Heh! Here I thought I could get away without ever cursing again and Mother Nature throws us a curve. It is the May long weekend–the first camping weekend of the season and the temperature is 3C and this morning it snowed! There I said it again–the “S” word. Forgive me! I really don’t mean to offend, but I would like to go outside and work in my garden. I just don’t want to do it wearing long johns, an overcoat and snow shoes.

This winter has dragged on long enough. Joy and I drove to Nipigon this past week and noted on the way that there is still ice clinging to the rock faces and on the south side of the highway snow can still be seen in some of the sheltered nooks and  under tree overhangs. Water runoff from spring thaw has not been nearly so spectacual this year because the melt has been slow and gradual.

I suppose that is a good thing in some ways. It means that much of the normal runoff may have been absorbed by the soil. That should bode well for the fire season by delaying the dry spell some. Heavens, the dry spell may never come this year if the temperatures don’t soon get at least back to normal.

Sigh!             GRB

Foot stomping, toe tapping, hand clapping music filled the air last night. The Scott Woods Band (http://www.scottwoods.ca/) was in town and performed a grand concert that took me back to my years of listening to the raido on Sarurday or Sunday nights to listen to Grand Old Opry and Don Messer and the Islanders. Check out his web site and if you live in central and western Canada, keep an eye on your local newspaper. An eveing of Old-time Country and Fiddle Music live may be what the doctor ordered. This family band is well worth your attention.      Geob

One morning during Advent I came to the realization that doctors do still make house calls! In Sanctuary the rule is that whoever wakens and turns out first in the morning is responsible for putting on coffee. As it happened it was my turn to prepare the elixir to start the rhythm of the day.

The pot was readied, and as I was about to pour the first cup of Kick Ass java for the day, I was distracted by a scraping sound. I opened the back door, stuck my head around the door frame to see Doctor Sarah and her two sons busily scraping the previous night’s snow from my stairs and walkway. I hollered a greeting and a thank you. Doctor Sarah’s response was to pick up a bag hanging on the front door knob and she handed it to me saying, “I was at home making bread and thinking about all that you and Joy do  in our community. I just wanted to say thanks.” I peeked into the bag to find a still warm loaf of fresh bread made by the hands of one of our community’s physicians. A house call in deed!

I was reminded of this story today when meeting a friend who works in the gift shop at the local hospital. She shared with me the following story.

“This morning, the dogs began barking near the front door.” said Becky. “I looked out the window and all I could see was a van in the driveway that I didn’t recognize. I settled the dogs and went out the back door to find Doctor Sarah coming up the walk with a basket of flowers.”

Sarah passed the flowers to me saying she had seen me helping at the concert last night; that she sees me wherever people need help. She just wanted to say thank you. What a wonderful house call.”

Snow! There I said it again. Today it snowed! October 2, 2008 and at 2:03 pm it snowed on sanctuary. Mother Nature, we need to chat.            GRB

I know! I know! I have not written for the past month. It is not that I have had nothing to write about; there have been other things that have taken time from my life. As I age I am finding that while my computer is marvellous at multi-tasking, I am not. I seem to be much more comfortable dealing with one thing to completion and then go on to the next.

In among the occasional rant about elections, I continue to work with Joy (there is that pun again) on the house. When the weather is good we work outside. We have done considerable inside work this past September. The decision was made to renew–to refresh the appearance of the back bedroom. That is what we call the spare bedroom in our home. Sometimes it is referred to as Cloudia’s room or Ken’s room. They are the two people who most often occupy the space. And Cloud’s toys are the main feature of the space.

Changing the decor was spurred on by the loaning out of the double bed that has occupied the room for many years. Joy had a vision that included changing the paint, cleaning the carpet, painting the ceiling and the trim. (As an aside, I learned that one should always paint the ceiling first, then the walls and the trim.) Her picture of the space inclucded replacing the double bed with a trundle bed. And that proved to be the big challenge for the month and took three trips to Sault Ste. Marie to bring it to completion.

Trundle bed closed

Trundle beds do not seem to be a common item in Canada. That is perhaps a bit harsh. Suffice to say that trundle beds are not common in Northwestern Ontario. We went to most of the furniture stores in Sault Ste. Marie only to find that many had heard of them but few or none on display. We wanted a trundle that when pulled out from under a single bed would rise up to the same height as the single. Magic! A surprise double bed! NOT! Mostly what we heard from suppliers is, “We have to order one in and we don’t know if the two mattresses line up at the same height to make a double bed.”

People in Upper Michigan must think about spare rooms in the same manner as we. A trip across the

Trundle extended

border into the States solved the dilemma. We found a wonderful furniture store named Shunk’s that not only had a variety  of trundle beds on display but provided exemplary service without any pressure or sales pitch. They demonstrated all of the options and then left us alone to make a decision. We did! We bought! They delivered across the border to Sault Ste. Marie, ON, met us at the border crossing to clear customs and had we been home, would have set the bed up for us.

The room is now finished. All that remains is to let Cloudia and Ken know that their room is once again ready for occupancy. With any luck that will mean a sleep over with our granddaughter soon and a visit from our friend Ken in the forseeable future.  Life is good. On to the next…        GRB

Daily we are hearing more and more in the news media that Prime Minister Harper is going to call a fall election. So here we go again with the expense and hype of an election before the term of the current parliament is up. This minority government was elected for a four year term for the second time.

The message that all parties should have received as a result of the last two elections is that none of the existing parties is worthy of being in power and all lack carismatic leadership with vision. But, mostly I am angry because the government passed into law a rule that elections be on a fixed date ostensibly to limit political whim from calling another election (see: http://www.macleans.ca/canada/opinions/article.jsp?content=20080827_106822_106822). That would make the calling of an election illegal (see: http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/08/29/an-illegal-election/).

Last night someone from the Conservative Party called and asked Joy if she would take the time to participate in a poll. She answered that she wasn’t interested and hung up the phone. Now I’m wishing that I had been the one to answer the phone because I would love to give the Conservative pollsters a piece of my mind and let then know how unhappy I am; that “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more…”.

Having said that, I have no idea what I should do about how angry, frustreated and betrayed I feel by our government leaders. They are where they are by the will of the populace and I expect them to do their jobs for the full term of their office. It is my belief that when  a minority government is elected, it is because of lack of confidence in any one party to lead. The message seems to me to be, “cooperate and do your job for the betterment of our society”. So how do I tell them that?

Let’s see. I could:

1. write to every member of parliament telling of my displeasure
2. write to each of the political parties telling them of my displeasure
3. write to local papers about my displeasure
4. move to Quebec and vote Bloc Québécois. Gilles Duceppe makes more sense than any of the other leaders
5. Suggestions?

I wonder what else it will take to have our elected officials get the message?             GRB

Hey! All that farmer stuff I referred to earlier has paid off. We continue to work in the backyard throughout the week. At some point Joy suggested that it was time the potatoes be hilled. Now this is a significant statement in that it did not name who was to do the hilling. Since my name says it all I did the hilling. In the process two new potatoes were exposed. They ended up on the dinner table that night. Yum!

There are things growing in the garden! Eatable things! I will have some cucumbers the “Good Lord Willing and the creek don’t rise”…or words to that effect. And I am going to have brussel sprouts, too! I have been wondering where the miniature cabbages appear on the plant and today I made that discovery. I don’t want you to think that I am really this dippy when it comes to gardening. The brussle sprouts were sort of a filler when the frost killed off many of the cucumber plants that I put in after June 10th. I wanted something to fill in the great blank spaces in the garden and the stores had no more cucumbers in their bedding plants. But they did have brussel sprouts. I like brussel sprouts! So I planted them without checking to find out anything about them or how they grow.

I think surprises are good! It restores one’s belief in magic happenings-like edible plants growing when one doesn’t expect much. The good news of all this is I can now crow about all this produce to my brother-in-law. His garden isn’t doing so well this year. It’s not that I wish him or his garden ill will, I am just really pleased that my garden is growing in spite of my ignorance. Heh, heh! Want some dill pickles, Dave? Heh, heh.

Now that I’m home I’ll pay more attention to what is going on in the garden. We have begun to eat the fruits of our labour and I can assure you it is marvellous.                     GRB

I began writing this in July while visiting my sister and brother-in-law. I’m not sure why I didn’t publish it at the time but there are some thoughts that are worth being journaled and read over in the future. Mostly I want to have all who are interested experience the talents of two young photographers with whom I am acquainted.

Being with family, even after lengthy absence, is like putting on comfortable clothing; everything fits. It just feels right! It was meant to be! I’ve been at my sister’s home in Sault Ste. Marie and having dinner on the deck. Dave informed me that we were going to have the old Saturday night traditional dinner for Wednesday night’s meal–barbecued hamburgers. And they were good, with all of the required condiments and salads and roasted potato thingys to satisfy the greatest of hungers. We washed it down with some good red wine.

Errup! Burp! Excuse me!

More important was the company. Family and friends and conversation and story and good food. It was a perfect evening. G. an dher son Chris came for dinner as well. Chris is here visiting his mom. He is a young Canadian photographer with considerable talent. He and his partner have spent considerable time in the Canadian north and most recently in the Queen Charlotte Islands and his photographs are truly amazing. One can sample Chris’ talent at http://www.chrissiddall.com/. What a wonder it would be to travel with Chris on one of his adventures and learn to record what one sees with such artistry. He has the potential to be a great photographer.

Some of Chris’ images remind me of another young talent. (I’ve noted that I use the term ‘young’ frequently when I write. I’ve just hit my senior birthday and I see anyone under 65 as young.) Kevin Palmer currently of Winnipeg, MB has been making pictures and music as long as I can remember. Kevin and I have spent considerable time working in darkrooms and toasting successes with a good single malt scotch. He has continued to invest in his photographic skills. Check out Kevin’s talent at http://www.superiorimagephotography.ca/gallery_01.htm. Both of these photographer’s deserve notice.

But back to the warm clothing of family…

Whenever I visit my sister we manage to sit up into the we hours of the night catching up on all of the things we each consider really important in our lives. We talk of our children and the woes and successes of their lives. That includes, too, the frustrations we feel as parents when our grown children display behaviours that are more akin to childhood. Mostly, though, Barb and I rekindle our relationship as brother and sister and friends. There is always a sense of nostalgia to our gathering. We were best of friends while growing up. That’s not to say we didn’t have the usual brother and sister fights and squabbles–mostly attributed to me as the younger doing what little brothers do best to maturing sisters–pester. And I was good at it! I could probably still give lessons to brother-in-training.

In the morning we always moan and groan about how foolish we were to stay up so late and vow not to do that again all the while knowing that the next time we are together our respective spouses will retire long before us and we will continue our ritual dance of renewal of family and friendship.          GRB

Isn’t there a Murphy’s Law about when you are already really, really busy that a thousand other things will need your immediate attention? This week has been much like that so if there isn’t a Murphy’s Law about it there certainly should be one.

Joy and I have been busy all week preparing a wedding feast. We are well organized and have everything mostly ready for the event tomorrow but there have been so many interruptions that have drawn us away from the task at hand. Some of the interruptions are quite delightful; one never really minds when grandchildren appear and need a hug and a snack on their way to another great adventure. Aidan and Tannon frequently stop in on their way to their Grandma’s and Grandpa’s home (maternal grandparents live on the same street as we) or to the park at the end of the street. Three days ago Cloudia and her friend Hanna with Abby and Morgan in tow stopped in for a bathroom break, hugs and snack on their way to the park. Those are the good breaks. They refresh us and enliven us and bring considerable laughter to our home and to our lives.

It is the phone calls with blank air when one stops to answer a call while in the midst of putting a spice rub on pork tenderloin or seeding and chopping a dozen tomatoes. I am hoping that we can mitigate some of those annoying calls when the Canadian “Do Not Call Registry” is up and running. I am not certain about its effectiveness because our Federal Parliament does not have the political will to put any real teeth into it. But we will give it a try and then begin our own form of harassment to have it made into something worthwhile. Note to self: Think of creative ways to harass federal MPs  over lousy Do Not Call Registry*Grin*

More than that is the anxiety we have been feeling over getting the meal ready and dealing with the problems with our church’s manse. The church had the manse fixed up last summer and then we rented it in December. Our tenant left at the end of June and now we  are preparing the manse for the arrival of our Intern Minister. Much of last summer’s work has had to be redone. So we have been arranging for cleaners to come in and for the heating people to service the furnace and clean the ducts. In the process of getting this done we have been anticipating having to do the painting ourselves. That really means getting a group of our congregation together (in summertime) to do the painting. We have one week and also have another meal to cater on Wednesday next week.

The good news is that the painting contractor called to say he has finished a job elsewhere and “…if we still want him to paint the manse he is available…”. Now I am not prone to running about kissing people without at least more than a passing acquaintance but let me tell you, I came  close at this call. We inspected the house, accepted the price, chose the paint and the painting will be all done tomorrow. Yesssssss! *Big sighs of relief*

That’s the good news! Isn’t is strange how there is always a flip side? Yesterday I spoke to the cleaners. They are a diligent crew and do excellent work but our meeting was a litany of things they were struggling with: there is a hole in the toilet bowl so when one flushes the water rises above the hole and goes–you guessed it–on the floor. Now I know why the rags were wrapped around the toilet bowl when our tenant left. So we need to replace the toilet. When any of the hot water taps are turned on rust comes out. The water lines are copper and don’t rust. The culprit, a crack in the liner of the hot water tank. We need to replace the hot water tank. And speaking of toilets we may not be able to do much with the one in the basement. Anyone out there know any good plumbers that have time on their hands?

Then the other shoe fell. They have cleaned the carpets and they look great! It is the smell of the dog urine that they are having difficulty removing. So they are going to try some other things but if it doesn’t work then the carpets may have to be removed… Arggghhhhhhhhh! Livingroom, hallway and three bedrooms. Be still George. Note to self: Check blood pressure; have large drink; check blood pressure; have another large drink; forget blood pressure; hae nuthr dink…

A  r r u u u   u g   g    g h   hhhhhhhh hhhhh!                       GRB

Joy, Aidan, Cloudia and Tannon at lunch in the Crow's Nest, Tobermory, ON

I am constantly reminded of her presence with us. Every time I put my hand in my pocket I find a new treasure the she has deposited there for safe keeping. My God! I’m a part of a squirrel nest. For every treasure I find tucked away, in trust that I will care for it, I am reminded of a moment in time when we were together and in great confidence Cloud would say, “Papa, please hang onto this for me. I don’t want to lose it.”