As a general truth, communities prosper and flourish, or droop and decline, in just the degree that they practise or neglect to practise the primary duties of justice and humanity. -William Henry Seward, Secretary of State, Governor, and Senator (16 May 1801-1872)
Up at 8:30 am, the first to stir in an A-frame filled, literally, to the roof, with The Sisterhood! Had woken, earlier, around 3:30 am, and noticed a flashing light through the blinds. Upon further investigation it turned out to emanate from the Durston's car, a touchy topic I first heard discussed yesterday, having been brought to Rosita's attention, to Spumoni's great dismay, while on the drive to Kenora. Am quite curious, myself, to know why this "disco" light cannot be shut-off but needs must be extra careful in my investigations lest I bring down the full wrath of The Sisterhood in trying to solve The Mystery of the Mysterious Pulsing Filament!
Hi Filmer! Thanks for letting us know. Understand completely. Sorry to miss seeing everyone but pretty hectic here as well. I'm sure we'll be back, at some point, at which time it would be great to have a proper visit. At any rate, we'll go straight to the airport, and collapse until it's time to board, but will pop by, en route, to drop off a couple of small presents for Kellan. If someone happens to be home, fine, we'll say hello and goodbye. If not, we'll just leave them on your deck, probably in a plastic bag, particularly if it is raining. Thanks again for all the wonderful pictures. Fondestos from Lady Dar to one and all. Buona Fortuna with sale of island and completion of renovations. Bravo! Onward!! Fight!!! Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: Last night, at one of the cabins at Falcon Trails Resort, on South Shore, where a close friend of Pamela's, Sandy, along with her son, Andrew, are staying, for next few days, to attend Dusty's funeral.
By the time I spent the morning cleaning up my desk top and then working on the first draft of what I would be saying at Dusty's funeral it was almost 3:00 pm. The sky was quite overcast but it wasn't raining so I decided I'd go for a ride. Clara gave me one of Dusty's light jackets as a bit of protection against the chance of any precipitation. I was already wearing one of his T-shirts and two pairs of his underwear, as padding, under my shorts, as well as a pair of his sneakers so I felt it was more him than me who was cycling.
Given the distinct possibility of rain, I decided I'd better make for West Hawk from the get-go so I headed to the Falcon town-site to do a quick loop there before taking the road to Toniata. Decided I'd ride down to the campsite, (although I'd gone there last summer with David Hughes), as I knew it would be easier going with Giorgio's mountain bike. Plenty of loose gravel and some sand patches near the bottom but I plowed through without much trouble. Climbing back up I was taken with the number of very large, attractive, obviously expensive homes, one couldn't really call them cottages or cabins, I'd never noticed before. Corinne's parents had spent many years camping here when she and her siblings were growing up. Certainly quite a change all over the Whiteshell and elsewhere of course.
Back onto the road to West Hawk and once there I took a quick jaunt to the Trans Canada interchange, past the United Church where Dusty's funeral service will be held tomorrow, before making for the beachfront as I wanted to ride the section past there which was once the old highway. Again, Giorgio's bike held me in very good stead as the surface is pitted and cracked and crumbling so extremely rough in spots. However, I negotiated it very easily, spitting on all the potholes as I swerved around them. At the bottom of the last hill which rises to meet the Trans Canada at its crest, I noticed that the gate which is usually across the roadway here had been removed, [There was always room for a bike to pass.], and I later saw evidence that it has now become part of a walking trail. [Later, in discussion with the Mighty Grigor, he confirmed that this section is now part of the Trans Canada Trail, I guess, in large part due to the country's 150 anniversary.]
At any rate, it had started raining pretty steadily by the time I had first reached West Hawk so, ironically, I looked forward to climbing all the hills I encountered because the downward rush was very, very chilly. Dusty's jacket was almost completely soaked by now and the exertion of climbing warmed me up a tad as the descent, particularly if it was into the wind, chilled me to the bone. My poor fingers were white, bloodless and so numb that I had little if any feeling in them. Still, nothing to do but soldier on so I gritted my teeth and kept pedaling. Fortunately, the strong wind seemed, for the most part, to be out of the NW so on the last long stretch, paralleling the highway as one approaches Falcon itself, it was more of a cross-wind. As well, the steady rain had stopped and was more of a light drizzle. The sky even brightened in the west and I caught glimpses of blue. Needed the light as the road was covered with lengthy earthworms, slithering hither and yon and I tried as best I could to avoid running over any.
At any rate, I was more than happy to pull into Ace Bay and quickly stored Giorgio's bike in his garage before hurrying inside to strip off my sodden togs. Dusty's sneakers were squelching so I took them off outside the door after draping his dripping jacket over the back of a patio chair and then I planned to thaw myself in the sauna. Sad to say, Dear Reader, Spumoni was in the shower so I had to wait until the bathroom was free. [The shower is in the same room where both the hot tub, (under repair, at the moment), and the sauna are located.] I consoled my shivering self by snacking on the lovely appetizers, [shrimp with cocktail sauce and a wide assortment of dips and cheeses and crackers], until Pam was finished her toilette and then I hopped under the hot water, forgoing the sauna as it would have taken about 10 minutes to heat up aand I wished to wait no longer to try to have feeling return to to my extremities! All in all, under the circumstances, a pretty good outing and I estimate, with all the reasonably extended dipsy-doodles, somewhere around 51 km, over a little more than three hours.
Maggie Carr Saddened for your loss. Sincere apologies,, I can't recall Dusty's relationship to you, Corinne's Dad? What a nice tribute to wear his jacket on your ride. I imagine the long rides help you to think on warm thoughts of the special people in your lives, in this case, Dusty. Carol Riera We will be with you all in spirit tomorrow.
Your little ones are doing fine. Well behaved, great foot warmers and loved to be petted. Today, I gave the Meadowlark Tickets to Lynn McDonald at Oasis as I have company on the 19th and though I would have loved to go it just wasn't in the cards
I worked at the winery today - busy for a Tuesday. Am sleeping at home a day earlier as it is our 47th Wedding Anniversary today and I felt it would be best to let Kevin warm my feet. When I was feeding supper to the cats, Duke didn't come in. I waited quite a while but he just didn't show up. So, I left the cat door unlocked for him.
I will go up around 630 in the morning and see if he is around. He may have found a girl friend and is having a sleep over. Anyway, he knows his way around the neighbourhood. Everything is ready for your company and Amanda is going to feed the cats on Thursday and Friday. She was fine with doing it. I will still go up a few times to play with the cats as I am sure they will miss me (really). Anyway, hope all is going as planned. Not sure where you are at this exact moment, but do take care. I had a wonderful time at the house and so enjoyed the quiet. Look forward to seeing you once your company has gone.
Had a lovely chat with your friend from England. And in case I didn't tell you, your chairs are ready to be picked up. Bye for now Dame Judith
Dear NEXUS Member, We have more exciting news to share with our members!
Further to the message we issued below, we are pleased to announce that NEXUS members no longer need to complete a paper CBSA Declaration Card (Form E311) when using a NEXUS self-serve kiosk at any Canadian airport where NEXUS is available. Note that paper CBSA Declarations Cards may still be handed out in-flight, as travellers who are not NEXUS members may need to complete them.
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