Confusing Halloween

Today is Halloween...

As I look at this picture of my granddaughter in her first Halloween costume - so many years ago - I'm struck by her look of confusion: what's happening here?!

Halloween is confusing! 

In a year or two she will be wondering: Why am I going out to knock on neighbours' doors to ask for candy?! 

In my working days, one of my colleagues shared the story of HER first confusing Halloween. 

She had left war-torn Lebanon with her two children, seeking a safe home for the three of them. She had arrived in Canada on ... Halloween!

When they got off the plane, they were greeted by people in strange, ghoulish costumes...

What kind of crazy country have I brought my children to?! She wondered in panic, ready to turn around and get back on the plane...

Her story is an example of how newcomers and tourists may be feeling today: What's happening here?!

Two Seasons

Terry and I each divide the year into two seasons ...(but they aren't the same!)

(Mine also fluctuate more than his do!)

I divide my year into days and months when it's safe for me to walk outdoors - before the ice and snow arrive - and when it's not. 

We're currently in walking season - but that could change at any time, without warning. Any day, I could wake up and there you are!

So my walking season can begin as early as February (in good years) and end as early as mid-October. 

Terry's two seasons are PLANNED by the NFL Football league: football season and non-football season. 

Football season begins in September and ends in early February. For these five and a half months, every family plan depends on the timing of the game or games he NEEDS to watch. Absolutely nothing pre-empts that.

We often comment that it's significant that we met and got engaged in early spring, right after football season had ended. We got married 8 months later - at the beginning of football season. 

When Terry talked about having a TV at our wedding reception (so as not to miss an important game), I thought he was joking - but he wasn't! I didn't really know the man I was marrying!

Enjoying Octoberfest

Last weekend we enjoyed an "Octoberfest" meal at North Market restaurant in Almonte. 

It was a belated celebration of Terry's and my 49th wedding anniversary. 

There were homemade perogies...

We all loved the German pasta (spaetzla) with mushroom sauce - a specialty of Bavaria (Munich).

Also the sausage... Maybe that's what everyone was sharing in the picture below. 

(There was a lot of sharing going on!)

Afterwards we had dessert at Hummingbird chocolate factory... ice cream or hot chocolate.

(Guess who LOVES ice cream but decided not to have any?!)

After all that delicious food, everyone was ready for a nap!

Fun and Games

I'm glad I didn't notice the "no photography" sign until I left the pool area...

I haven't attended a swimming lesson for years, so I had no idea how my grandkids were doing now.

(Even they were interested in seeing pictures of themselves in the pool.)

Jericho - whose class was over - entertained me by hiding!

("Grandma, can you see me??") 

Never a dull moment with kids around!

Kite Weather!!

Kites can be so much fun!!

On some windy days, everything is perfect!

It helps if you can run!! (I know I couldn't...!)

Hope they have a few more perfect kiting days...

Great exercise for all!

Grandma Camp

Last week Jericho had a few days of "Grandma Camp."

Out came the toys!

Actually, it was Grandma AND Grandpa camp. Here they are coming back from checking out a giant blow-up gorilla... 

Grandpa led the field trip to Arnprior...

We all enjoyed the visit with the chickens at the Needham Farm.

There was also Lego fun.

Jericho showed us that he was also skilled at washing dishes by hand! All in all, a fun and busy few days!

Remembering...

Today is my parents' wedding anniversary.

The wedding ceremony took place in 1944 at a church in south Edmonton, Alberta.

The reception was at my grandparents' rural home - just south of the city.

The top picture is mom and her bridesmaids at her parents' farmhouse...

This picture shows my mother's wedding cake - which she baked and decorated. She kept the top layer on display in the china cabinet for years - until we moved to Kelowna, in fact. That would have been about 15 years later. I remember her sadness at saying goodbye to the cake, a special souvenir of her wedding day.

I really have no idea how long top layers of wedding cakes were kept - but it was a tradition to keep them on display. I don't think they were intended to be eaten. The icing never attracted mice or ants, to my recollection!

Here is part of the group who attended the wedding. My father is standing to my mother's right.

I wonder if my mother and her family prepared all the food - or if friends contributed gifts of food... 

I never thought to ask.

August Vacation - Looking Back!

When our children were young, we usually took family vacations in August.

I often taught summer school in July - so, during that month, the children attended day camps and enjoyed activities we never did as a family: tennis camp,  YMCA camp outdoors in the woods - where a squirrel memorably chewed a hole on one of the kid's backpacks because he could smell a peanut butter sandwich inside.

Then in August, we'd pack everyone into the station wagon and head off - some years to Texas, where my brother's family lives. Some years out west, where both Terry and I have relatives. Other years, we'd stay closer to home.

In 1988, we headed to New England, Maine - and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, where Terry was born.

If our kids learned to be adventuresome, to get along - and to know their cousins - I credit these long family vacations - when we spent 3 or 4 weeks together - in a cramped vehicle - on the road!

Family Memories

One of the things I was excited to see on my father's home movies from the 1950's - now digitized - was a scene with my father and his sister Elsie, together with their mother, Helene.

My father and his sister, who was a year younger than him, would have been in their mid-40's. Their mother, in her mid to late 60's. 

(As a child, I always thought of my grandparents as very old - although now I see them in a different light!)

I see a facial resemblance between my dad and his mother. 

Occasionally, when I see my face in the mirror, I'm surprised at how much I resemble Elsie when she was my age.

Elsie was a wonderful seamstress and loved gardening. 

I spent a lot of time with her family, when we lived in Hay Lakes and Red Deer.

My grandmother, whom we called Oma, lived with us and looked after my brother the year my mother and I commuted between Hay Lakes and Kingman, the first year my mother taught home economics.

The following year, our family moved to Red Deer - but Oma stayed in Hay Lakes and cared for a handicapped child - the daughter of the local blacksmith. I don't remember how long she did that before moving back to Edmonton.

But it was a thrill to see their faces again!

Cherished Souvenir

I recently came across an interesting souvenir that my parents had brought back from their first trip together to Europe: a piece of the Berlin Wall.

 

When Germans in East Berlin were allowed to cross freely into West Berlin, in November, 1989, my parents were excited to visit Germany, which had been divided into two countries - East and West Germany - after World War 2. 

My father's half-sister, Emma, lived in East Germany. He hadn't seen her since he left Poland in 1929, when he was 19 years old. She had been a young child at the time.

I don't know how or when she moved from Poland to Germany. Was she married at the time? I don't know. But family members had been in contact with her by mail. So off my parents went.

One of the souvenirs they brought back with them was a packaged piece of the Berlin Wall.

Included in the box is  a certificate of authenticity and a map showing where in the wall the piece of concrete was taken from.

Is it legit? (It was packaged, not in Germany, but in the USA!) 

I have no idea - but my father loved the idea that he owned a concrete piece of the wall which, for over 40 years, had been a symbol of oppression - but which now was proof of the endless possibilities of freedom and peace.

Conversation With Six-Year-Old

I had promised to buy him a gift for passing into grade 2, and he chose a nerf gun...

I was conflicted: I don't like to see kids with guns - even toy ones with sponge bullets. And then there's the potential danger of projectiles hitting the eyes... 

I probably should have refused, but I didn't.

Okay, I finally said . But if  you shoot at anyone's face, or hit anyone in the eye, the gun will be confiscated. I'll take it away until you're 21.

Why 21? He asked.

Because you'll be an adult, I replied.

I won't be living here, he said. I'm leaving when I'm 19.

Where will you be living? I asked.

He paused, then replied: In Spain.

(Hmmm. Spain? Is that because Spain just won the world cup?! Everything affects everything... I wonder how many little boys are now talking about a place called Spain?!)

Old Family Movies - Vacation

My father took home movies when my brother and I were young. We watched them regularly in the early years - but for a long time now the reels have sat in a box, untouched.

My brother (the child on the left)  had them transferred to digital format and recently sent me a version I could watch on a smartphone or computer. 

We've come a long way!

A few days ago, I watched one of the old reels.

I sat transfixed, remembering our first visit to Kelowna in 1957. 

My grandmother (above) - probably stepping out of the kitchen. Is that a clothesline full of white sheets top left?!

It looks so peaceful!

My uncle Bob - age 16 or 17 - putting the smallest cousin on a horse.

I understand now why my parents fell in love with the area - and why, two years later, our family moved there.

Watching it all really took me back!

Looking Back

Today is my mother's birthday. 

A while back, I came scross these photos from 2010, taken on her 91st birthday. 

My three kids were there - together with my daughter-in-law, Natalie.

A group of us had lunch with her at her retirement residence. 

My brother and his wife had brought along, from Texas, my sister-in-law's niece and her new husband. 

My brother always liked to bring friends with him. He enjoyed showing off Canada!

Fun times! Great memories!

Morning Walk

A few days ago, I slept over at my grandkids' house. 

It was a fun, busy time.

After they had caught the morning school bus - at 7:15 AM - my son asked if I wanted to join him for a walk...

He didn't have to start work until 9.

Great idea! 

So off we went around Almonte.

There was less water running over the falls than I expected.

Not long afterwords, Terry arrived to pick me up...

What a peaceful way to start our day!