56 ...

The news came quietly ...

not even a headline for this death ...

The 56th death in the Afghani Conflict came today,

thoughts and prayers

to the families, friends and comrades

of our fallen ...

Lest We Forget !!!

Got It !!

There is no room left in our world for romantics ...
... we've let the boors win.

I remember ...

I was privilveged once to see a Marcel Marceau show in Hamiliton Ontario ... It was enchanting.

One of the sketches he did still stands out for me ... He came on stage and as one hand passed over his face it posited there a happy mask ... then when the other hand passed over his face it posited a sad mask.

Marcel floated and danced across the stage changing masks. His body embracing the mood of the mask ... then suddenly, the happy mask got "stuck" on his face ... He fought it ... he struggled against it ... he tried desperately to claw it off.

His face was joyous ... his body was anything but ... with slumped shoulders, and waves of grief washing over him, he desperately tried to pull the mask off ...

The "mask" had a huge grin, while the body was heartbroken ...

It was an interesting sketch ... and it is sometimes simply too true ...

Life Lesson Learned ...

A native elder in the middle of a conversation about feeling oppressed and held down once told me: "a man can't ride your back unless you bend down and let him climb aboard first ... but once he's on it's hard to shake him off."

Still makes me say - "Hmmmm ..."

Fox kits ... an afternoon visit ...

Today, I just want to be a cat ...

Can you blame me ...

55 ...

As the morning comes across our land

it brings the news of another soldier falling on a foreign battlefield.

Thoughts and prayers for our soldiers,

their families,

and for the fallen.

Today the tally climbs to 55.

Lest We Forget.

Lest we take them for granted.

A true friend will:

- whisper words of encouragement when needed ...

- drop everything and run to your side when your heart is broken ...

- be there to listen, pour tea and make you smile when necessary ...

- offer best wishes from half a world away just because ...

- make you smile and laugh in spite of the tears ...

- stand by you no matter what is happening ...

- help you hide the evidence ...

- take the wrap ...

- help you bind up that broken heart ...

- still love you no matter what ...

and perhaps most remarkably of all:

they are often totally unaware they are doing any of it!!

-----------------------------------------

In many ways, I've been reminded of this today ...

I hope I can be these things to my friends !!

----------------------------------------

True friends simply and utterly ROCK !!!

Bye Uncle Bobby, and thanks for all the memories ...

Okay, I grew up in Southern Ontario, and for a time the only stations we had at our house were CKCO from Kitchener and CFPL from London, and on a really good day you could get CHCH from Hamilton ... I've mused previously on The Hilarious House of Frightenstein ... but as I wander down memory lane other tid-bits of my childhood television viewing pop up ...

I can remember watching Big Al on CKCO ... and Romper Room with Miss Betty ... Then when we got cable, we were able to watch CHCH regularly, and saw the Tiny Talent Show each Saturday afternoon (that was usually the signal to turn off the tv and do something else ...) and from the ABC affiliate in Buffalo NY there was a childrens'show called Commander Tom and another called Rocketship 7 where Dave Thomas, along with a big robot made of kitchen appliances and heating ducts, showed Gumbi, Davy & Goliath cartoons and other shorts for kids ...

But one of my favourites that I had completely forgotten about until I read of his death this morning on the CTV news site was Uncle Bobby, who for many years hosted a childrens' programme on CFTO from Toronto. I can only recall snippets of his programme ... but I'm clearly not alone. Click Here, to visit a site celebrating Uncle Bobby and his tv show ...

To learn more about Uncle Bobby - check out the CTV news story that marks his passing at the tender age of 82 ... I haven't thought about Uncle Bobby for years, but today I kind of miss him and what his show meant to me ...

Rest in Peace Mr. Ash, and thanks for all the memories ...

My First ...

Now that I have a lap top that I have found increasingly indispensible, I can look back on a number of other computers that came into my life for a time and were then upgraded to a new and better unit ... Each one having new features, and larger memory and more capability than the one that preceded it ...

BUT, I still remember my first ... it was a third hand Commodore Pet, that was programmable in BASIC computer language and that had an external cassette tape drive for saving programmes and data ... Anyone else remember the early PCs???

My PET was awesome. I was one of the first kids in my class to have my OWN computer ... others has Vic-20's and a couple had Commodore 64's ... BUT, I had the "real" computer ... I was able to sit in my room and write games programmes, do interesting things like set the computer up to count to 1 000 000, and do creative graphics on the greeen screen with semi-colons, commas and so on ...

Looking back it was pretty simplistic, but at the time it was COOL, in a geeky sort of way ...

I wouldn't trade my lap top for a PET, but I look back with fondness on the ability to have a personal computer back when computers were new ... Ah the memories !!

This one is for The Half Note:

I had to post these pictures after reading Tonight's entry on At the Half Note ... When we passed this field today I noticed the Clydesdales amongst the other horses (there were dozens and dozens of horses in the field - it was UNBELIEVABLE !!), and I thought of Katie's horse Oakley ...

Then when I got home and started blogging I read her heart-wrenching entry about the challenges she faces at times just being a mom, and I decided to post these two pictures to inspire a mom who loves her little cherub ... and who together love a beautiful big boy horse named Oakley:

Moms are special ... the world is better place because of them !!

No sign of Aerophant !!

Along the way today, we passed through Oakland ... But I saw no sign of Aerophant or it's illustrious producer Ms. T. Moses ... Not sure why, Oakland isn't that big of a place, and Ms Moses strikes me as the kind of person who would truly stand in out in such a small town ...

What's that??

OH !!!

Oops, Aerophant is from Oakland CALIFORNIA,

not Oakland MANITOBA !!!!

I must have mis-read the map ...

Mea Culpa !!

A visit to the Snake Pits at Narcisse ...

Today, after a lazy sleep in kind of morning, we decided to head to Winnipeg for the day ... our original plan was to go to The Snake Pits at Narcisse, north of Winnipeg, but the thunderstorms that were tracking across Manitoba this morning put our plan in doubt ... About half way to Winnipeg, the weather was cloudy but not rainy, so the decision was to turn left and head overland on a gravel road to Narcisse !!!

We arrived shortly after 1 and Noahkila' s God Mother Auntie W, Ms H, Beetle and I walked to the snake pits ... Noahkila stayed in the van.

There weren't lots like other visits, but at pit #4 there were dozens of red sided garter snakes writhing in the grass around the pit ... we saw enough to make the trip worth while:




The snake pits at Narcisse are truly awesome - they are a must see stop in Manitoba each Spring !! Unless of course you don't like snakes !!!??

We went walking ...

Faces at the Zoo ...

Happy Birthday Noahkila ...

We birthday-ed the lad last night with a cake done up like wizard's chess from Harry Potter ... He was thrilled ... the candles and sparklers were a nice touch ... it was a nice way to celebrate his 13th Birthday !!



Then this morning after the thunderstorm passed, we decided to go to Winnipeg for the day ... along the way we made the decision to head to the Snake Pits at Narcisse ... Noahkila stayed in the van while the girls and Auntie W and I walked the trails and found the snakes. Then from there it was back to Winnipeg for dinner and a "walk" around the zoo:

He didn't want to do it at first ... but for $2.50, we rented a wheel chair to push Noahkila around the zoo ... to be fair he walked the first five exhibits before changing his mind ...

His sisters howled with protest that it wasn't fair that he got "to have all the fun" sitting in a wheel chair ...

We did learn that the Zoo is wheel chair accessible, but not entirely wheel chair friendly ...

Pushing him around for the afternoon, I was reminded of when he was a tiny lad, and strapped in the stroller, and I thought of the many hours we spent pushing him through museums, zoos, parks, malls and countless other places ... It was fun to remember ... The big difference today was the pretty teenie-bopper who was following us through the zoo, smiling at Noahkila and watching him like she was star-struck ... part of me wanted to say - "get away from my boy ... leave him alone !!!" But another part of me marvelled at her persistence, and quite enjoyed the sight of a girl so obviously smitten by a boy - ah, Puppy Love !!??

I realized today (his weight in the chair helped with the realization) that my little boy is not so little any more ... but for today for a brief moment, he was once again the wee lad in the stroller marvelling at the diversity of animals at the zoo !!!

Happy Birthday Noahkila ... I hope you have fun dreams tonight !!!

It was a fun way to honour your birthday !! Thanks.

He survived ... but we gave him some scares along the way ...

Snake eyes ... Narcisse continued ...

May Long ... The Birthday Weekend !!

For many in Canada, the May Long is lived out as the May 2 4 weekend, with more than a 2 4 of beer being consumed ... In our household though, the May Long weekend remains a Birthday-ing Weekend for us ... Noahkila turns 13 on Monday, and Beetle turned 8 today ...

So on our May Long Weekend, thoughts of Queen Victoria are pushed aside and our life is focused on dinners, cakes, celebration and fun ... Noahkila's God mother has arrived for her annual Holiday with us ... it is worth noting that W has NOT missed one of Noahkila's birthdays since his arrival back in Bella Coola in 1994 ... I still remember leaning in the garage door that day and saying to W (who was working on a kayak in the garage ) "I'm going to see my son ..."

It was a proud day ... I'm still proud of him !!!

I had been there when he arrived ... I had gone home to sleep before coming back to see him and mom ... there are few sensations like holding a sleeping new born in your arms and looking down at their beautiful face and thinking - "wow, this is MY kid !!!"

I also remember Beetle's rushed arrival ... she stayed late and entered in a big hurry!! If it had taken me any longer to park the van, I would have missed it ... I'm glad I didn't. What I remember most was her massive frame tucked into a tiny incubator in the nursery at the Langley Hospital. She had swallowed merconium, so there was some concern ... she weighed in at a whooping 10 lbs and 14 ozs !!!! So to see her along side tiny underweight newborns was startling !! I don't think the nurses appreciated my comments about "the baby that could eat the others !!" But with her feet pressed against one end and her head cramming the other, I just couldn't help it !!!

They've grown alot in the last few years ... Noahkila is on the verge of becoming a man - and he will in time be a fine young man, despite the challenges he offers his parents and his sisters ... Beetle remains a drop of golden sunshine in our world - demanding, bossy but capable of great caring, with a wonderful smile and cheery disposition - she captured my heart long ago ...

It's a busy weekend ... but it is one filled with memories ... laughter ... love and nothing but potential.

Our May Long is always long on love ... and that's okay ... I would want it no other way.

I love my kids and I am blessed and privileged to be their dad !!

Happy Birthday Beetle !!

A thought for today ...

Remember that the horizon is simply as far as you can see,

the world is a much bigger place than our eyes can comprehend.

We owe it to ourselves to wander and explore and

experience the world and all that it has to offer.

To fail in this endeavour is to leave your dreams and your potential

unfulfilled and unrealized ...

- me

Today is a better day ...

I'm feeling less like Eeyore today ...

... and "that's a good thing !!"

An Eeyore Kind of Day ...

It's just been one of those days ...

Bye Bye Jerry ...

I'll resist the temptation to sing "Ding Dong The Wicked Witch is dead," from The Wizard of Oz ... mainly because it is one of my favourite films and I would hate to taint it with an assocation with Mr. Falwell.

I will even resist the temptation to use words like outrageous, ill-informed, scary and any other that comes to mind when I think of the idiotic proclamations that have spewed forth from the mouth of Mr Falwell.

I will even resist the temptation to cast rocks in his direction ...

The only thing that comes to mind tonight at the news that Jerry Falwell has passed from this life to the next arises from the final verse in a hymn we often use in our Church - the line says: "and when you close your eyes, I'll (God) will be there with just one more surprise ..."

My faith tells me tonight that Jerry Falwell is one surprised guy ... I doubt heaven is like he thought it to be ... I can only give thanks that God is so much broader and more wonderful than the likes of Mr Falwell think God to be ...

That may be Mr Falwell's biggest surprise ... the presence of Gays, Lesbians, minorities, and non-Christians is likely another.

So - the only way I can think to say "Farewell" to a colleague like Mr Falwell is with some help from a little friend who was once the target of Mr Falwell's rants:

Teletubby Bye Bye !!

Rest in peace Mr Falwell,

you will NOT be missed by me.

------

Nice ...

Dad: "Ms H. Can you call your brother down for supper ?"

Ms. H.: "Okay ..."

She then moves to the bottom of the stairs and at the TOP of her lungs begins screaming:

Ms H.: "Noahkila, you're a loser !!! You're an idiot !!! You're a freak !!! You've ALWAYS been a loser and an idiot and a freak !! ..."

Dad: "Hey !! Hey !! Hey !! What are you doing?"

Ms H.: "You told me to 'call him down'. So, I'm calling him down ..."

Dad: (stunned into speechless silence ...)

For his part Noahkila was listening to music in his room, so he missed the whole situation !! Thank God for small mercies !!

Psssst ...

I'm in the office this morning getting ready for a memorial,

my cell just went off asking me to preside at another ...

... as a pick me up, I have The Beach Boys blasting at

FULL VOLUME

AND

every once in awhile I get out of my chair and dance around the office ...

I might look stupid and dance funny, but it feels good ...

and today I just need it !!!!

I recommend it highly!!!

Bumblebees and Honey Bees ... more pictures:

Picture to make you say - WOW !!

I'm not 100% sure what kind of flowering shrub this is,

but the bees and wasps go crazy for the blossoms in the spring:

Awesome !!
Lunch time !!

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon ...