Like a wave on a beach ...

I'm not sure why ... but tonight on my walk home from coffee I stopped at the vacant lot where the building that housed Minnedosa United Church once stood. Maybe it was the presence of Monty; or perhaps it was just a sense of nostalgia on a warm spring night; but whatever it was, I walked up the path way to where the double doors once faced out on to Main St (the right side of the picture). I closed my eyes, drew a breath and began "walking through" the old building. The sense of peace washed over me as I moved across the sand on the lot ...

I was able to guide myself to EXACTLY where my office used to be, and for that moment I was back in the place that had for almost 6 years been my refugee and my hide-away ... I could see the books on the shelves the way they are supposed to be, not crammed tight as they are now ... I had space to move ... and it was good ...

Then I closed my eyes and walked through the building, out of the office suite, down through the Centre, past the kitchen, through the Choir room, up the back stairs to the Fellowship Hall, and then down the aisle where I was able to stand at the front of the sanctuary and once again see the wooden pews, the stained glass windows and the space where 105 years of Minnedosa life was marked and celebrated ... There was something comforting and peaceful about being able to physically move across the lot while marking the places where things used to be ...

For a brief moment, I was able to once again walk through the building that I had fallen in love with when I arrived in 2000 for my interview ... It's now gone, and in its place is a dry sandy vacant lot, where soon a new building will rise to replace the old ... But tonight for a moment, I was able to leave Monty out on the street by himself and once again meander through the comfortable old Church building that was taken from us so harshly ...

The funny part for me was the ability to walk across the sandy lot and to know exactly where in the old building I was ... It was like the building was there, if only for a moment ...

Another ghost following me home ...