The TRC Lecture at McGill

Eric Jarvis shares his experience at the Truth and Reconciliation lecture at McGill:

Sept 20, Tuesday
Journal Entre # 143

I walked home early to prepare for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) lecture at McGill. It was a successful event! We had a mixed crowd: some LDS, but also students, faculty, and Interfaith friends. John Cree, a Mohawk Elder, opened and closed the meeting with traditional ceremonies with pipe and smoke and feather and words in the Mohawk language. At one point, he was overcome with emotion when he said, I don¹t know why so many people hate my people so much.  John Borrows and Rebecca Johnson spoke on various aspects of the TRC, but [Professor Borrows] tried to find points of reconciliation by tracing his Indigenous family history and the contacts his family has had through the generations with White culture and society. One of these positive events was the conversion of his mother to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Very touching stories. John Cree ended by saying, ³The White man was given fire as a gift; we are still waiting for him to use this fire for good and for healing - not for destruction."

Post Script: To read more about this event, try this link: Embracing Reconciliation

On Seeing 9/10th of the Three Penny Opera

.... nothing like an opera about a serial killer who ends us
being knighted, given money and a castle ...

Did this happen to anyone else?

The live showing of The Three Penny Opera stopped before the last act was finished.

There we were, Macheath kissing someone while the J.J. Peacham was wrapping up the operatic conventions for us, tying the opera up with a bow, ... and the live transmission stopped.

We all got Special Event passes so that we can come back on Oct 15 for the last part of the show.  I heard Rufus Norris say, as they were interviewing him at the half time, that they had done two practise performances with the cameras so that they would get it right for the satellite transmission that was going to go to over 2,000 theatres.  Well, the best laid plans .....

There is a lot to say about what was fun in the evening.  I was reminded in one of the reviews that there would be signs telling people what was going on.  So I laughed when the wheel chair beggar was wheeled across the stage as the show began -- on the front of his shirt was the word OVER and on the back the word TURE.

And when the second act started, and Macheath came on the stage, looked at the audience and then said, "So you came back.  You didn't have to, you know.  There is no rule that you had to come back."

How Brechtian was that!

Did anyone else go?

Arta

The Three Penny Opera - Questions

Original German poster from Berlin, 1928

I was telling Wyona that I have been enjoying the pre-theatre reading about The Three Penny Opera -- mostly found on the internet.

Wiki helped me refresh my memory of the plot and the names of some of the songs.

Had I passed by a music store, I think I would have purchased a CD of the music.

On of the reviewers said that the street-singer who sings Mack the Knife at the start of the show had a po-face.  I spent a long time searching for the meaning of that word.

Now I can hardly wait to hear the song again, done in that fashion.

I didn't know much about Brecht until I took an overview course in which we read something he had written and then heard a 45 minute lecture.  I don't think that is quite enough, but so far that is all I have.

Looking forward to tomorrow night.

Here are some question for Duncan and Alex to pepper their mother with.

1. Name the show's composer.
2. Who is in charge of all of London's beggars?
3. Name the members of the Peacham family.
4. Who gives up Macheath?
5. How is Polly's wedding expensed?
6. According to critic and musicologist Hans Keller, the work is "the weightiest possible lowbrow opera for highbrows and the most full-blooded highbrow musical for lowbrows". What does that mean?
7. Brecht gives exact descriptions of what he wants his characters to look like.  Macheath is to be only four feet high, stocky and with a radish head.  Rory Kinnear who is six feet tall doesn't exactly fit this description, but he was cast for the part.  Do you think Kinnear carries off Brecht's idea of who Macheath really is?  Is Kinnear flat and uncaring enough?

Whether Rebecca can answer the questions or not, they are still good ones and worthy of remuneration.

Arta



Arta

The Three Penny Opera - National Theatre Live

Rosalie Craig and Rory Kinnear as
Polly Peachum and Macheath in
‘The Threepenny Opera’ Richard H Smith

Last year Duncan, Alex, Rebecca and I saw The Three Penny Opera at U.Vic, done as part of their music and drama department.  There is nothing like live theatre.

But second to that will be the HD National Theatre production that many of us will get to see Thursday night.

Matt Trueman reviews for Variety with the words, "Somebody’s turning in his grave tonight", and I think that somebody is Brecht.

On the National Theatre site there is a half hour interview with Rory Kinnear who plays Macheath. Well worth watching.  Go down, down, down, almost to the bottom of the page to find it.  As well, enjoy a few minutes of the opening scene nearer the top of the page.  If you don't like it, don't go to the "cheap" opera for it will be more of the same.

Claire Allfree, in The Telegraph, says "It chills more than it thrills."  I guess it will be the audience who decides.

Lastly the Independent reviews the show, calling it a snarling, sexy beast of a show.

I have had a grand time tonight, collecting the reviews and watching the interview.

And of course, I will be off to see the show ... again.  Once is not enough.  And neither is twice.

Arta

The Wasp Killers

In preparation for Michael’s family birthday party Richard mowed the front lawn.

Now I don’t know why, for we spent the bulk of the party on the back lawn or in the house.

Only those who felt compelled to find the sun were on the back lawn. Those who feared the heavy wind that was blowing headed to the house. Not to mock them, for this was the kind of wind that will whip your plate off of the table unless you have it anchored down with all of your utensils, which cannot be plastic.

In the morning when I first heard the lawn was going to be mowed, I started clearing the back lawn of toys. Every time I moved another small trike or red swimming pool over to the cement I noticed wasps around my compost – a community of them. Richard has a wasp-batter, a tool shaped like a tennis racket but lightening strikes the wasp at the same time as the wasp hits the racket, or so the directions on the package say. No matter how many times I swatted, the wasps dodged my racket. The only other solution was to move both compost bins and try to find the nest.

Richard and I worked together, Michael joining us, suitably covered with a long sleeved jacket and pants since we were in enemy territory and greatly outnumbered by them. Anyway, it is true that a morning’s planned work can be set aside, or maybe it just went astray as we battled the wasps, Richard explaining to his children, “No, we love the honey bees. They give us food. The wasps only give us stings.”

And in a nod to the Grimm’s Fairy Tale, “Seven at One Blow”, not one of the three of us got a sting.

Arta

On Seeing Measure for Measure

Dominic Rowan as Duke Vincentio in his Friar disguise
and Brendan O’Hea as Lucio in the
Globe’s Measure for Measure

This was my first viewing of Measure for Measure. I was at the Chinook Centre Cineplex, viewing the show on the large screen. Only 10 other people were in the theatre. I enjoyed the 2 hours and 35 minutes, and I heard myself laughing sometimes since the show was such a good comedy. The portrayal of the upper classes and the lower classes was amazing. The five-piece band made me think about how music furthered the sense of setting and time. Even the slide of the trombone made me laugh, as did the violinist, down on her knees and still playing at one point.

I listened for the lines that I had pre-read, the ones I knew were famous from the play. The declamation of the actors was fantastic, as was their acrobatics, and their dancing. The foppish walk of Lucio never got tiring, nor did the way he would draw his hand against the wisp of hair that hung from the right side of his head.

I love how the characters are often down in the audience at the Globe – such a sight to see the mix of the modern and the ancient, the actors sometimes taunting the audience.

And I love the speed of the change of scene. The actors are not off the stage before another set have grabbed my attention. What a sight! The woman in the wheelbarrow. Minimal set, wouldn’t you say. A few chair, the wheel barrow and some sticks at the reprise. And still the feel of the times was there, just through the costuming.

Loved the show!  And I liked this review from theviewfromtheuppercircle.

Arta

Uncle Grant trying sushi

Catie and Great-Uncle Grant  

What is the best news of the day is a question that is asked over the dinner table where I get to share meals with Miranda, Richard, Michael, Alice and Betty.

A good part of Miranda's day was that Betty can say bye-bye and then go point to the door so that she can get outside into the yard to play.
She isn't allowed to go that far.

Only to the porch where there is another child-proof gate.

A mother has to take care that a toddler doesn't get too far.

... a take-out / bring-in meal of sushi ...

The best part of one of my days last week was to hear that Sharon was moved so that she is in the same AgeCare facility as her two brothers. 

They can spend some of their mealtimes together which is a lovely bonus for them.

Grant, back of Tom's head, Kelvin and Hebe

Catherine sent me these pictures of a July visit that the Jarvis family made to see Kelvin.

They brought sushi. As you can see, Grant was willing to try it.

And Kelvin likes it.

 So sushi it was on the Jarvis visit -- and games for all to play.

Arta

Getting to Know You - Important Advice

A few years ago, Catherine did some "Getting to Know You" e-mails. She has begun this practise again. Here is the second of this week's questions which I have underlined.

Tell us about an important piece of advice you have learned. Who did you learn it from? 

I was told, "If it can’t be done with love, it can’t be done."

I learned this from a talk given by a mission president when I was in Grande Prairie. I can no longer remember his name. I do remember the advice and think of it often

I read, "Always try to say yes to your children".

I learned this from a parenting book. This advice changed the way I parented my teen-agers.When I began to practice this, I was surprised to find out how many times I was saying “no” to them. I learned to say “yes and I will help you do that if I can”.  Sometimes I thought the words were going to choke me.

My father told me, "You can’t give advice to your children until they are ready to hear it".

I wondered about his advice so I asked,“how long will that take".  He said, “you may have to wait two or three years”.

My Computer Science 200 professor told me "Stop doing programming (and by extension, doing electronics) a couple of hours before you go to bed".

She told me this when I asked her how to stop C++ programming from going on in my dreams.

Thanks for letting me think about this question, Catherine.  I don't think important pieces of advice that are good for me, might be good for others.   But I would love to hear important pieces of advice that others have received.  Especially advice you have received.  I might get this one wrong, but you did tell me not to let noxious, or even obnoxious people rent space in my mind.  Not bad advice.

Arta

Getting to Know You - Christmas Traditions

Catherine is resurrecting her "Getting to Know You" questions.

I am told to feel free to respond, or not. She will be sending 1-2 questions per week. And, if I want to play along, but would prefer to answer in person, she will give me a call.

That is an offer I can’t refuse. So here goes on this week's questions. And as she says, play along if you like.

Describe a favourite family Christmas Tradition

Having spent so many Christmases, this question just about stymied me.

Do I love the traditions of my parents? Yes.

Do I love the traditions of the family I had. Yes.

When I was discussing this question with Wyona she said that the best tradition is to have no tradition. Just do what works for a few years, and when that is done, pick up something new and go with it for a few more years, and so on. There is more than a grain of truth here.

I used to have my house filled with Christmas decorations. Now just a few are fine with me even though I have more house now, since I am sharing it with fewer people.

I used to fill my home with baking. Now a large tin box of Walkers Shortbread from Costco will do.

I used to make hundreds of pounds of chocolates. Literally. Now a days, few people do the hand dipped chocolates, but when they do, I am glad to have a few that are slipped my way.

I used to help Santa with gifts for children. Now he has other helpers.

I used to teach every Christmas song possible to my little children. Now I enjoy hearing those old melodies on the radio, my favourites coming into this 2016 year will be “Coventry Carol” (Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child) and “Sweet and Low”. But that is not to say that any tune from The Messiah will also do to remind me that it is truly Christmas. Or humming along to Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols.” That is also good. And one of my most precious memories is of taking my children to Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, where one of the songs uses the lyrics, “licorice, licorice”. Even now one of my children will sing those lyrics and it will make me laugh. I can vividly remember sitting in the University Theatre with them and seeing the work performed.

Traditionally, I used to long for framed pictures of famous Christmas art for my walls. Now I have an 8” x 6” piece from Brook Melchin’s series of Christmas cards – mine is black and white though his originals are coloured. Just the right size and I can leave it up all year. I chose the piece where Mary is on a donkey and Joseph is walking towards Bethlemen to pay his taxes. I pay mine in a much easier way – just direct deposit to the CRA. And as for Christmas art, I have a piece of art done by Catherine at Relief Society – “Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God …” All of the important words written on a piece of gold lamme. Or fake gold, but it is the same to me.

My singular-to-me tradition has been to go shopping and enjoy the decorations to buy (without doing so, if it is at all possible)  More importantly I fill my soul with the magnificent store decorations that fill the ceilings of stores and hang from rafters in malls. I love looking at those. I will still sit on a bench and do that, adding to it my own wonder at the gift of being my age and still able to see.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

In the past, I loved reading traditional Christmas stories – and how many of them exist. “The Night Before Christmas”, “The Fourth Wiseman”, and maybe the best, the original, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields ….” 

Yes, Wyona is right. Pack the season with the traditions from our culture. Lay some aside.  Take others up.  Pick and choose from the beauty and cultural wealth that abounds.

 And wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Only three months to go.

Arta

HD Live Measure for Measure

Mariah Gale as Isabella and 
Kurt Egyiawan as Angelo in 
Measure for Measure at Shakespeare's Globe 
Photo: Marc Brenner

Measure for Measure is playing HD Live tomorrow.

Here is the review from The Telegraph by Dominic Cavendish. I trust in my reviewers to give me the flavour of what I will see.

I am due for a brush up on the characters and the plots, though I do remember seeing this show performed when I was a teen-ager.  It was done in our local chapel and I was pretty well amazed by it.  The next time I see Johnny Wilcox I will ask him if he was one of the actors.

In Susannah Clapp's review she says "order may have been restored, but happiness has been banished.

We shall see.

Here are famous quotes to look for:

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." (Act I, Scene IV) 

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." (Act II, Scene I) 

"Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it?" (Act II, Scene II) 

"O, it is excellent To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous To use it like a giant." (Act II, Scene II) 

"The miserable have no other medicine but only hope." (Act III, Scene I) 

"If thou art rich, thou'rt poor; For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows, Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey, And death unloads thee." (Act III, Scene I) 

"Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful." (Act III, Scene I) 

"O, what may man within him hide, Though angel on the outward side!" (Act III, Scene II) 

"Truth is truth To the end of reckoning." (Act V, Scene I) 

"What’s mine is yours, and what is yours is mine." (Act V, Scene I) 

"Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure; Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure." (Act V, Scene I)

I had to take a quick peek to see what the title means.  So here it is for you, Duncan and Alex: What's Up with the Title.

Arta

BBC Streaming a Mid Summer Night's Dream

Credit: Steve Tanner

A Mid Summer Night's Dream, Emma Rice’s inaugural production as Artistic Director at Shakespeare’s Globe, was broadcast live around the world for audiences to enjoy for free as part of Shakespeare Lives, the online digital festival co-curated by the BBC and the British Council.

I didn't know this was going to happen, but I got a phone call from Rebecca saying that A Mid Summer Night's Dream was already streaming.

She told me what I had to type in to catch up with what she was watching.

I got myself some snacks and settled down for a 3 1/2 hour watching fest. I was mesmerized. I would have only changed one thing. Had I known tis was happening I would have purchased more theatrical snacks. As it was I had to rely on kiwis, oranges and my new Envy apples -- all of which were just fine.

A natural sugar high is just as good as an artificial one.  Well, not quite, but they had to do.

Arta

The Threepenny Opera

 Self-conscious theatricality …
Haydn Gwynn as Mrs Peachum and Nick Holder as Mr Peachum
 in The Threepenny Opera at the Olivier, London.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

First of all, Happy Birthday, Rebecca.

Nice to visit with  you on the phone where we can catch up on what we have seen last via BBC live streaming, or what we want to see next -- which for you is The Threepenny Opera.

So here is your birthday gift:  a sneak peak at what others are saying about the show.

I went out to see the official trailer from National Three Live. They catch the flavour of the show that we saw live in Victoria.

Claire Allfree writes a review in The Telegraph.

Susannah Clapp reviews the show for The Guardian.

Michael Billington also writes for the The Guardian.

So read and enjoy.  I know your boys went with you to see this live.  I wonder if they will be humming the tunes again as they leave the theatre on Sept 22nd.

The Good Neighbour

The apples are ripe and ready to pick
and the pear tree has been uprighted

From Bonnie:

I was not around when the pear tree was up righted.

It caught my eye as I headed to my car to go to work.

From a distance, the solution to a listing pear tree remained a mystery.

,,, fruit trees rim the road ...

I'm leaving now 15 minutes later than planned, but having communed with nature and filled with wonder at the world and the wonderful people in it.

Thank you, neighbour Dave and arborist extra-ordinaire.

Bonnie

Over Abundance

We did not harvest the blackberries as we should have this year.

 ...blackberries and sour dough waffles ... 

Anita brought up a bucket full for one breakfast. 

Doral tried his hand at picking berries, hand being the operative word.  He slipped back out of the blackberry patch, using his hand as a slider, so he was pretty roughed up from the entanglement.

I thought I would take a try and put my harvest in the little pockets of a waffle as I have seen the kids do.

Yum.

Arta

TRC Necklaces

From Rebecca:

So... there are 750 necklaces in this photo?

Perhaps another 150 to 200 at the office?

No need to ask what I did for my summer  holidays.

Rebecca Johnson

The head bone connected to the neck bone

The demo model for this skeleton had come unhinged.

That is why Zoe is holding its head in place

I took a turn myself, holding that head in place.

All of the time I was thinking about Halloween and how much fun it is for some and how horrifying for others.

Because Wyona's birthday is Oct 27th, my mother always had a themed party for her.

Now I don't know how many parties that would be, given that most children stop having birthday parties sometime arouid when they are in Grade VI.

Still those memories are vivid for her, and I think for me as well.

There can a lot of decorating fun at Halloween.

Who doesn't like a cake decorated like a graveyard.  I won't be making any witches fingers cookies, but if I am offered one, I will happily take it.

Zoe and I left the broken skeleton in the store.

Arta

Costuming

Zoe and I got together yesterday after her dental appointment which was just teeth cleaning.

Her mother pointed out to her that she went out to eat two times the day before, and now she was out eating again.  Adulthood (making these dining choices) is so much fun.

The three of us also went to Michaels to pick up Halloween costuming for Zoe. She found a two foot high orange hat, orange LED ringlets, (imagine how they glow), and she has matching striped orange socks. 

 I don't know what I will wear for costuming, but I don't need much in the way of make-up.

Arta

Eye's Wide Open

I remember laughing once during the surgery.
That was at the moment where the opthamologist got
the string wrapped around my nose as he was
doing his stitching up of the eyelids.
I was wondering if, like Pinocchio my nose
had started to grow which is what made me laugh, 

Wyona delivered me home from from eye surgery:  blepharoplasty.

I was pleased that I could see well enough to see the stairs  as I walked down them and I could see well enough to find my bed.  Even local freezing knocks me out and I can think of nothing but sleep.

Apparently I wanted a selfie as well, or maybe Wyona took this for me.

Sometimes a person just can't remember.

Arta 

The Leaning Pear Tree

 ... the learning tree is on the right hand quarter of the picture ...
... the yellow mullen on the hill is mature now as well ...

I thought a bear had come after the pears.

The tree was giving me a 130 degree slant and I knew there had been some fruit on it.  Bonnie went to check and it could hardly have been a bear for the fruit was still on the tree.

She called later that morning to say that there had been a birch laying across the road when she was driving down Pilling's Road on the way to work.

My guess is heavy winds and prolific rain felled my lovely tree.  Time to stake it back up and see if it can recover.

Arta

The Bridge Marathon

We had a six day bridge marathon, mostly at Moiya's house, though the party did start at my house and we did have one stay at Wyona's who burned candles to produce the correct ambiance for us.  But mostly Moiya provided the space and the treats: chocolate zucchini cake, pumpkin pie slice, warm country seed bread to die for, spaghetti squash just out of the oven .....

Bonnie Wyora was the score keeper, shadowed by Wyona's expertise, of course.  There is nothing like keeping score to really learn how bridge works.  That would be, learning when you have a game on, a leg on, how much is above the line, or below -- all jargon I know but have yet to really manage by using it to keep score.

The four of us kept changing partners so that the stunning victories of one day didn't keep happening to the same pair of players.  I held one hand that had 27 points -- no word of a lie.

In the six days we played, Wyona had diagnosed herself with gout and was in the process of giving up the two luxuries left to her -- diet coke and chocolate.  The pain in her toe lessened but moved to her pointer finger until she could hardly hold her cards -- even if there were twenty-two points in the hand.

Her finger got bigger and bigger.

... at the emergency department, waiting for Wyona ...

As Bonnie and I were taking our morning walk passed Wyona's house the next day, she called us over, hoping that we, too, could diagnose the progress of her gout.

"Looks like a trip to the emergency department," said Bonnie, looking at the finger that now had tinges of green.

The three of us hopped in the car  for Salmon Arm where the physician on call made his own diagnosis -- an infection that needed lancing.

On leaving the hospital we called Moiya who was also in town and said she would meet us at a fast food joint.  Bonnie slipped into a dollar store, got us 2 more packs of cards and we spent the afternoon  drinking coke and dreaming of the chocolate that would be back in Wyona's diet, and thus in ours.

Bonnie also spent a lot of time shuffling the cards so they are ready if you happen to see us and we need a fourth.

Arta

Richard, the Trapper

"This is not a skunk" to take a riff from Rene Magritte.

"Guess what I found in my trap?", Richard said. "I bought the trap to catch rabbits and I haven't caught a single one.  They are in our garden every night and it is a matter of survival for us, to stop them if we are going to be the ones to eat out of our garden.  All I have caught is squirrels.  And now look what I have."

"What did you use for bait?", I asked.

"My famous weekend crepes," he said.  "It looks like they really worked even though they were two days old."

During the evening, everyone came out on the lawn to look:  Amir, Derek, Nicola and even Wyona, Zoe and Charise when they came over later.

I didn't want Zoe to go quite as close to the skunk as she was going.

"Leave her alone," said Wyona.  "She has been very sad all summer since she didn't see a bear when there was one on the property.  Now that there is a skunk, she is going to have to get close, no matter what happens."

When Zoe came back to the rest of the group hovering far back in the yard by the wire fence, Wyona asked her, "What did you see."

"I saw its eyes," said Zoe.

I guess that was enough.

Arta

David's First Day of Middle School

From Bonnie:

... a buying thrill ...

David purchased his first D & D mini figures.
You can see them in this photo. He purchased 2 flying creatures and an Elven Archer. He is so excited about them he can't stop thinking about buying more.

David is ready for his first day of middle school. He has picked out his clothes. He has purchased all the equipment on his equipment list: 4 key tab notebooks, a 1/2 inch zippered three-ring binder. a calculator. a metric ruler,  1 eraser, 1 mechanical pencil, 1 refill for the pencil, and one white pencil case.

David has checked his Facebook page for Shuswap Middle school. He knows where his classroom is. He knows who his middle school teacher is. He has met the two principles. He knows they will greet him at the front door. He knows today is a shortened day. He has his plan to walk to and from his father's house without parental supervision. He has a key to let himself into his father's house.

... this was not a kit ...

His parents have offered to be there when he comes home from school. He declined but said "Well you could get there 10 minutes after I get home". When he gets home he will spend some time with the castle that he and his father have built together out of Lego.  You can see it in this picture.

David has pacled a snack for his break at school. His choice was a croissant. And a piece of ham rolled up separately.

He has been thinking about this day for a whole year now since one of his friends went off to middle school a year ahead of him. The day has come. He feels prepared. His parents are working hard at faking but they are not feeling anxious.

Bonnie

The Artisan Market

LtoR: Jay, Audra, David, Andrew, Zach, Ms Sabrina Bates, Gabe. Joyce, Arta

The picture here should be linked to the post of some blogging that happened last month.  The picture came to me from Bonnie Wyora.

The picture reminded me, not of that event, but of going into Salmon Arm with Moiya and Wyona. I was also reminded of how quickly everyone stood up, took some kind of pose and then got the picture taken.  I loved that speed.

A couple of days ago, my sisters and I did go to see the artisan market where Joyce has hung some of her pictures, and Jay has done carvings of birds.  We stopped in the outlet for a long time, admiring both Joyce and Jay's work, and enquiring which of the products were selling.  Of all things, it was wooden boxes that cover a box of Kleenex that Jay was making.  The carvings of birds take hours and are well worth every penny.

Stop in if you like.  The are set up in the old Canadian Tire Store.  Describing it that way makes me sound as though I live here.

Arta

The Sunday Lunch Menu

what is worth noting?
centre and to the right?
 ...a dead larch tree with dead dead branches ...
Every home should have one.

We ate lunch at the River Rock Cafe which is a euphemism for eating on our porch. It was impossible not to hear the crow sitting on a dead branch of the lone arch tree standing between us and our view of the beach.  There was a call and response going on between it and an unseen crow.  But even seeing the crow was another matter. I had spotted it for I saw it land.  Bonnie was asking where it was, since the cacophony went on for some time. Like many birds, it disappeared into the bowl of the tree.  We have been thinking about the animals around us.  I see that the deer have come and gone when I discover that the tops of my tomato plants have been eaten.  Wyona was asking if we had seen racoons this year.  The answer is no -- no evidence of them around the compost.  Many sightings of bears have been reported.  And of course, the morning walk is one where we must walk through the night work of spiders spinning web after web across the road.  Bonnie stopped at one trees that was infested with web worm, wanting to get some clippers and cut off the infested branches.  But her work would be long and unending given tree after tree has been hit by that blight this year.

 ...a quick version of an old favourite ...
 ... Greek Salad at the River Rock Cafe ...
... the roses are from a bush
at the front of the house that we have
nicknamed LaRue, since it still lives ....

The sun was warm on our backs as we sat on the porch eating our second lunch.
The first course was warmed-up stir fry. The second course was Greek salad. Purple peppers substituted for the usual green ones. I found them at the Swan Nursery and Market on yesterday's trip to Kelowna. That is the joy of fall shopping -- seeing new varieties of vegetables that seem to be crying out, "Try me, I am new and you will be missing something if you walk by this bin without buying just a few of me.

I love the fall shopping in the markets.

I must also give credit to the generous gifts of people who have grown tomaoes, basil, pears, plums and squash that graced our table.

As I said before, "All hail the fall."

Arta