October has come and gone and best to be forgotten. It started out promising with some glorious warm days here on the mountain but the last two weeks have been cold, overcast and downright depressing. Marie and I did get a chance to pick up three cords of firewood for the winter, put snow tires on both the Mazda and Ford, bring up the big bed from the cabin where we have been storing it and put up a shelter for the car - all while the weather was nice earlier in the month. Meantime I have been working on the master bedroom, finishing the drywall, painting and preparing the floor for the engineered wood that we will lay. Marie chose the colors for upstairs and we think they look great against the wood theme that runs throughout the house. Finishing upstairs has been a long time coming and we will be done certainly by ...Christmas! Marie is still undecided on the railing that will go up the stairs and along the open wall above the living room - this will be the last thing to do before we next start on the kitchen. It has been a rough month as well for the country after the senseless killing of two of our soldiers, here in Quebec and in Ottawa. I cannot help but think this is only the tip of the iceberg and we will really have to become more vigilante if we want to preserve our way of life and be more ready to "stand on guard". There is so much evil and hatred right now in the world it is almost unbearable to imagine the suffering of women and children in places like Nigeria and Syria and even harder still to believe young people from Canada cannot find in their hearts to appreciate the freedom and opportunities they have here. What is it that pulls them instead to join the sick, perverted and inhuman animals in the Middle East that are determined to lead them only to a senseless death? As well this month my good friend Bruce lost his son Christopher in a car accident in Williams Lake, BC. He and Edie are devastated and I can only offer them my deepest sympathy and hope they find some peace in their hearts soon. I knew little Chris when he was only two years old back in the 70s when we lived in Haida Gwaii and still remember the trips to the beach with him and his brother.
This weekend we are off to Montréal to see the grandkids before heading south to Florida for a week to charge our batteries and do some shopping. We will be staying at my brother's condo in Lake Worth, on the Atlantic coast. Just a much needed short break from the gray of November that has descended upon us. Still little or no news from Lara but lots of videos and pictures from Fernanda and kids. We are all still wondering why we never hear from Lara and hope whatever it is will pass and she will come to realize she is part of a very loving and worried family. We have all seen this past month how precious life is and how quickly it can be gone. Love while you can..
gws
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| sunrise, 22nd October |
