Monthly Archives: August 2009

August 31, 2009 · 10:15 pm

Welcome to the world, Kayden

Update:
Small correction – I spelled the name wrong.  Correctly it is Kadyn.

Grand daughter number three and grandchild number six was born today.  Mom and baby are doing fine.

Kieran is getting more and more anxious to get home.  So, we should be in Saskatoon by tomorrow night before visiting hours close at the hospital.  Then we will get our first peek at the new little addition to the family.

I think I’ll finish off a wonderful vacation by spending a day or two in Saskatoon doting on my grandchildren – and maybe washing up all of Kieran’s dirty clothes.  Annette doesn’t need to face doing that when she gets home!

And then I will need to get my Greek lesson finished and a quiz done before the weekend so I will see what kind of progress I can make on that while at Dave and Annette’s.  I must be back in PA to choose some paint colors too since the living/dining room is going to be painted.

And then life gets back to normal, whatever that looks like.

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August 28, 2009 · 6:48 pm

At Sea

At Sea

Ploughing great grey green waves
Salt spray in my face
Fog on the endless horizon.

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Filed under Poetry and Stuff, Travels

August 27, 2009 · 10:37 pm

Having a great time.

Well, I suppose this is going to cost me a fortune at the rates I’m paying for the internet but I want to post a couple of pictures because we are having such a good time. 

So here we are,IMG_0786

The above picture is Part of our trip up to Tracy Arm, a narrow deep fjord.  At the end was a glacier calving icebergs into the sea. 

Yesterday we took the historic narrow gauge train up to Fraser, BC from Skagway.

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And today was whale watching in Juneau and we saw a pod of orcas as well as several humpback whales and Steller seals.  Those pictures I haven’t downloaded yet.  Fantastic trip so far.

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August 24, 2009 · 1:02 pm

Cruising

Today is our first day in port.  We’re in a little place called Icy Straight Point where it looks as if there is a small trading post and maybe a fish cannery and that is about it. We need to buy kids toothpaste for Kieran.  He won’t use mint.  He said his mother wouldn’t let him use mint.  I suspect that may be stretching it but … he is so far brushing just with water.  Which really is OK. 

Yesterday we saw whales most of the afternoon.  Most were far enough away that we couldn’t really identify them.  Leo seems to get a kick out of identifying things.  I just like to watch.  The ocean fascinates me.  Whales are a plus.

We plan to go ashore but this morning Kieran is up with the kids program coloring and making volcanoes.  So after lunch we’ll ride in to shore on the tender boat and have a look around.

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August 21, 2009 · 8:47 pm

The GPS Thingy

So, I was in Red Deer and my friends there had a GPS thing.  It so impressed me that I decided that it was a necessity and that I must get one for Leo for our just past anniversary and try it out, sort of break it in for him and all on my trip to Vancouver. 

Best investment I’ve made in electronic devices I’ve made since my i-pod which I am listening to right now on the hotel room I-pod speakers. 

I used it to find a specific winery in Summerland – took me right there.  Amazing!

Today it took me both to my cousin’s place and then way over here to this hotel.  I love the way it corrects my mistakes(if I make any)  and gives me directions to get back on track.  And, yeah, I’ve actually tried that feature out.  Great.

So, here I am at the hotel waiting for Leo and Kieran to arrive.  They did arrive at the airport but not here to the hotel yet.  Then I need to eat.

I had a wonderful trip wandering around in Alberta and BC.  Memories of places I grew up were stirred again.  That is good.  Visits with friends – exceptionally good.  Beautiful country to drive through and camp in. 

I will post pictures but tonight I need to sleep in a real bed.  Tomorrow the cruise begins.  I think I will find an internet connection on board at least a couple of times.

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August 14, 2009 · 9:21 pm

Vacationing

I think my posts will be sporadic over the next few weeks.  It doesn’t really seem as if a whole week of vacation has already passed.  It has been very good. 

The first couple of days were just spent around home.  I don’t think I got a lot done although, now that I think about it, I did clean out a closet and get ready to depart on my travelling camping trip,driving to Vancouver where I’ll meet Leo and Kieran for the cruise up to Alaska.

I also spent a couple of days out at Anglin Lake, a gift from my staff. It is one of my favourite places to go and, although it seemed busier than usual, was a wonderful two days.  It may have been busier due to the perfect weather.  I even swimming and sat on the beach.IMG_0233

Wednesday I left for Alberta.  There is another of my favourite spots there – Elk Island National Park.  The camping is great IMG_0391  and there are no bears resident to the park so I feel pretty safe camping there.  It is so close to Edmonton but so quiet.  This morning in the rain as I was leaving the bison were all over the road.  It took a few extra minutes to get to the highway but it is fun to drive through a herd of these huge animals that are at relative ease with vehicles.

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And now here I am at the Friesen’s in the field.  I  timed it just perfectly. This morning, I awoke at about 5 am to the sound of little droplets of rain on the roof of the tent.  Wisely, I pulled myself off my comfy air mattress and took down the tent, packed up the car and then finished my morning sleep inside the car in the parking lot before heading down here.  It has been raining all day.  I am happy not to be tenting anywhere tonight.  It has been raining all day and it is supposed to get quite cold tonight.  I could handle cold maybe but not cold and wet. 

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Filed under Day to Day, Photos, Travels

August 11, 2009 · 9:15 pm

Stepping into shoes that maybe are still too big for me.

This is already a bit old being Tuesday already.  But there was no internet service out in the bush where I was for the past couple of days.

So, I’ve had time to reflect on what happened Sunday.  The experience was a bit unique.    It is a good thing that we come together to worship, not to have slick entertainment.  And we did worship.  In spite of the fact that our speaker did not come and we had to improvise at the very last moment.  And that the improvisation was me.

So, I led my first congregational communion service.  Without benefit of a Covenant Book of Worship.  Thank God that Paul wrote the basics in 1Corinthians!  Thank God that we have an abbreviated liturgy, or at least a responsive reading in the back of the hymnal.  And thank God that he showed up, we were fed and nourished by his Spirit and by his presence in our midst.  We gathered as a body united in Christ, we remembered his death and resurrection and we were fed.

I was glad when they said to  me, let us go into the house of the Lord.(Ps 122)  I really was.  But… I told everyone that they shouldn’t expect to see me in church again till we have a real pastor.  (After all, I will be away for the next month and the real McCoy’s should be here by then.)

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August 3, 2009 · 8:49 pm

Reunion review

This family reunion was very relaxed, pretty unstructured, but seemed to come together to make a meaningful weekend.  This was also a first – commemorating the fact that the ancestors, Joseph and Exilda, moved to Saskatchewan 100 years ago.

There was lots of time to sit and talk.  The Lanoie’s are exceptionally fine talkers and story tellers so you can just imagine.

We met at a little regional park – Sylvan Valley Regional Park, very close to the tiny community of St Victor.IMG_0105

Aside from being the site of a big biker rally, I doubt that many people find the valley that is home to the park.

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It is a beautiful valley with trees hidden in the midst of the surrounding prairie hills and fields.  And near it is a site attempting to preserve some early petroglyphs which you can make out faintly in the sandstone rocky outcrop.

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The badlands are full of surprises, hidden from most of us city folk who never venture out to these wild places of grass, wind and sun.  There really are no attractive beaches nearby, no city to shop in, and only a primitive museum and attempts by the community to preserve this part of history along with that of the early people who travelled out here to settle and try to farm.

But in this country, the Lanoie’s are well known.  They have lived here and farmed here for a hundred years.

The weather was great, the food was good and the drink did not run out (well, except for the rum.  There are a lot of rum drinkers among this bunch.)  The people are salt of the earth kinds of people, even if they can be a bit rough around the edges.  Most still live around those parts but others came from as far as Connecticut.  IMG_0064 IMG_0086

We had fun.  I hope the children will continue to gather the clan together in the future, remembering their roots, holding onto shared values and even the faith that we celebrated on Sunday morning.

More pictures will be posted over on Flikr and a link set up as soon as I get this done.

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Update – sorry but the distorted pictures at a larger size just bothered me too much, hence small but undistorted. I’m sure there is a way around this but I have still to figure that out.

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