August 15, 2004

WIPED OUT

Through the fog we could see clouds that looked like they could drop rain at any minute.  It was nine o’clock and sixty degrees.  The heater would have felt good but we decided to heat up the place by cooking breakfast.

Blueberry pancakes and bacon along with the usual coffee and tea got us warm and ready to continue straightening up and putting away.

 At a stopping point we went out to visit Dan, Ann, Melissa, Gaetan, Joan and Harlan.  They were all gathered round the fire at Dan’s camper, fighting off the cold and rain that was now falling.  Small talk passed among us and we whiled away a bit of the day until the rain began in earnest driving us inside.

We went home to the dry warmth of the Marlin where I pecked while Onie napped.  Yvonne came by with our Atkins order and we chatted before she ran back through the rain to her camper.

Onie woke and prepared supper, salad, pot roast and broccoli.

After supper I cleaned the kitchen while Onie played on the laptop.  Outside it seemed the rain would never stop but Onie ducked her head and ran to Steven and Yvonne’s.  I stayed in and read.

Shortly Onie returned.  It seems that Steve and Yvonne were wiped out and needed to rest.  They were going to bed early.

We watched a movie before having blueberries and cream.  After that I went to sleep.  Onie watched another movie before turning out the lights at twelve forty five.  It was still raining.

August 16, 2004

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

On this day in nineteen forty four Mama and Daddy became proud parents once again.  It was their fourth child, a little blue eyed blond headed girl who they chose to call Martha Helen.  The Martha part probably came from the Bible and the Helen from Daddy’s mother whose name was Ellen.  She was a delight when she was a baby, when she was a little girl, a bigger little girl, a teenager who used to help me wash my car, a young lady and now as a mature lady she is still just as delightful.  She will be arriving in two days to visit us.  We look forward to that and in the meantime we wish her a happy birthday.

Had she been here this morning when we got up at eight she would have been greeted with more rain.  It still fell through the sixty degree air and it felt like we were destined to live in rain and cool temps for the rest of our stay here.

Fresh hot coffee and tea seemed to drive away a bit of the chill that hung in the air.  I pulled my heavy bathrobe about me, donned my warm fleece lined house shoes and sat down at the laptop.  I was far behind and had a long ways to go and a short time to get there.  Perseverance and patience were called for as well as enduring fingers.

While I typed Onie fixed breakfast tacos, a great choice for such a morning.

With breakfast history Onie continued to straighten up and put away some more of the items from Newfoundland.  I know it sounds repetitious but I wrote.

In a while Onie left for the gym and store.  I remained at the computer but did pause to check my email and read some news, online, before stopping to clean up, trim my beard and moustache, get dressed and put away some of my clothes still out from Newfoundland. 

Outside the rain was repeating itself, too.

A smiling face came through the door as Onie returned from the gym with news of further weight loss.  She is really doing well and looking great.

I continued to write.

She had just started supper when June stopped over to visit.  June was getting ready to cook also and they decided to co op supper.  Onie would fix a salad and June would provide chili.  Straightaway June left to go home to get Al and the chili.

Salad preparation was going well when a knock sounded at the door.  Yvonne was standing in the rain waiting to come in.  Steve was home on the couch, sick, and she just dropped in to visit.  We talked as Onie worked and I typed.  Yvonne said a bug was going round.  Dan had been sick on the weekend as had Brian and Guy.  Craig was feeling puny and might be coming down with the same thing.

June returned with Al and the chili.  The table was set and we asked Yvonne to join us but she had already eaten so she just sat on the couch and visited with us while we ate.  When the meal was nearly over she left to check on Steve.

When the dishes were cleared away they were replaced by dominoes.  We played two games.  June and I won one and Al and Onie won one.  That was a diplomatic place to call an end to the evening and it was time for dessert, chocolate mousse, blueberries and whipped cream.

With the dessert and dominoes put away Al and June dashed through the rain and across the road to their camper.

Ready for bed at eleven we turned out the lights and listened to the patter of rain drops on the roof until we went to sleep.

August 17, 2004

LOTS TO DO

At three o’clock I received a call from nature.  I responded to the sound of falling rain.  I sincerely hoped it would be gone when I woke again.

Raising the shade at nine o’clock I gazed out on the most beautiful sunshine one can imagine.  The air was clear and cool, sixty degrees, with the wind blowing briskly from the north.

It looked like it would be a good day to get a lot done and we had lots to do.

Right after breakfast we began cleaning house and getting ready to do the wash.  When Onie headed to the washateria I got a lawn mower and began on our yard and surrounding areas, then got the weed eater and trimmed.

After locating Daniel Sauliner’s phone number I called to inquire about some scallops but got no answer.  A lawn chair had been needing some attention to repair a missing rivet and that was next to get taken care of. Onie had returned with the laundry and we hung some of it out to dry and then she began to clean her car before going to the gym.  I placed a call to Wells Fargo to discuss some errors in our banking statements and got that straightened out before Onie returned.

Al and June had left early to go to the doctor, for Al.  His chest had been bothering him.  In January of this year he had chest surgery for lung cancer and they are watching him very closely.  Everyone was hoping for a good report.  The doctor told them that there was something going on with his lungs but further tests were needed.  They were scheduled but we will have to wait a bit longer to have any answers.  One can tell it, the waiting, is hard on Al and June.

A brief visit with Yvonne and Steve delayed taking in the clothes and car mats by just a few minutes.  The continuing sunshine and current sixty five degrees had us energized and we were not anxious to come inside so we cooked steaks on the grill, to go with our salad.

When we did go in we watched a gorgeous sunset over Digby Neck while we ate.

There was an afterglow in the sky when I drove to Dan’s to see how to operate his tractor.  I would be running it tomorrow, splitting wood.  On the way I passed Joan and Harlan working in the yard at her parent’s house.  I stopped to chat for a few minutes before continuing.

Dan had been very busy on the job and had just had a shower and supper when I arrived.  He sat, barefoot, at his desk working on a bid.  I let myself in and then he and I went out to the tractor where he walked me through starting and running procedures as well as operation of the PTO which operates the splitter.  Since Dan was busy, and I was anxious to get back home, I excused myself and left without going back in the house.

Back at the coach Steven and Yvonne were visiting with Onie and stayed on until nine thirty when they called it a day.

While I wrote Onie cleaned the kitchen and then turned on the tube.

At midnight we ended our day.

August 18, 2004

NATIONAL HEALTH CARE

We were stirring again at seven thirty and soon after having our coffee and tea.  Outside the south wind had brought a foggy sixty degree morning to us.

With breakfast out of the way Onie, Yvonne and June went to the gym.  Though it seemed the laptop was still warm from the previous evening it was put to use again but not before a washer of clothes was started.

Onie returned while the laptop was in use and with her return I got ready to go to Dan and Ann’s to split wood.  Onie set about her work on the laptop.

The drive is not long, to the Church Point Service Club and then off one and down a road that is not much more than a nice lane.  Hills quickly rise as it leaves the coast and on those hills rise trees and houses.  On the five mile drive it is likely you will not meet one vehicle but you may see a bicyclist or person walking to their destination.  It was while driving and seeing some such folk I began thinking about what would happen if they were injured and had to get treated through the National Health Care system, in Canada.  Here is what I know about it.  Everyone pays premiums.  That seems fair.  Everyone can go to the doctor without so much as a co-pay.  That means even the poorest, one would think, can get health care.  One can get tests run and surgeries, when needed, without out of pocket expense.  That sounds good.  Many people in the States think we need such a system.  I have also been told the following.  The premiums are quite high, higher than we pay in the States.  Doctor appointments may take months to obtain and you may as well treat yourself for many illnesses rather than try to see a doctor.  If you have a health problem and your life style contributes to the problem you may never see a doctor. 

For example, if you are a smoker and contract lung cancer it is of no great concern to the doctors , who work on a limited federal budget, since treating someone who doesn’t care enough about good health to quit smoking is not a priority and health care and treatment is all about priorities.  If you need a cochlear implant to correct deafness, and live in Nova Scotia where the annual budget allows fourteen, you will never be considered if you were born deaf or became so shortly after birth. If you have had a hearing problem a very long time or are old or work in a noisy environment, you are not considered a good candidate by the doctors. No matter how eligible you think you are if the doctor doesn’t agree with you, the implant will never happen unless you have the money to leave Canada and pay for it elsewhere. 

The same would apply to treatment of any other health condition that might arise if, in the opinion of the doctors, treatment would not be worthwhile or have a good chance of success.  This means that all classes, rich, poor, middle class or no class have no choice, in many cases, about their own health care.

Perhaps I haven’t investigated enough, talked to enough people or listened closely enough but it sounds like to me, based on what I know, that the doctors, not the patients, decide who will be treated, who will have a chance to heal or have corrective surgery or live or die.  Health care professionals are dependent on the federal government for salaries and when increases don’t meet their expectations they strike leaving sick folks totally unattended.  That system has prompted many professionals to leave Canada and go to the States where their education and efforts are recognized by a free market system.

 Some dedicated professionals who feel health care is needed in Canada, regardless of personal gain, elect to stay.  Still others remain because of family ties and some because they are not good enough to practice elsewhere. That is not a system I want to live under or have loved ones live under.  The States comes under criticism from enemies at home and abroad who would like to see us adopt a socialist form of medicine, like Canada. And claim our system is broke and ineffective.  To them I would say that we have the best health care in the world. 

The wealthy of foreign counties and their leaders come to the States for treatment in the Texas Medical Center or other such centers spread throughout our great land and even the poor and criminal illegals of our country can obtain treatment, at public expense, at fine facilities.  I do admit that our system isn’t perfect and that it is too expensive, because of billions of dollars being drained from it by unscrupulous trial attorneys, but it is the best system on earth and shouldn’t be scrapped to copy systems that have demonstrated their inability to come close to ours.    

While I was driving along thinking my own thoughts Onie was back at the coach making it clean and neat, again, and finishing the wash I had started earlier.

At Dan’s house I parked the toad in the shade, started the tractor and began splitting and stacking wood.  The work is hard, bringing sweat to soak clothes even on a cool day like today, and drives unpleasant thoughts away and replaces them with concentration on the job at hand and later still on the aching back, sore legs, hands and arms.  All of these came to me before the last block was split and stacked.

At three thirty I was back at the coach, tired, dirty and hungry.  While Onie got me a snack I showered.  After the snack a nap restored me and Onie woke me for supper.

Later Onie drove us back to Ann and Dan’s where we got haircuts and I visited with Dan about his work and getting in the next batch of wood to split.

That subject reminded everyone they were tired so we left them and went to the coach for dessert, strawberry mousse, strawberries and whipped cream.

At eleven we tucked ourselves in bed.

August 19, 2004

TWENTY-TWO HOURS     

While we were visiting last night with Ann and Dan Martha arrived in Halifax.  It was August eighteenth but it wasn’t Thursday.  Somehow we had connected her arrival date with Thursday instead of the eighteenth.  When we woke at seven we noticed Daniel had moved in next door with his camper. He called us from outside the coach, at seven, on his cell phone, and told us he had our scallops.  We got up to let him in and thank him, promising to pay him when we got some cash.

With fresh scallops in hand Onie began fixing breakfast, scallops and eggs.  The coffee and tea were already made.  I sat down to write.  When I pulled up the date my heart jumped into my mouth, it was August 19^th.  The light had dawned.  Martha arrived last night.  With my heart racing I called the hotel and asked for our room.  Martha answered, after waking. and sounded very cheery and rested.  She had waited at the airport for half an hour and then decided we had car trouble and took the shuttle to the hotel and checked it.  At eleven she had gone to bed and had a restful night’s sleep.  Very relieved I told her we would leave shortly to make the drive as fast as we could.  When I hung up I told Onie I was glad Mama had raised Martha, pretty unflappable.

We raced around and managed to leave shortly after nine stopping only for gas in St Bernard.  We managed to make the drive in about two and a half hours shaving fifteen minutes off the normal time.  Martha was relaxing in the lobby of the hotel when we arrived.  We were just twenty two hours late.  On the way there we vowed in the future to always connect a day of the week with a date when making appointments.  With Martha’s luggage in the car and her seated next to me our hearts slowed down a bit.

Martha had arrived and was with us.  We wanted her to see Nova Scotia so we headed for Wal-Mart.  We had a short shopping list to fill before heading to lunch at Mary Brown’s.  Full of chicken we headed towards the Bulk Barn to fill another short list before motoring to Peggy’s Cove.  On the way to Peggy’s Cove we stopped at a bend in the road at Mahoney’s Bay to take pictures.

Peggy’s Cove, on the South Shore, a picturesque fishing village of some fifty or sixty souls is a favorite of tourists.  Its tall lighthouse standing on a rocky point is one of the most photographed structures in Canada.  We stopped to climb on the rocks, take pictures, browse in the gift shop and mail postcards so they would have a lighthouse cancellation on the postage

On September 2^nd, 1998, a Swiss Air MD11 jet outbound from New York, by ninety minutes, requested emergency landing clearance at Halifax Airport.  The pilot had detected smoke in the aircraft, dumped fuel over the Atlantic and was on approach when the plane crashed eleven kilometers off shore from Peggy’s Cove.  All two hundred twenty nine persons on board perished even though prepared for an emergency landing.  When we left Peggy’s Cove we made the short trip to the seaside memorial where the names of those aboard are inscribed on marble markers.  At the foot of one memorial was a small teddy bear and wreath.

We headed further south and then picked up the freeway to get to Lunnenburg a little quicker.  This is an old sea faring town, sitting on hills overlooking the bay, which is now given over to a lively tourist trade.  We drove down to the wharf side street, parked and began exploring the quay.

Before too long Onie spotted a ticket office for various cruises.  One was for an evening cruise aboard the sailing vessel, Eastern Star, a forty eight foot long classic wooden ketch.  She was scheduled to leave at seven.  It was then six fifteen.  After a quick huddling of heads we decided to take the hour and a half sunset cruise.  When we purchased our tickets the sun was shining brightly.  As soon as the money changed hands clouds flew over the sun and we saw it not again that day.  Martha, dressed for warm weather had decided, at Peggy’s Cove, to purchase a souvenir sweatshirt. We went back to the Subaru and retrieved it.  Onie got a jacket.  I stood there in my shorts, sleeveless tee shirt and Topsiders. 

The girls encouraged me to go buy a sweatshirt since, in my haste; I had left all my warm clothes in the coach.  Based on the fact that the cruise was only an hour and a half and it was currently about seventy I didn’t think it necessary to buy a sweatshirt at an inflated price.  We wandered a bit before going back to the pier to await boarding.

The young lady who sold the tickets soon announced that it was time to get on board the Eastern Star.

On board it seemed that spending fifty dollars on a sweatshirt might have been a good idea even though I already have too many to wear.  Martha took pity on me and loaned me her sweater.  It wasn’t the most masculine thing I have ever worn but it did help keep off the ever cooling evening breeze.  The captain eased the Star away from the pier, with the help of the diesel auxiliary, and called for volunteers to hoist the mainsail.  Only one stout soul sprung forward, grabbed the line and began heaving.

When the main was raised and secured a lesser man stepped forward to put up the lightweight jib.  We were outbound on a freshening wind and past Martha one could see the Lunnenburg Lighthouse.

Soon we were abreast of the lighthouse, out of the harbor, headed for the open bay.

 With various hands at the wheel we sailed for the caves on the far shore.  In the overcast evening the temperatures fell quickly along with dark skies.  We got blankets from a deck hand and soon we were all wrapped up in our evening sail.

Sailing past a headland we could see natural sea caves and hear the waves booming in them sending drum rolls out to greet us and accompany our jibbing.  With the failing daylight the wind also began to fail and soon we were barely making steerage way but no one was unhappy about the lack of speed as all enjoyed the warmth that lack of wind permitted.   Somewhere on the leg back the wind increased a little and we were once again making good time as the nightlights of Lunnenburg loomed on the horizon.

Coasting past the lighthouse and then on to the wharf we tied up at nine thirty.  We had gotten our monies worth, a two and a half hour cruise with brisk winds to carry us out and light ones to drift us back.  Even though it had been a little on the cool side it had been an altogether enjoyable evening. 

It had also done wonders to enhance our appetites which up until then had been far in the background.  Now on the pier with the smell of freshly cooked food wafting on the night air supper became a priority.  We stopped at one likely looking place but they were mopping the floor and didn’t want anymore money that evening.  We moved on to a restaurant on the pier.  We were just about the last customers of the evening but they were happy to accommodate us and we were very appreciative.  We enjoyed calamari and something to drink while our food was being prepared.  As soon as the salads arrived the table talk fell silent as we each tried to fill what seemed like a bottomless pit.  After the entrees’ we each felt somewhat refreshed and we began thinking about the drive to the coach. 

It was eleven and Onie offered to drive but knowing her aversion to same I slid behind the wheel and we set out to find highway ten which would take us to the one oh one and that would take us to Weymouth and one would take us on to Belle Baie.  Onie is great company when I drive and that night was no exception.  In fact she was so good and I paid such close attention that somewhere we missed a critical turn.  Perhaps it was in New Germany where the road takes a wicked left but whereever it was we wound up in the wilderness not knowing which way to turn.  Fortunately the Subaru had a compass in it and we knew the general direction we should travel so we didn’t wander forty years like Moses and the Children of Israel but we did manage to turn a two and a half hour trip into one that lasted past midnight.

August 20, 2004

AND COUNTING

            The clock passed midnight as we drove, perhaps in circles, but certainly in interesting places.  In the ditch we saw deer and on the road we saw a huge skunk, a possum and his brother raccoon.  What other varmints escaped our watchful eyes is unknown.  Martha, tired after a long day of sight seeing, slept in the backseat as we wandered, stopped, looked at the map, consulted the compass and drove on.  At last we were back on ten and headed toward Middleton.  That is when the lightning and mist started.  Lightning lit up the sky over One Oh One as we approached and turned the entry ramp light as day.

            We were on our last legs, and on the last leg of the trip home, when the rain began to fall in earnest.  It came in bands like a hurricane delivering blinding sheets that drove across the road and rocked the car.  Near Digby my eyes gave up and refused to focus so we pulled into an Irving station in Digby and Onie took the wheel.  The rain had stopped and the weather was warming but the warmer temperatures brought our old friend, fog, back into the picture.  The night turned into a regular “pea souper” and had to be difficult for Onie to drive in but she kept going and got us home at two thirty.  We quickly got ready for bed and were in very shortly.  It was over twenty hours since we had slept, and counting.

            The day wasn’t over and the sleep was just an interlude.  I rose again at nine thirty in fog so thick I couldn’t see a hundred feet.  The girls were still asleep so I lay back down and dozed until eleven when I got up and fixed coffee and tea and then sat down to write.  The smell of the coffee must have awakened the girls for they rose and Martha made her bed while Onie did the same in our room.

            Wraps filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, onion and cheese broke our fast before Onie and Martha headed off to the gym and then the Atlantic Super Store, in Digby.  They also went to the liquor store to pick up a gift for Steven for his birthday and then made a stop at Frenchy’s to introduce her to clothes shopping Nova Scotia style.

            I tried to catch up on some stories while they were gone.

            They got back home around seven and during supper Ann came by to visit Martha and then Eric and Dottie stopped by.  When they had gone we finished our meal just before Steven and Yvonne dropped in to meet Martha.

            The three of us, Martha, Onie and me went to the campfire at Steven’s. 

There was quite a crowd, all anxious to meet Martha.  Guitars were strummed and songs were sung.  Martha was introduced around and tried to visit with everyone.  Onie stayed until midnight and then headed for the coach.  I joined her half an hour later and left the door unlocked for Martha.

August 21, 2004

IT’S PARTY TIME

Once certain milestones are passed nights tend to get shorter.  We think we may have passed that milestone a while back.  Last night seemed rather short when we woke a little before nine.

While the ladies made the beds and got dressed to exercise I stirred up some blueberry pancakes and boiled some sausage.  With the coffee, tea, Atkins syrup and pure maple syrup on the table we made our breakfast.  When it was over they cleaned the kitchen and at noon set off for the gym.

While they were gone I was busy making notes.

Onie had things to do and was still tired from our trip yesterday so she opted to stay home and clean, cook and nap while Martha and I went sightseeing and for a walk.

We first took a drive down a country road, past farms and over creeks, stopping to look at the wild flowers and beaver dams before going on to the site of an old mill pond and water powered saw mill.  Retracing our steps a bit we passed Colin’s house, Ann and Dan’s and their parents before stopping at the church in Concessions.  It is a beautiful old frame building with a steeple that dominates the neighborhood.  Inside its stained glass windows lend a solemnity to an otherwise unremarkable interior. 

We were on the church trail now and our next stop was the church in Church Point, the largest frame church on the North American continent.  When we arrived we noticed a couple of young men decorating a car.  It was obvious a wedding was in progress so we started to leave but they told us it was alright to enter.  We should just be quiet and discreet.  As we headed for the door a young lady who works at the church told us we couldn’t enter during the wedding.  We would have to come back later and pay to get in.  With no other choice we left and went to Weymouth where we drove past the church there and then went to Weymouth Motors for fuel, full service same price as self service, before stopping at the drugstore for thank you cards.

Then it was back on the church trail.  We stopped in St Bernard and went into the church there.  It was an impressive Gothic structure built out of sandstone.  The doors looked like they were the original ones installed when the building was put up between nineteen one and nineteen thirty two.  It had taken thirty one years to complete the structure.  Inside tall stone columns stood supporting, it seemed the multistoried ceiling.  The columns were in fact fabric over a frame that surrounded tree trunks that were the actual supports.  The fabric had been treated and painted to look like stone.  When one tapped it with a finger nail it was obvious it was mostly hollow.  The walls had been created in a similar fashion so that what seemed very solid stone was in fact just a façade.  The ornate mulitpaned stained glass windows had come from Italy in barrels of syrup to insure they would not break enroute and the two thousand pipe organ had come from Ontario.  The altar and many of the tables had been hand carved by a local craftsman and were true works of art.  When we left we thanked the young man who had acted as our guide, without fee.

The wind had been increasing ever since we began our little tour and now it seemed to be approaching thirty miles an hour.  We had been discussing doing the boardwalk and stopped now to begin.  We had no sooner set out than rain began falling.  We hurried back to the car and decided to let that part of the excursion wait a while.

We headed back to the church at Church Point in hopes that the wedding was over and that we could pay our way in.  The bride and groom’s car had been decorated and awaited their departure but most of the guest had gone.  Inside the church the wedding party was posing for pictures while the photographer directed them, in French, where to stand for the best light, etc.

We paid our money and went in.  While the church is the largest frame church, as mentioned, it is not so beautiful as the one in St Bernard and it only boasts a pipe organ of one hundred ninety nine pipes.  Its altar is also hand carved and its windows are stained glass but its standard of beauty is still no match.  Another unique factor of the church is that it houses a museum of church history and relics, dating back more than two hundred years, from the Clare Parish.  We spent quite a lot of time looking at and studying these items and reading the information on them.  We were still interested in the boardwalk so we cut our visit a little short and went back to Belliveau Cove.

The wind was still howling when we got back but the rain had passed.  With cameras and coats we started our walk soon ruing the decision to take the coats.  Even though the wind was whistling about us and the air temperature was quite cool we soon worked up a sweat as we bent forward struggling against the gale.  The beach and dune flowers blew in the wind and the aroma of the wild roses was whisked away as soon as it rose from the petals. 

 We followed the path through the wetlands and to the small chapel and cemetery where we paused to sign the guest book and take some pictures before heading on to the seaside walk back toward the entry to the walk and the Belliveau Cove Lighthouse.

With the wind pushing us along it was all we could do to keep from running or being bowled over by the stronger gusts but at last we were back safely in the Subaru.

When we arrived back home it was party time.

In honor of Steven’s birthday half a deer and a thirty one pound turkey had been cooking all day and would be served for supper along with innumerable salads and side dishes.  The spread filled tables at least thirty feet long and took many willing hands to serve the seventy five, or more, hungry attendees.  When enough food had been served so that dishes could be combined the desserts, numbering over thirty, were brought out to tempt those who still had room or dared or both.

It was to this gathering that Martha, Onie and I repaired as soon as we were all together again.  The party was in full swing when we arrived with the serving line just starting.  The fire in the outdoor pit roared and cast a cheery glow all about as some participants strummed and sang while others ate and then the cast would change but the revelry continued.

            Al and June sang several duets and Robert sang some of his songs.  When one singer/strummer’s song would die out another would start a tune and the rest would pick it up and follow along. The evening passed quickly and at eleven Onie and I quietly slipped away and went to the Marlin.  When the music died at midnight and the lights went out Martha joined us.  It had been another big day at Belle Baie.