Old Friends New Friends

The purpose of this visit to Winnipeg is to meet new babies, make new friends and reconnect with some old ones, and I've been able to do all of that. Earlier in the week I visited with two long-time friends, and oh it was lovely to realize that though it has been several years since I have seen either one, it felt like thirty minutes ago.

Today we went to Lower Fort Garry...me and the 7000 members of my friend's family. Okay, not really, but there were a lot of cousins and siblings and inlaws! It was all great. I appreciated getting to know them all a bit more, for I have certainly heard some of the stories. While I enjoyed the historical parts that I saw (and got a bit frustrated by all the flash photography) I have to say that I enjoyed the innocent antics of children much more. It was a good photographic exercise, but there is just so much joy in kids--and as my new friend said "when it is honest, it is so amazing". The weather was frustrating in some respects; it seemed that every time I pulled out the camera, the rain would come. Put the camera away and the rain would go too. Oh well--it didn't really interrupt our day.

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears

Time it was and what a time it was,
A time of innocence,
A time of confidences,
Long ago it must be,
I have a photograph,
Preserve your memories,
Then all thats left you...is old friends.

(Paul Simon)

Here's to you, old friends. You've truly impacted my life.

And here's to you, new friends. I'm looking forward to what will be!

Looking back is looking forward

This weekend I had the pleasure to drive across the prairies again--for me a rather rare treat. Even more special was that my friend and her kids allowed me to go visit the place where my grandfather, two aunts, my great grandparents and my great-great grandparents are buried. It is a little tiny prairie cemetary where the tumbleweeds tumble and the swallows sing.
For reasons that I cannot express exactly, it is to me one of the most special places on earth and I was honored that the kids in particular seemed interested in what I had to tell them. After that, we went to the house where my great grandfather, as well as my grandfather, were born. To our great surprise, there was a man mowing the lawn and so we took advantage of this opportunity to talk with him for a few minutes. He allowed me to go see Grandpa's Cathedral--a grove of birch trees where we had church during summertime family reunions. How wonderful that he is interested in caring for the house, and restoring it somewhat. It was a lovely lovely visit.

And now, we are exploring my friends hometown. It is a weekend of discovery!

Camping!

We went to Tremblant for our annual camping trip with Dave last week, and it was wonderful, as usual.  We have certain traditions when we camp.  For example: 

• We hike every day.  We don't go fast, we go to take pictures, and to try and find the elusive moose.  We try to find it for Martin, and we fail miserably almost every time! 
• It rains every time we try to set up camp.  Don't know why that is, but this year was one of the best storms ever--if you like that sort of thing.  Personally, I can do without it! 
• We have ice cream, most days.  This is for me--the guys don't care, but they indulge me, and I love them for it.  
• We play Kuuduk, which is a deceptively complicated game.  We play it, and cribbage for hours
• Someone always brings a sudoku puzzle. This year, I brought a samurai sudoku which turned out to be a good thing.  
• Dave cooks.  It isn't that I can't cook, or that Martin can't.  It's that Dave likes it, and he's good at it, and he is always the first person up.  Who am I to mess with tradition? 

I don't actually like storms, ever since the tornado in Edmonton.  They kind of freak me out, and I get teased a lot.  This is where the samurai sudoku was a good thing--I concentrated on the puzzle, and only the puzzle, and in fact finished it.  Did I notice that the food tent was being flooded?  Or that everything in there, including us, was soaked, almost as if there was no awning over our heads.  No, of course not!  

As usual, we saw a lot of deer this year.  They are such gentle and quiet creatures.  However this year, I had a wonderful treat, all to myself.  I was folding clothes by the car, and was

 startled to see a deer running through the empty campsite opposite ours.  He was being chased by a wolf!  It was a magical fifteen seconds, because it was beautiful and terrible at the same time.  How I wish I were a skilled enough photographer to capture that moment.  

Later, I reported this finding to the park warden.  She was a lovely lady but she was French, and so I put my recently acquired skills to use.  It wasn't a perfect conversation but I was proud of myself.  She was able to understand me, she was surprised that the wolf was running through the tenting area, but she did not doubt my report, particularly when we showed her the print left behind. There are actually five wolf packs in the Tremblant area, each with a territory of approximately 200 km.  

When she left, she told me that my French was pretty good. It was a great moment for me! 

Next year?  We find the moose!!