Erin's Journals

Just a thought… Life takes you to unexpected places. Love brings you home. [Melissa McClone]

Funny how this Thursday is American Thanksgiving, but my travels on Friday literally (and I use the word literally on purpose) included Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Two flights, two trains (well, a train, a tram between Terminals 1 and 3 in Toronto and a trolley at Calgary airport) and then a car home from Victoria International. Everything but horseback! And 21 hours after my alarm went off in a Toronto hotel room, I was in my own warm bed on Vancouver Island.

Rob had left the MINI for me at YYJ, so following the instructions (complete with photos) that Rob had sent me to help me find the car, I fished the spare car key out of my purse and made the mercifully short trip home.

Where was my usual driver? He had gone to Kelowna for the weekend to help my sister’s son with Dad duties. I had considered flying there to join Rob on Friday, but it took the entire weekend for me to recover from the body clock boogaloo I was going through. My plans to put up the tree or get some Christmas wrapping done were shelved in favour of quality bedtime with my sweet, swelling Dottie.

I do have to tell you that perhaps it was the whirlwind schedule of the trip – by my own design – that made me wonder, even while I was in the GTA, whether I was actually there; whether this had really been my home. But the question I asked myself more often was this: Did the best moments of my life truly happen here? Was the whole radio career a dream?

I thought back to when I was in college, embarking on an exciting road trip for this small city girl to Toronto from Belleville for an awards ceremony. We were there to be recognized for a project we did, and as I slept in a hotel room bed that night, I recall thinking, One day…one day I’ll work here. (Er, not at the hotel, but in Toronto. You get me.)

I landed full-time employment in Toronto about three years later, after stops in Belleville, Ottawa and Windsor radio. Once there, I had considered leaving the medium about three years later when I was so discouraged while toiling at a failing all-news network, CKO, and I had an offer to move back to Belleville to teach college radio. But without a job there for Rob, it made the notion impossible. So I stuck it out and right after marrying Rob in 1988, I moved in to CHFI, which changed my life – our lives.

That year, my dreams came true and we put down deeper roots, which we pulled up nearly 7 years ago to start a new life out here near Victoria.

Do I miss Toronto? I miss the people I love (a few of whom I got to visit on Thursday last week) and the memories of Blue Jays games and wonderful theatre and restaurants, none of which I took advantage of (as much as I probably should have) because of the punishing early morning hours.

But this indescribably peaceful perch we call home is where the roots and love live now. It was completely worth it for my soul to put in that 21-hour work and travel day Friday and I’ll turn around and do it again as soon as people as good as the crew at Excellence Canada choose to hire me. I may start tapping away on a new keynote speech; I want to keep flexing the muscles that make me feel as if I’m still sharing a voice of hope and humour.

But for now, I’ll just sit here grateful for good coffee, for the loaded coffee pot (beans ready to grind) and pre-built fire that Rob left me, and a deep sense of well-being in a life that still, at times, feels like a dream.

Here comes a plug!

Slip into your dreams tonight at Drift-with-Erin-Davis.Simplecast.com as we share stories for Christmas and this gentle holiday season. Last week I brought you a new story called Toinette and the Elves; tomorrow it’ll be Hans Christian Andersen’s lovely The Fir Tree. It’s free thanks to enVypillow.com and listening to podcasts is super easy. If you have any questions just write to me and I’ll help you out.

Just a thought… Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between. [Maya Angelou]

Well, I’m off to the (hopefully) friendly skies again this week, in a Porter plane – yes, a big one – pointed towards Toronto. Actually I should clarify: last year when I was grounded for seven hours in Edmonton, it was not by unfriendly skies, but by computer woes that wouldn’t let WestJet flights board safely.

When I arrived in the early hours of the next morning, my husband was able to let me know my suitcase hadn’t accompanied me. (Thank you, Apple Air Tags. SOLID investment for travellers, those who lose their keys, and so many other applications.)

You may recall what happened: the next day, a Thursday, I found myself scurrying around downtown Toronto looking for an inexpensive dress and shoes and a few bits of makeup to help make me presentable to a crowd for whom I was emceeing the next day.

I managed just that, but not before my “Teri Godmother,” media personality Teri Hart, swept into my hotel room with a rack full of possible ensembles. I chose a few, then opted for something on sale at The Bay that was a better fit for me and the event. But to Teri I will always be grateful.

Here’s the dress I settled on. My lumpy legs in certain lighting (read: anything that isn’t completely dark) made me wish I’d also paid for a slip. Live and learn…but be sure to make room to panic in there, too!

This trip, I’m travelling smarter: although there is no planned stop in the trip (direct to YYZ from Victoria, Porter? I’m SO in!) I am packing for my two nights and two full days with just carry-on. It’ll be one dress, shoes, stockings, some casual stuff to layer and the usual bag of cosmetic tricks that make me feel comfortable on the welcoming stage of the Canada Awards for Excellence.

I love that Allan Ebedes, the boss at Excellence Canada, and his crew keep inviting me back – and wish I was doing more of this! But geography and my gradual fade into whatever reWirement is supposed to be take their toll, I suppose, as people hire hosts who are still in the spotlight and don’t need to fly to get there.

This year on stage I’m wearing the dress I got for under $40 on sale in the US last winter – the one I found hanging in a change room and proudly announced this winter to the viewers and hosts of The Social on CTV the price and how finding the deal of the century can make anything feel or look better on you. I am not proud; I have no problem telling people what I spent if it’s a fantastic deal. This shot was taken in our hotel library.

Not everything I’ve bought over the years was a bargain at the time; I have a few pieces that were on sale but that I still spent WAY too much on. But if 15-20 years later I’m still putting on a jacket and thinking, look at how long I’ve enjoyed this, it was a good purchase, don’t you think? I’m just glad I don’t have any Peter Nygard in the mix. Holy jeez, what a monster that guy was/is.

Oh and as for that pink dress I picked up on sale at The Bay that day for last year’s awards event? WestJet did refund me for my purchases that day. Rob wrote them a letter saying, “Most women, when they enter a room, feel they’re the center of attention. In this case, my wife actually was…” and went on from there! They also reimbursed me $100 for each hour we were grounded because it was their fault, no doubt about it.

I’m not a whiner or someone who pursues things doggedly, but occasionally, at least asking and explaining – always in the most polite and compassionate of ways – can work. And if you think, Oh, it’s because you’re Erin Davis… see “reWirement/fading” above. Nope. Not that I carried or threw around any weight back in the day, but now it’s a moot point.

So, in and out of YYZ I go, hoping for gentle weather and a warm reception. A part of me will always consider Toronto home, but as we all know, our true home is where the heart is. Now it is in our little town on the Saanich Peninsula, Vancouver Island, BC. And it’s firmly in the grip of two little people, three adults and one (hopefully expectant) dog.

Have a gentle week and I’ll be on my socials as the trip goes along.

Just so you know, Christmas- and Holiday-themed stories begin tomorrow to drop weekly through December on Drift With Erin Davis and Lisa and I will have a brand new Gracefully and Frankly; catch up on our 46 weekly episodes here. We love that you’re joining us!

Just a thought… Life isn’t black and white; it’s a million gray areas, don’t you find? [Ridley Scott]

Some days, some weeks, it’s harder to write a blog, a journal about the little things – the cheery things – when there is so much suffering in the world. While widespread genocide is going on, many here in our blessedly peaceful country will complain about clocks going back. It’s human nature: unless we take off our gentle blinders and immerse ourselves in news coverage, it’s near impossible to fathom the enormity of a tragedy that is not in our backyard. So we focus on the things we see.

You will understand me not voicing an opinion on the tragedies before us, especially as they unfold in the Middle East. Of course, I have them, but mine are no more informed (probably less so in some cases) than yours. So here I stay quiet, not out of cowardice, but of being aware of what I don’t know and will never, ever understand.

This I know: life is not black and white, as much as we would like it to be. How much simpler it would all be! The good guys can also be bad guys, the victims the oppressors, and vice versa; the degrees to which each is either good or bad vary under differing circumstances and through alternating lenses.

So, often we lock ourselves inside silos of information that suit and feed our limited understanding, and refuse to see or hear perspectives different from ours; when the light does seep in through the painted-over bricks, we refuse to budge from our long-held beliefs and feelings. As Jonathan Swift said, “It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he never was reasoned into.”

And so here we are. Crooked men in high places, evil puppet masters and traitorous small men with tall ambitions and closets full of crimes. Innocents as pawns, babies as targets, money and protection from prosecution – all playing into horrific games of life and death. Reporting that is biased or untruthful and people in those comfortable silos only taking in what suits their beliefs, offended by the truth and dismissive of facts, if we can even determine what “facts” are anymore.

A few weeks ago, a woman wrote to me that she and her daughter were having a dispute. She wanted to know if what her daughter says, that the news is filtered, is true. I responded at length that indeed it is and that some outlets are known for their veracity, while others may call themselves “news,” but have no ties to the truth. The Fairness Doctrine, scrapped in the 1980s by then-President Reagan, allowed media outlets to say whatever they wanted, regardless of the truth; only those sued on a massive scale (as in the case of Alex Jones and his Sandy Hook bullshit or Fox “News” and Dominion voting machines) are ever made to answer or recant.

I never got a response. Back into the silo? Who knows?

We live in dangerous times and while I whined about fireworks (a big thing in BC) scaring our grandchildren as they walked the streets on Halloween, they were not missiles whistling over top of refugee shelters, frightening and endangering our babies.

We try hard to keep our perspectives, lenses intact as best we can, concentrating on what we see, while struggling to ease open that door in our silos to information that can bring the larger world into focus…no matter how horrible it may be.

I apologize for not being lighter of spirit today. I have joys in my life: friends and family and so much for which to be grateful. It’s just that some days and weeks it’s harder to be positive. Maybe I’ll blame the time change.

Just a thought… Who stays vigilant will win. [Sicilian Proverb]

Before we get going today, a picture of Rob and me, with Colin (as as Constable Colin) and Jane (as Emma from The Wiggles, back when she was obsessed) from this night in 2021.

Tonight promises to be chilly fun under a bright waning moon as we criss-cross Brooke and Phil’s populous neighbourhood with our dogs, their sweet Sammy and our Dottie, along for the push in our bike trailer. I promise to post pics on FB (www.facebook.com/erindavispage), Instagram and Threads (@erindawndavis) and on X (@erindavis) tomorrow morning, if you’re interested.

Sharing holidays like Halloween with family is the absolute best and more than we could have dreamed of even four years ago. But next year we’re taking it to a new level: renting a place in California with our kids-in-law and grandkids for just over a week. Today, I want to share with you a story attached to those plans that I hope is a cautionary tale, because I was sucked in, and hard.

When we heard the trip was a go and we’d secured our rental, we jumped online to get airline tickets. WestJet has the best options for us in this case – although a stopover in Calgary in January is a bit worrisome – so I booked six economy tickets down and five tickets back (I’m staying a few extra weeks). That was Monday night.

Then Tuesday, Rob jolts me harder than my half-caf with the news that the airline is having a sale to the Golden State. Uh-oh.

I was really angry. Our truly helpful agent, who changed Brooke’s last name when I inadvertently gave her Phil’s (yes, they’re wed but, like me, she hasn’t changed her surname) Monday night, obviously didn’t know about the seat sale or I’m sure she would have given us a hint; she was that wonderful! (Thanks, Angela).

Anyway, once I’d fully awakened, I went on X/Twitter and posted this:

I wasn’t whining just to whine. I hoped to get help and I did: people wrote, cut and pasted, and showed me that, according to the airline’s website, you have 24 hours in which to cancel a booking with impunity.

As our day would have it, when I read these posts, we were out at doctor’s check-ups and I couldn’t really tie myself up on the phone with WestJet whilst awaiting my routine chat with a guy who’s harder to get time with than the real Santa.

But as I scrolled, I spotted other posts from WestJet (or so I thought) offering to help: they told me to follow and DM them so I could get my situation fixed. I did just that, despite seeing that the X address was @westjet_7 or something like that (I got three separate messages, all with the same suggestion, all with different X handles). That should have been a big red flag.

I saw the messages and exclaimed to Rob, “Oh look! WestJet is going to make it right!” I did respond to one of them, following them and giving my reservation code. Thankfully that’s ALL I did. Because the next time I checked my X messages, I saw that plenty of helpful followers were alerting me that this was a scam. Even @WestJet itself posted “watch out for scams” and that was the most aid I got from them. Once again, I, the kid looking for a pony in a pile of manure, thought she spotted a unicorn.

Long story short(ish), we tore home and, with two hours to spare, managed with the help of Natalie in snowy Calgary (yes, I chat with everyone) to cancel our reservations and then rebook the same seats, saving $200 in the process. Not the whole 20% off that was promoted by any means, but anything helps, right?

The lesson I learned is this: check and then re-check before you respond to anything. I mean, I preach this all the time, but in my panic over the changed prices, my elevated blood pressure (thankfully not reflected in the doctor’s cuff) and desire to save money on a trip, I leapt before I looked.

Same thing happened to a local on-air personality who was asking on X about her strange (also WestJet) refund refusal. On piled the fake WestJet X accounts offering to help. So, yes, it’s a thing. The scambots are on alert looking for an airline name, and jump in to offer their “assistance.”

I’m sharing this to remind you that it can happen to anyone, anywhere. And I’m just fortunate that I was able to escape without any consequences. I would NOT have given our VISA numbers or anything, at least, I don’t think so, but I know better than to have been caught as I was last week; I’m guessing you do, too. Life should be more treats and fewer tricks, yes?

It put a good scare into me, and I’m lucky. Have a Happy Halloween and when I post on the socials tomorrow, please feel free to add your own.

And do enjoy a quiet night in bed and tonight I bring you a brand new version of Aladdin on Drift with Erin Davis sleep stories. Find the podcast at Goodpods or wherever you download your favourite episodes or click here and join our growing sleep community, won’t you? Talk to you Thursday with Lisa Brandt for Episode 45 of Gracefully & Frankly, where we rank #1 in Retirement podcasts. Little do they know how busy we both are! And I hope you listened to our special Matthew Perry Episode. It came straight from the heart.

Just a thought… If the death of an actor who you never met feels personal and sad, there’s nothing weird or silly about that. It’s a testament to their work. It means they succeeded at their jobs and connected with their audience. And that’s actually a lovely thing. [@theeverywhereist on Threads]

Today, I have for you a special journal, because it’s something longer; something I hope – we hope – you’ll listen to.

I have a fresh one that was ready to go but I’ll post it here for you tomorrow instead. But today, it’s two radio gals going back to their roots.

If Lisa Brandt and I were on the air today at our respective stations, we’d be talking about the immense loss we suffered on the weekend with the sudden passing of Matthew Perry at age 54.

No matter what you’ve read or seen, you haven’t heard our take and my anger (which I’ll explain) and, of course, the huge sadness that overtook us both all day yesterday and into today.

I’ll just ask you to click here and listen to our conversation (free, of course). You’re welcome to comment on our Gracefully & Frankly Facebook page, or drop me a line wherever we’re connected.

Thanks for understanding. We had a lot to get off our chests (did I mention the anger – and my immense grief for his family?) and our hearts. I hope you’ll share it with us today, and immerse yourself, not in sadness, but in perspectives that perhaps you hadn’t considered.

I’ll be back here tomorrow. E.