SUNNY SUNDAY AFTERNOON

      I went for a walk Sunday afternoon. I was intending to take photos of the buffalo beans and Saskatoon berry blossoms. I had a few surprises. 

     The cow moose and two calves were a big surprise. 

                          Mallard ducklings

                        Early blue violet

Buffalo beans

                      Western Canada violet

                          Saskatoon berry blossoms. 

WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT ?

     Sometimes there are issues that family's don't talk about. They are topics that are quietly left alone. Often they are things that were disagreeable and hurtful. 

     For example , when my brother and I were about 13-14 , we asked Dad if we could have a motor cycle. Dad said no. We went behind Dad's back and bought a motor cycle. Dad didn't make us sell the motor cycle but it was never talked about until dad was about 80. Then it was funny. 

    A little less than a km from my house is a heavily forested ravine. There are old growth spruce trees that are about 80 -90 ft. high. 

    Today I was talking to my daughter about a little platform I found high in a spruce tree. She said that's probably one of mine. I said, "What ? You were never out there." She told me that she spent much time climbing trees in the woods. She said, "I was a good tree climber." This was when she was about 10. My kids were free range kids so she easily could have done this. 

    What I remember most is a little kid who played endlessly with toys like blocks and Lego. She also read a lot. She also bounced. She would sit on a chesterfield and bounce back and forth for a few minutes. She would hum along with the bouncing. In the car she bounced hard enough that you could feel it when you were driving. 

    So it was surprising to hear that this quiet little girl climbed trees. 

MURAL

         A few weeks ago I showed some of our wedding photos as it was our anniversary. Everybody's wedding is extremely important. The surroundings and events are not forgotten.

         The venue for our wedding was different. The wedding was held in a place called Stinger Hall Chapel. Inuvik had a 1000 student school. Kids were brought in from up to 1000 miles away and kept in two hostels. Stringer hall was a residence that held about 300 kids. 

         The chapel was for all the kids in the residence.

         Inuvik was a special Arctic settlement planned and built after the Second World war. Construction was officially finished in 1957 but some of it still continued. Stringer Hall was finished long before the Hotel was built. Travelers stayed in the student hostel. A pilot stayed there on a regular basis. He was a bit of an artist so painted the large mural behind the alter  during his stops in Inuvik.

      The mural shows a picture of children coming to Christ. The big thing in this mural is that the children are aboriginal. 

       I'm not sure if the idea comes from a biblical quotation. Far Side will be able to cover that Chap and verse if there is one. 

     So I've always considered this an interesting mural as well as the story behind it. 

LAWNMOWER

       Recently I had to buy a new lawnmower. 

       The last lawnmower I bought was in 1971 so that means that it was 53 years old. The bumbling old handyman kept it going that long. I knew what to fix on this lawn mower but the part cost over $50.00 and then I would still have an old mower that I would still have to pull a cord to start it. 

       So my lawnmower info goes back to the 1970's. So what to buy. There are so many different lawnmowers for sale. Then there are electric cordless machines. With the micro Manager help we researched different machines. we also had to learn about cordless electric machines. We finally decided on an electric cordless mower. This old boy didn't want to pull cords anymore.

     Then the fun started. There are three owners manuals. One for the machine. One for the charger and one for the battery. I would get the manuals mixed up. I'd be looking in the charge manual for something about the battery. It was confusing.

    Finally, we had crossed all the T's and dotted all the i's and were ready to go outside and start the machine and test out the mower.

    So I did what I thought I as supposed to do. There was utter silence. I'm sure the look on my face would have said volumes. I checked connections. I checked instructions. Everything looked okay.

   So nothing for it to go back in the house and look in the manual. So first I went to the start section. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small word that I had missed. There's a start button. It says press and HOLD. I had missed the word hold. 

   So I went out and followed instructions again and it started. 

   I find directions for new appliance to be a challenge!

   Do I like my new mower? You bet I do. 

   

THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED

         I have a one meter wide strip going across the front of my house. I have a few shrubs and many perennials in that strip. The shrubs are mugo pine and juniper. The strip with plants is fairly dense. I keep it clean of weeds and the soil is soft and easy to keep.

       However, for the last 2 or 3 years some animal has been leaving indistinct tracks and moving soil. I suspicioned a cat but I very seldom found cat feces. There was quite a bit of soil disturbance . I would smooth out the soil trying to find out what was in the shrubbery. No damage was ever done.  

     This morning I went around the corner to the strip. A jack rabbit popped out from under a mugo pine! Mystery solved. Jack rabbits have been hiding in the shrubs. 

     The jack rabbit moved about 3 meters and then stopped. He/she stared at me as if to say, "Get out of here so I can go back under your shrubs."

     I never thought that this might be a jack rabbit. 

    This strip is right below my front room window. The plants are dense enough so that I didn't notice them from the window. 

    I will be checking that strip from now on.

   Was this Spencer? I have no idea. 

58

       Fifty eight years ago today I put on my new suit and tie and walked across the road to the Stringer Hall Chapel and strolled down the aisle to the waiting minister. I stood facing the minister. People were coughing, shifting in their seats, dropping things. You hear much more when it's quiet. A float plane roared off the river. The Minister said, "She's left town!" Soon after , the crowd was asked to stand and there were flashbulbs popping and a shuffle up the aisle. Mrs Holman who couldn't play the organ, volunteered to play the music. Yes, the bride made it. Somebody gave the "woman" away and the veil was removed.

     Yes, today is our 58th anniversary. 

     We got together with friends and said our I do's. 

    It was a different wedding as we were married in Inuvik, NWT so didn't have relatives, just the friends.

    There are so many good things we remember about the day of our wedding. People volunteered to help us make a wonderful day. Mrs Holman was the assistant hostel administrator and took us under here wing. She played the organ and got a girl's choir to sing.

THE BISHOP

       A former student of mine has made some awesome achievements.

       After high school she entered and completed a theology program. The next challenge was to be ordained in the Anglican church. Now at that time the Anglican church's official policy was that they would not ordain women . However, there was a loop hole. Some churches chose to ordain women. This was against official church policy. She was ordained. 

       I'm not sure how the next part of the story goes. I'm not sure what positions she had in the church. 

      However, she was a very gutsy lady to push and be ordained. 

      Yesterday, I heard that she is now a bishop! Her father was in the same residence as my friend and reported that his daughter is a bishop.

     These are the type of people I like. She challenged the status quo and won. 

     She opened doors for many women coming after her. 

     She is now the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kootenay.