All Trees Have Roots

.......pretty simple (as roots go)............I have roots; I must be a tree.

 

Driving trip to Alberta..........
 

Starting out Tuesday after work (Jul. 9th) we ate on the go (pizza which George had picked up for the trip), drove to Kelowna and spent the night there. It was off in the morning for Grande Prairie where we spent the next night.

 

On the way to Watino on the 11th, we stopped in Spirit River, drove past the hospital where I was born (it has changed considerably from what I remember), took a fews photos then made our way onward. Stopping in at Eaglesham we found the school pretty much as it always has been (no changes there except for enrollment which I am told is way down); again took a few pictures. I tried to locate the convent where I used to take piano lessons but it seems to have been taken down; the catholic church still stood but no convent..........more pictures and on to explore the little village. We found a few landmarks; the butcher shop (which of course is no longer a butcher shop); the general store (still a business of some kind); an old family house - Blomert's (still standing but seemed empty and abandoned); the community hall (pretty much the same); the sports grounds and ball diamond (seemed much smaller than I remember it). After exploring for a short while and seeing no one walking down the street with whom we could converse, we headed on to Watino. The little store on Eaglesham corner was still there though changed somewhat.

 

Passing our old farm along the highway (on Tangent corner) I found that all buildings were gone; even the trees I remember on the property had been removed. It was strictly a field of grain.

 

Coming down the hill and into the little valley where Watino sits was familiar and brought back some memories. We visited the mainstreet where it seems the sidewalk that used to be there had disappeared; mainstreet was just a dirt road running past the houses; there were several holiday trailers parked along the river bank and we were later told that many people parked and lived there for the summer months. The property where I had lived after we moved to town was grown up to trees and bush; the house had been burned down some years previous. There was a new bridge across the river which we got a good view of when we walked a while by the river; let Mocha our for a run.

 

Stopping in at the cemetary we became aware of some deaths I hadn't heard about. We paid respects to my brother who is buried there and quickly left because the mosquitos were big enough to carry us away.........they almost did get away with Mocha...:):)

 

Luckily the Bolsters still lived in the same place which we found eventually as we drove out into the country away from the town. We had a great visit with Don and Donna, Ernie and Cres and Jim who filled in a lot of missing pieces about people and the area. We had lunch with them, saw Cres's beautiful flowers then headed out for Edmonton.

 

Apparently Watino is soon to celebrate their 100th birthday. Hopefully they will have a celebration which we can take part in and perhaps get to see a few more people. That would be good.

 

Arriving in the Edmonton area (and again getting lost following directions to the farm) we got to Tammy and Bob's in time to go to bed which we did; tired and ready for a rest. Friday (12th) we went into the city; got in a visit with Carl and Shirley and then a wee visit also with Joan. Following behind Aaron and Diane we arrived back at the farm in time for dinner (yummy burgers) with Tam, Bob, Benji(e), Shelby, and Brodie, a short visit then off to bed again. Saturday (13th) we took care of burying Carla's ashes, visited, played a few games, had yummy seafood lasagne for dinner, more games, then off to bed once more. Sunday (14th) while Tam, Bob and Benji(e) went to a birthday party the rest of us drove in to Edmonton and had a fun game of mini golf with Aaron coming out on top this time (way to go Aaron). Following our game we went to Boston Pizza for dinner which was very good. After dinner we said goodbye to Aaron and Diane and Shelby and Brodie then headed back to the farm for the night to pack and get ready to leave in the morning.
 

It was a bit of a whirl wind trip..........ate ourselves to the stuffed and overflowing point..........but had a nice time with everyone.

 

Our trip home was more-or-less uneventful. We saw a bear near Jasper (have always wanted to see a bear through the park) but it was so far away. We got some pics but couldn't pull him in close enough to get a real good shot. There were also some goats on the side of the mountain, a few deer by the road; other than that we saw beautiful scenery as always and the highway speeding under us. We arrived home, unpacked, hit the sack and slept. Mocha was very happy to be back home.

This tree was happy to have been able to inspect its roots again.

To London (Not to see the Queen)

Westjet wisked us off to London June 26 at 10:00 am;

Westjet landed us safely in London (without incident) around 7:30 pm to a beautiful sunny warm evening and my sister and niece to welcome us at the airport.

For the next 10 days we were treated royally and thoroughly enjoyed our visit with everyone. George was happy to meet more family and so appreciated being made to feel so welcome.

May's birthday gave us reason to celebrate on June 27th with dinner out (her choice was Swiss Chalet). This was the start of an EATING holiday with more food being consumed by the two of us than would be required by any six people in twice the length of stay. Do you get the message 'we ate a little too much and often?....

Lunch with Brenda and Marcel was scheduled for Friday. After lunch at the Greek restaurant it was back to their place for (you guessed it) dessert, a very yummy ice cream pie, complete with recipe to bring home.

Saturday June 29th was the day chosen to celebrate May and Age's birthday with all the family........where you say?........The Mandarin (a huge Chinese buffet). It was great to get together with all the family...........not so great that again we ATE so much! The food was tasty but really, did we need to consume that amount? I can always ask myself that question after, but at the time I don't seem the have the willpower to STOP.

Richard and Dianne invited us out to their place for dinner on Sunday (30th). It was great to see them again (and for George to meet them); we had a very nice visit and of course more wonderful FOOD. By this time I was beginning to feel like a blimp.........I would, when it came time to return home, actually LOOK like a blimp.

Niagara Falls was graced with our presence on Tuesday July 02nd (May, Dianne, George and I) with a stop in 'Niagara on the Lake' on the way down. Niagara on the Lake is a nice little place with lots of touristy quaint little shops. George spotted 'Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory'............couldn't resist a shopping spree.........of course we refused to help him eat his purchases.....:):). We spotted a little ice cream shop.........(you know we would never partake) then on the see the rest of the town.

Niagara Falls was awsome as I remembered it. George was glad to get to see it close up in the 'Maid of the Mist' boat which takes people right up close and into the mist from the falls.......it was great, blue raincoats 'n all. After the boat ride we stopped at the casino for dinner (yessss it was indeed a buffet) and we certainly did it justice.

So far everything we did on our visit involved FOOOOOD....!!!

On Thursday July 04th my niece Diane brought us over a 'Meals on Wheels' dinner..........vegetarian chile complete with napkins and homemade bread. it was all delicious. Friday we went to Janet's for a game of cards and visit (but guess what...........we had no food, only water; WOW).

Time to leave (Saturday) came soon. We did our laundry and got packed up then played a few games of cards before it was time to catch the plane around 7:30. It was a sad goodbye but hopefully we will be able to visit again before too long.

Arriving home around 11:30 we got a cab from the airport to Karli's (where we had left our vehicle), drove home, (not sure but probably ate something) unpacked, (probably ate some more) and hit the sack.

We were tired; it was good to get home; but we had a good visit and without a doubt we ATE TOO MUCH...!!!!

Happy Birthday little Ava

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE AVA

We celebrated Ava's birthday on June 15th with family and friends at her house.

(She turned 2 on the 14th)

She was a bit overwhelmed with all the people but soon got into the swing of the party when Tesla joined her at the water table for a splashing good time and then for play time at the park. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and smiles.

 

My Cinderella/Hawkins Day

(Writing Prompt WWU May 18, 2013)

Ironic............I wrote on this prompt, was undecided if I was ready to post it or not, came back a couple days later and ended up losing the whole post. Where did it go? Who knows. It's out in cyber space some place I guess. So 'to post or not to post' became a lost post................I will try again to write on the topic of the writing prompt......here goes.

Waking around my usual 6:00 am I ventured downstairs to meet the sunshine if there was any and have my breakfast, wondering just exactly what I would do with this day. While filling the toaster my 'Cinderella-voice' said "You should spend the day relaxing and doing just nothing because you don't often get a chance to do that; there is always tomorrow to do the chores". That no sooner having been said when my 'John Hawkins-voice' boomed "There is far too much to be done to be lazing around doing nothing; there is laundry to do, floors to clean, dusting to be done, the kitchen to clean, the cars need washing; the list is endless" as he cracked his long leather whip next to my left ear. Wow Cinderella had her work cut out for her if she figured to come up against this fellow John Hawkins.

The muffin was toasted; butter or not.........Cinderella said no, Hawkins said yes because I would work off the calories doing my chores. Should I have peanut butter or just plain..........same argument. Hawkins won both rounds; I licked my lips after my English Muffin adorned with butter AND Peanut butter. Had I thought to throw jam into the argument I may even have had some jam on my muffin as well.

Finishing up the last of my tea, Hawkins roared "get up you lazy woman you, get the first load of laundry in the washer; while it washes you could have the kitchen cleaned up before the second load goes in" as the whip again cracked, beside my right ear this time. "Just relax, there is no hurry to get anything done, in fact there is all day tomorrow; the laundry isn't going anywhere, it will be in the exact same place whenever you are ready to look at it" chided Cinderella. I was quite prepared & satisfied to listen to this 'Cinderella-logic'; the 'Hawkins-logic' seemed altogether too harsh; the trouble was it was becoming very tiring trying to sort out the constant bickering that was taking place inside my head. I wasn't quite sure how I would reach a final decision on the matters at hand without suffering some serious guilt feelings regardless of the path I chose to take.

Soon it was lunch time; as I listened to the back-and-forth of the two factions I realized I still hadn't made a decision about what I was going to do with my day (or had I?).............

Shall I have soup, a sandwich or both; with butter or not; with cheese or not; what kind tuna or chicken; mayo or none; mustard, no mustard; shall I add lettuce or not;................the choices became endlessly silly, the arguments equally foolish. In the end I made the biggest, fattest sandwich filled with every possibility to which I added a bowl of soup......which had all been supported by Hawkins who used the same argument as he had at breakfast. I was feeling so full after lunch I didn't want to even get up but he was there cracking the whip again, urging me to get moving because I had only half a day left to get all the work done while Cinderella soothed me with her usual idea that it could all be done another time.

So..........I sat all afternoon listening to the argument as it slowly grew sillier and, as the day progressed, less intense (probably because the day was dwindling and before long it would be time to fix dinner............then time for bed if I could get through the decisions surrounding 'what to fix for dinner'). Whew what a day! Dinner turned out to be very late because preparations were impeded by indecision in fact by the time I finally decided I didn't want to make a decision, some kind soul suggested we just go out to eat.

I didn't want to do this again tomorrow so I sent Cinderella and Hawkins over to my friend with the promise they would have much more fun with her than they did with me. Just like that they were gone and I had no problem deciding when to go to bed, what time, what to wear, what time to set the clock for; all of those hard decisions seemed easy to make (knowing very well I could leave tomorrow till it came)........!!

Sometimes

(Writing Prompt WWU May 08, 2010)

 

"[But] we accept irony through a device called metaphor. And through that we grow and become deeper human beings.” 

                                                      ― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

(Do we now? I'm not altogether sure about that; are you?)

'Life is a rat race' conjures up certain images; of rather large mouse-like critters with long skinny tails scurrying about in underground dark sewer pipes, eating any dead or decaying matter they come across. They run about, over, under, beside or atop of each other, coming and going every direction in a hurry, fighting each other for food scraps discovered, and looking for a way out of their predicament. Rather than just flippantly repeat this metaphor, if I think about its meaning or implication, I don't think 'life is like a rat race' at all, even though it can become trying at times. I'm also not sure how, through this metaphor, I have grown or become a deeper human being.

 

'Life is a fox trot' brings to mind a happier scenario even if pretty quick paced. As I think about the fox trot I think about dancing in general which could mean the waltz, the square dance, the polka, the schottische, the line dances; the list goes on, which sets a varied pace and different circumstances. Most of these dances are done with a partner so that would mean life with a partner (as the music plays).

Not a bad picture of life on the dance floor although out of necessity, I would have to beg to sit out a few along my journey of life. What could life be while I was sitting out? Hmmmmm.

 

'Life is a dog walk'.......now that could ring some bells for me since I have very often commented to my dog 'ah to have your life would be so grand' but again when I really think about it I can see a few down-points to living life as a dog. I wouldn't want to give up the luxury of the toilet, nor the privilege of eating at a table, the ability to get a drink if I was thirsty, food if I was hungry. It wouldn't do anything for me to be covered in hair all over my body or be accidentally left outside in the rain or be led around on a leash.

That is but a few images I see when I envision life as a dog walk so again after thinking about it seriously I don't think of life as a dog walk.

'Life is a ladder' kind of goes with the quote by Miley Cyrus "Life's a climb but the view is great". This urges the mind to go UP and up and up; I see a never ending climb though, rung after rung after rung, with the possibilities of good things 'just over the next rise' which never seems to come. Somehow life with expectations that never materialize doesn't make me jump for joy; I would have to say I wouldn't describe life as a ladder.

I must be careful with the metaphors of life; if our life is not what they allude to we might not elude their allusion.......:)

 

Sigmund Freud said "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".

 

I say 'Sometimes life just is'..............what do you think?

Meet Hannah

Meet Hannah Elizabeth Der. What a sweetheart. Hannah is the latest and newest grandbaby.

 

We got to cuddle with her tonight. She was so quiet; never making a sound except to say she was hungry once.


There is something so very special about a brand new baby.........they are really quite a miracle!

 

Enjoy your little family Karli and Tobias. Congratulations!

Welcome Hannah

Welcome to the newest and latest grand baby!! Baby Hannah Elizabeth arrived last evening at 7 lbs 2 oz (a whole pound heavier than her big sister)........proud mom and dad, Karli and; Tobias.

We will get to see her tomorrow.........exciting!!