Christmas morning, 2022

I woke up from a wonderful dream. I have them a lot, These numinous dreams of a sacred place where my sailboat, truck and dog and friends are.  I pray when I wake. I don’t know the time.  I just pray then Madigan somehow knows I’m awake and rests his head on the back of my neck. I’m loved.

The front toilet is still plugged but the back toilet works.

I pray some more sitting on the chair. I’ve avoided exercise. My back hurts. It’s 645 am.  

I remember as a child with mom and Dad and Ron in the front room, the yard full of snow, presents under the tree, childhood.  I didnt know Rockwell but he must have been there for so much of it.

This week I’ve been remembering the sledding and tobogganing on the slope to the Red River.  The adults walking us down to there. The dog knowing joy.  Later I loved the turkey dinners with Aunt Sally.  

Now I’m alone with Madigan.   My wrist vibrates with another Signal notice from the Nephews and Adell.  Last night’s storm has stopped and Graeme’s picture of Hay Bay is idyllic.  They’ve sent a beef and Edam cheese basket from Hickory farms.  The beef sausage came with the best mustard. I’m really enjoying it sharing it with Madigan. Last night I watched Violent Night, the Andrew suggestion,. It really was funny. I ate the last of the box of Lindz chocolate I was gifted,

I spent two days working on getting the frozen water line fixed and the frozen sewage dump line emptied.  I succeeded in all but getting the front toilet unplugged and think I’ll try a fishing pole later. I learned that I have to turn the water off to work on the toilet after it almost overflowed with my first foray.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. I was there.  We all were. I walked across the blood stained path from the previous nights fighting. I felt guns of Israelis and Palestinians targeting me while I walked through No Man’s land.  In Bethlehem there was hardly anyone.  Someone began singing oh little town of Bethlehem as we waited to pass the sacred place where Jesus was born, where once there’d only been manger. We sang together in a half dozens languages as we moved slowly through, stopping for private prayer in that place of holy synchronicity. 

I remembered as a pre teen and early teen I organzed a half dozen friends to go house to house Carole singing in the winter, an excuse to get together and have fun, a charity an afterthought.  Later I’d do the same in the children’s hospital with medical students.  Even later there was cross country skiing and snow shoeing.  Even later there was winter sailing. I remembered having Christmas alone at sea the time I sailed solo through winter hurricane’s to Hawaii. I was past the half way mark, enjoying watching episodes of Friends late at night.  I was 25 days alone at sea and sad.  The older I became the sadder Christmas was.  The booze was gone decades ago.

With the death of Jesus by crucifixion by the authorities, State and Church, Herod, Rome and the Sanhedrin, the Holy Spirit permeated this day’s existence.  The servant god came into being and the human sacrifices of paganism and tribal religion, even the Druids ended with the sacrifice of God himself.  

Mother Mary.Joseph, Wisemen.  The story that created western civilization as we know it.  

Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. 

Sailing with Andrew and Tanya, Loyalist Cove Marina, Lake Ontario

I actually thought the SV GIRI  motor trip and anchoring in Kerr Bay with Alan would be the last time I took working yacht out. However, Tanya who had painted the boat in the spring asked if she and Andrew might go sailing.
So off we drove from Hay Bay  to Loyalist Cove Marina. We backed the sailboat out of the marina then drove into the wind to raise the sails.  Once they were up I let Andrew take over. He was keen on sailing. Lots of gybing and tacking while I explained wind and sail positions.  We really were doing well making quite the clip in the light winds.  I even had a single reef in the main because my autopilot handles best that way. The genoa was all out.
Tanya and I liked the flatter pleasanter (hear Sailing, Sailing song in back ground) downwind sailing. But Andrew liked best heeling and racing close hauled into the wind.  Gilbert loved being part of the whole affair and especially loved Tanya who recognized his importance as Admiral.
I enjoyed drinking coffee, reminiscing about off shore adventures and wanted to keep on going.  We were out a few hours tacking back and forth across the strait.  I just want to go on forever when I get in my sailboat and put the sails up.   I’m not a day sailor but love expeditions.  Pacific offshore sailing has ruined me.   Sailing all day and ending up anchoring at an island then sailing all day again is okay. I loved sailing around Vancouver Island each time I did that, and sailing to the Queen Charlottes. Sailing in the Sea of Cortez with anchoring at night was also a lot of fun. I like being able to anchor at night and I love sleeping at anchor.  It’s really is a whole lot more exciting though when you just continue day and night at sea. But this was just a little sail.  It was a whole lot of fun even if it was  a bit of  tease.  Next year I hope to sail island to island for days on end, getting in some fishing and swimming and forgetting about all the landlubber concerns that accumulate. These are great sailing waters and remind me a bit of the Gulf Islands and even Desolation Sound. The difference is that while they’re both protected waters, these are fresh water.
Tanya and Andrew were terrific companions.  Fun and laughing and quick learners. I have the smartest fastest nephews, the oldest being Graeme who is an engineer and knows his way around boats, where as Andrew is into robotics and the youngest Alan first went boating with me as a teen and now is well on his way to being a psychologist.  Tanya is into computers and web design so understood the chart plotter and electronics immediately.  They’re all natural sailors and keen boaters.
It was all fun. Adell, my sister in law,  had even packed a lunch we enjoyed.   I was glad to get back without mishap.  This was the last sail for the Girl  I’d hoped my brother would have been able to get out again but he was really just glad to be out of the hospital and home at that time.  He’d had a lot of fun with the family sailing in the summer when I was down earlier and he was still doing well.
Now the boat is up on land bundled in it’s winter parka, thanks to Dave at Loyalist Cove Marina. I really love the care my boat gets here. 

Thanksgiving Day and Dinner, Hay Family

I am blessed to be included in this Thanksgiving Day and Dinner, my brother, Ron, and sister - in - law, Adell, created in their Hay Bay home. They’ve been living here now a single year.
Canada’s thanksgiving has been a national holiday since 1879.  In 1957 a proclamation stated that Thanksgiving was to be “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest for which Canada has been blessed.”  Thank you Almighty God.  Thank you Canada.  Apparently the first celebration of thanksgiving in Canada was in 1579 by Martin Frobisher when searching for the Northwest Passage.
My nephew Allan was here. We’d gone for hair cuts in honour of the occasion.  But mostly because both of us seem so busy that we rarely have time for things like haircuts.  He’s a psychologist and I’m a psychiatrist.  We have a lot to talk about.
Velma and Melvin are Adell’s closest relatives here, both retired, one a former librarian and the other formerly with child protection services.  I like them a lot.  Educated intelligent ladies with lots of wisdom and that challenging Christian pleasant politeness and good manners. They remind me a lot of my beloved deceased Aunt Sally, my favourite Baptist Bible.
My nephew Graeme arrived with Elysse. Graeme is a chemical engineer now working in a nuclear energy plant.  He’s also a photographer, moving maker and astronomer. Thanks to his telescope I’d get to see a close up view of Andromeda.  Pretty exciting stuff for an old guy who grew up on Space flights, Star Trek, Dr. Who and NASA.  Ellysse is a teacher.  My sister in law Adell taught but retired a Principal.  Allan was marking psychology papers this weekend. There was considerable talk of school related topics.
My nephew Andrew arrived with his wife Tanya.  Andrew is now working on his masters and Tanya is doing advanced computer studies.  It only seems yesterday that I was at their wedding wearing a Hunting Hay Tartan Kilt.
Gilbert and Eva had a marvellously exciting little dog bark fest and jump up and down a lot time as each visitor arrived.
Ron played guitar some. The young people played a couple of card games.  Adell and the ladies ‘worked’ in the kitchen on an off.  Melvin and Velma and I had some good books on the go.  We discussed politics.  We had a lot of negative things to say collectively about the Niqab and face coverings in Canada.  No one liked the Troudeau pot smoking platform but some liked the Liberal Party. The NDP and Conservative pros and cons were laid out.  One of my nephews wasn’t too keen on Canadian military spending.  Quebec corruption was a topic. Aboriginal chiefs million and welfare fraud upset people.  Everyone in the family is hard working. Everyone is going to vote. Mostly people were voting in self defence.
Adell’s Thanksgiving dinner was magnificent. Velma’s grace was a great prayer of thanksgiving. With Ron well I was fairly ecstatic.  We had a close call earlier this year and every visit I find him healthier and well. It’s a miracle really. I’m so thankful tor the time we have together as a family. His children are so amazing. His wife is a joy.  He started learning guitar a short while ago.  Now with each visit he’s progresses light years.  That’s my brother. If he puts his mind to something he succeeds.  He had Allan and I digging dirt for him. Now that’s another miracle.  Both Allan and I are desk jockeys but there we were slinging dirt in the wheel barrel.
I love the turkey.  We had Elizabeth and Phil’s BC Cranberries too.  We’d been to the Bath Market and I got pickled beets which always remind me of my Mother who always made these. I didn’t particularly like them as a kid but because of her and my fond memories of her I’ve grown to love them today.