Man in the Mirror

 

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...
 

One Year Later . . .

A friend of mine came back to work today after the recent loss of her mother, and we chatted for a bit before I realized that today is July 8...one year to the day after Mom passed away in the early hours of that morning 365 days ago. In the moment, I found it almost impossible to believe that it had been an entire year, because subjectively it feels like it all happened about three months ago. 

Here's a nice photo of Sean and Mom back in Leduc in 1986. Whatever happens next, whatever happened last year--I still feel lucky to have had moments like this. 

 

Sad Times for Leaf Rapids

Mom, Dad, and Sean, summer of 1976 or possibly 1977
at the Suwanee River campground near Leaf Rapids

I only lived in Leaf Rapids for seven years or so, but they were foundational years. In the 1970s, Leaf Rapids was a thriving community of great natural beauty, built on the Canadian Shield's bedrock and wound through several acres of thick evergreen forest. It was a place not just for humans, but birds, bears, wolves, and--alas--thick clouds of mosquitoes and sandflies. Fortunately, dragonflies the size of sparrows hunted the pests down to manageable levels. 

Once the Ruttan Mine closed down, though Leaf Rapids has been in steady decline. Population, services, amenities, even local government--all the essentials are in short supply, and as CBC reports, things are getting worse. 

Part of me realizes that with no base for an economy, it's probably pragmatic to move the remaining residents to Lynn Lake or Thompson. But neither of those places ever captured my imagination, nor, in my view, have the natural beauty and ineffable mystery of Leaf Rapids. It was a great place to be a kid. 

 I hope that Manitobans can find a way to save Leaf Rapids. 

Armpit Photo

Sean and Sylvia on February 28, 2009. 
 

Give Yourself a Present

A few years ago, Sean gave me this Twin Peaks print for Christmas or my birthday; I don't remember which. It was created by an Albertan artist, and it captures an iconic moment from Twin Peaks, one of my very favourite works of art. Last month, I finally took it in to have it framed. I picked it up yesterday and hung it on my wall today, and I think it looks gorgeous. 
 

Video: Taco Thursday Intruder

After dropping off one of Sean's long-delayed birthday gifts, I stopped at Taco Time to pick up dinner. A seagull boldly--one might even say insouciantly--landed on my hood, silently begging for treats. I say thee nay! 

Why do we have seagulls in a landlocked province? 

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.           
 

The Days the Debts Come Due

Due to family circumstances, I'm missing most of Gaming and Guinness XX this year--and on such an important anniversary! Saddening, but it can't be helped. I love that Pete put up this list of our challenge coin debts for the occasion. I owe a lot of favours...although I'm sure I paid off Sean. I might have forgotten to update the spreadsheet...
 

Chair Buddies

 

An Organic Interlude

Sometime in the mid-1970s, we travelled from Leaf Rapids to Thompson to buy an electronic organ. Mom or Dad shot a Polaroid of us playing with it in the spring of 1977. 

As a built-in teaching aid, the keys on this organ would light up to display the notes. Once you'd learned them, you could turn off the feature and play like a real organist. Mom and Dad got pretty good at it, as I recall, and the organ came with us to Alberta. I think Mom and Dad finally tired of it in the late 80s, or maybe it stopped working. 

The organ's brief presence in our lives is something of an anomaly, as neither Sean nor I play an instrument, nor did Mom and Dad seem to have much interest in doing so aside from this organic interlude. (Pun intended.) Maybe they hoped Sean or I would pursue music. Sean plays the harmonica, but me, well . . . I still have the recorder from the one music class I had in grade four or five, but I was and am pretty terrible. 

This is the our first Mother's Day without Mom, and it feels weird to say it, but I think they might have gotten a kick out of some of the stuff Sean and I have been doing with generative AI tools--taking old photos of fishing trips and turning them into movie clips and so on. Or this: 
 

Sean and Earl as painted by da Vinci. I think Mom would have gotten a chuckle out of this. Dad probably would have shaken his head, but I think he'd like the motorboat animations from our fishing trips. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. 

Bouchers Three

They're Bouchers Three
Oh me oh my
Two of them just swung right by
They came to say hello
We were sorry to see them go
And the strange thing is
It was Sean Woods' birthday
 
(sung to the tune of The Wizard of Oz cartoon opening theme)

The Last Pickup

Today, Sean and I finished emptying out Mom and Dad's house. In a few days the new owners will take possession. 

It's a bittersweet day. For a long time, this was home, even after we moved out. I'm sure we'll drive by again someday, but it won't be the same. 

Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad, and thank you house, too. 
 

Decora-SEANs

Sean was kind enough to send me some photos of where he's placed some Mom and Dad heirlooms in his condo. I love Sean's decor, so I'm really happy to be able to present some of his space. 

The desk above is many decades old, but still in excellent shape. As you can see here, it fits perfectly under Sean's kitchen breakfast bar, with enough froom to store his cookbooks on top. And it goes with his floor! I'm so happy this has a good home in the family, because this desk has been win our lives as long as I can remember. 

Here's the working oil lamp Sean brought home; again, decades old and still very handsome. 

Here's Granddad's forge, which I now suspect may have been used to create at least some of Granddad's tools. 

Here's a close-up of the forge crank. 

I wish I had Sean's gift for this sort of thing. Sylvia's half of the house looks great, but my man cave is basically a garbage dump, aside from the theatre room. Ah well, I'm working on it . . . 

Memory Tools

Here are some of Granddad's old tools. Mom and Dad mounted these on a board from one of the Etsell sheds some years ago. These tools could date back to the 1930s. I'll find a spot to hang this; Sean has a similar tool board. I should ask him to take a photo. 

EDIT: He took a photo! I was mistaken. Sean took a barn board, but it didn't have tools on it. Instead, he mounted it on his wall, added hooks, and now he hangs his stuff on it. 

The Memory Pool

As Sean and I continue to manage Mom's estate, we inevitably come upon connections to our family's past. I took this framed certificate down from the rec room wall today, and I don't know what to do with it. As a senior member of Manitoba Pool, Mom's dad would have been involved in governing the cooperative. I wonder what issues he might have voted on or advocated for. I don't remember Mom ever mentioning it. And unfortunately, I barely remember Granddad; he died not longer after this certificate was issued, and because we lived in northern Manitoba and Mom's parents in southern Manitoba, I probably only interacted with the man five or six times over the course of my life. 

I don't want to recycle it. But on the other hand, I have no heirs, so when I'm gone, whatever poor soul has to dispense with my estate will have to deal with it (along with all my other stuff). So keeping this only delays the inevitable. And creates more work for someone in the future. 

Sean and I have had to make some hard choices when it comes to Mom and Dad's stuff. We're trying to find good homes for anything useful. But for things like this, that only had meaning for Mom or Dad or maybe tangentially to Sean or me . . . I feel such guilt. On the other hand, I like to think that somehow our ancestors understand, and that they've moved beyond concerns like this. 




 

Hail Sean!

Today's is Sean's birthday! And a big one, too. 

Happy Birthday, Sean, with many more to come! Your presents are, er...late. But coming! 

Bird vs. Sean

 

Burger Barons

What if there was a video game in which Sean and Earl had to satisfy long lines of customers at a local Burger Baron?