Dinner with the family

It wasn’t our usual meal in the kitchen. Our first dinner of the New Year was in the dining room, with the fancy china, crystal and candlelight. Meals with the kids are usually much less formal.

This one warranted the seasonal tablecloth my mother gave me a few years before she died. At the centre of the table, in a place of honour was a brass candle holder my husband’s maternal grandmother had owned. Dessert was served from her tea cart on a cake stand my paternal grandmother had owned. It felt as if they were all present. 

My husband, our daughter and I shared stories of these women and life when we were growing up. The eldest grandchild, at eight years old, asked questions while the other two listened. There were five generations at the table.

Dinner with the family took on a whole new meaning.

Wily

It was cold, -8 C but it felt like -16. My husband and I decided a walk through the woodland would be sheltered and comfortable. We were right, appropriate clothing kept us warm enough to enjoy the outing, and the golden grand-dog was elated. We allowed her to run after we left the parking area. 

We walked a section of the trail which was new to us. It was at the end of a field, parallel to the highway in the distance.

Coniferous trees, including pines were planted in the area years ago. 

A huge stand of deciduous trees stood in their tall grey silence as we passed.

Georgie was delighted to be off lead. She hadn’t been for a walk with us recently, and she made up for lost time. She ran ahead of us but always responded when we called her.

As we headed back, we put Georgie back on lead as we neared a pond just recently frozen.

It was a dangerous area since she is inclined to explore and the ice might not have been safe.

Then we saw it, a coyote headed towards us on the trail. When Georgie barked, it turned into the woods and headed across the adjacent field. 

I took one quick photo, though not a great one. You can see the animal’s beautiful coat however. It was taller than we imagined but scrawny too. 

Undoubtedly, there are others in the area as family units stay together. We’ve seen the warning signs there about coyotes and we told two mountain bikers about it as we left the trails.

The coyote was an unexpected find but we were glad Georgie was on lead at the time. She will be on lead there in the future for sure.

Sunset 2019

What is there to say today 

As another year slips away?

A decade gone as well you see,

Brought lots of change for you and me.

Loved ones gone and friends gone too.

Time to reflect is a gift to you.

But with sunset, do not despair,

Tomorrow is another year,

A day with promise as a decade starts,

With mem’ries and hopes in every heart.

I wish you good health, the love of family and friends and the joy of nature for 2020 and many years to come.

That dog

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a Georgie story. This time of year has the usual celebrations and a family birthday besides. We have always celebrated two occasions, never wanting to make a birthday blend with the Christmas festivities. Of course Georgie, the golden retriever, is in the middle of every celebration.

Many of our activities with the grandkids are done on couches and coffee tables or on the floor. Whatever games we play, Georgie is there. Everyone must reach around or over the dog. That dog thinks she’s human. 

Presents were opened as we sat around on the floor and you know who was in the centre. She had a sniff at the packages before they were opened. Georgie knew about the scented candles and the bath bombs long before we did.

Decorating the tree was an experience. Our grandchildren worked at the decorations, reaching in over the dog much of the time to place the decorations on the tree. She wanted to be there with them and they took it for granted that she was.

We thought Georgie would enjoy some of the Christmas headwear but she didn’t look too pleased and quickly had it off her head, running her paw over her head to dislodge it.

This is one tradition she doesn’t enjoy and we won’t make her suffer the indignity again. 

That dog!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings, Happy Holidays from Prince Edward Island, Canada.

From the fields

And the forests

And all creatures great and small,

From the trails

The streams and marshland

Merry Christmas one and all.

Self expression

Our two year old grandson was up from his afternoon nap and full of energy. We started to decorate the Christmas tree and he was eager to help. The artificial tree had lights so we started with the bulbs. His older sister distributed the bulbs over the tree while her brother decorated the lower branches.

When it was time to hang beads on the tree, the six year old did it the traditional way, a string of beads hung over the tips of the branches. She had learned over the years to decorate this way with the beads. Her brother was new to it. He saw what she was doing but liked the beads placed one by one on top of each other on a branch, creating a white pearly heap of beads.

His sister didn’t notice what he was doing until she finished her decorating. “No,” she said to him. “You have to put them on like this,” as she took his pile of beads from the tree and one by one, hung them individually from the branches. 

The little boy cried to break his heart. He grabbed beads from the tree and sat on the floor, hiding them under his body.

I explained to his sister this was the way her brother wanted to decorate the tree and it was fine. She had done something similar when she was little. 

We gave him a bunch of beads and he decorated the tree in his own way and the beads still are positioned as he placed them. Perfect!

The exchange gave me pause for thought. When and why do we stifle our children’s self expression? Is it a conscious effort to have them conform or is it a societal norm we have absorbed into our psyches and accept as correct? Do we tell them who and how they are or do we allow them to show and tell us? This applies to our children on so many levels.

The two year old expressed himself the only way he knew. It took a minute but we listened to him. I hope his family continues to listen to him for the rest of his life.

Gulls at play

During a recent walk on the boardwalk, the wind increased in speed as the sky cleared from the south.  As my husband and I proceeded, holding on to our hats, we noticed seagulls along the shoreline, riding the wind.

They stayed close to the shoreline, just above the beach area at low tide. It was fascinating to watch them. 

Better birders than I could identify the gulls playing there. They cavorted for the hour we were there, moving slightly along the coastline if a particularly strong gust of wind ushered them along. They revelled in the high winds while mere mortals struggled to stay upright and keep their cameras steady.

The birds weren’t making any sounds that we could hear in those high winds. Neither were they feeding. Occasionally one landed on the water but didn’t stay for long or take anything from the water. They resembled a bunch of kids enjoying the outdoors on an exceptional weather day.

The enjoyment those feathered creatures took in the high winds was a wonder of nature.