An Amazing Series of Blessings....

I realize it’s been a month since my last update, and I’m looking back at the past 4 weeks, knowing that the time since should have been the worst weeks of my life. There were so many tough firsts that came clustered together in that period, and although there were many, many tough moments, there has been a continual stream of small miracles, and unexpected opportunities that have allowed me to come out the other side of the tough stuff, feeling supported, loved and confident that the universe is conspiring to make it okay again. Even the creatures of nature seem to be in on the conspiracy offering me opportunities and glimpses of their majesty that continually remind me of how beautiful the world outside our door really is. I don’t know where to start with all that’s been happening.

....waiting for the Fulford Ferry, Christmas eve Morning, 2009

Maybe the first of those occurrences would have to be the beautiful Christmas Rose that appeared on the tree outside the house on December 23^rd. If you read the November journal you’ll understand….as I was steeling myself for the holiday season one more beautiful pink rose appeared, so we added it to the wonderful bouquet that Cecil got me for our holiday center piece and it graced all the days of the holidays, travelling with us to the mainland and back again. My brother and his family provided us with a place to celebrate, and we started some of our own new traditions.

My beautiful Christmas rose, amongst the Bouquet of Roses Cecil got me.

A wonderful friend who has helped me through much of the last year because she’d gone down this road before me suggested that we light candles to represent those missing from our holiday table this year, and that helped. We took time away to go take some amazing pictures, went to a movie in an actual theatre for a change, and just did whatever we had to to get by…..and it worked. Friends and family near and far connected closely to ensure that I made it through, and for that I’m forever grateful.

...a candle for Shane, a candle for Dad and a candle for Mom turner.....

We took time away to go take some amazing pictures, went to a movie in an actual theatre for a change, and just did whatever we had to to get by…..and it worked. Friends and family near and far connected closely to ensure that I made it through, and for that I’m forever grateful.

A beautiful reflection taken from the new Golden Ears Bridge.

Another amazing thing that happened was because of a friend I’ve never personally met, but who has been an integral part of my support network over the past many months. Tom Mortensen stumbled across my website several months ago while exploring country music. What he found was a life very different from the one he enjoys in New York City, working out of Manhattan. But beyond the differences, we’ve also found commonalities in our love of music, of writing, of family and of what matters most in life. Among other things, Tom writes for a local magazine called “Forest Hills Celebrity & Entertainment”, and asked if it would be okay if this year he did an article about Shane and our journey together, celebrating both Shane and my music, titling it “Just One Life”. What an honor! And what a great job he did of celebrating Shane once again. To see the magazine and article in its entirety, you can go to http://www.foresthillscelebrity.com/FHC_Issue_20.pdf . Thanks Tom!

Forest Hills Celebrity Cover, Holiday 2009

About a week before Christmas I also got an email from Kevin Mills who hosts CRFY Radio’s “Made in Manitoba “series. I’d tried to connect with him prior to coming to the coast in the fall, but was unsuccessful. When he emailed he said we could do the piece over the phone as I wasn’t going to be available personally for a time. My understanding was that the segment was going to air on January 24^th, so I didn’t say too much to anyone, but then on January 16^th I found out that it was being aired the next day! The bad news is that it didn’t give me too much of an opportunity to give folks the heads up that it was going to be on the air, but the good news was that it was aired the day before what would have been Shane’s 18^th birthday, and helped once again to celebrate him and his lessons…also the really good news is that CFRY radio now has podcasts of the “Made in Manitoba” segments that they do, so for anyone who’d like to catch it and didn’t get to hear it on the air, you can listen to it by going to http://www.portageonline.com/images/podcasts/lynda.mp3

Another miracle happened in late December. Maybe some of you remember the story of how I connected with a gentleman in Lavenham, Suffolk, England. Tony was writing a book about his Lavenham, and wanted to gather information on other Lavenhams of the world and stumbled across my website. I was able to help him gather information for the book he was writing, and in turn he was able to get my music played on BBC radio in England. We’ve continued the friendship, and when my new cd came out in September, Tony said that if I ever came to England, he’d love to organize a concert for me in the beautiful old church in town that was built in 1530!

This year’s happenings didn’t make it look like that was going to be possible for some time to come, because running away from home can be expensive to put it mildly, but the week before Christmas we were at a friend’s house and said that our next trip would have to be to England when we could manage it. I’d looked up the airfare and it was going to be about $1900 for the two of us to fly, so it was something we’d have to work towards. The next day I went to the local grocery store and checked out my lotto 649 ticket. It won $1993.70! I took that as a very clear sign that maybe we shouldn’t be putting off this trip any longer. When we contacted him to tell him that things could work we found out that things needed to happen sooner rather than later, so we’re off to England on February 8^th! Serendipity keeps stepping in and connecting us with people in such a way that the majority of our trip is being accommodated by people that have offered us places to stay and opportunities to tour! It’s been amazing, and the most amazing part is that I’ll get to meet this man who has been such a strong supporter for so long from so far away! What an honor!

http://www.discoverlavenham.co.uk/charity-concert-in-the-church-i212.html

Lavenham, Suffolk, England Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

As I mentioned, nature is also conspiring to offer me gifts for the spirit. We go out walking for an hour every morning here, and many times I’ll take my camera along. Last week we walked past a tree where an eagle just sat and posed for as long as I wanted to snap photos.

Bald Ealge posing on Walker's Hook.

The next day a hummingbird who has been spending the winter in our yard decided to simplify my picture taking and perched on the feeder for ages while I snapped away.

The Anna Hummingbird who has made our front yard her home this winter.

Last week a great Heron posed for me when we were touring around Sayward.

. However, Tuesday night offered the most wonderful gift of all! Cecil called me to bring my camera down to the water in front of the house and take some pictures of the star fish that were visible as the tide was out. It was an incredible, still evening, and every rock we looked at had star fish, rock crab and all the other sea life that becomes exposed when the water recedes. As we sat at the waters edge my ears started picking up a subtle ‘piffffttttttt’ in the distance…and I thought to myself “that sounds like whales!”, but everyone has told us they’re not usually around this time of year, nor do they frequent the channel we live on. But as I listened, the sound continued to increase in numbers and intensity…and as we squinted across the channel towards Galiano Island we saw them….a pod of orca’s making their way south. I cannot adequately express my excitement! It was the one thing that I’d wished to have happen all winter…every time I sit at this computer looking out the window, or every morning when we walk down to Fernwood pier as part of our daily ritual….Mother Nature must have heard my silent plea, because there they were in all of their majesty. For anyone that has ever tried to photograph whales, you’ll know that the chances are slim of getting a good picture from that far away, but I did get a picture of one dorsal as it went past across the way…luckily I have dozens of pictures from going out whale watching last summer to refer back to. For this time….I have the memory, and an experience that many who’ve lived here for years have not been graced with. I truly am blessed!

Pod of whales off the coast of the San Juan Island, seen while touring with
Outdoor Visions Whale Watching out of Salt Spring Island in July 2009.
If you want to see the whales, make sure you call Ian of Outdoor Visions!!!

One of the pictures I'm most proud of....didn't even notice the breach until
reviewing the pictures later!!

Till next time,

Lynda

www.musicwriter.ca

The Road Trip of 2009...

A glimpse of the Oregon coastline.

Well, it’s been close to a month since I last updated. I had such good intentions of being more timely/consistent at doing this…but I guess not everything has changed!

After three weeks on the island, the rain got the best of us. Me… I could sit and write, and research, and do projects until the cows come back home…but Cecil paced like a caged lion hour after hour. It was too much going from 16-18hour days of harvest, to sitting here 24/7 staring at the rain pouring down outside. He’d just made up his mind to fly home for a few days, as the weather there sounded sooooooo good, when the forecast for Manitoba changed to snow, so that caboshed that plan. Finally, on November 24^th we looked at each other and said what now? So, for the first time ever, we decided just to pack our bags and hit the road. Two hours later we were on our way south!

The coastal highway sights.

It was very strange having the freedom to just pick up and go…I don’t know any time in my memory when I didn’t have to sort out all the complexities of not knowing where I was heading, how long I’d be gone, or what I was going to do. We had said early on, that sometime this winter we wanted to take a road trip down the Pacific coast of Washington, Oregon and California. In an attempt to outrun the rain that had settled in here, we decided that that someday trip could happen now!

It was an amazing 2 weeks of driving the highways along the ocean, that you see in so many car commercials and movies. The weather through Washington state remained iffy, but half way through Oregon the sun came out, and stayed with us!

We hit a lot of interesting things that weren’t even on our to-do list. One was accidently landing in Forks, Washington for lunch the first day in the States. I’d heard a CBC radio show on the small town where the ‘Twilight’ series was born and continues to thrive. It blew my mind how someone writing a book about a place can assist in it booming into a tourist attraction. For folks at home, I’d compare it to Gladstone….small, several little business, but not much more than a lot of enthusiasm for the stories and characters created there who are taking over the imaginations of millions around the world.

A view of Alcatraz from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

We saw the dunes of Oregon, drove through the redwood forest and drove the truck through a giant Redwood. We saw the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz across the harbor, and spent time on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

Amazing sunsets along the way.


Some of the monarch of Pismo Beach, California.
. We watched surfers in California and found the eucalyptus grove where tens of thousands of Monarch butterflies make their way each winter to rest and reproduce and eventually die, only to have their offspring make the same journey north to Canada the following spring.

Most of the trip was enjoyable, but I’m a pre-planner, and there were moments where I really wished that we’d taken time to look at options prior to heading out…like the night we spent in Santa Monica…arriving too late to really find our way around, and ending up staying in a hotel on the strip that I’m pretty sure they use to film many of the CSI episodes…where bodies are found by the manager the next morning! And although I didn’t sleep a wink to speak of all night, we survived that one as well.

Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame.

We spent a morning in LA, and found the Hollywood walk of fame, but were disappointed by it all, and being naieve Canadians, likely not in the best place at the time of day we chose to walk it. And worst of all, after putting on about 4 miles of walking (okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad…but it was a lot in sandles!) we never did find John Wayne or James Dean….so what was the point! Fortunately, to sooth Cecil’s frustration, we did come across Johnny Cash’s star….thank goodness. It was hard though for me to walk amongst such poverty and so many downtrodden people, coming from the world I live in. One man held up a sign that said “Make God happy, take a bum to breakfast”…then became quite belligerent that I hadn’t taken his picture to show the world what the real Hollywood Blvd looked like. He was probably right.

We drove through some of the Hollywood Hills, looking for the best view of the sign, and seeing the complete opposite of the poverty we’d witnessed on the street. Massive houses hanging from hills, a city bigger than a Lavenham girl can even imagine, stretching on forever in every direction. We never did get a good picture of the legendary sign, but decided after a few hours, it was time for we country mice to get back to something closer to our element. I’m sure that in years to come, we’ll think of all the things we should have looked at or for while we were there, but at the time, it was just so good to get back on the open road, to cleaner air, and the bubble we live in.

The "Bellagio" hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We headed cross country from there to take in the sights of Las Vegas Another place we’d thought we’d like to see one day. We lucked into an amazing rate at the Bellagio hotel, and made it our home base for the three nights we spent. We toured the strip, took in the sights, and even dropped a few dollars into the casinos. However, being two of the world’s worst gamblers, that didn’t hold our attention for long…and being that you can still smoke in the casinos of Vegas, I found that within a very short time, my head was plugged from the smoke…so off we went again!

While we were there we did take in Cirque du Soleil’s show “O”. “Cirque du Soleil weaves an aquatic tapestry of artistry, surrealism and theatrical romance in the timeless production, "O". Inspired by the concept of infinity and the elegance of water's pure form, "O" pays tribute to the beauty of the theatre - from the simplest street performance to the most lavish of operas - where anything is possible and where the drama of life plays itself out before our very eyes. World-class acrobats, synchronized swimmers, divers and characters perform in, on, and above water to create a breathtaking experience.” (as quoted from their website)… And boy, was it ever. I’d have to say that it was truly one of the highlights of the trip for me and a performance I’ll never forget!

sand art by an fellow on the beach at Santa Barbara, California

We headed for home through the central parts of the states, encountering snow, desert and mountains all in the course of a day. We hit Portland Friday night traffic in a rain storm….so that was a driving experience that Cecil would rather not repeat. And Finally, we returned to Canadian soil on December 5^th, and settled back on our island. The sun followed us home, and I’m happy to report, continues to shine as I write this.

So that was the mad breakaway. It was a good diversion, and a change that was needed. I continue to really struggle with the holiday season looming ahead of us. The travel took my mind off of it for a while, now I’m settling back in trying to figure out what to do….what to do.

For now, I’ll try to enjoy the sunshine on the water, the hummingbirds at my feeder, and the memories of better times…and continue the walk through this!

Till next time,

Take care,

Lynda

www.musicwriter.ca

Our first Ten days as Salt Spring Islanders....

Eagle soaring over boat in Ganges Harbour

Well, it seems that we’ve managed to get through the first 10 days as Islanders. We finally got our internet and phone service last Thursday, so I’m feeling a little more connected to ‘my’ world. There are so many things to do here, unfortunately we’re finding that our energy levels are about the same as they are back home, and lots of evenings we’re more prone just to stay home and vegetate than to go out and socialize. Hopefully that will pass gradually, as we get more acclimatized and get to know more people.

Ganges Harbour on one of the sunnier days we've experienced.

We actually have done a fair number of things since our arrival, I mean besides exploring restaurants and some of the local haunts, in hopes of meeting people that can teach us what we need to know. Monday night we attended a concert at the Fulford Hall where the Salt Spring Folk Club has monthly concerts. It was amazing how many people come out to support the event, being it was a Monday. Prior to the concert, people could go and have dinner at the hall. We hadn’t realized that, so ate at home first, but the food there smelled delicious!

Salt Spring Folk Club at Fulford Hall.

Connie Kaldor

This particular evening, Connie Kaldor was the entertainer, with KC Kelly as her opener. Connie has been a staple of the Canadian Folk circuit for years, entertained a full house with her engaging songs and hilarious, entertaining stories. We really enjoyed the evening, and wondered how it is that an island of only 10,000 people can have such turnout for event after event! It’s wonderful to see. It was strange for one from the prairie who has frequently ventured out to watch Valdy in concert seeing him working the sound system instead. This island is full of surprises!

Wednesday was Remembrance Day, so we attended the pancake breakfast at the Legion Hall before heading over to watch the service at Central Park. There was a great turn out for that as well. Remembrance Day can be a tough one. It was such a huge thing for Dad, from the laying of wreaths to his hours spent ensuring that the graves of all the local veterans had poppies marking them prior to the day. I knew this day would be no different. Memories, memories, memories. There hasn’t been a Remembrance Day service for so many years where Shane’s hoot didn’t pierce the two minutes silence….it was very strange to have it so quiet.

I was getting ready to go out for the service, knowing it was to be another hard event, when another of the many strange occurrences that keep happening in my life happened. We’re living a little more minimally here than at home, and with that there are less plug ins, less furniture, less of lots of stuff. My bedroom windowsill doubles as my hair dressing corner, and we’ve hung a small round mirror by the big bedroom window to do my hair at, as there are no electrical outlets in the bathroom here. I was curing my hair the morning of the 11^th, staring out the window at the water, when something else caught my eye. It looked like a perfect pink rose bud, on a tree with not even a leaf to speak of left on it. I kept staring at it, finally thinking that it was likely a plastic rose that had been stuck there earlier, that I’d neglected to notice until just that moment. As soon as my hair was done, I went out to check it out, and sure enough there was a gorgeous single rose growing off the bush that had shut all other functions down for the season long before.

The rose among the branches.

Cecil always ensured that for every special occasion, Shane had a single perfect rose to give his mother, be it Mother’s day, Valentines, a birthday..but there was no way he could orchestrate this one. Maybe I’m starting to lose it, but seeing that rose brought an instant sense of peace, that it was okay. I clipped it and brought it into the house to enjoy for the remainder of its days, it’s timing impeccable. As odd thing continue to happen, I have the time now to pay more attention, so maybe they’re things that have always been happening that I was always to distracted to notice. When things happen that leave me with a sense of wonder, I like to look up what the meaning might be by other’s standards, so I looked up roses stand for. Roses have so many symbolic meanings…love, honor, faith, beauty, balance, but in mythology, the rose is synonymous with Aphrodite, and the most common interpretation is that the rose symbolizes an immortal love or a union that will never fade - even through time or death. A pink rose symbolizes first love, innocence and healing. How appropriate…how strange.

One single rose, found budding on the bush outside my bedroom window.

Sunday afternoon we attended a play put on by the local community theatre called “Having Hope at Home”, written by David S. Craig. It was a wonderful way to put in the afternoon, and the play hit home in so many ways, buy it’s references to the many rural things that define who we are, and the desire to return to a simpler way of life. My understanding was that the playwright was originally from Saskatchewan, so that would explain lots! A quote by the playwright on the program information really struck me, at this time as we venture off trying to discover who we are and what we should be doing. It said “I’m almost certain humans are pack animals and our separation from the tribe, despite the potent freedom it provides, is causing us a great deal of anxiety. My sense is that reconciliation is the challenge of our age. The story I am longing to hear must show people creeping back from isolations towards the vulnerability of community.” It made me think of my own tribe, my pack back on the prairies. It also made me think of the work I’ve put on hold, the work of reconnecting people with disabilities to their communities. Huh….seems I’ve come a long way only to be shown what I’ve left behind.

Trincomali Channel at sunset.

The rest is gradually settling. Lots and lots of rain, but the weather remains mild. My walks are more infrequent than I’d like, as I’m not that accustomed to getting out in the rain as other’s on the island obviously are. I also don’t want to get sick yet…I’ve still got too much settling in to do, but that too will come I’m sure. After all….I did get the rubbers for it!

Not authentic Salt Spring Island...but when it's pouring rain, I don't care!

Till next time,

Lynda

www.musicwriter.ca