The retirement Grande Tour

I have so many memories of life at the lake, the Shuswap of course. When I retired from teaching, I travelled down East to visit my daughters. Spent time first in Ottawa, becoming a new Canadian. I was baptised into the feeling of being at the center of a great country. Wyona and Greg were so hospitable. I had rented a car to drive to Ottawa and on to Montreal. On my way I was able to stop in Kingston to visit with our friends Spring and Clyde Foresberg. Then it was off to see Cath and Eric. I had been to Montreal earlier on one of my trips to the Arctic, to Resolute Bay, I believe, to cook for a geological exploration company. In any event, this visit was fun because it was with family. I remember Catherine taking me down town. We saw the oldest part of the city and its churches. Walked the cobblestone streets, visited the huge cathedral on the top of Mount Royal, and sampled some of the famous French cuisines, French fries and gravy—poutine if I remember, and of course those tourist’s staple, the beef sandwitches at that little café.

From Montreal by airplane it was off to Fredericon New Brunswick to visit Steve and Rebecca and Alex, whose idylic childhood and surprising ingenuity filled our lives with laughter. Of course he was our first grandson, and his mother’s letters had been full of the amazing events told in the most delightful style of a great writer, his hiding in the cupboards and popping out to surprise his mother just to mention one. Rebecca’s tours of the oldest university in Canada and sitting in the desks once warmed by founding fathers who carved their names thereon. One of the highlight was to go with Rebecca to a meeting of an Native Indian band who were protesting the violation of one of their grave yards. It was chaired by a native lawyer who was so brilliant . These were a tribe of Indians who were here when the first Europeans almost starved to death, saved by the natives who taught them how to live in this new world. How connected I felt having just had my Canadian Idenity confirmed in Ottawa, and connected to Elizabethan culture and Shakespeare through university studies in English Literature. Here I was with a people who saw the beginings of Canada, and in a place where European Empire building got such an early toe-hold. How proud I was that Rebecca was able to start her career in such a place.

My last flight was of to the heart and head-ache land of early Mormon history: Kansas City Missouri where Bonnie was doing her Doctors Degree in Child Language Development. It was an unexpected surprise to find myself there. I had read the history of the persecutions of my great grand parents and the Prophet Joseph and his early Restoration band of pioneers, but I had never grounded it in geography. I found my self going to Independence where the Centre Stake of Zion was to be. Visiting the Reorganized Church’s temple, reading the extermination order of Governor Boggs, and a copy of the appology of the current Governor to the reorganized Mormons for the injustices the state had perpetrated on the Mormons. Bonnie let me make trips to famous spots. To the dungeon where the Prophet spent the winter, and penned some of the most moving passages in the D. & C. A visitor’s centre had been built around the dungeon. A senior Misionary couple were hosting. I had an informative visit about the political events. The elderly gentleman had worked for ZCMI, had worked closely with many of the General Authorities, and gave an excellent analysis of early American history. I thought of the printing press that the Missouri mobs destroyed. It seemed ironic that printing presses became a kind of liet motif of Mormon history, and keeping records a preoccupation of Mormon practice.

Visits with Bonnie and her friends were intereting. Her boyfriend at the time invited us to have dinner with his mother. Some other friends also came. In conversation with one friendly chap of whom I wondered how long his people had lived in this area. “We’ve lived here for many generations,” he cheerfully noted. “Then some of them were here when the Mormons were being chased around in these woods?” “Yes,” he proudly replied, “We helped encourage them to keep moving West.” What a nice light touch there was to his history.

reconnection experience

I awoke this morning to Rebecca's first use of her London telephone. Flailing around for my new phone I at first thought it was Sharon. However R's high level of enthusiasm made me say: (to Sharon) You are sure high! After R's denial that she was not on drugs, I recognized her voice and then we had a good laugh and a wondeful report on her new phone and beating Steve to its first use. Her updated report on starting her London Blog and helping Duncan do his first blog, was so interesting that I had to get up and get to my computer(?). What a wonderful read I had, both of Arta's blogs, and of Duncan's and Rebecca's blogs.

In my efforts to do my second blog of this new series, I mostly just discovered how much review and additional tutoring I need from DP. So now, having practiced a little more, I am going to get some breakfast and organize the coming week.

Back to the land of the Bloggers

Thanks to Doral and the inspiraion of Arta's and Bonnie's posts, I have committed my self to doing some blogging tonight, if not some every day from now on. Thanks for directing my attention to your latest blogs, and your posting of Elizabeth Davies' lovely post about your parents. I was so thrilled with the way her memories jogged mine and I was flooded with memories of our youth together, and our memories of raising our family in those happiness-packed times at the lake.

Moti came home from his lab about 8:oo and we have spent a couple of hours visiting and having our "appetiser" (ice-cream) before Moti was to go up stairs and make his main course. He kept putting it off by saying he needed another appetiser to increase his appetite. When he finally went up he had decided it was bed time, and that he was too tired to deal with the entre.

This whole evening began with my reading your blog Bonnie and writing a comment. I couldn't get it posted, had to call Doral to help me figure out what I had done wrong, and D and I spent an hour in tutorial. My profuse gratitude turned into a trap. Sticking my neck out like that found it in a noose, which Doral smartly tightened into, "You can repay me by writing in your blog tonight before going to bed." Moti offered to type for me but I told him to take another"appetizer" and go to bed. I didn't think that his typing was what Doral's contract entailed.

Your cure for the problem we Started with hadn't worked so Moti showed me how to solve it another way and left me to do my chores honestly.

I love the writing of all my children, but today especially yours Bonnie. Thank you!

How I got my first harmonica

Thomas asked me how I got my first harmonica when I came to visit him in August 2010.

Catherine ran the video machine while I talked.




The story begins.




The story continues.




The end of the story.

Revisiting Barnwell for ten days. Apr 22 -- May 5

Motivations for this visit were at least two: I had scheduled a trip with President Tony Steven to go to the Cardston Temple; and an unexpected visit to Canada by Preston who wanted to get together with his siblings and make tape recordings of their reminiscences of growing up in Barnwell. Preston came to Calgary to take Sharon and I down to Barnwell, but conflicts arose with motives (1) and (2), and a visit with Grant here in Calgary revealed that he would be unable to come with us, but would bring Sharon down with him when Arlan was able to come on Saturday. Preston returned to Barnwell to a lovely dinner, and I had a very interesting ride down with Tony on Thursday. Bev and Virginia, Preston, Molly and Nadiene met with Tony and I after the Temple session to have lunch in the Temple Cafeteria, and then Tony went back to Calgary while the rest of us traveled to Barnwell.

While we waited for Grant, Boyce, Arlan and Sharon to arrive a day or so later, we visited and taped memories, and played Rook and their finger bidding game to peels of laughter. When Molly, Nadiene and Virginia grew tired, Bev and I watched a BYU series report on the huge project initiated by Jesse of publishing all the Joseph Smith Papers. There were 52 TV episodes, all of which I saw, that were collected, edited, and rendered in readable print, which was then printed side by side with the photocopy of the original hand written documents.

Go to tomorrow's episode two.

Revisiting Barnwell for ten days.

More Memories Coming Later

It is Wednesday today, May 5, 2010.

Bev and Virginia drove Bruce's wife Ruth Ann and me up to Calgary yesterday. She had a medical appointment and they had asked me to wait until Tuesday rather than take the Greyhound last Thursday.

Bev had so many Income tax forms to help his family with and the weather report is always negative. I agreed to stay the extra time which was pleasant for me.

That gave more card games to enjoy with Molly and Nadiene.

Nadiene had been working for so long on collecting photos for a history of Mother, and she rushed through the process of copying everything she and other had brought together with Preston's encouragement and Molly's help. She and Molly tried to get in on as many games as they could and we had lots of fun!

I do have a lot of things to share that happened in Barnwell.