The Art of Racing in the Rain

I have just finished reading the most wonderful book by the Seattle author, Garth Stein. I'm a sucker for dogs so the idea of a book written from the perspective of a much-beloved dog on the brink of death intrigued me. Also, I probably would never have known about the book had it not been because one of my students had to read it for Grade 8 Literature and was having some trouble getting through it and doing his assignment. So thanks, A.......!

It only took me two days to read the book but I probably would have spent more time absorbing all the detail if I hadn't needed to finish it by Saturday. I think I might go back and reread it another time even though I could hardly see the last several pages for the tears running down my face.

Here is a link to a synopsis of the story and if you scroll down a bit, be sure to watch the two videos included. Neither video is very long. One is about Enzo (the dog) talking about his belief that he will be reincarnated as a man, and the other is the author discussing how he got the idea for his novel. Both videos are really worth a look and the book very much worth the read. No point in my telling you anymore, so go on over and have a look for yourself.

O is for OOMPA LOOMPAS

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a children's book written by British author Roald Dahl and was published in 1964. It's the story of Charlie Bucket, a little boy with no money but a good heart who dreams of being able to buy candy just like any other child. Charlie wins one of the five "Golden Tickets" to visit the mysterious chocolate factory owned by Willy Wonka and run by his crew of mysterious Oompa Loompas. Charlie takes his Grandpa Joe as his guest and once behind the factory gates, he joins the other winners on a journey to discover that a kind heart is more valuable than a sweet tooth.

I read this book years ago while taking a Children's Literature course at university and then made sure my children got a chance to read it, along with seeing the 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder, retitled "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factor." The movie was remade in 2005 starring Johnny Depp, but I must say I prefer the original. I loved the music in the movie as it really brought it alive.

So just who or what are Oompa Loompas? Well, they come from Loompaland, which is a region of Loompa, a small isolated island in the Pacific Ocean. They were preyed upon by the Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers, and Snozzwangers so Willy Wonka invited them to work at his factory to get away from their predators. They tend to speak in rhyme and are mischievous, love practical jokes and singing. As each bad child makes his or her exit, they sing moralising songs accompanied by a drum beat. To me, they just make the story! The music in the 1971 and the 2005 movie versions are different, but I love the earlier movie's music better. Scroll down to get a taste of it - can't figure out why it won't sit right below here, but it's worth a listen.

Our thanks to creator/producer/director/hostess Denise Nesbitt and her team of Oompa Loompas for keeping the fun Ongoing.

N is for Nothing

I have nothing today. I even looked through the crossword puzzle dictionary and there were lots of N-words. But nothing has come to me that I want to write about. I thought of the word "nature" and thought I could put up some photos of my garden or the neighbourhood or the changing colours of the leaves. But my mind said, "No!" Not today.

I've been through a helluva couple of weeks, most nights not even being able to sleep without a little prescriptive assistance. No, I don't do narcotics....just a half a tranquilizer. After about an hour or so, it starts to kick in and I can relax.

It's not that I'm sad, but I'm not happy either. I feel nothing. I keep myself busy by going to aquacizes at the pool, talking to friends, and preparing for my students. I enjoy watching some things on TV at night but then I get bored so I read.

I have no right to complain. After all, I own my home and car and have money put aside. My daughters are happy in their lives and my grandchildren are healthy. I have social plans for Thursday breakfast and a pedicure in the afternoon. I'm having massage therapy Friday morning and getting my hair done Friday afternoon. And I'm going to a dinner party on Saturday. There is always something to do.

But I feel nothing right now. Nuts! I wonder how long this will last.

Haunted

Haunted: (1) to inhabit, visit, or appear to in the form of a ghost or other supernatural being or (2) to come to the mind of continually or obsess over

What with Halloween just around the corner, you might think I'm losing my mind, thinking that my house has recently been inhabited by ghosts and goblins. Well, that is not the case.

I have just finished reading the sensational book by Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, and I'm haunted by her depth of vision and wisdom at such a young age.

In 1942 and only 13 years old, Anne and her family along with 4 other Jews, went into hiding in Amsterdam. Over the course of the next two years, Anne wrote a diary of her experiences in the "Secret Annexe," the top floors of an old office building. They all were cut off from the outside world and faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters with no privacy and the ever-present danger of discovery and death at the hands of the Nazis.

In her introduction to the book, Eleanor Roosevelt writes that she was made "shockingly aware of war's greatest evil - the degradation of the human spirit."

What astonished me was that Anne's accounting of day to day life in hiding shows how rapidly she matured in only two years at a time of life that is so difficult for every young girl. She shows great warmth and wit with a high degree of intelligence and great sensitivity to others in her diary. The most profound part for me was when she wrote on Thursday, July 6, 1944 (less than a month before German soldiers broke down the doors of the Secret Annexe and dragged these eight innocent people to Gestapo headquarters in Amsterdam) the following:

People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things. You don't necessarily even have to be afraid of punishment after death; purgatory, hell, and heaven are things that a lot of people can't accept, but still a religion, it doesn't matter which, keeps a person on the right path. It isn't the fear of God but the upholding of one's own honor and conscience. How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before they fall asleep, they were able to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what had been good and bad. Then, without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day...Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that: "A quiet conscience makes one strong!"

Anne died in the Belsen camp in 1945 and her old school friend recounts their reunion there. "...I saw her beyond the barbed wire. She was in rags. I saw her emaciated, sunken face in the darkness. Her eyes were very large. We cried and cried, for now there was only the barbed wire between us..." Another survivor recalled that "Anne, who was already sick at the time, was not informed of her sister's death, but after a few days she sensed it, and soon afterwards she died, peacefully, feeling that nothing bad was happening to her."

She never saw her 16th birthday.

I wonder what Anne would have accomplished in her life had she lived. She wrote many times that she wanted to become a writer and to go on living even after her death. And her dream came true, albeit in a horrifying way.

Author Ernst Schnabel wrote, "out of the millions that were silenced, this voice no louder than a child's whisper...It has outlasted the shouts of the murderers and has soared above the voices of time."

I am haunted.

M is for MISMATCHED

I was really looking forward to spending the rest of my life with Lorne. We had planned on getting married this past September, but had to postpone everything due to his chemotherapy. At least that's what we told everyone. In actual fact, things started to fall apart a long time ago and came to a head in March.

I'm not going to go into details, but the man of my dreams turned out not to be as magnificent as I'd remembered him to be. I will be magnanimous towards him and admit that I, too, perhaps was not the maiden that he'd remembered, either.

As we got to know each other more deeply on a much more mature level, we both realized that life experiences had changed us and we began to have misgivings about a future together. After my husband's death in 1992, I had major resposibilities towards my children and had to work to maintain them through their teenage years and beyond. I had to become markedly self-disciplined, organized, and maternal. On the other hand, he had absolutely no experience or understanding of what it meant to be a married mate. We clashed on so many issues that it became impossible to continue our relationship. In essence, we were enormously mismatched.

He is now living elsewhere and will finish up his chemo without my direct support, although I do wish him well in the mending process. We might eventually be able to maintain a social relationship, but in actual fact, I think we will most likely go our separate ways.

I mourn the loss of the dream with him a second time in my life. Maybe God gave us the chance to come to the realization that we were not meant to be. But now I must move forward, marvelling in the joy I have with family, friends, and fulfilling work with my students. I'm also excited about planning my next trip - a cruise to Alaska next May with Daughter #2 and hopefully, an extended trip to the United Kingdom next summer or fall.

The Letter L, Brought to You by Leslie

Last Friday, October first, I spent a lovely morning sipping a Starbucks' Americano Misto (light, extra hot) and nibbling on homemade muffins with my friend who's going through chemo. After lunch and doing all my crossword puzzles, I decided it was too lovely a day to stay inside. So off I went, camera in hand again, for a lively stroll around the neighbourhood. This time, I took a slightly different route and kept the letter "L" in mind as I perused possible photographic possibilities. (Gee, maybe this should be for the week of the letter P...) But, I digress. Lots of things popped out at me (oops, there I go again with the letter P...) and I had a great time. I've put the photos together in a little slide show for you all and hope you have as lovely a time watching as I had doing it.

Pigging Out on Pumpkin Pie

Next weekend is our Canadian Thanksgiving, which has some similarities and differences to the American one. However, it is celebrated earlier - on the 2nd Monday of October, as declared by Parliament in 1957, to give thanks to God for the bountiful harvest.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. Although he didn't succeed, he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In 1578, he held a formal ceremony in what is now Newfoundland to celebrate surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving.

Then during the American Revolution, a lot of Americans who stayed loyal to England moved to Canada and brought many of their customs and traditions of the American Thanksgiving. One such similarity is the pumpkin pie, the standard dessert at every Canadian table. And the biggest difference between the American and Canadian Thanksgivings is that there are no pilgrims associated with the Canadian one.

In Canada, it's a national holiday, but not at all a religious one. Its roots and European heritage lie in something considerably more pagan. Original festivities date back 2,000 years to Celtic priests, the druids, who celebrated a harvest festival. Once the harvest had been safely stored, the Celts prayed for their sun god in the battle with darkness and the cold of winter. And this harvest season marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.

Not many Canadians concern themselves with the old paganism, but rather spend the holiday with family and friends. The traditional meal is roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, white or sweet potatoes (mashed with brown sugar and butter), fall vegetables like brussel sprouts, turnips, or carrots and the phenomenal pumpkin pie! Dinner can be on any day of the long weekend, but most eat it on Sunday so they have a day to recover before heading back to work.

I'm not sure what I'm doing this year as my birthday always falls right before the long weekend. Thus, there are always several get-togethers with family and friends to celebrate it. We often combine the two. Regardless, pumpkin pie is always better than birthday cake!


Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

K is for Kennedy, John Fitzgerald

When I was a young teen, I used to suffer from excruciating cramps. Inevitably, every month I'd be either throwing up or passing out from the pain. And so it happened that I was passed out in bed the afternoon of November 23, 1963, when my mother ran into my room and called me to follow her downstairs to watch TV. Something dreadful had happened.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States of America, had been killed by an assassin while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Hot water bottle clutched to my lower belly, I sat transfixed as the news was reported. Days, weeks, months, years later people still talk about the grassy knoll, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, and the Warren Commission. One of the most poignant images I still have in my own memory is the one when Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President while aboard Air Force One in the wake of the assassination. There are no smiling faces, just grim images of people doing what was necessary for the country. And Jacqueline Kennedy in her blood-stained pink suit, looks on in shock as she stands beside the new President.

Kennedy's assassination affected people all over the world and here in Canada, it was like losing one of our own. The Kennedy clan has a certain mystique that persists to this day and has even been called American Royalty. I've read books about this family and watched movies about them. They have been touched by the most horrific tragedies yet they persevere in life.

Although I was too young to know much about politics, John Kennedy seemed like a wonderful man to me (even though he was flawed, or perhaps I should say "human" as I later learned), and he and his family epitomized the best of the best. As a relatively young President, Kennedy not only worked hard at his job, but also made sure to take time for his family, allowing young Caroline and John Jr. to romp in the Oval office.

His famous quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country" is embedded in my brain. And I like to remember them as a shining example of brilliance, devotion not only to family but also to country, and deep understanding of the human spirit.

May those Kennedys who have passed away rest in peace and may those still living enjoy peace and tranquility until they join their ancestors in eternity.

So, do you remember where you were on November 23, 1963?

Autumn Arrives

I didn't go to Gentle Fit at the pool this morning. Instead, I went for a lovely walk around the neighbourhood, camera in hand, hoping to catch a few shot of the beginning of autumn. Luck would have it and I did get a few good ones. We don't have any brilliant colours on the trees yet, but because we've been alternating between rainy and sunny days, things are starting to look a bit weary and dreary. Be sure to click on the photos to see them in more detail. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

J is for Joints

As if that big jokester in the sky hasn't given me enough jabs and jolts lately, I recently found out that I can't take any more NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or any regular anti-inflammatory medications (like Advil). The joyous news is that these drugs have affected my kidney function. Isn't that just the juiciest bit of jarring news ever!

Yes, I'm limited now to Tylenol for the pain of osteoarthritis, which caused all my back problems since the age of 29, and the newer pain of some rheumatoid arthritis in my hands. Just great! But as I said to my wonderful new doctor (a lady), "I'd rather have a bit more pain to deal with than jeopardize the life of my kidneys."

So today I joined up again at the pool, taking what we call "Gentle Fit." Jumping (and I use that term loosely) into the pool, the ladies formed a circle as we awaited our leader. It was quite amusing as we went around telling each other why we were there - hip replacement, awaiting hip surgery, angina, triple spinal fusion, etc. etc. Ah, well, we jested and joked about the alternative.

I took it easy today to avoid jarring my joints, but I have to admit I had a jolly good time and even remember some of the others' names. Naturally, there were the aquatic form of jumping jacks along with cross-country skiing, jogging, and other fun forms of exercise. The jury is still out as to whether or not this will help to alleviate the pain I live with. However, by my judgment, journeys to the pool three times a week can't hurt any more than I already do.

Oh yes, the bathing suit still fits!

I is for IMAGES

I couldn't think of much to celebrate this week's letter I for ABC Wednesday. Finally, I decided to show you four of my favourite images that are indicative of the seasons here. I hope you like the ones I've chosen.

first tulip bud this past Spring
one of our many gorgeous fuschias
grandson's toy truck in Autumn
sunset at Deas Park in Winter

To see more ABCW contributions click here to see the list of participants. Just click on a name and their blog will pop up for you to have a look.

H is for Heron (Great Blue)

A couple of months ago, Lorne went off on his own one day, armed with his trusty camera. He loves to go down to the local marina and watch the boats come and go in between reading his latest book. That day, he was given a wonderful sight - a Great Blue Heron was sunning itself in the marshy area nearby. I hope you enjoy the short slide show I put together of his photos.

From my book "Birds of British Columbia" - the Great Blue Heron is probably the best-known bird in British Columbia. It hunts a variety of small animals day or night along rivers, lakeshores, beaches, fields and seashores. They nest together in the tops of trees in sites often known as rookeries. The oldest known colony in British Columbia is in Vancouver's Stanely Park, where permanent scopes are set up to view the birds. In flight, Great Blue Herons fold their necks back over their shoulders in an S-shape and make slow-motion movements with their wings. Similar looking cranes stretch their necks out when flying.

Since living in this area of BC since 1978, I've had the opportunity to see many many herons standing by the side of roadways, in ditches, at the Boundary Bay Regional Park, and in country fields everywhere. In the late 80's to mid 90's, our house must have been right in their line of flight because every Spring, Summer, and Fall evening around 8:00 I'd sit out on the patio to watch them fly overhead on their way to somewhere.

In early October of 1986, my (late) husband and I went down to the local mall and went our own ways to do some chores. We met up later at the Sandcastle Art Gallery (no longer there) where I found him admiring a brand new work of art by Carl Brenders.

The artist writes: Since childhood, I have had a special place in my heart for herons. It always fascinated me to see the standing on one leg, their long necks seeming to disappear into the feathers of their bodies. I had observed them in this particular stance so often that it seemed natural I should depict them in this way in my first major heron painting. Winter often attempts a final attack at spring by covering the new life appearing everywhere with a blanket of snow. This creates a special effect in the wetlands with the yellow sunlight penetrating the cold, early morning mist surrounding the heron, who is in his breeding plumage.

I had already seen the picture a few days earlier and had fallen in love with it. However, I hadn't mentioned it because we'd just bought our new house and I felt it would have been extravagant to purchase it. As I got closer to my husband that day, he turned to me and said, "Isn't this the most wonderful picture!" I told him that I'd already seen it and did, in fact, love it! He then said, "I'm buying it for your birthday then!" Even though he's been gone now for 18 years, I still have that painting and will never part with it. (Click to see larger version of picture.)

G is for GARDEN

Although last week I did F is for Flowers, I decided to continue along this vein by doing G is for Gardens this week. Saturday was the annual corn roast at some friends' place and it was so much fun! Lots of great old and new friends in a setting to make one green with envy. Every time I go over there, I wander through both the vegetable and the floral gardens. I left my friends to fend for themselves while I took the time to replenish my soul by seeing through my camera lens into the glory and beauty of God's creation. Then today, while I was thinking over what I wanted to post, I looked up some quotes about gardens. Much to my surprise, I discovered that I recognized myself and Lorne in some of these quotes:

The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for Him there. (George Bernard Shaw)

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. (Author Unknown)

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. (F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace)

Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. (The Koran)

We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden.

Sometimes when I'm puttering around the house doing my chores, I'll stop and think "Where's Lorne?" Inevitably, he will be out in the garden doing something. These days, he always has a garden chair handy for when he gets a bit dizzy or feels weak so that he can sit down right away. He doesn't mind because he is in his glory in the garden. He might be sitting near the tomato plants keeping an eye on the hose, moving it into each plant pot as needed. He does the edging on the lawns, sits down for a rest, and then mows the lawns - both front and back. Just yesterday, he weeded all along one side of the house moving the chair along with him. When he finished, he sat for a while in the sun, admiring what he'd just accomplished AND the gorgeous rose bushes we have at the front. Not only do I appreciate all he's doing (and has done) to give me a garden worthy of note, but I also pray that he is feeling the hand of God on him as he struggles through this grim and grisly ordeal of chemotherapy. After the gardening chores are done for the day, he enjoys sitting near or in the garden reading a book, pausing to chat with the neighbours who come by to admire his garden and to inquire after his health.

I put together another little slideshow with some photos from Saturday's corn roast along with a few others that fit the theme. Hope you enjoy it.

F is for Flowers

This summer, Lorne was able to spend quite a bit of time in the garden since he can't work due to his chemotherapy. I think the gardening has been a form of therapy for him because he can get into creating beautiful things for me to admire and for him to forget for a while what he has to endure right now. Our roses did extremely well in the front garden, but the two in the back have been a bit disappointing - we only got a few blooms on them. Lorne also planted several varieties of lilies, which did very well, and we could admire them from the dining room window. His baskets of fuschias flourished again this year with gorgeous blooms and my clematis climbed the fence and gave us numerous blossoms. Here's a little slideshow I created showing some of our flowers from the summer of 2010. One of these days I'll learn how to add music to my slideshows. Oh, and if you double click on the slideshow, you can see it in full screen. Enjoy! And if you wouldn't mind mentioning, which is your favourite flower or photo?

E is for Enormous Edibles

Last summer, Lorne planted 6 tomato plants that grew to be over 7 feet tall. We had an enormous crop of both red and green tomatoes but we ended up having to throw a lot out. I even made a batch of green tomato pickle relish that we haven't managed to eat yet, even though I gave some away!
Ergo, this spring I suggested that we only do 3 or 4 plants. However, "he" ended up getting double the plants we had last year - 12 - so we now have an extremely enormous crop of tomatoes! They're all still green, but eventually, they will ripen and we'll be giving them away! Let's hope we don't get an early fall and they all end up rotting on the vines! The photo only shows part of the crop, too!
Last weeked, Daughter #1 stopped by with the two grandchildren and they were so excited to see these enormous plants. They spent at least half an hour helping 6'2" Lorne water them with his "special" water (full of some sort of growth enhancer). Sure was an easy way to entertain little ones!

D is for Drawbridge, Demolition, Disturbing

The Westham Island Bridge is a drawbridge located in my village of Ladner, BC, Canada. It passes over Canoe Pass in the Fraser River Estuary and connects Ladner with Westham Island. It was officially opened in March 1910 with a lavish banquet and ended the residents' desolation. Today, as we celebrate its 100th birthday, we still cross the original bridge to pick berries or buy produce from local farms, taste wine at the Westham Island Winery, or visit the Reifel Bird Sanctuary. To read more of its history, click here. All photos will embiggen if you click on them.

We had a devastating fire a few months ago right in the downtown area of the village and several stores were destroyed, along with the apartments above these stores. Some of our residents are very artistic and they banded together to decorate the plywood boards that had been erected to deter anyone from entering the area after the buildings had been demolished. I think they did an aDmirable job! Can you see some of the scaffolding in the back right side of the photo? Hopefully, the gap between the stores on the main drag will soon be filled by new stores.

Also demolished recently was Johnny's Store that had been a distinguished institution in the area since 1963. The building, which marked the entrance point to the old village, will be replaced by a two-storey design with retail space on the ground floor and offices above. The owner of Johnny's, Daniel Lee, has said that he's not sure that the store will be back, although he and his family have first dibs once the building is complete. For now, they're traveling in South Korea and relaxing after all their years of dedication to the village. Again, our local artists have deliberately decorated the plywood walls surrounding the building site.

Outside of the village, I love to drive around the back roads looking for delapidated old barns. While cruising one evening with Daughter #2, we came upon this dingy old wreck and took several photos. I gave it a chalk & charcoal look with Photoshop Elements to make it look dreadfully creepy. Does it look as disturbing to you as it does to me? It looks like it's drawing on children to come and explore inside...but...what might dwell there? The devil? Bwaahahahah!!!!