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Harold and Hazel had a celebratory week. Hazel had a birthday and together they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I'm really sorry we can't have a cake and sing happy birthday, but I hope Harold and Hazel had a lovely week.
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There are two concerts planned for SPPC.
- Raven Baroque on Aug. 28 at 7:00 pm.
- Die Mahler Group on Sept. 4 at 6:00 pm.
- Die Mahler will also host a concert on Larry's lawn on Aug. 21 and 28.
by Roy and Dorothy
In February, which seems such a long time
ago now, we were in Southern California in our RV, enjoying the scenery and the
warmer climate in the Coachella valley. The news about the “corona virus” from
WHO was a little worrying but seemed, at that time, a long way from California.
Gradually, concerns accelerated and it soon became clear that, despite denials
from politicians in several countries, this was bad news, bad news that would
not go away. In March, international borders were slammed shut, and insurance
companies urged policy holders to head home as they would no longer be covered
for Covid-19 illness. So ended our trip, and we headed home.
Our border crossing was the fastest ever;
we were the only vehicle in line. However, we were unable to change our well
established practice of choosing the slowest line, surely a first!
Usually, in the summer we are privileged to
enjoy having our daughter, Julie, and family spend time with us. Our summer plans
for 2020 were drastically changed and we greatly missed all the activity
involved with five grand-kids. How quiet life seemed in comparison to previous
summers!
In June, we decided that it was time to
take an RV trip to Jasper and Banff, which we had visited some forty year ago,
when our kids were little. In our previous visit to the Rockies from Ontario,
the drive was quite an adventure, but that is another story.
In Banff, we could only get a reservation
in the national park for one night. The park was not as busy as we had expected
and covid precautions were evident. In the town, mask wearing was, at best,
50-50. Restaurants were partially open, some hotels were still closed but there
was a fair amount of activity. As usual,
the scenery was magnificent.
We were in awe at the beauty of God’s
creation…how wonderful, how marvellous…was our only description, as words are
so inadequate.
Our next part of the journey was along the
Ice-fields Parkway to Banff, again so inspiring. In Jasper, it seemed that mask
wearing was only for older folks, and not many at that. One day, in Jasper we
heard police sirens and saw RCMP cars racing along the highway to some
accident, we presumed. That evening, we were sad to hear of a serious accident
where a vehicle taking tourists to the ice fields had overturned, leading to
loss of life and serious injury. In all
the splendour of creation, the human journey of life and death still unfolds.
On returning towards Banff, the campsites
were full, so we were assigned to a fairly vacant campground which was
unserviced, (no electric or water hook-ups). Interestingly, our next door
camper was a lady from Victoria. Next morning, while chatting, we were advised
that we shared the campground with others, a mother bear and her cubs.
Apparently, earlier in the summer, the bears had visited a camper in the tent
one evening, and had demolished the tent in their search for food. Fortunately,
the campers, while safe, could only grin and bear their loss! (oops). For that
reason only hard sided RVs, but no tents were allowed in this campsite.
On our return journey home, we stopped in
Revelstoke where there is a terrific railway museum. This was an excellent
museum which told the story of how the railway was built.
It was fascinating, from the stories of
financiers, to Scottish and American engineers, and to the various work crews.
The last spike where the east coast line met with the west coast line, which
was completed a month ahead of time, was driven in Craigellachie, west of
Revelstoke. This was an interesting stop in our visit.
When we returned home and reviewed the many
photographs of the splendour of mountains, rivers and lakes, the early chapters
of Genesis rang loudly in our minds…in the beginning when God created the
heavens and the earth…
Roy and Dorothy
Thanks, Roy and Dorothy, for sharing your adventure.
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