Home again

I made it over the Rogers Pass in summer tires.  There was a skiff of snow on the sides of the road but nothing to compare with the slush storm west of Sault Sainte Marie. It's been a warm, bright fall between Quebec and BC. By driving west, I passed through about four different Falls, with colourfull leaves at both ends, even if West Quebec wasn't as brilliant as it sometimes is. The most extreme one-day change was between Calgary, where most of the leaves had fallen but it was still quite warm, over the Roger's Pass where some of the peaks and glaciers of the Rockies were puffy white with a seven minute frosting of fresh snow and then down into the valley of the North Okanagan where the temperature was cosiderably warmer and the trees were still brightly in leaf. 

The warmest part of that day was the late afternoon when I walked in the door to see Jay, May and the girls. The house was steamy from May's "making food".  The basement that I had left with bare beams and duct work in the ceiling, cobwebs everywhere and plumbing trenches in the floor was utterly transformed.  It's not your father's fifties 'finished' basement, but a professionally built bathroom and bedroom that fits perfectly into the rest of the house. The girls are sleeping there now, and May spends happy hours there decorating it and transforming an 'L' shaped space under the stairs into her own hidaway. Jay even put a rug on its floor and painted one wall the same red as the doors. It's festooned with hooks from which hang all her favorite purses, dresses, hats and jewels. 

Now we are preparing for the girls' first real Hallowe'en. May, Jin Hee and I went to Value Village to buy the costumes. They are going to be twin clowns. We went to the corn maze at the O Keefe Ranch the other night and screamed our throats sore. Min Hee was running so hard she tripped and lost her cell phone. That was really scary for her and aggravating for the adults who had told her to put it in a zippered pocket before we were let into the maze. We carried on running and screaming and being chased by aliens. I was terrified twice. Both times it was because I was at the back of our gang when an alien, one waving a chain saw, burst out of the corn stocks behind me and began chasing us. It took my breath away, my back withered and I screamed so loudly my throat hurt later. Min Hee was lucky. The people in charge found her phone; she got it back at the main gate. I think she thought she was going to take a selfie with an alien or something. She doesn't do much without her phone. 

Today Jay and I drove Jin Hee to her basketball game at BX School. We stayed to watch them win. Jin scored 3 baskets. Tomorrow is her birthday; she will be 13. 

Downtown Calgary from a hill above the Elbow River near Jo's. 

A view of the Rockies from the Roger's Pass. 

Yellow larch amid the spruce and pines in the North Okanagan. 

Mom and Dad

Saturday, October 17 was a bright blue fall day in Winnipeg. I drove to Elmwood Cemetery where I met my cousin Barb and her husband at the Liddle plot, where mom's parents are buried. We then went to the Boyce plot to wait for Bill and his family. When they hadn't arrived by about 10:10, I went back to the main gate to look for them. They had just arrived by taxi; the limo. Bill had ordered in advance had not arrived to pick them up at their hotel. That was the only flaw in the ceremony. Bill had flowers and pictures of mom and dad. A piper played and walked in front of us to the Boyce plot. Bill and I placed the urns in the earth, Bill said a few well prepared words, the piper played "Amazing Grace" and now mom and dad are together forever. We all went for brunch, and then I went back to the hotel with Bill's gang to watch the Jay's game. 

I had a good visit as always with Danny and Rita. After three days of driving and some mild anxiety about the burial, I needed that. We had a delicious dinner and evening at their daughter Dawn's on Sunday and lots of walks in the warm fall weather. Last night we drove to Portage La Prairie for dinner and to watch mixed doubles curling, a new form of the sport that is popular in Europe and will be in the next Olympic Games. I think there are a few changes to make in the game so that it will be more interesting for spectators, but we had fun watching because there were some very good players participating and one of the teams was the son of their friends and his wife. I also went to the Museum of Human Rights with my cousin Barb. In spite of the fact that from one angle the exterior resembles a WW1 German soldier's helmet, the architecture inside is fascinating. The displays are hands-on, interactive and multisensory but still a bit pedantic; although, some are quite moving. The interior stairway is impressive, as is the view of the Red River and Winnipeg that you get from the 8th floor. 

Today I drove from Winnipeg to Swift Current, Sask. After dinner and a long, hot bath, I'm ready for bed. 

The election suspense is over, but baseball is still a nail biter. Harper's gone and the Jay's are still going, but??????

The piper at mom and dad's grave. 

Patrick, Marley and Matti

Bill and I at the grave site.

A quote from Pierre Elliotte Trudeau that I saw in the Human Rights Museum and thought was especially apt as he speaks of the "willingness to share the risks and grandure of the Canadian adventure" and it was the day after his son Justin was elected Prime Minister of Canada. 

Winnipeg

The iceberg is closing in on the Titanic. Bill represents the latter; he has done most of the preparation. I am the former, looming in from the east not the north but  at times at the mercy of the forces of nature. I will end this laboured comparison with the hope that our meeting is less disastrous than the original.  

Nature on my return has provided more than mere backdrop. It began strictly scenic on Wednesday with better Autumn colour than I had seen up 'til then, especially between Sudbury and Sault Saint Marie.  On Thursday, there was a thick fog in the Sault at 7:30am as I pulled away from the Water Tower. This combined with the fact that my myopic eyes misread the GPS meant that I had to stop at a corner store to find out how to get to Highway 17 West. It turned out I'd been on it. After just a few kilometres the fog had cleared and the sky was a pale grey, against which the leaves were a subdued but beautiful tapestry of reds, orange, yellow and green. The horizon was very dark. Small drops of water appeared on the windshield, then more and larger. A brilliant streak of lightening rent the black sky ahead and then the deluge came. The first huge gouts of rain were soon followed by deafeningly solid sheets that the wipers could hardly clear away. I slowed down and moved to the right until I almost lost control of the car in the thick slush on the shoulder. Fortunately there were no cars behind me and very few coming the other way, so I gripped the wheel and hoped the summer tires would hold the road in spite of the quickly thickening layer of icy muck that was covering it. More lightening and thunder burst around me, the like of which I've only seen north of Superior. But it was all over within ten or fifteen minutes. As I dropped down to Agawa Bay, I saw a partial rainbow close to Twilight Road, the place where Jim and I camped in the Boler on our drive west. Shortly after, fortunately before I had the confidence to get back to 100km/ hour, a young moose walked across the highway. After all that sound and fury, the blue of Lake Superior and feathery yellow plumes of tamarac against green spruce formed the backdrop of an uneventful drive. 

However, I was still wound up when I arrived at Liz and Ross's, so I readily accepted her suggestion that we go to see "Suite Française". She had read the book by Irène Némirovsky and said it was very well written. We both sat spellbound through the movie. I had a good chat with both of them this morning because I had the time. I gained an hour heading to Winnipeg, where I am now seated in Danny and Rita's. They are out for dinner but left me a key and dinner. What a blessing after a long drive. 

The Sleeping Giant

The statue of Terry Fox where he ended his run, just east of Thunder Bay. 

Heading back west

Today I drove almost non stop from Ottawa to Sault Sainte Marie. I said good bye to Mela at about 7:15am, after spilling the coffee she had put in my travelling cup all over everything in my odds and ends bag. She filled my cup again, I set the Tom Tom and began an incident free day on the road. When I arrived in The Water Tower Inn in The Sault at about 4:20pm the Jays were losing their fifth game against Texas. Now I have had a sauna, cold shower, pummeling in a hot tub, dinner and watched the Jays beat the Rangers 6-3. The 7th inning was spectacular. So it's still, "Go Jays Go," and "Stop Harper."  The latest poles raise my hopes for the latter too.  I'll probably be in Winnipeg for election day. 

I was sad to say goodbye to my dear friends in Wakefield and Ottawa. I felt completely at home with them again. 

Tomorrow I will see Liz and Ross, this time in TB. I'm looking forward to that. If I arrive on time, Liz and I might make it to a movie. And then it's back to Danny and Rita's, my home away from home in Winnipeg. If all goes according to plan, Bill, his kids and I will meet in Elmwood Cemetery at 10:00am Sat. morning to bury mom and dad in the Boyce plot with dad's mom and dad. I thought we might not get it together,but it looks as if we might. If we do, I'll be happy.  

The Baughans around the table for our traditional delicious family dinner. This time it was Indian food and crème brulé for dessert. 

Caroline with the rude carrot that grew in her garden. 

Thanksgiving dinner at Pollock's. 

Blake and Margaux in the garden at Don and Mela's. 

Meanwhile, back in Vernon,

Hallowe'en approaches!!!!!😈👽😡💀

Back on The Gatineau River

I'm sitting on Barb's couch looking out her livlng room window at the barbecue, deck chairs, lawn, leaves and perfectly still river. The leaves on the far bank might be marginally more colourful than when I arrived but still mostly green and more shrivelling than turning the bright reds and yellows of fall that I had hoped to see. 

Aside from that, the weather's been splendid. Caroline and I worked one day in her community garden, collecting the last vegetables and seeds to dry and plant in the Spring.  Miche and I had a good bike ride along the Quebec side of the Ottawa River from 'Hull' to the Aylmer Marina, and a few days later Don inflated the tires on Mela's bike so Caroline and I could ride along the Ontario side. Today I will join Barb's group for a bike in the Wakefield area. I'm as lucky as the Toronto Blue Jays; although, when I left Pollock's, Albert was watching the game that would determine whether or not they would have home field advantage in the Pennant and they were losing. I don't know what the final outcome was, but I hope they win the World Series this year. It seems as if across the country the people are cheering, "Go Jays!" and "Stop Harper!" I'm with them. 

The evening that I arrived in Wakefield was the last of the TaDa Festival, so Barb and I went to 'The Midnight Birth Show' which was a two person show, the Montreal rapper All-Ever and the contemporary dancer Kim Henry. I was really impressed with her dancing and his music, especially the lyrics. They performed in front of a large screen of moving light and Animé-type figures; it was very professional. However, I was the only one I talked with after the show who was so impressed.  I was also lucky to arrive for the last weekend of the Wakefield artists in their environment tour so I saw Marilyn's latest works, which I like very much. While in Ottawa, I went to a movie with the Pollocks, Don and John. It was about the debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., on ABC television in 1968 during the Republican and Democratic Conventions. They were two extremely intelligent and eloquent men, but many parts of the debates degenerated into personal animosity, the confrontational style that continues on American tv. but with more banal thoughts less well expressed. 

This evening Barb and I are going to go to a 'cinq à sept' at Michelines, where I will see as many of the WWW as are able to make it. 

Caroline in her garden with two of her giant  cauliflowers. 

Balancing stone figures on the shore of the Ottawa River. 

Archie and Marilyn with my favorite of her recent mixed media works. 

The Walefield bike group enjoying a beer and lunch on Barb's lawn after a morning ride along the river. 

Meanwhile, back in Vernon, Jinhee gets ready for her first basketball game with the Harwood Heat and

Minhee chills.