Musings on a Small Life

I got back from my visit with Dad late on October 6th. Long travel days at each end, but no serious delays or hassles, which was a minor (or not-so-minor) miracle.   It was great to see Dad. He did pick me up at the airport when I flew in on September 28th, but I took a cab to the airport on Oct 6th -- it was early AM and very foggy and I didn't want Dad driving me anymore than he wanted to drive in the foggy dark.   Tuesday was a rainy day, so errands, but Wednesday September 30th we went to Britannia Shipyards/Steveston Village , both of which I've been to before. (Click to enlarge the pics for best viewing. All taken with my phone, I didn't really bother with my little pocket Canon.)     We had delicious fresh fish chowder at the Blue Canoe for lunch; yum. Steveston is an active fishing community; the fishers sell their catches on the wharf, at exorbitant prices, for the tourists.   I won't bother posting all the pics of the shipyards and quarters for the wor...

Or, westward-ho! It was a long haul out west to visit my dad, a three hour bus ride to Pearson Airport and then the five hour flight, plus all the wait times in between. It was good, though, and luckily I had a great seat mate on the plane who actually lives just outside of my city. He's travelled extensively world-wide for work and he and his wife recently were in Ireland for pleasure (he has family there). Oh, the pics he showed me! Gorgeous! We were of an age, so we chatted almost non-stop the entire flight! It was a terrific distraction and I didn't even bawl on takeoff as I usually do. 😭😆 Oh, and long time readers might recall that I tend to spill food all over myself when I fly; this time it was only a little bit of the free, crappy white wine I had. I always have those Tide stick-things with me, so a couple of dabs took care of it. 🙃 

From the Robert Burns poem, "To a Mouse":   The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men           Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,           For promis’d joy!    In this case, the "best laid schemes" mean Dad's trip east. He and his wife were to fly into Montreal on the 18th, then she go on to Spain with her sister and Dad spend a week there visiting family and friends, then come here for a week before heading home.   Alas, he's been in the hospital since last Thursday with pneumonia and is on oxygen (and antibiotics). He's not at death's door, but because of the fluid in his lungs, he can't breath properly without that oxygen. They are reducing it now, so he's improving, but I suspect the recovery will be lengthy, given his age (he's coming up on 86 in a few weeks).   I WhatsApped (it's a real word now, right?) with him on Sunday, and he looks pretty good, sounds fine, all things considered. The...

I was visiting my aunt (Mom's younger sister) in Cardinal this weekend. She had moved back to Ontario from Halifax after Mom passed, as she has a daughter and granddaughters in the area. We had stopped in and visited with this middle daughter yesterday, a cousin I hadn't seen (and didn't remember other than name only) in almost 50 years. The daughter/my cousin lives further out in the country with her partner on a couple of acres of gorgeous property, backing onto a farmer's fields. (It's beautiful, I'd never leave if I were there.) Anyway, they have two cats, Tigger and Oscar. Oscar was in hiding the entire time, but Tigger was quite sociable and happy to pose for the camera. He knows how handsome he is! They also have a dog, Onyx, who is a real sook! She couldn't get enough scritches and cuddles. The four-legged fur therapy was wonderful! I'm off very early tomorrow morning to visit friends, will take my camera in case the weather clears (cold and rain...

I'm going to power through and finally finish up the holiday pics, so this will be a picture-heavy post! For best viewing, click on the first pic and then use the arrow keys to scroll through. On my last full day, Dad took me to Boundary Bay and the "Secret Garden," as well as the Tsawwassen shopping centre. This little area is just past the parking lot, snack bar and washrooms, and is adjacent to the actual beach/bay. There were a few ducks in the pond, being fed by a local. One of the ducks had a significant limp and we found out from the fellow that the duck has been there for a handful of years, obviously thriving in spite of his "disability." The garden is a shady, serene "oasis," presumably created and maintained by the gardening residents. You can see that the garden has been created between the properties. The beach at Boundary Bay was filled with elementary students on an end-of-school outing. Apparently it's a popular spot for that, and t...