Our Message Archive
February 2024
Saturday February 24
At Jil's World of Fun
We have continued to have a lot of snow with a couple more major dumps followed by cold enough weather that it has stuck around. The pancake supper at the church on Shrove Tuesday, at which I was to help cook the pancakes and Ann was to help set up the hall, was cancelled due a storm. It did make for a nice day skiing at Wentworth last Friday though. We picked up our biking friend Toru and the three of us enjoyed a great day with really good conditions. However, last night we had a downpour which has got rid of some of the snow, though the temperature has since dropped and we have got a bit more. We are leaving tomorrow for a week-long skiing holiday at Poley Mountain near Sussex, New Brunswick, with Kim and Glen but the current forecast is not looking very good with rain and temperatures in the double digits expected on Wednesday and Thursday. Luckily we have enough books and toys to amuse us if we can't get out on the slopes.
We have seen Katy, Andrew and Alex a few times over the past couple of weeks. A week ago Thursday we all went to Jil's World of Fun in Spryfield. It is essentially an indoor playground geared to kids of about Andrew's and Alex's age. We spent a couple of hours there climbing and sliding. They also came over to our place on Tuesday and Thursday this week. We played with the toys that we still have, supplemented by a bag of dinosaurs from our friend Susan, read stories and went for walks in the neighbourhood.
Last Sunday we all went to Port Dufferin, out the Eastern Shore just past Sheet Harbour, for Kevin's funeral at St. James Anglican Church. Both he and Mona grew up in the vicinity. The church was packed. The service was followed by the internment at St. Mary's Church cemetery — family only — and a reception at the Legion in Sheet Harbour.
A week ago Thursday, Ann and I went to see The Last Show On Earth at Neptune. It is a rather odd play about dealing with an impending apocalypse meant, I believe, as an allegory for coming out as trans.
Monday February 12
Alex at the Banook playground
Katy phoned us early yesterday morning to gove us the sad news that Ben's father, Kevin, had died. They scrambled to get flights here, finally getting one from Montreal that arrived yesterday evening. Their friend Chris drove them to Montreal and I went to pick them up here and drove them to Mona's (Ben's mum) place in Spryfield. Today, while Ben and Mona spoke with the funeral director, Katy brought Andrew and Alex to our place. We all piled into Mona's SUV and went skating at the Oval; they lend you skates for free if you need them, so we were all able to partake. Unfortunately, although the weather was lovely, it was a bit too warm for good ice so Andrew and I only made it around twice and while Alex, Ann and Katy only did a single tour. Shortly after we stopped, they closed it down for reasons of safety. Not to be denied a good opportunity for outside activities, we headed off to the playground by the Banook Canoe Club instead. Alex spent most of his time gathering pebbles and stuffing them through a hole in one of the climbing features while Andrew actually used them for climbing. Afterwards we got burgers at MacDonald's and went back to our place to eat them. Katy and the boys left mid-afternoon and returned to Mona's.
As you probably heard on the news, last weekend we got hammered by a major snow storm which lasted from Friday until Monday. If you look in our Archive, you'll find that it was almost exactly 20 years after White Juan, the storm that dropped 90 cms of snow on Dartmouth. This time, when it was all over, we had about 40 to 50 cms which sounds fairly bad until you compare it to Cape Breton; they had about 1.5 metres. We just laid low and waited for it to end, hoping that our power would stay on. A week later there is still a lot of snow left; driving is difficult because the snow is piled high at the sides of the streets making them narrower than usual and reducing the visibility at intersections.
A selfie with Luigi
On Thursday, Ann and I took advantage of all the snow to go skiing at Wentworth. It was another nice day, though overcast in the morning, and the conditions were perfect. We had a lovely day.
We are looking after our neighbour Barb's cat, Luigi, for a few days. I have gone over most days to keep him company while I read the Guardian Weekly. He is almost the mirror of Louie: totally white except for a smudge on the top of his head, massive, and comparatively young. He mostly keeps to himself when I'm over but a couple of times he has come for a cuddle for a few minutes.