A wedding, 2 drives and a theft

Forgive me friends for I haven’t written; it’s 13 days since my last blog.  As a long lapsed member of the United Church of Canada, I have never had to worry about confessions, but it seems like a long time since I last sat down to write, and that expression popped out of some movie memory and onto the page.  This is the day that dad goes home from the hospital.  I haven’t phoned yet to see how they’re doing; I will wait until I think they’re settled in their chairs about to watch the news on tv, with a shared Presbyterian beer and some celery with Imperial cheese before I call.  I know that then they’ll be close to a phone so neither one will have to rush to answer and risk falling in the attempt.

I’m back in Vernon after spending a week in Calgary with Jo, going to Devlin Steers’ wedding and traveling in the Rockies with Barb and Faye.  I return to the blogosphere on the same day as Chris Hadfield re-enters the atmosphere.  I heard on tv last night that one of the adjustments that he will have to make is to the fact that you can’t just let go of things here on earth and have them float around near by waiting for you to pick them up again.  Things fall on earth.  We in Vernon were made aware of that this Friday when a flying car called Maverick, with an aircraft engine and fabric wing, crashed in a school playing field.  No one was seriously hurt, but the story must have legs because Linda Sanborn heard about it in Ottawa. 

I had a really good visit with Jo.  Our opinions on many subjects are different, but we’ve known each other since grade 8 and value our friendship more than our positions on matters of politics and economics, so when we approach a wall, we get off our hobby horses and walk down another path that’s less contentious. 

I’m very happy that I ‘held the date’ for Katherine and Devlin’s wedding.  It seems like ages since I was first asked to do that, so that by the time I walked into The Ranchman’s Club in Calgary for the reception on Saturday night and ran into Barbara, I was reminded of the poem, ‘The Titanic’, by E. J. Pratt, in which he details the long forming of the iceberg and making of the ship leading up to their fateful collision.  Every aspect of the wedding was the successful result of careful preparation, love and attention to detail.  The weather was even perfect for the outdoor ceremony.  It continued to be so for the four days that Barbara, Faye and I drove around Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper.   We had a great time together.  Driving them to the Calgary airport was fine, but if we had been about 20 minutes later, we would have been stuck in traffic.  As I drove back to Jo’s, there were very few cars going in my direction, but those heading to the airport were at a complete standstill for kilometers.

I drove home, again in fine weather, on Friday.  I’m happy to be back, unpacked and not having to drive for a while.  I went to tea with Mo and her mom on Saturday and on a Mothers’ Day hike with the VOC where I saw Mo and John and my other friends.  Later that day, I had a good Skype with Jay.    The only down side of my return has been the discovery that Ron Noganosh’s copper shield in the form of a screaming face with rear view mirror eyes that I had hung in the open porch in the front of the house had been stolen.  I loved it and was a fool to put it where I did.  I didn’t think it would be stolen.  I just didn’t think.  Too late, I realized that it was made of copper and probably stolen because of that.  I went to the RCMP this morning to report it.  A lovely young officer took careful notes, and I’m sure he’ll do his best, but I don’t have much hope of ever getting it back.   

Devlin and Katherine

Barbara and Faye in the Rockies

Where the glacier at the Columbia Icefield was when I was 2 compared to where it is now, in the distance.

The scene Barb, Faye and I contemplated as we had our evening drink on the balcony of our hotel room in Banff

A rental van in a parking lot in Banff.  On the back was painted, " Life is like a bowl of soup; you only get blown if you're hot."

Mo's mum, me and Mo having tea

The first hike of my return from Victoria with the VOC, overlooking Lake Okanagan

Me on the Mothers' Day hike up Sugarloaf