A Woman of Salt Lake

In 2019, Mom accompanied Aunt Jean and Uncle John on what would ultimately be her last trip to Manitoba. I can't ask her now, so I don't know if this is Mom or Aunt Jean in the image. This is most likely Salt Lake, but I can't be sure. 
 

A Ladle Bit of Humour

A few years back Aunt Jean and Uncle John were in Leduc. Here, we see Aunt Jean pretending to drink from the iron ladle that goes with her dad's forge, which now lives in Sean's condo. That imaginary soup must have been very hot indeed...
 

Sylvia and Uncle John

Today we celebrated Aunt Jean's life at a beautiful farm north of Kelowna. This is my favourite photo from that event. Uncle John was Aunt Jean's husband for many decades, and together they lived lives full of travel, art, and adventure on several continents. Uncle John's kindness, tenacity, and talent are truly something to behold, and it's not hard to see why Aunt Jean loved him, and why he and Sylvia connected very strongly at the instant of first meeting several years back. I loved watching them interact this weekend. 

As for the celebration itself, it was a showcase for Aunt Jean's art and our shared love of her somewhat off-the-wall way of looking at the world, something I like to think we share. 
 

Woods, Langergrabers, and a Newton at Red Robin

Earlier tonight Sean, Sylvia and I met with Uncle John, his two sons, their partners, and our cousin David for a long, leisurely supper and chat at Red Robin in Kelowna. Once again, the only real upside of grieving is how it brings people together to remember better times and create some new memories. And it was great to finally meet Kevin's partner, Carol, in person. Sean and Sylvia and I are very grateful to the Langergrabers and David for a wonderful evening. 
 

Osoyoos Oasis

Sean and Sylvia and I are in the Okanagan for celebrations of life for our Aunt Marjorie and Aunt Jean. Aunt Marjorie's was earlier today, and it was a beautiful, welcoming tribute. It was great to see my cousins Diane, Darwin, and Bruce again--Aunt Marjorie's surviving children--as well as several of their children and partners. 

After the service, we took some time to travel around the region, stopping at a patio in Osoyoos for refreshments. Being in such a beautiful setting helps take the sting out of loss.           
 

Memory Beacon

Sean and I each brought home one of these Beacon oil lanterns, originally used on the Etsell farm in Virden, Manitoba, and residing at Mom and Dad's place as long as I can remember...maybe since 1982, when Grandma died. General Steel Works started making these in 1911, but I don't think this one is that old, though I suppose it could be. I suspect it dates back at least to the 1940s. I'd say it might become handy when the apocalypse comes, but first I'd need to find oil and a wick to make it useful. 

EDIT: Sean reminded me that we actually gave the other oil lantern to Aunt Jean and Uncle John when they came by for Mom's celebration of life last year. 
 

Farewell to Aunt Marjorie

We just heard from our cousin Dianne that her mother, my Aunt Marjorie Jones, passed away today. She was the last Etsell sister, at far left, beside Mom. As far as I know, the unveiling of the cairn at Salt Lake, on the former property of our grandparents, was the last time all four sisters were together in the same place. I'm glad Sean and Dad and I were there for it. 

Three sisters gone in the space of less than half a year. Time can be cruel. 

Rest in peace, Aunt Marjorie, with your sisters and Uncle Arnold. 


 

Three Sisters

Mom, Aunt Jean, and sitting down, Aunt Margaret, the eldest of the four Etsell sisters. All three of these remarkable women have passed on now. They are missed. 

Shadows cast through an upstairs window
Moonlight broken by a cross and black branches
And fluttering wings
But for an instant
 

Farewell, Aunt Jean

We found out late tonight that Aunt Jean, Mom's sister, passed away on Tuesday. I'm grateful we got to see her one last time at Mom's celebration of life this summer. Aunt Jean is on the right in this image with Mom from 1950 or so. 

Aunt Jean was fun to be around. She was a genuine character and a wonderful painter. She was closest to Mom in age and, I always suspected, closest overall. 

Our thoughts are with Uncle John, my cousins Keith and Kevin, and their partners, Heather and Carolyn, and with Aunt Marjorie. We'll all miss Aunt Jean, but none more than these who were closest to her. 

 

Mom and Me at the Etsell Farm

Here's another new-to-me image from Aunt Jean and Uncle John's collection. I'm back at the Etsell farm with Mom and Smokey the "don't pull his tail, he'll put your eye out" cat. This image brings me peace. 
 

Earl in the Hay

Aunt Jean and Uncle John recently took a large collection of their old slides to get scanned, and there are some beautiful shots in there--some that I honestly think could have been used in Life or National Geographic. 

I wouldn't consider the (cropped) photo above one of those truly outstanding shots, but it has a young me in it--one I'd never seen until my aunt and uncle gave me access to their new digital collection. I believe this was shot on the Gray farm, near the Etsell farm in southern Manitoba, sometime in the early 1970s. I'm terrible at guessing ages; do I look, say, two here? If so, this would have been summer of 1971. 

 

Aunt Jean's Chaplin

Our Aunt Jean--second-youngest of the four Etsell sisters--is a painter, and she's generously shared her paintings with family. This portrait of Chaplin has lived in Mom and Dad's house for several years, and now it'll live in our theatre room for a while. I hung the painting a few days ago, and just now I added a couple of shelves to host my collection of Chaplin films (along with a few others from the golden age of comedy). 

Thanks so much, Aunt Jean. 

Three Sisters

My aunts Jean and Marjorie (far left), came to Edmonton on Friday for a wedding, and on Sunday Sean, Sylvia and I came out to Leduc to see them. Mom served a very delicious lunch, and my cousins Darwin (seen here to my right), Bruce (not in this photo for some reason--where did he go?) and Darwin's son Brandon (who shot the photo) popped by, too. It was great seeing my aunts again! 
 

More Colours Out of Time

 Here's a black and white photo of Mom (right) with her older sister, my Aunt Jean. It was taken sometime in the 1950s at the farm near Virden, Manitoba. 

Here's the same photo colourized by Jason Antic's image colourization software. Colourizing black and white imagery is nothing new, of course, but I'm pretty impressed by the results given how easy it is to use the software; just upload your photo and the algorithm spits out its best guess. 

I deliberately chose to shoot some of Michael and Naomi's wedding with black and white film. Here are Jeff and Susan at that wedding in glorious black and white.

And here they are in colour. 

Say what you will about the wisdom of colourization, but for all its flaws I find the process fascinating, and I imagine the colours will achieve greater fidelity and believability as the technology improves. 

Farewell Aunt Margaret

Last night, Mom received the news that her oldest sister, Margaret (Etsell) Newton, had passed away in Winnipeg at 88. You can see Mom at the far left beside Aunt Margaret, with Aunt Jean and Aunt Marjorie, respectively, on the right. 

I'll miss Aunt Margaret. She was kind, compassionate, warm, intelligent, and accomplished, and she had a smile that lit up the room. My thoughts are with my Uncle Gordon, my cousins David, Kathy, and Barbara, my aunts, and, of course, Mom. 

Mom and the Wagon

Here is what I believe is quite a nice image of my mom at a relative's wedding near Devon, Alberta. I imagine my Aunt Jean shot this. 

Horsey Repair Job

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the photo above because I thought the damage to the print created a neat effect.

I took a shot at repairing the damage with Photoshop, and I think it looks a bit better. As you can see, I had trouble in the hind leg area. 

Unrepaired

Here's a damaged photo of my Aunt Jean and the Etsell horse, Thopsy. The damage on this photo might be beyond my ability to repair. But it might have made the photo a little more interesting. In the real world, both Aunt Jean and Thopsy were reacting to something on their right, out of frame. In the photograph, it now appears they're alarmed by the blob of off-yellow gunk spreading out toward them. 

Topsy, Blackie, and Earl

Here's my maternal grandfather, Thomas Earl Etsell, directing horses Topsy (left) and her son Blackie (right) to haul a load of manure from the barn for spreading into the fields. This photo was taken (presumably by my grandmother, Mom, or one of her sisters) in 1958.

According to Mom, "Blackie was black when he was born! But as he aged, he turned into a dappled grey, and then as he became older, he became whiter."

Aunt Jean sent the photo along. Thanks, Aunt Jean! 

Mystery Viking

Sometime in 1972, either my parents or my aunt or uncle shot a slide of this impressive statue, reproduced here as a scan. Without a living person in the frame, it's hard to judge the statue's scale, but it looks pretty impressive to me. Does anyone know where I might find this statue?