

“What song is that?”

You startled, knife slipping, nicking the knuckle of your middle finger. You hissed, dropping the knife to inspect the cut. “Shit. What?”

Jongin jumped down from the counter, grabbing your hand, apologies tripping themselves over his lips.

“It's fine, it's really shallow, don't worry about it.”

His grip tightened, and his head remained bent low over your hand, examining the cut. “Let me worry,” he said.

So you sat in muteness after washing the cut. He took your hands and dried them with a towel, soft pats and delicate swipes. His eyes would flick up to your face now and again, carefully observing your expression. Sometimes, you would catch him doing it. His lips would arc gently into a smile and you would look away, scalded by the softness of lips and eyes. You stared instead at his fingers. They moved as light as butterflies over you as he applied a bandage.

Jongin lifted himself away, a lightness to his shoulders.

The words cast themselves from your throat, thrown out like hooks, that old part of you reeling to keep his attention.

“Thank you.”

Something glittered behind that gaze. He looked you straight on with that smile like honey and said, “I was glad for the chance to take care of you.”

After lunch, you went straight up to your room, sank onto your bed, and stared blankly at the wall.

What was that? Your mind sped in a circuit, thoughts looping back on each other. Why'd he do that?

Surely your brain had short-circuited. He was like that with everyone, you reminded yourself, sweet and concerned. The type to ask a stranger how they're doing and stick around for an answer. But without the barrier of work, things felt different. It dredged up old feelings, back when you were half-way in love with him. It embarrassed you something fierce now, but in the beginning you used to make a playlist of all the songs you knew he listened to. You'd play it at night after work, lying in bed in the dark and wondering if right now, he wasn't doing the same. It made you long for him and feel closer to him all at once. You always paid Kim Jongin too much attention.

But at some point, you changed your focus. You threw yourself into the role of manager head first. Taking care of him was number one. You spent so much time around him in various states of undress over the years, helping with quick changes or applying therapeutic patches. You'd stood behind the cameras, watching other people fall in with him with a smile. You'd seen him at his worst, in pain, angry and sullen with the confinement of the world. It was the ultimate form of exposure therapy. Gone were the nights filled with music and yearning. You'd prepare for the next schedule before you sank exhausted into a deep and dreamless sleep. You thought you were immune.

You should've been immune.

So why did it feel so very much like you weren't?

You acted skittish around him at dinner, skirting over things and racing through the meal. You felt his cool gaze on you as you ate and felt yourself hunkering lower and lower over your plate like some threatened beast.

“Did you want to take a bath?”

“What?” you squeaked.

He looked up at you over his forkful of pasta, eyebrows raised.

“The bath in my room. It's like a spa. I thought you might want to relax while you're here. You're welcome to use it anytime.”

“Oh.” You swallowed thickly. “Um, maybe later. Thanks.”

Safe to say you did not take a bath in his room that night.

You woke first the second day. Sleep hadn't come easy, and you spent much of the night thinking of how to stop thinking, daydreaming of a long walk to purge all thoughts from your head. And so you dressed and headed downstairs on quiet socked feet. The owner of the lodge kept galoshes for the guests, and you pulled a pair out, slipping them over your shoes before walking out into the world.

Most of the snow that remained on this side of the mountain had melted, leaving behind stretches of mud that sucked at your shoes. Around you, the birds trilled. The forest was full of forest noises—pine needles brushing against the wind, woodpeckers drilling against bark. The website for the lodge mentioned that there were a number of trails maintained by a grounds crew throughout the property. A stream bordered the western edge of the property, and you thought you remembered something about a Buddhist shrine located near there.

You missed this, you realized about a half hour into the walk. Seoul had its share of scenic parks and river walks, but it felt like a held breath. Something temporary, a quick break before you returned to the rushing arteries of people making a living.

Life felt impossibly lethargic here in contrast. You realized, with one moment of panic, that you hadn't yet checked your phone this morning, before it dissipated slowly. You were on vacation, you reminded yourself. The others could hold down the fort while you were gone.

The path you were following rounded a corner into a scenic corner of the world. A small waterfall fed by snowmelt spilled over a mossy rock face into a pool surrounded by sweet grass. You stayed there for a while by the edge, mist falling over you in fine sprays. Small diamonds of water accumulated along the woolen fibers of your sleeves.

After about 15 or 20 minutes, the urge to move was back. The trail branched off here, and a lichen-covered stone marker sat in the intersection. You recognized it as one of the landmarks the woman from the grocery had mentioned. The hanja carved into it had grown worn and faded. 'Grove of the Elders' it read. You took the path to the left.

Soon, you found yourself in the Grove of the Elders. Erman's birch trees filled the clearing. The branches were still spindly, buds just forming on the tips. Papery bark peeled away from the trunk like old men's beards. White forsythia was in the early stage of blooming along the periphery. You understood why it had been named the way it had.

You made your way through the grove. The trees were well-established, some with trunks thick enough to wrap your arms around. You were making your way through the grove, marveling at the open blue sky above you, when you almost stepped on Jongin.

“Whoa.” He jumped up from where he had been reclined against the base of a tree, rubbing a hand along the backs of his thighs. “What are you doing here?”

It was disorienting to run into him here, out in the middle of the woods. You had forgotten about him, about everything if you were being honest. But confronted with the realness of him again, your worries returned.

“Me?” you asked. “I was on a walk. What are you doing laying here?”

“I was trying to read.” He flashed a heavily dog-eared paperback of Papillon. “Didn't really get that far,” he said with a wry grin.

“Oh, sorry. I'll let you get back to it.”

You made to leave when his hand stretched out and gripped your sleeve.

“That's not what I meant.” He seemed flustered at your misunderstanding and he released his grip on you. “You don't have to. I was actually thinking about stretching my legs. If you don't mind the company.”

“I don't,” you responded quietly, even though you weren't sure if that was the truth. You had come here to be alone with your thoughts after all, not spiral into a silent panic.

Jongin smiled at you and shoved his book in the back of his jeans as he fell into step.

It felt surreal to walk through the woods like this with him. It was like being on the set of a music video, except you were the subject. The perfect setting for a story.

“Is it okay if I tell you something?”

Jongin sent you a questioning look. Something about his eyes caught you. You realized that this was maybe the first time you were about to confide something in him. Secrets were dangerous things. “Yeah, of course.”

“Sometimes I wonder how much of a person I am without you.” You laughed. “It's silly, I know. But I used to be so spontaneous. One time, I volunteered to pose nude for an adult art class just because, I dunno, it seemed like an experience. I liked collecting memories. My friends always used to ask me what I was up to.

“Now, they ask me what you're doing. Because it's the same thing now, I guess.”

You exhaled, then felt a hand wrap around your own.

Jongin looked at you, really looked at you. There was a particular intensity to this, a piercing quality that you had never been subjected to.

“You are more than me,” he said.

You were taken aback at his response.

His grip tightened. “I couldn't do this without you,” he continued. “I should've told you before—but I'm not like Jongdae, I forget. I think,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I thought you already knew, but it was stupid of me too assume when I wasn't... I didn't... You're the best manager I've had. I'm not saying that just to flatter you.”

The words tumbled out of him. You'd never seen him so discombobulated, and that threw you off kilter in turn. You hadn't expected anything from him, had let go of the words like balloons released from clumsy fingers, where an appropriate response might be “oh no.”

“You're knowledgeable and accountable. Do you know how much I rely on you? I was so nervous this comeback, I only made it through because of you.” He swept your hand up to his chest. You could feel his heart beating frantically against your knuckles, like it, too, was trying to tell you something. “I do better when you're around. I want to make you proud. So get that through your stubborn brain: I wouldn't be even half of what I am now if it wasn't for you.”

The tears came, unbidden. In a heartbeat, Jongin had pulled you in close, your head against his chest. One of his arms wrapped around your back, while the other lay now at your sides, his fingers still intertwined with yours.

“I don't even know why I'm crying,” you laughed through your tears.

“You're always fighting for me. I just wish I could do more for you.” His fingers grazed over the bandage on your finger.

The laughter faded into full-throated sobs. Your heart squeezed with an uncomfortable fullness. You were overwhelmed. Lately, it had felt as if work was a crushing void, a thankless pit that sucked everything out of you. You felt isolated, living life without reciprocation or support. Jongin wouldn't know it, but he made you feel like a person again. He brought back the colors.

Dew drops dripped from branches around you, soft patters against soft spring grass. Jongin was warm and solid against you.

“I get scared that I can't do this forever.” The words were spoken softly. Jongin wasn't looking at you when you lifted your head, focused instead on something in the distance. “I don't know what I would I do without EXO.” He finally dropped his gaze to yours. You saw your own uncertainty reflected back. “Or you.”

You knew then that everything you'd been through lately, the uncertainty, didn't matter. You were both a little broken. So you pressed yourself against him harder, a pair of fractured hearts holding each other up. “You won't be getting rid of me anytime soon.”

Jongin sank into the embrace, his cheek pressed against your temple. You felt his chest build with a sigh, felt the exhale on the baby hairs of your nape. Dry lips grazed against you. His wordless thanks lingered upon your skin.

By some unspoken agreement, Jongin's hand remained in yours on the trek back to the lodge. You walked close enough to brush arms and skim each others thighs. A small part of you dreaded that you'd have to let go once you got back.

“The first time I realized I trusted you was when I told you I didn't know how to iron,” he confessed out of the blue.

You laughed. You remembered that day. Jongin had been adamant about wearing a bear-print shirt to the airport the following day, but it was so wrinkled. The collar pointed in two different directions and one sleeve was longer than the other unless someone held it down straight.

“I didn't know how to iron a shirt either,” you admitted.

Jongin grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “We had to look up a tutorial on Naver, remember?”

“Oh yeah, the one with the Kyungsoo look-a-like, right? I took screenshots and sent them to Cho-hee.” You told him how Kyungsoo's manager had coerced him into recreating the shoot. Jongin had gasped delightedly and you made a mental note to show him the pictures when you got back. “But hey, wait, you still don't know how to iron, what the heck! I just ironed something for you last week!"

“Ah I don't know, I don't know,” Jongin chanted, plugging an ear with his free hand. “What tutorial? I don't know anything.”

“Kim Jongin, you are shameless.”

Laughter rang through the trees. Here was the morning you would rise to greet every day.

___________________________

A/N: The second, and final, chapter should be up next weekend (June 19-20). Me, releasing more than one thing in a month? Who am I??

Thank you for reading!

A/N 2: Second part is now up.

[ ❂ Read more Manager!verse here ]

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ahb-writes · 3 years ago

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Comics Review: ‘Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian’

Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian by Tim Probert My rating: 5 of 5 stars A forgetful porcine sorcerer goes missing. A three-toed, goggle-eyed explorer combs through forestland, over mountain peaks, and through sundered valleys in search of an extinct people. A human girl with paralyzing anxiety packs a rucksack full of honey rolls and gazes at the ever-bright sky overhead. In one tiny corner of the land of Irpa, curiosity is afoot and adventure is around every corner. LIGHTFALL: THE GIRL & THE GALDURIAN is a beautiful graphic novel. Extravagant and punctilious detail and vibrant color frame a simple but effective tale of loss, wonder, and fear, all from the perspective of an adolescent girl in a funky and fantastical realm. Beatrice's adoptive grandfather, a pig apothecary, leaves the village when he recalls an ancient promise that might have met an unsavory fate. The old porker is a tad forgetful, so it's hard to say whether this inciting incident is less valid than circumstances can warrant. Whatever the case, young Bea fears for her grandpa and sets off to find or help or save him. Problematically, Bea's not an adventurer. Which means she'll need the sword-swinging bravado of a kind-hearted stranger if she's going to survive. Of the numerous graphic novels on the market about children embarking through the strange and frightful with naught but the clothes on their back, LIGHTFALL: THE GIRL & THE GALDURIAN is exquisite. The supporting cast is a quirky and perfect fit: reptilian bandits, a packrat thief, a dinosaur barkeep, black-feathered bird assassins bearing heavy blades and dark intention. And in terms of the setting, Bea's journey through the land of Irpa is ripe: verdant, layered forests populated by mossy deer; underground waterfalls guarded by whispering, enchanted skulls; the interface of rocky mountainside and overgrown pasture, occupied by an immense, if lonely bone-carved statue of an ancient, nameless king. While the adventure Bea sets upon is generally confined to the realm of the ordinary, the theater in which she must surmount this ordinariness is delightful. Bea's quest to locate her wandering grandfather, while crucial to nudging the book into motion, is the least interesting part of the whole narrative. Bea's companion, Cadwallader, is the last of his people, and it behooves the two to figure out what happened to the kind, bulbous warrior race before too long (it appears the Galdurians' ancient nemesis has resurfaced). Similarly, as Bea leaves her home for an extended period, for the first time, she confronts the awkward and unusual history of the land of Irpa, relearning how the sun was lost, how artificial light now populates the continent, and how all of the strange and different species of intelligent creatures now call Irpa their home. LIGHTFALL: THE GIRL & THE GALDURIAN takes an enviable approach to storytelling: beginning with the lowest barrier of entry, then slowly and deliberately expanding the scope of adventure to include whatever pings the protagonist's curiosity. Sometimes this means diving into Bea's ardent struggle with her fragile mental health and sometimes this means partnering with Cad to field a new supply kit from a few roadside hucksters. All in all, the diversity of excitement and emotion is vast, and readers will enjoy the color, the noise, the newness, the unusualness, and the uncertainty native to navigating all of the dangerous spaces in-between.

Comics/Book Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

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supremeuppityone · 5 years ago

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Written for @klarosummerbingo Klarosummer Bingo prompt: Hiking in Peru

Please review here.

The rough scrape of the scales against the rock’s facing made Caroline wince, too terrified to scream. Everyone was dead. The unnaturally strong hand that suddenly covered her mouth reminded her that some people apparently started out that way. Despite her terror, she glared at the unfairly attractive creature, still trying to figure out how she went from hiking in Peru with a tour group to learning that the world was actually one giant supernatural clusterfuck.

Yesterday, she’d been drinking chilcanos at a tiny bar hidden in the San Blas area of Cusco, waiting on the rest of her tour group to arrive. “Impressive for a tourist,” the accented stranger sitting next to her said, eyeing her drink. “I would’ve expected someone like you to order a mojito, love.”

“Not that it’s your business, but I drink like the locals when I travel,” she replied, not bothering to hide the slight edge to her voice. She allowed herself to study him briefly, flicking her gaze appreciatively over a strong jawline, well-defined chest and intense gray eyes. Pity — had he kept his mouth shut, she’d have been interested in some hot vacation sex.

He smirked, flashing unexpected dimples that she was certain had swayed far too many before her. “I didn’t mean to offend. When one has been around as long as I have, you develop a certain sense about people.” He smoothly held her hand, lightly brushing his lips across her knuckles as he said, “I’m Klaus.”

“Caroline,” she replied a bit stiffly, doing her best to fight the shiver that went down her spine from the touch of his lips. “And feel free to keep to yourself whatever you’re sensing about me.” She busied herself with another sip of her cocktail, savoring the delicious lime and doing her best to ignore the smirking shadow beside her.

Misinterpreting her brushoff as a challenge, he signaled the bartender for another round, studying her closely. “Of course, sweetheart. Then I will certainly keep to myself that from the delightful lilt of your voice, I would hazard a guess that you originate from the southern United States, perhaps South Carolina or Virginia? You also appear to carry yourself with a great deal of confidence, and I surmise a certain amount of stubbornness that at times lands you in trouble. However, I suspect you possess a great deal of charm and honeyed words to smooth over any feathers you may ruffle.”

Woah. Blue eyes wide, she downed the rest of her drink, wordlessly scrambling for the fresh one the bartender had set in front of her. How the hell did he read her so well? “So, you’re like a mysterious grifter scamming dumb American tourists in bars,” she asked, the sarcasm heavy as she added, “Nice work if you can get it, I guess.”

“Something like that,” Klaus replied with an enigmatic smile.

And that’s where she thought they’d part ways, leaving her a little curious about what might’ve been...

But instead, her once-in-a-lifetime hiking in Peru adventure took an unexpected turn when a flash of brilliant green scales unexpectedly slithered out of a twisting gorge and ate their scruffy tour guide. She’d barely managed to hide behind a clump of giant ferns when the leviathan reared back, sweeping the screaming tourists into its enormous mouth. Curved fangs. Sinister hissing. Was that seriously a giant snake?

A streak of movement caught her eye, and she let out a small gasp as she watched in disbelief as Klaus seemingly appeared out of nowhere, his handsome features morphing into something monstrous, complete with deadly-looking fangs. He attacked the creature, displaying incredible strength as he managed to claw a gaping hole into the snake’s flesh, spilling sickly-sweet blood that caused it to let out a terrifying screech that echoed throughout the valley.

When it was clear the creature wouldn’t die easily, Klaus retreated, tossing Caroline over his shoulder and flashing them up the steep mountainside where they currently were hiding in a narrow gap between the rock facing.

Caroline barely kept the hysterics under control as she whispered, “Seriously?! Giant snakes are a thing?” She gestured toward Klaus, noting that gold had bled into his gray eyes, not entirely sure what to make of it. “And whatever you are, I guess.”

“Hybrid. A vampire-werewolf. One of the originators of both species,” he murmured, a note of pride entering his voice. “And that was the Yacumama, the giant serpent of Peruvian folklore. I honestly thought it to be nothing more than myth. Rest assured, I’ll be having words with that troublesome demon shaman when this is over.”

She blinked in surprise, not entirely sure what to do with that information. What the hell do you even say to that? She blurted out the first thing that came to mind: “How is this my life?! I just wanted an adventure; but one of those safe, glossy magazine-type adventure where the biggest actual danger would be running out of anti-frizz serum, and now I’m going to die in this dirty cave and I never even got to have hot vacation sex!”

The gold in Klaus’ gaze brightened, and she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe that hot vacation sex was still a possibility...

#klarosummerbingo #supremeuppityone #uppity bitch fanfic #klaroline fanfic #klaroline #always a sucker for creature features #klaroline aesthetic #aesthetic

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pinkstarxing-blog · 5 years ago

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SDES9320 z5217112 Hongyu Xing

Architecture is a materialized desire realized through subjective imagination. It is a well-thought-out cultural production that goes beyond its independent discipline boundaries（Mical 2005）.This indicates that the style, structure, and space of architecture originate from imagination, and it is influenced by factors such as nationality, period and environment. This blog will present research on architectural styles and methods that I am interested in. It will focus on surrealism and futurism as well as Illusion of space art.

Surrealism and Futurism

Surrealism, as a movement, was almost always interdisciplinary; it was originally an avant-garde movement that eventually crossed cultures,contexts, and media forms, much like modern architecture’s emergence. It is a dialogue between material representations and the (incomplete) subjectivity of the modern world, a dialogue of forms and spaces where irrational meanings and experiences are produced lies at the heart of any surrealist architectural project: “their paintings and poems were characterized by images of searching and finding, of veiling and revealing, of presence and absence, of thresholds and passages, in a surrealized universe in which there were no clear boundaries or fixed identities.（ Breton 1969）.

SAGRADA FAMILIA - BARCELONA SPAIN

Antoni Gaudí（1852-1926） was a Spanish architect known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and moulding the details as he conceived them. SAGRADA FAMILIA - BARCELONA SPAIN is his representative work of surrealism.

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Gaudi applied the inspiration he gained from nature to the church design, combining spiral, cone, hyperbola, and parabola geometry. In this way, he created detailed, rhythmic and dynamic architectural effects.

Mountain Hostel - Atelier 8000

The features of this Hostel is the giant cube sits precariously on the edge of a peak, as if it is about to tumble down the mountainside. The architects, Atelier 8000, claim that this angle aims at inducing a feeling of lightness and randomness in the observer and that the laminated building looks as if it were left behind by a retreating glacier. With the angled floors and ceiling, inside it would resemble Piet Blom's 1970s fun-but-awkward Cube Houses in Rotterdam. The visual effect of surrealism is representative and unique, and it is equipped with a sense of futuristic and technological. More importantly, its exterior design conforms to the local environment and culture.

NHDK

Victor Enrich is a Catalan photographer.In 2013, he created NHDK series work, it is a set of manipulated photographs of the Deutscher Kaiser hotel in Munich, they show the hotel from the same angle.

Enrich imagines this hotel in various ways, such as parts rotating, copying, removing and floating in the sky.

The application of surrealism in animation

Hayao Miyazaki used surrealism in his animated film Hal's moving castle.

The application of surrealism in film (Doctor Strange )

These groups of cases deepen my understanding of the concepts of Impossible and Fantastical Structures as well as inspires my subsequent design. Using my understanding of life and nature to reorganize and transform geometry, lines and surfaces is a strategy for creating surrealistic architectural works.

Illusion of space art

My understanding of illusion art comes from the Penrose Triangle. The Penrose triangle, also known as the impossible triangle(Pappas 1989).It is an impossible object of a triangle, an optical illusion that could be described in a perspective but could not exist as a solid object.

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It could be explored in the video, and through the angle change of the object, the illusion visual effect is finally achieved. In fact, it is not a triangle.

Monument Valley

For the application of illusion art, the game Monument Valley is a typical example.It’s principle is similar to the panrose triangle, which creates a visual illusion through space movement.

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In conclusion, surrealism, futurism and Illusion art are research directions. They provided inspiration and direction for my later works. I will develop my ideas based on the knowledge they have provided me. I am looking forward to it.

Reference List

Mical, T. 2005， Surrealism and architecture. Routledge.

Pappas, T. 1989，’The Impossible Tribar’,The Joy of Mathematics,San Carlos, CA: Wide World Publ, /Tetra, p. 13.

Breton, A. 1969，’Manifestoes of surrealism’，vol. 182, University of Michigan Press.

https://www.wheninmanila.com/marvel-doctor-strange-spoiler-free-review/null-7/

https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2005-06-17/howls-moving-castle/

https://archello.com/project/nhdk-project

https://www.weinerelementary.org/barcelona-spain.html

https://www.aerobusbcn.com/blog/en/only-happens-in-barcelona/do-you-know-the-history-of-the-holy-family/

https://au.phaidon.com/agenda/architecture/articles/2014/november/12/ice-cube-refuge-proposed-for-slovak-mountains/

http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Kezmarske_Hut_by_Atelier_8000_dezeen_6_1000.gif

https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2005-06-17/howls-moving-castle/

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yourservingwench · 6 years ago

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I have been working on my book like a fiend. Like some little witch nestled away, brewing her magic. Which doesn’t leave much time for very nearly anything at all.

That being said, I was thinking about dogs the other day. About what they mean for adventure and for life. I was thinking about my first dog growing up, Kiley. She never cared much for me. Like any little girl, I was a bother to her.

But I remember when she ran away, how many nights I woke up dreaming we had found her in the bushes up the street. The one with the soft maple-shaped leaves. Purple flowers with their yellow centers. The same bushes that I used to hide in on the days I wanted getting gone.

Then there’s Copper, who breaks through the fence and chases men and only men. We have to put a padlock on the gate, or else I’m told that animal control will come to take her. I won’t let them. I never leave her side.

In the winter, when it rains, she goes in the garage. My mother does not want her smelly shape inside the house, with all that curled gold fur. I sit in the garage with her and cry because it isn’t fair. We both eat dog food. It is wet and gray and my father puts out sleeping bags for us to rest on. I still remember how the dog food tastes, the kiblets crunching chalky in my mouth.

When Copper dies, I miss days of school. I remember a dramatic sobbing in the shower. I remember making my father drive back to the shelter to reclaim her body. Screaming at him. Adolescent rage. She should be buried here, like all the rest. Like rows of hamsters. Like Kiley never got to.

My father does. He makes the drive. Argues with the animal control officer at the front and drives around the back. Scoops up her hardening cold body from the cooler, and brings her back to me. I kept my promise. I told her that I’d never let them have her.

We bury her. I make the most beautiful bouquet that you have ever seen, and toss her hot pink collar in the grave.

When I load Maizee in the car, with her harness and her pack, we are setting out for more adventure. I know that she is older now, a year or two past ten. I think about our time in the Sequoias. How many ticks I pulled off her body. Driving down the canyon, the itch on my stomach, lifting up my shirt to see the army of their parasitic bodies on my belly. Looking back into the review mirror, to where she scratches at her skin. On the side of the road, for an hour with tweezers, plucking at her fur.

Death Valley. Where she pants with heat from the backseat. Where we run through the desert, hot paws hot toes burning in the sand.

Utah. Bryce Canyon. Running up the mountainsides at dusk and dawn. The view, beside her. Angel Falls entire canyons spreading out before our eyes.

Exploring the Grand Canyon. All the places where the dogs are not supposed to go. Chasing moose and running through the grass.

Look at all of this adventure we have had.

Now this. Her, a year or two past ten. Me, a few long years past that. Embarking on adventure.

I wish I could tell you how we sleep, together in my one-man tent. How she curls up right beside my head, how we both wake at every sound inside of night. How, when I am crying with the memories I need to flush, she lifts a ginger paw and places it upon my arm.

When she gets the limp, on that last night and after all those miles, I cry because I know I’ll be alone come morning. That I’ll have to bring her back to safety. Massaging feet, rubbing salve into the worn-down pads, soaking them in salt water cooked on a small camp stove, I know that it will get no better. Worse, I know I’ve hurt her, in a way. Over-estimated her capacities. My grief was bigger than my life, and so I thought that she was also.

The journey through my grief was always something I would have to do alone. I knew that, even after leaving her with my brother. Even after carrying on. Even while watching the waist high grasses all around me for a sense of movement. Still rustles. I do not have her nose or ears. I listen, but I lack the keenness.

When I make it home; when I finish my journey and I spit in the face of all that baggage that I carried, she was waiting. Yelping for me, frantic. Her little limp threatening her pace. She doesn’t let it stop her, though. The way a dog moves, with love.

I will say that there is one steady in my life that has brought me through the pain of aging. A good dog. A lot of good dogs. Even when I have to make the go alone, there was always knowledge of the things I would get back to.

If you do not have a dog to take with you on your travels, then I am sorry. There is no better friend. All you humans are a bit too loud at times, but dogs, there is something quiet in the way they lick at faces. There is something in their love.

Something about Dogs I have been working on my book like a fiend. Like some little witch nestled away, brewing her magic.

#backpacking #blogger #dog #explore #hiking #life #love #nature #photography #travel #wanderlust #writer

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your-dietician · 3 years ago

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Best of Teller 2021: Readers' Picks - Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | Pikes Peak Courier

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Best of Teller 2021: Readers' Picks - Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | Pikes Peak Courier

ADVENTURE COMPANY

GOLD: Great Outdoors Adventures

19251 U.S. 24, Woodland Park, 719-686-6816, goadventures.org

If last summer’s fun was limited due to the coronavirus, here’s your chance to redeem yourself. Give Great Outdoors Adventures a call. The company offers adventures just outside your door with slingshot touring and e-bike riding through roads and picturesque destinations in the Pikes Peak region. New explorers, off-roading enthusiasts and everyone in between will find the perfect opportunity to experience the Rocky Mountains and picturesque Teller County like never before.

SILVER: Lutheran Valley Retreat

ARTIST/GALLERY

GOLD: Tiffany Rose Photography

Woodland Park, 304-657-4541, trosephoto.com

Since opening her Woodland Park-based business in 2005, owner Tiffany Basnett has enjoyed taking advantage of her surroundings. She’s a one-woman team, and her work includes photos of families, high school seniors, weddings and engagements, newborns and maternities. Basnett doesn’t have a studio, so her work often takes her outdoors, where she tries “to get as much of the natural Colorado background as possible.”

SILVER: Cindy Valade

HIKE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

GOLD: Mueller State Park

21045 CO 67, Divide, 719-687-2366, cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Mueller

Mueller State Park welcomes adventure-seekers of all ages, thanks to its natural and historical beauty. It features 50 miles of trails that range from short, leisurely walks to challenging, full-day hikes. The average elevation in Mueller State Park is 9,600 feet. And the hikes need not be on foot only, as this scenic state park offers 27 miles of trails fit for horseback riding and 19 miles for bicyclists. It is a lovely place to spend time in and is home to native grasses, wildflowers, spruce, fir, pine and aspen, along with wildlife such as elk, hawks, mule deer and black bear.

SILVER: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

OUTDOOR FESTIVAL/EVENT

GOLD: Symphony Above the Clouds

Woodland Park Middle School, 600 E. Kelley’s Road, Woodland Park, 719-822-1157, symphonyabovetheclouds.org

Symphony Above the Clouds’ aim is to bring the community together every July with a free, open-air concert at the Woodland Park Middle School athletic field. This year’s July 5 event will be extra special, considering it celebrates the concert’s 40th anniversary. Gates open at 5 p.m., and organizers encourage visitors to come early and bring food for a picnic or purchase food from the Panther Pride Booster’s Club. The show features the Cari Dell Trio and Craig Harms’ Swing Factory, and Woodland Park Wind Symphony along with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.” The concert was canceled last year due to coronavirus concerns.

SILVER: Woodland Park Farmers Market

PLACE TO COOL OFF IN THE SUMMER

GOLD: Woodland Park Farmers Market

Memorial Park, 117 Center St., Woodland Park, 719-400-9986, wpfarmersmarket.com, Fridays through September, 8-1 p.m.

The Woodland Park Farmers Market has returned to Memorial Park for the summer and is thriving. It kicked off its 31st season this month to a large crowd, featuring live music and some of the best produce around. This farmers market is governed by the Teller County Farmers Market Association, an independent nonprofit entity with 501(c)(3) status that is supported by merchant fees, donations, sponsors and grants. The best parts? Dogs are more than welcome and parking and admission are free.

SILVER: Woodland Aquatic Center

WEEKEND DRIVE

GOLD: Highway 67 to Cripple Creek

No matter the season, this weekend drive is always stunning. With 71 miles of winding roads along the highway, traveling through various sections of Southern Colorado, the drive through Teller County out to Cripple Creek is all at once relaxing and romantic. Make sure to stop at the Cripple Creek Heritage Center or at one of the pull-outs along the highway to really soak in the views. The right time of the year (i.e. late fall) can feature golden aspens and scenic mountainside views.

SILVER: Pike National Forest

CAMPGROUND

GOLD: Mueller State Park

21045 CO 67, Divide, 719-687-2366, cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Mueller

After more than a year of limitations, here’s some good news: Mueller State Park’s campground is “completely open,” according to its website. Once again, it’ll be a popular destination. Nonetheless, it’s worthwhile, considering the campground features traditional tent camping, RV and cabin camping options. There is something for everyone — whether you want a rustic experience or a weekend in the woods complete with modern conveniences. Mueller’s campgrounds are located in a picturesque forest of mixed spruce, fir, pine and aspen trees with panoramic views of the Continental Divide.

SILVER: Eleven Mile Canyon Recreation Area

CASINO

GOLD: Bronco Billy’s Casino

233 E. Bennett Ave., Cripple Creek, 719-689-2142, broncobillyscasino.com

Branding itself as a “true Colorado style casino and hotel,” Bronco Billy’s Casino is the place to find gaming, live music, dining and overnight stays. Visitors can enjoy Bronco Billy’s as a historic full house resort and casino that hearkens back to Cripple Creek’s heyday as a booming gold mining town. At Bronco Billy’s, you’re sure to have an unforgettable experience.

SILVER: Triple Crown Casinos

FESTIVAL OR SPECIAL EVENT

GOLD: Symphony Above the Clouds

Woodland Park Middle School, 600 E. Kelley’s Road, Woodland Park, 719-822-1157, symphonyabovetheclouds.org

Presented by the Ute Pass Symphony Guild, the Symphony Above the Clouds concert will look, feel and perhaps even sound a little different this year. In the past, the event featured the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. This year, however, the event will feature the Cari Dell Trio and Craig Harms’ Swing Factory, and Woodland Park Wind Symphony. As in past years, the show is July 5 with gates opening at 5 p.m. Earlier this month organizers told The Courier that it was unclear if the city will approve the traditional fireworks display, which accompanies a performance of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”

SILVER: Woodland Park’s Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration

MUSEUM

GOLD: Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center

201 S. Fairview St., Woodland Park, 719-686-1820, rmdrc.com

Dinosaurs are back (but not from extinction!). They’re in full display after more than a year of limited interactions because of COVID-19 concerns. You can find them at the Dinosaur Resource Center, which boasts an awe-inspiring display of dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles, pterosaurs and fish of North America’s late Cretaceous period. Each fossil skeleton on display is supplemented with graphics and sculptures for deeper learning, coupled with a working fossil lab and an interactive children’s area. The museum is open seven days a week and offers 1-hour tours, included in admission. We recommend that visitors stop by Prehistoric Paradise, the region’s largest dinosaur gift shop, to purchase a forever token to remember their visit.

SILVER: Cripple Creek Heritage Center

PHOTOGRAPHER

GOLD: Shedding Shots Photography

Woodland Park, 719-433-6027, sheddingshotsphotography.com

Brook Huffington’s passion for photography started about 10 years ago with a point-and-shoot camera. Since then, she has upgraded her equipment. On her website, she says, “Being a stay-at-home mom gave me the opportunity to explore my love of photography, and after much encouragement from friends and family, I decided to pursue photography as a career! I love my job!” Her portfolio includes photos of high school seniors, family, weddings and engagements, newborns and maternities.

SILVER: Cindy Valade

PLACE TO HEAR LIVE MUSIC

GOLD: Crystola Roadhouse

20918 U.S. 24, Woodland Park, 719-686-7369, crystolaroadhouse.com

Music and good food go hand-in-hand, and you’ll find that — along with good company — at the historic Crystola Roadhouse. The original Crystola Inn was built during the late Victorian era, in the 1880s, welcoming miners, railroad workers and tourists who flowed through the Pikes Peak region during the Gold Rush. The remodeled building is a welcoming place, especially now that things seem to be returning to normal after more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic.

SILVER: Ute Pass Cultural Center Amphitheater

THEATER

GOLD: Gold Hill Theatres

615 Midland Ave., Woodland Park, 719-687-3555, goldhilltheatres.com

Movie theaters are back! And Gold Hill Theatres, built in 1975, offers a true family-style movie theater complete with state-of-the-art digital projection and sound equipment. Here, patrons will find a place to cool off in the summer or warm up in the winter in the comfort of a theater offering the newest films and friendly service. One Facebook reviewer said, “This is a real gem! Four small movie theaters inside. One is only four rows. You can rent out the larger theatre for private showings … and bring in your own DVD if you like.” So, grab your popcorn, an ice cold drink and get back to one of America’s favorite pastimes.

SILVER: The Butte Theater

THINGS TO DO WITH KIDS

GOLD: Camp and hike

tellerlinks.com, cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Mueller, fs.usda.gov/psicc

Opportunities for these two activities are endless and plentiful in Teller County. If you want to hike, there are easy to difficult options. Pikes Peak, anyone? Of course, there are places like Mueller State Park and Eleven Mile State Park, where you can do both. And let’s not forget Pike National Forest, which offers numerous camping opportunities as well as private campgrounds and RV camping facilities.

SILVER: Memorial Park

WEDDING VENUE

GOLD: The Edgewood Inn

10975 Loy Creek Road, Woodland Park, 719-687-0845, edgewoodwp.com

The Edgewood Inn knows that a wedding is a celebration of love, sharing and commitment, all with beautiful mountain views of Pikes Peak, intimate gathering rooms, outdoor decks, a dance floor and movie theater. This is about as unique of a wedding experience as you’ll get. Sitting on five acres in a rural and secluded area, this is a true Rocky Mountain wedding destination offering indoor and outdoor ceremonies and receptions.

SILVER: Sourdough Valley Ranch

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hoodchecker · 2 years ago

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That’s all for Mountainside Valley!

As a reminder, you can download this wonderful neighborhood here. Check out these recaps if you missed anything:

Mountainside Valley Recap

Mountainside Valley Families Recap

Mountainside Valley Residential Lots Recap

Mountainside Valley Community Lots Recap

Entire Mountainside Valley Review from the Beginning

Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for my next hood review! :)

#mountainside valley #mountainside valley review #mountainside valley recap

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sector2020 · 4 years ago

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Ten Things I've Learned About Canada In 15 Years Living Here

CAP/AIDS is a signed up Canadian Charity # 88898 7500 RR0001 with one personnel working in Canada and a voluntary Board of Directors based in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Site: www.capaids.org. Meet the CAP/AIDS Board: CAP/AIDS BOARD.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Advancement's Better Life Index ranks Canada amongst the very best locations to live in the world. Here's why. A study published yesterday by the Company for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that "Canada carries out extremely well in measures of wellness," according to an online report.

The study scored 36 countries, including 34 OECD members, Russia and Brazil. No general ranking is reported. The findings will surprise some, provided our Neinstein Personal Injury Reviews 7.2% nationwide joblessness rate, 14.5% youth unemployment rate and financial growth forecasts that remain soft in the short-term. Here are 7 highlights from the OECD report: The average family earns US$ 28,194 each year after taxes.

There is disparity at both ends of the earnings spectrum though, not remarkably. The top 20% takes house US$ 55,718, while the bottom 20% makes US$ 10,526. We ranked seventh on family wealth and ninth on income. Canadians spend two minutes a day volunteering; that's about half the OECD average. On the other hand, 64% stated they 'd helped a stranger in the last month.

We ranked seventh on support network. Nine in 10 Canadians are pleased with their housing. The average home in this country offers 2.6 rooms per occupant, more than any other country. And 99.8% of Canadians reside in a home with a private bathroom that has an indoor, flushing toilet. (The OECD average is 97.8%.) We ranked 24th on the ratio of housing expenses to earnings, eighth on fundamental facilities and first on number of spaces per person.

We ranked 14th on contamination and 12th on water quality. Our life span at birth is 81, a complete year above the OECD average. And 88% of Canadians state they are in health. Health costs in this country makes up 11.4% of gdp. (The OECD average is 9.5% of gross domestic product.) We ranked 3rd in health and 17th in life span.

That's well below the OECD average of 4%. Our homicide rate is less remarkable. It's 1.6%, only partially listed below the average rate of personal injury law firms Toronto 2.2%. We ranked first on assault rate and 23rd on murder rate.: Canadians work a typical 1,702 hours per year. That's 74 hours below the OECD average.

(The OECD average is 9%.) We ranked ninth on working long hours. The full index is made up of 11 categories. Canada ranked 27th on task security, fourth on student abilities, fourth on federal government transparency and eighth on life fulfillment.

Canada has a goal to attract one million individuals to live and work in the nation by 2020. Evaluating by feedback from expats, it should not have too much difficulty with that objective. Listed as one of the best nations on the planet for expats, toronto directory of lawyers it is regularly praised for its accepting and tolerant society and terrific lifestyle.

If you're thinking about the big relocation and still need some convincing that Canada is the right location for you, keep reading. Here we note the 15 reasons why you should call the Great White North your new house. It appears Canadians measure up to their welcoming reputation, with more than four in 5 expats surveyed for the current Internations Expat Expert study explaining Canadians as "friendly" double the international average.

Canada ranked 12th out of 189 nations on the newest Human Development Index, scoring extremely for a whole host of categories, from life expectancy and gross national income, to security and socio-economic development. With a lower expense of living, a focus on sports and taking pleasure in the outdoors, lots of expats select to head to Canada to improve their lifestyle in fact Canada ranked number three worldwide in the latest Lifestyle rankings according to a research study by United States News & World Report.

Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers has actually handled serious personal injury declares across Ontario for more than 5 decades. Its locations of expertise include medical, legal, and insurance problems related to healthcare negligence, car catastrophes, disability claims, slip and falls, product legal responsibility, insurance coverage disputes, and a lot more.

We are our clients' supporters. We, in addition to our team of medical, forensic, and investigative specialists, have represented customers coming from all parts of society Fifty years. Neinstein is committed to doing everything we can to assist our customers receive the settlement they are worthy of.

Canadians in general love sport, but that enthusiasm isn't simply confined to ice hockey, lacrosse and basketball, it likewise extends way beyond that. Canada is vast and most of the populations lives in cities, which leaves fantastic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?search=ontario life and activities expanses of wilderness simply waiting to be explored. Whether you're kayaking or swimming, snowboarding or merely walking through stunning surroundings, the Great Outdoors is just pleading to be found.

But it is not just this Francophone city that bewitches expats. Coastal Vancouver is the country's cooking capital, surrounded by beaches, mountains and gorgeous forests, while Toronto is stated to be the most multicultural city on the planet. Include the cowboy charms Calgary and Ottawa's fame as the Silicon Valley of the North and you have a nation bursting with variety.

Canada is cold. The 2nd coldest country in the world, in fact. However while those long, cold winter seasons might be cited as a factor not to transfer to the country, the residents know you can still http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ontario life and activities have enjoyable when the snow is thick on the ground. From Whistler to Lake Louise, the names of this nation's renowned resorts make you want to get your skis or board and jump a chairlift.

After the long winter, the sun comes out throughout Canada and mountainside are blanketed in colourful wildflowers, alpine lakes glisten in the sunshine, the rugged shoreline begins to draw in holidaymakers and the sun-kissed vineyards of the Okanagan Valley welcome visitors. Yes, Canada comes alive in summertime, with average temperatures of 25C, and the locals know how to enjoy it to the max.

You won't need much excuse to get out and take pleasure in the sunlight. When the winter season actually bites and the wind chill sends you wishing to scamper inside, you do not need to shut yourself up in the house. In the coldest cities across Canada, you can go out shopping and enjoy suppers and cocktails, all underground.

In Toronto, PATH is a downtown pedestrian pathway offering dining establishments, shopping and home entertainment, while Montreal has its own Underground City, stretching for 20 miles and incorporating city stations, plazas, shops and eateries. Among the many pleasures of checking out the Great Outdoors while living in Canada is the incredible wildlife you can witness.

The moose is an icon of the nation, while the Canadian caribou migration is not to be missed and beavers, wolves, meadow dogs, coyotes and deer all contribute to its abundant wildlife offering. Canada is appropriately happy with its state-funded healthcare offering Medicare, which makes sure vital medical treatment is free at the point of shipment.

As a long-term local, you can take pleasure in both in-patient and out-patient services as part of Medicare, which is actually viewed as a medical insurance service, funded by the taxes residents and locals pay in through income tax, sales tax and things like the purchase of lotto tickets. If Toronto is among the most multiculturally varied cities on the planet, then Vancouver isn't far behind it.

According to the current Internations survey of expats, 94% ranked serenity as a crucial part of the nation's lifestyle and Canada also performed exceptionally well when it pertained to safety and security, with low crime rates and especially low violent crime when compared with its southern neighbour. If you want to raise children in Canada, you will be pleased with the conclusions from expats already residing in the country.

Frequently weekends are spent getting away to the mountains, lakeside lodges and the coast, anything to link with nature and shake of the tensions of the huge cities. Canada is among the world's greatest economies and there are booming industries such as mining and oil and gas in general. As a nation, it welcomes foreign employees and positively encourages those who can fill under-represented markets and positions.

As part of its open policy to foreign employees, Canada lists info about all the visas available on its site cic.gc.ca. Employers searching for foreign workers can do so through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, while you can likewise apply through the Federal Experienced Worker Program, which operates on a points-based system based on your scholastic experiences, language skills and so on.

In truth, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Canadian students perform well despite socioeconomic status or whether they are First Nations or current immigrants, as the country has a policy of no student being left behind. More than 90 per cent of trainees attend public school and there is a real emphasis on sports and after-school activities along with academic achievement.

If you're thinking about making Canada your new house, we provide an unsurpassable worldwide eliminations service direct from the UK. Get your complimentary quote today.

The Duchess of Sussex is currently there and Prince Harry is expected to join her within days. So what is it about Canada!.?.!? Here is our guide to the nation's absolute best attractions and experiences and why you ought to consider Canada for your next vacation. For those who want vacations where you escape the crowds, Canada delivers.

The country also has the longest coastline in the world. Fans of Canada say its natural beauty is carefully balanced with enjoyable and sporty experiences, plus a host of city tourist attractions. THE MUST-SEE SIGHTS1. CN Tower Highlights: Toronto's horizon including the CN Tower, which has a glass flooring you can stroll or crawl throughout at 1,122 ftYou'll require nerves of steel during a trip to the top of Toronto's primary destination.

There is likewise the Glass Flooring (you can walk or crawl throughout it while looking down 1,122 ft), and the SkyPod observation deck which, at 1,465 feet, is one of the world's highest viewing platforms. 2. Niagara Falls Visitors get drenched at Niagara Falls. If you wish to get away the crowds, go on a two-mile walk through Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, or dive into the Falls View Water Park, which has 16 water slides, a few of which are 6 storeys highThe white waters and thick mists of Niagara Falls Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers are Canadian basics.

Alternatively, the Journey Behind The Falls trip takes you down a lift shaft and through a tunnel to a series of observation decks for a lot more severe photography. If you want to escape the crowds, go on a two-mile walk through Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, or dive into the Falls View Water Park with its 16 water slides, a few of which are 6 storeys high.

Northern Lights: An excellent place to see one of nature's greatest programs is in the frontier town of Whitehorse in the Yukon territory. It's a sporty paradise you can fly to with Air North, one of the friendliest airline companies worldwide. Further south in Saskatchewan, La Ronge has a few of the darkest skies on the continent and is also a great base for ice-fishing tours.

Vancouver Island: Take a two-hour ferry ride from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, where you'll discover sandy coves and rocky coasts. And who knows, you may even see Harry and Meghan. Trying to find a location to stay? The island has whatever from campgrounds to five-star spa hotels. The island's cool browse town of Tofino is worth a go to, as is the bigger Nanaimo, where you can try the Nanaimo Bar, an abundant, chocolate biscuit. : since July 1 of the year indicated.: Overall overall population (both sexes and all ages) in the country as of July 1 of the year suggested, as approximated by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Potential Customers: The 2019 Modification. For forecasted years, the U.N.

Find Out More Definitions ...: For 2019: portion change in overall population over the last year (from July 1, 2018 to June 30 2019). For all other years: most current year annual portion change equivalent assuming homogeneous change in the preceding five year duration, computed through reverse compounding.: For 2019: absolute change in overall population (increase or decrease in number of people) over the in 2015 (from July 1, 2018 to June 30 2019).

: The average yearly variety of immigrants minus the number of emigrants over the preceding 5 year period (ranging from July 1 to June 30 of the initial and last years), or subsequent 5 year period (for 2016 data). An unfavorable number means that there are more emigrants than immigrants.

This specification offers a sign of age distribution.: (Overall Fertility Rate, or TFR), it is expressed as kids per female. It is determined as the typical number of kids a typical woman will have during her reproductive period (15 to 49 years old) based upon the current fertility rates of every age in the country, and assuming she is not subject to death.

: Urban population as a percentage of overall population.: Population residing in areas classified as urban according to the requirements utilized by each country.: Total population in the nation as a percentage of total World Population as of July 1 of the year indicated.: Total World Population since July 1 of the year suggested.

Inevitably, some food waste is inescapable this is the food that can't usually be sold or consumed, such as bones, vegetable peelings, egg shells, tea bags, and coffee premises. Avoidable food waste is the edible food that winds up in the compost or in the bin. Regrettably, we often waste excellent food since we purchase too much, cook too much, or do not save it properly.

#toronto #ontario

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ahb-writes · 3 years ago

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Book Review: ‘The Letter for the King’

The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt My rating: 3 of 5 stars Assembling the emotional forte of Arthurian adventure and the erstwhile, forward-moving pursuit of glory of Tolkien-native mythos, THE LETTER FOR THE KING is a coming-of-age tale that anyone remotely familiar with medieval literature has doubtlessly read a dozen times over. It is a difficult case of affection for healed-over scars of oversimplified adventure fiction: the perpetual journeying, the shifting guises of friends and enemies, the marvelous diversity of landscape, and the bipolar afflictions of good/evil at every turn. THE LETTER FOR THE KING, to this end, is only modestly entertaining, often too rife with unmoving characters, plain storytelling, and an inexorable reliance on tradition to steer craft. Tiuri, a squire in the final hours of his pursuit of knighthood, abandons a chapel in the hills to see to the curious and urgent request of a stranger. In doing so, the young man's future pivots in a decidedly unique direction. This divergence from duty proves fateful. By disobeying orders and absorbing the task of delivering a letter of unknown origin, from an anonymous (murdered) knight, to a land far to the west, Tiuri is no longer set to be a knight in service of the stern but fair King of Dagonaut, east of the Great Mountains. Now, he's a messenger with a task whose success purportedly yields the balance of the whole continent. One dereliction of duty begets the discovery of another duty altogether. Tiuri is young, and a little stupid, but his earnestness pushes him through forests full of thieves, over rivers full of threatening rapids, over cliffs and valleys known to house the corpses of the less observant, and within the reach of the blade of those who desire blood, war, and destruction for the land. In short, THE LETTER FOR THE KING is about a boy on a journey through forest and mountain, over farmland and footpath, seeking out the authorities to whom the mysterious message is intended. Murderers, vagrants, and pickpockets abound. The question of whether Tiuri will survive is never in question, which is, perhaps, the largest and most obvious, affecting characteristic of THE LETTER FOR THE KING. Good always triumphs over evil, etcetera, etcetera. And for the characters of this novel, it's a problem best articulated as the crisis of good fortune; the curse of satisfying the glory of goodness and distinguishing it from the honeyed evil underfoot; a blessed affliction to the tune of obnoxious sanguinity. Questing into the arms of violent criminals? Do not fear. Their leader has a soft spot for honest youths. Trapped in a strange city and subject to its foreign laws? Do not fear. The chatty beggar will help, the learned silversmith will advocate for you, and the innkeeper will provide free food and shelter. Imprisoned or held captive by men of power? Do not fear. Many of them, most it would seem, are actually quite friendly beneath their steely exterior and are secretly friends of friends of friends. The novel's painfully optimistic rhythm deprives readers of drama that should expand when circumstances warrant; that is to say, disappointingly, whenever the drama rises, the stakes are always the same. Readers will grow close to a handful of characters whose compatibility with Tiuri's earnestness is at turns enjoyable and annoying. Such is the consequence of surrounding the protagonist with characters who think and behave no differently. Piak, a shepherd's boy, joins the narrative halfway through and is a delightful addition. But the young man's naïve disposition and clingy loyalty feel overwrought when one realizes the author uses Piak more as a reflection of how good of a person Tiuri is purported to be, rather than as a broader inquiry into hope as a liability. Just as the protagonists' adventure charges ever-forward, never lingering too long in one place and never deigning to engage with one character for too long, so also is the novel's over-reliance on goodness-above-all a narrative weakness whose ages-old conviction feels patently unsophisticated given the scope of the worldbuilding currently in place. THE LETTER FOR THE KING is fun. The author and translator do well to shape and frame each new landscape, whether craggy mountainsides or hilly lowlands, with a fresh and charismatic breadth of language that brings each new scene to life. The number of secondary and tertiary characters is welcome, given the expansive journeying at hand, and while their diversity warrants questioning, it's not altogether a sorry state. The book, however, lacks critical depth. The novel is broadly uninteresting insofar as how invested the tale is when it comes to compelling its characters to grow and change after meeting the needs of their challenges or to otherwise suffer the consequences of their miscalculations.

Book Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

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schmidtchristmasmarket · 4 years ago

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Schmidt Christmas market is excited to bring to you another collection of travel ideas to explore this winter sponsored by our famous collection of Christmas decor. Today, we will look at one of the most popular areas to visit in Canada, Banff National Park, and the surrounding areas. There's plenty to do in these areas, from spending time outside exploring nature to enjoying a sleigh ride out in the snow. Sign up to get our blog in a weekly email

1. Evening Safari Ride In Banff National Park

Banff National Park offers nightly safaris where you get to go for a sleigh ride and observe wildlife throughout the Park. The total trip lasts around two hours and is a great way to see some of the countrysides when the sun is down. While you are on safari, you can expect to see a variety of wildlife and plant life that thrives in the Park. You'll likely see elk and deer and possibly even some bears all living in their natural habitats. It's definitely an exciting experience worth checking out if you're in the area.

2. Visit Sunshine Meadows To Observe The Wildlife

Sunshine Meadows is one of the most popular areas inside the National Park. You can make your own way to the top of the mountain to observe the Meadows that sprawl before you or take one of the gondolas. The gondola ride is a total of 4.6 km. It terminates at the Alpine village near the peak of the mountain. From the peak, you can easily observe the entire valley around you. On especially clear days, you can even look at wildlife throughout the Park as they go through life's motions. It's a truly breathtaking experience. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to see the Canadian Rockies from a perspective you rarely get the chance.

3. Ride on a horse pulled sled ride in Banff National Park

Around Christmas time, whenever there is plenty of snow on the ground, you can go to Banff National Park and get pulled behind a sled. This is a great activity to take your children with for the adventure. If you are lucky, your slave driver may even act in character and dress up as Santa Claus. For children, this can be one of the most exciting things they've ever experienced: Riding on a sled as it is being pulled by horses driven by Santa looking up at the winter night sky littered with stars enumerable.

4. Visit the Cave and Basin National Historic Site

The cave and basin national historic site is a great place to visit the gift shop and pick up some Christmas decor on the way out after learning all about the history of the Canadian National Park system. This historic site is where the original Canadian National Park was first established. Throughout the site, there are exhibits that will teach you all about the history of the National Park system in Canada as well as the culture of the area. You can go through the exhibits on your own, listen to the audio guides at your own pace, or join one of the guided tours. Along the way and you'll get to experience some of the hot water that leaks out of the ground in this part of Canada, as well as some of the fragrant minerals, mined from the earth.

5. Banff Park Museum National Historic Site

the Banff Park Museum National historic site lets you get up close with the nature of the Rocky Mountains. They include some of the mountainside's most dangerous predators stuffed throughout their exhibits so you can check them out up close. Inside the museum, there are over 5000 different artifacts at the oldest federal building in any Canadian national park. The museum has been in operation continuously since 1903.

6. Snowshoeing Tour to the Paint Pots

If you do not normally get the chance to experience snow during Christmas time, you definitely need to take the opportunity and go snowshoeing. There is a guided tour that will take you and your family on a snowshoeing trip to a group of famous mineral spring pools called the Paint Pots. Along the way, you will learn about the Canadian nature that surrounds you and enjoy some refreshing hot cocoa. As you walk through the snow with your snowshoes on you'll be surrounded by some of the most beautiful Canadian wilderness imaginable.

7. Discover Lake Louise

Lake Louise is generally considered to be the biggest attraction inside of Banff National Park. Each year overwinter, the lake is turned into a place that you could only imagine. The lake freezes over and allows people to go ice skating on it. Each year there are ice sculpture competitions, and the sculptures are put on display on top of the lake. If you have not gotten to see Lake Louise this time of year, it's not something you want to miss. You can even use the Banff national Park transportation system to easily make it to the lake without struggling your way there on your own. Taking your children ice-skating on top of a natural lake is an incredible experience that many would consider being one of the highlights of their vacations once they get back home.

8. Johnston Canyon Evening Icewalk

Inside of Banff National Park is Johnston Canyon. During the wintertime, there are guided tours that let you go through this extraordinary place safely. The tours take groups of people through the canyon on one of the Park's most popular places to hike once the sun has set. Each individual is given a headlamp, and then they get to go with their tour guide and check out the frozen waterfalls inside of the canyon. There are refreshments provided to tour groups at the midway point to keep you guys feeling good throughout the entire event. If you have not seen a frozen waterfall up close and in person, it's definitely something that will definitely stick with you.

9. Banff Gondola Ride

Schmidt Christmas market always recommends that anyone who goes and visits Banff Canada to check out their gondola. It is one of the largest gondolas in the Western Hemisphere, and it takes you up to the top of the mountain in the Park. With over 2 miles worth of track, you get to see the Park from high up along the way. The gondolas have fully wrapped around windows, so you'll have a full 360° view of the world around you. Once you arrive at the top of Sulfur Mountain, you will be greeted by some of the most amazing panoramic views that you've ever seen. You'll have a little over 1 ½ hour to check out everything Mount sulfur has to offer up top before you begin the gondola ride back down to the base of the mountain. Some restaurants at the top of the mountain consistently receive stellar reviews and are worth checking out if you happen to find yourself up there.

10. Banff Cave and Basin Exploring Game

The Banff Cave and basin exploring Game is one of the most unique experiences you'll find in any country at a national Park. This interactive game lets you play with another team as you race to reach the next location to answer questions. The Game is guided by an interactive smartphone app that will lead you down some of the best trails in the Park. As you are going through the trails, the app will query you different questions to see if you can answer them correctly. You can play competitively against other people in your group and see who wins. If you and your family enjoy friendly competition and spend time outside, this unique activity could be the highlight of your winter vacation. It is certainly not something most people will have experienced before.

Shop Schmidt Christmas Market for all your Christmas Decorations!

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whileiamdying · 24 years ago

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'The Wind Will Carry Us': Finding the Beauty of Life in a Rural Corner of Iran

FILM REVIEW

'The Wind Will Carry Us': Finding the Beauty of Life in a Rural Corner of Iran

By A. O. SCOTT

New Yorker Films

A ceremonial gathering in Siah Dareh in "The Wind Will Carry Us."

Near the end of "Taste of Cherry," the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's lavishly acclaimed 1997 film, an elderly taxidermist delivers a wise and rueful soliloquy on the value of life, a sympathetic critique of the main character's suicidal despair.

"The Wind Will Carry Us," Mr. Kiarostami's new movie, which opens today at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, ends on a similar note. A grizzled old doctor lectures the protagonist, a saturnine engineer a long way from home, about the glory of creation and the human obligation to notice it.

"Observing nature is better than playing backgammon or doing nothing," the doctor muses. Developing the thought, he defines death as what happens when "you close your eyes on the beauty of the world."

By this definition, there is perhaps no living filmmaker as fully alive as Mr. Kiarostami. His eyes -- and therefore ours -- are perpetually open. His absorption in the wide emptiness of the rural Iranian landscape, in a remote corner of which "The Wind Will Carry Us" takes place, yields views -- hillsides, valleys and gnarled, solitary trees -- that seem almost otherworldly in their clarity and depth. And his plots, which tend to unfold almost entirely outdoors because of his own aesthetic priorities and the restrictions on what Iranian films can show, seem to spring from the air and the ground, like those of folk tales or Chekhov stories.

It's easy enough to expound on the spiritual and moral importance of opening oneself to experience -- "prefer the present," the doctor says, offering a Farsi version of an injunction familiar to readers of Western New Age self-help literature -- but it is a rare artist who can prove it. You don't watch "The Wind Will Carry Us" so much as dwell in it. The film lasts about two hours, and the events it depicts occur over a span of a week or so, but the film has a density, an almost physical presence, that cancels time. Its effects seem more like those of a poem or a piece of music than a movie.

But it is a movie, and, like Mr. Kiarostami's earlier films, it tells a story at once perfectly simple and confoundingly oblique. A team of engineers, only one of whom ever appears on screen, has come from Tehran to the tiny Kurdish village of Siah Dareh, which is set pueblo-style into a steep mountainside so that, a local boy explains, "nobody will steal it."

The outsiders seem to be waiting for an old woman to die, so that they can witness the local mourning ceremony. But it's not entirely clear; this may be just the secret preoccupation of their team leader (Behzad Dourani), whose interactions with the villagers make up most of the action. He befriends a young boy and a local ditch digger, as well as the keeper of a tea shop ("I've never seen a woman serve tea before," he remarks), and the woman who does her laundry on the terrace across from his.

His exchanges with these people are frequently interrupted by his cell phone. To receive a clear signal, he must race from the balcony to his jeep and drive out of the village in search of higher ground, where he conducts impatient negotiations with the home office back in Tehran, pleading with his supervisors to extend his crew's enigmatic mission. These phone calls, and the cryptic, formal conversations they interrupt, take on an almost ritualistic quality.

The engineer's dealings with the townspeople -- mostly women, all played by actual residents of Siah Dareh -- are unfailingly decorous, but they resonate with a rich sense of implication, almost of danger. One scene, in which the engineer follows a young woman into a darkened cellar to fetch some fresh milk, expresses an unsettling sensuality, a feeling of taboos being tested, even across the cultural gulf that separates American film audiences from their Iranian counterparts. Somehow the movie, steeped in the details of its locale, transcends exoticism.

If you are already an admirer of Mr. Kiarostami, "The Wind Will Carry Us" will confirm what you already know. But if you haven't yet encountered the work of a man many believe to be one of the giants of contemporary cinema, this movie is a good place to start. It's the funniest and most accessible of his films that I've seen, and maybe the most visually arresting. His films require some work and the gradual alteration of passive, sensation-seeking viewing habits. Help in this difficult, worthwhile undertaking can be found at the Screening Room in TriBeCa, which is presenting a retrospective of Mr. Kiarostami's earlier films, including "Taste of Cherry," "Through the Olive Trees" and "Where is the Friend's House?," through Wednesday.

Take advantage of the opportunity. His wide, clear landscapes will be fatally diminished, like old master paintings reproduced on postcards, if you see them on video. And the graceful adagio of his narrative rhythm may turn to tedium in the banality of your living room.

"The Wind Will Carry Us" requires the reverent darkness and communal solitude of a theater.

PRODUCTION NOTES: 'THE WIND WILL CARRY US'

Directed and edited by Abbas Kiarostami; written (in Farsi, with English subtitles) by Mr. Kiarostami, based on an idea by Mahmoud Ayedin; director of photography, Mahmoud Kalari; music by Payman Yazdanian; produced by Marin Karmitz; released by New Yorker Films. At the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Broadway at 62nd Street. Running time: 118 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Behzad Dourani (the Engineer) and the inhabitants of the village of Siah Dareh.

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elderperfect · 5 years ago

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2020 Best Nursing Homes - New Jersey

ElderPerfect a leading publisher on senior healthcare across the United States, today announced the recipients of the Best Nursing Homes in New Jersey for 2020. These awards are designed to recognize providers based on their ability to consistently deliver excellence in the areas of Health Inspections, Quality of Residence Care, Penalties and Staffing. We’ve evaluated over 363 facilities, of which 139 (38%) met our top rating. This report marks the Gold Standard in terms of care for seniors. 0 Ranked Best Facilities  5/5

US Standard vs. Best Facilities

Average Number of Beds: 106 vs 95 Average Occupancy: 81% vs 83% Average Health Inspection Rating: 2.82 / 5.00 vs. 3.90 / 5.00 Average Government Rating: 3.01 / 5.00 vs. 4.49 / 5.00

Rating Methodology

Health Inspections Every year, the government assigns inspectors to conduct a formal review of nursing homes for regulatory purposes to meet the mandates outlined for Medicare and Medicaid, this aims to measure and improve the safety of residents across providers. Facilities may also be inspected when complaints are submitted or based on a reported incident. When noncompliance is identified, the facility is served a citation that indicates which regulation that was identified, along with the severity of the incident. Nursing homes are subsequently required to execute a program of resolution in order to meet compliance. Some scenarios require enforcement actions to be applied, such as a civil monetary penalty or withholding of payment(s), to incentivize resolution in a timely manner. Penalties Facilities are applied 2 types of penalties due to non-compliance / accumulation of incidents. Civil penalties are monetary fines that may be applied to a facility based on citations / infractions identified during a review. The severity of a penalty is defined primarily by the size and frequency of the infraction. Quality of Residence Care There are 3 types of resident care ratings, but for this exercise, we primarily focused on the overall quality measure rating. The quality measures (QMs) include 17 data points that are derived from clinical information reported by the respective nursing home and also from Medicare claims data submitted for payment. Ratings are calculated for the QM domain using the 4 most recent quarters for which data are available. A nursing home receives points contingent on performance on each measure (weighting distribution is not equal). Staffing Staffing research is submitted regularly by the facility and is adjusted for the requirement of the facilities residents. For each of registered nurse staff and total staffing, a 1 - 5 rating is applied according to definitions established for each category. These ratings are subsequently combined to assign an overall staffing rating. As an example, to get an overall staffing rating of 5 stars, nursing homes must earn a rating of 5 stars for both registered nurses and total staffing. Nursing homes could also be assigned a 1 star rating should they not have a registered nurse on-site daily, and do not submit staffing data, or which the data cannot be verified.

Best Nursing Homes in New Jersey

MERWICK CARE & REHABILITATION CENTER CARE ONE AT SOMERSET VALLEY SPRING GROVE REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE CENTER ELMORA HILLS HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER DWELLING PLACE AT ST CLARES DAUGHTERS OF MIRIAM CENTER PINE ACRES CONVALESCENT CENTER MERRY HEART NURSING HOME GOLDEN REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER HEATH VILLAGE WILLOWBROOKE COURT SKILLED CARE AT EVERGREENS ALARIS HEALTH AT JERSEY CITY CARE ONE AT HOLMDEL ARNOLD WALTER NURSING HOME ST LAWRENCE REHAB CENTER DELLRIDGE HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER CARE ONE AT THE HIGHLANDS WOODCLIFF LAKE HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER MERIDIAN NURSING & REHAB AT SHREWSBURY HOLLY MANOR CENTER MEDFORD LEAS CARE CONNECTION RAHWAY FRIENDS VILLAGE AT WOODSTOWN OAKLAND REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE CENTER BRIDGEWAY CARE AND REHAB CENTER AT BRIDGEWATER ALARIS HEALTH AT KEARNY ST JOSEPH'S HEALTHCARE AND REHAB CENTER ARISTACARE AT MANCHESTER WILLOW SPRINGS REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE CTR ARISTACARE AT NORWOOD TERRACE HUNTERDON CARE CENTER CARE ONE AT JACKSON MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-WEST DEPTFORD HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH WEST CALDWELL C BAYSHORE HEALTH CARE CENTER PARKER AT MCCARRICK ALARIS HEALTH AT BOULEVARD EAST MANOR CARE MOUNTAINSIDE HARROGATE PARK CRESCENT HEALTHCARE & REHABILITATION CENTER ABIGAIL HOUSE FOR NURSING & REHABILITATION LLC BROOKHAVEN HEALTH CARE CENTER VILLAGE POINT WOODLANDS, THE CONCORD HEALTHCARE & REHABILITATION CENTER MILFORD MANOR BARTLEY HEALTHCARE NURSING & REHABILITATION VOORHEES PEDIATRIC FACILITY APPLEWOOD ESTATES FOUNTAINS AT CEDAR PARKE, THE SPRINGPOINT AT CRESTWOOD, INC ALARIS HEALTH AT HAMILTON PARK MORRIS VIEW HEALTHCARE CENTER HARBORAGE (THE) ALARIS HEALTH AT ROCHELLE PARK ARISTACARE AT WHITING ALARIS HEALTH AT HARBOR VIEW CARE ONE AT CRESSKILL EASTERN PINES CONV CTR ST JOSEPH'S HOME AL & NC, INC PREFERRED CARE AT OLD BRIDGE, LLC INGLEMOOR REHABILITATION AND CARE CENTER OF LIVING MAPLE GLEN CENTER OAKS AT DENVILLE, THE MCAULEY HALL HEALTH CARE CENTE CARE ONE AT ORADELL MERIDIAN NURSING AND REHABILITATION AT BRICK BROADWAY HOUSE FOR CONTINUING HEALTH CENTER AT BLOOMINGDALE NORTH CAPE CENTER

SUNNYSIDE MANOR REGENCY GRANDE NURS & REHAB CE SKILLED NURSING AT FELLOWSHIP VILLAGE ALARIS HEALTH AT CEDAR GROVE EMERSON HEALTH CARE CENTER PARK PLACE CENTER MERIDIAN NURSING AND REHABILITATION AT OCEAN GROVE ALARIS HEALTH AT BELGROVE CARE ONE AT VALLEY WHITE HOUSE HLTHCR & REHAB CTR DE LA SALLE HALL SUMMER HILL NURSING HOME CHESHIRE HOME ST JOSEPH'S HOME FOR ELDERLY HACKENSACK-UMC MOUNTAINSIDE JOB HAINES HOME FOR AGED PEOPL UNITED METHODIST COMMUNITIES AT THE SHORES UNITED METHODIST COMMUNITIES AT COLLINGSWOOD VALLEY VIEW REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE CTR GREEN HILL REFORMED CHURCH HOME WILEY MISSION ROSE GARDEN NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER FOOTHILL ACRES REHABILITATION & NURSING CENTER CARE ONE AT RIDGEWOOD AVENUE UNITED METHODIST COMMUNITIES AT PITMAN CLOVER REST HOME CAREPOINT HEALTH - BAYONNE HOSPITAL CENTER TCU FAMILY OF CARING HEALTHCARE AT RIDGEWOOD FAMILY OF CARING HEALTHCARE AT MONTCLAIR BERGEN COUNTY HEALTH CARE CTR TRINITAS HOSPITAL CHILDRENS SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL TOMS RIVER ALARIS HEALTH AT WEST ORANGE ELMS OF CRANBURY, THE SHORROCK GARDENS CARE CENTER LUTHERAN SOCIAL MINISTRIES CRA PROSPECT HEIGHTS CC TALLWOODS CARE CENTER LITTLE BROOK NURSING AND CONVALESCENT HOME ST CATHERINE OF SIENA JEWISH HOME AT ROCKLEIGH ALARIS HEALTH AT THE FOUNTAINS CARE ONE AT WAYNE - SNF SOUTHERN OCEAN MEDICAL CENTER CARE ONE AT WALL PREFERRED CARE AT MERCER COMMUNITY MEDICAL CENTER TCU CEDAR CREST/MOUNTAINVIEW GARDENS ALARIS HEALTH AT THE CHATEAU RENAISSANCE PAVILION NEW JERSEY VETERANS MEMORIAL VINELAND LIONS GATE MERIDIAN SUBACUTE REHABILITATION CARE ONE AT TEANECK ROYAL SUITES HEALTH CARE & REHABILITATION WEDGWOOD GARDENS CARE CENTER CLARA MAASS MEDICAL CENTER BRIDGEWAY CARE AND REHAB CENTER AT HILLSBOROUGH CARE ONE AT HANOVER TOWNSHIP HOBOKEN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER TCU POWERBACK REHABILITATION, ROUTE 73 EGG HARBOR CARE CENTER VENETIAN CARE & REHABILITATION CENTER, THE ATRIUM POST ACUTE CARE OF HAMILTON SOMERSET WOODS REHABILITATION & NURSING CENTER CONTINUING CARE AT LANTERN HILL LAUREL BROOK REHABILITATION AND HEALTHCARE CENTER ATRIUM POST ACUTE CARE OF LIVINGSTON

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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How Did One Hotel Help Megève Scale the Peak of Alpine Chic?

by Francisca Kellett, The Telegraph, March 3, 2020 Money can’t buy you love or happiness, but it can build you a ski resort. It helps if you’re a Rothschild, of course. Noémi de Rothschild, in particular, who was a regular in St Moritz just after the First World War and decided it was high time France had its own smart ski resort. Legend has it she’d also had enough of skiing alongside Germans, but that’s another story. So off she sent her ski instructor, Try Smith, to find an alternative. He came up with the goods: a charming little village in a beautiful French valley, with sunny slopes and views right on to Mont Blanc. De Rothschild was convinced she had found her spot, and built a home on Mont d’Arbois, and then a hotel, encouraging high-rolling friends to join her. It became a hit, and after the Second World War was France’s most fashionable resort, attracting the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Rita Hayworth and the writer and artist Jean Cocteau – who reportedly called Megève “the 21st arrondissement of Paris”. Fast forward 40 years and another French family came up with another good idea. Megève now had its hotels and its infrastructure – its lifts and gondolas, shops and bars. What it didn’t have was somewhere properly cool to stay, somewhere offering a more relaxed take on the usual posh five-stars. • This month's hottest new hotel openings “They said we were crazy!” Jocelyne Sibuet tells me over a citrusy cocktail in the bar of Les Fermes de Marie, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. “Our village feel, our cosy style... we did this before everyone else.” Back then, five-star hotels were grand affairs – tasselled curtains, stuffy velvet, ornamental furniture. Les Fermes de Marie offered something different. “It was a huge success from the beginning,” says Sibuet. “Everyone wanted to come and see it.” Her accent is brilliantly French, as is her look – thick chestnut hair, casual cashmere, chic statement jewellery. She is understated but stylish, with that effortless, thrown-together French look. Her hotel is similarly effortless and thrown together. It’s a pretty cluster of old wooden houses, built from reclaimed Savoie farmhouses and filled with furniture found on Jocelyn’s travels: a scuffed leather sofa here, a vividly patterned set of armchairs there. Her children, Marie and Nicolas, have taken over the day-to-day running of the business, but her signature style remains everywhere. “We work in collaboration,” she explains. Lots of rough wood, cosy sheepskins, giant cowbells and ceramic pots of lush ferns, with a fragrant spa in the basement offering treatments using their own organic Pure Altitude products. The suites are wood-clad and cosy, overlooking the gardens and the snowy peaks beyond, and there are numerous nooks to lounge around in your socks (or your furs – you’re in Megève, remember). Megève proper is a short walk from Les Fermes de Marie, and is surely just what Noémi de Rothschild was hoping for. The Rothschilds, by the way, are very much still present; the family recently opened the £90 million Four Seasons on the plot of the original family home, a 10-minute drive from town. • The world's most amazing mountainside hotels Town itself is a pretty, higgledy grid of cobbled streets, an upmarket mix of old and new, a sort of boutique version of St Moritz, where the main square’s 14th-century church stands opposite high-end sports shops selling Moncler children’s jackets for €450 (£382). There are furriers besides pharmacies, Hermès next to homewares. Ladies in floor-length mink sip coffees beside workmen in high-vis jackets, and picturesque horse-drawn carriages line up alongside bashed up mopeds. It’s all very French. Les Fermes has just opened its own grocery shop in town, L’Épicerie des Fermes, tucked down a side street and probably the smartest grocery shop this side of Fortnum’s – with cheeses, charcuterie, a full wine cellar and ready meals including the most luxurious boil-in-the-bag pasta I have ever seen (with truffles). Another new addition for this year is La Ferme de Bacré, a rustic chalet set on a hillside outside town, a 15-minute hike through a forest. Inside is like a Ralph Lauren photo shoot, with long shared tables (for hotel guests only) offering rustic off-grid lunches – we had cheese fondue, which won a prize last year as the best in Megève. It is boozy and delicious. The Sibuets own two other hotels in town (and more further afield, including St Tropez and St Barths). Park Lodge is a larger, slicker set-up right in the centre, where we dine at Le Beef Lodge: truffle pizza and brilliant rib-eye steaks, served with fries dusted with truffle (you may spot a theme in the food here). They also own the central Hotel Mont-Blanc, a stumble away from the main cable car and once the favourite haunt of Cocteau; the bistro, named after his book, Les Enfants Terribles, is decorated with one of his murals. I’m sure it serves truffle, too. • The world's best restaurants with incredible views The restaurant at Les Fermes is a huge space with an enormous crackling fire and double-storey ceilings. They’re offering a special 30th anniversary menu, with seven delicious courses including a hay-cooked potato topped with caviar, hand-cut macaroni with Mont-Charvin bacon, and free-range baby chicken with truffle, in case you haven’t had enough. And so to the slopes, the reason most visitors come here, although almost an afterthought after all that food. There are three vast areas: Mont D’arbois, Rochebrune and Le Jaillet, served by 88 lifts and with 325km of pistes – lots of gentle blues and easy reds. It’s easy to piste bash for a day and never ski the same run twice. There are lovely slope-side restaurants, too, such as the Chalet Forestier in a sunny corner of Rochebrune, overseen by chef Emmanuel Renaut, better known for his three-Michelin-star restaurant in town, Flocons de Sel. Sitting on the sun-washed terrace, eating warming beef stew, I am surrounded by chattering French families. No braying Brits, and no Germans. Noémi de Rothschild got it spot on. Winter rates at Les Fermes de Marie (0033 4 50 93 03 10; fermesdemarie.com) from €389 (£330) per night for a double room B&B, including a day trip to La Ferme de Bacré. Read the full review: Les Fermes de Marie This article was written by Francisca Kellett from The Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. 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