Seeing this photograph this morning took me back about 65 years to an early December day in 1960. My family had just returned to Canada from living in Germany for 4 years. We came back on a Cunard Liner which landed in Montreal. My parents had brought their car back with them. You could do that in those days. We were on our way, driving North from Montreal to Bagotville (La Vie de la Baie now) where my father's family lived. It was snowing and cold and very dark. In the car were my parents, my sister and myself. My mother was about 6 months pregnant for our brother.
My father was always the kind of man that when he got into the car to go anywhere, tired or not, he kept going until he got to his destination. There was no stopping except for gas. My father lost control of the car at some point, and we went off the road into the snow. We ended up trudging through deep snow to a farmhouse that was off in the distance. It was cold, cold, cold. My father carried my sister, and I walked along side of my parents. I didn't have any mittens on and I remember my hands being very cold and I was probably crying.
The people in the farmhouse took us in and the farmer went back to the car with my father to dig the car out. My mother, Cindy and I were given chairs to huddle around the wood stove and warm ourselves. I remember the door of the oven being down to let more hot air into the room and the woman had a pan of water sitting on it for me to put my hands in to warm them up.
I remember them being very kind to us, feeding us, etc. I do not remember if we stayed there overnight or not. I just remember the kindness shared. And of course, seeing this picture triggered that very sweet memory. I don't know if my sister will remember this incident or not. She would only have been about 2 1/2 years old, while I was four.
The thing I remember most about this incident is how cold my hands were and the pan of water sitting on the oven door. What kind people they must have been. My mother could not speak French, but of course it was our father's native tongue, so he did all of the communicating.
The kindness of strangers at this very special time of year is something I will never forget.
I had a facetime with my oldest son in Fredericton yesterday morning. It is always nice to get together and talk face to face. I love it. He and the two boys are planning on coming over after Boxing Day to spend a few days. They don't want to leave the cat on her own and have nobody to look after her, so my daughter in law will be staying back to watch over the cat and the house. I will miss seeing Anne, but it will be nice to see Anthony, Gabe and Luke. My two angel boys. I think I will let Anthony do all the cooking when he is here. He likes to cook. Maybe we will do it together. We will see how it all works out. I know he will want to visit his dad(s) as well.
My next-door neighbor to the right of me (the one with the birdhouse chair) stopped by yesterday afternoon with a Christmas Card. She wanted also to invite me to an open-house they are having on the 17th in the afternoon with eggnog and cake. They seem like a very nice couple. I do want to get together with them sometime and talk about some family history. They are from the same community which my great-grandparents lived in and where our mother was born. Last week when my sister had picked me up to go to supper with Dad, the husband was out shoveling and dad said "He's your relative." So, I want to explore that.
Their last name is Gaul. I know there are Gaul's in the family tree. I was doing some family history a number of weeks back and looking at the 1931 Canada Census. I noted on there that living in my Great Grandparents home were them, my grandmother and grandfather, my Aunt Thelma, and two little girls whose last name was Gaul. Nellie age 10 and Leslie age 7. They were named as nieces. Mom always said that there were two little girls buried at the back of the farm. I wonder if these were the two little girls, and why were they living with our Great Grandparents. Perhaps my next-door neighbor will be able to shine some light on this. You never know.
However, the open house will not be the opportunity to discover these things, as that is a social occasion. It is very nice of them to invite people over. I will probably make a very brief appearance.
It is hard to believe that it will be Christmas in just a few weeks now and that we are in the last month of the year. It will soon be the shortest day and then the days will start getting longer again. Right now, it is starting to get dark around 20 to 5 in the afternoon. At least that is when I put the lights on and draw the curtains. I don't like the thought of anyone being able to look into my home and see what's going on after dark. When I first moved in, before I got curtains, etc. I sat here in the dark at night because I didn't want anyone looking in. Mind you at that time I had all single men living across the road. Things have really changed in the four 1/2 years I have been living in this house. Five of my neighbors have passed away, including all of the men across the way. That is the nature of these communities. All of the residents are Seniors, and most are here until they either move to a residential care home or pass away. There are not many spaces in care homes around here. I hope that I never have to go into one. You could end up being put into one hours away from where your family lives. That is not ideal. Our Aunt Thelma ended up getting put into one way down in Annapolis which made it very difficult for my mother to visit her very often.
I have been having a hard time staying awake in the afternoons lately. I stopped drinking Diet Coke pretty much and I wonder if that is why. I struggle to stay awake at all. I find myself nodding off again and again and again. Mind you, I am not sleeping all that great because of my shoulder still paining me. It is on the same side that I like to sleep on, making it impossible for me to sleep on that side. Plus moving my arm in bed hurts as well, so it semi-wakes me up. Last night I took an extra strength Tylenol and rubbed it with some icy stuff to see if that would help, but I didn't notice much difference.
I will need to get out at some point today. I need to go to the bank. It's awkward to go to my bank here in town as there is no parking near it. You have to park in the parking lot at the grocery store and cross the road to get to it. It is going to snow/rain later on in the afternoon, so I guess I will have to make the effort to try to go this morning at some point. Not a fan as they haven't really plowed our street properly since the last snowfall.
I wish I was not such a chicken when it comes to driving. It comes from lack of experience I guess. I did not drive at all, or much at all, the whole time I lived in the U.K. and I am quite a bit older now than I was when I lived here before I moved over there. I have never been an overly confident driver, or passenger for that matter, lol. Even when I was younger, I had my own way of doing things. When we lived in Calgary, I learned to drive everywhere only making right hand turns because the windows on the passenger side of the car were covered with plastic and I couldn't see out them, so I could only check traffic that was approaching from the left side. (There were no safety inspections for cars in Alberta at that time.)
We never had new cars, only old "junkers" as we called them. We could not afford much more than that. The car I have now is 10 years old and I am hoping that I can keep it going until I die because I will never be able to afford a new car.
I was reading the other day that the price of food here in Canada is expected to rise significantly in 2026, with a four to six per cent increase expected. Meat is expected to see the largest jump, rising between five and seven per cent, with the widest uncertainty range among all categories. Bakery items, vegetables and restaurant meals are also projected to climb noticeably, while fruit and seafood are expected to see more modest increases.
I wonder how people will be able to afford to feed themselves and their families. Nova Scotia already has one of the highest costs of food whilst we have, on average, some of the lowest incomes. It's all down to the cost of transportation, packaging, etc.
Back in the 70's and 80's we used to do a lot of grocery shopping in the States. We lived in towns close to the borders and it was not that far for us to go over. The cost of food down there was quite a bit cheaper. You could get a gallon of milk for about 99 cents; versus the 3 to 4 dollars, it was costing us in Canada. Everything was a lot cheaper, despite the difference in the dollar values. You don't hear of people going down there to shop any more what with tariffs etc. People are not even vacationing down there any longer. Most Canadians that I know, who were called Snowbirds, that escaped to Florida in the winter months, have sold their condos and Florida homes.
It's a shame really that it has come to this, but it is what it is. Food has gone up quite a bit down there as well from what I understand.
I have really run out of much else to say this morning. My life is very narrow these days. I don't seem to go very far from home or to do much that could be called exciting. A quiet life. I would rather this than an overly excitable life full of drama. Simplicity. That is what I crave. Peace and quiet.
A thought to carry with you . . .
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
is the most perfect prayer.
~Doris Lessing• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
In The English Kitchen today. Fresh Lasagna with Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes. A delicious version of lasagna that is vegetarian friendly.
I hope that you have a lovely Wednesday. I expect we will be going out to supper with dad tonight unless the roads are bad. Whatever you get up to stay warm, safe, and have a joy-filled day. Don't forget!
