Grateful Heart and Helping Hands

New post! Yes, it has been 12 days since my last one. Or, as my man mentioned, I should give all his money back. OK, money back? But, point taken, here I am. Tomorrow it is December. We have snow-lots of it-- and the world has an ethereal quality, where the skeleton trees have a generous coating of soft whiteness, bulking the bare branches with a downy layer for winter. The roads are atrocious, our driveway nearly impassable. But we drive for the weather and are used to taking a run at our slippery uphill all the way driveway. December is also a month of memories. Good ones, such as a wedding that took place in 1983. That makes it 28 years! Other notable ones would be the birthdays of some important people- my son and my grandson. I have a couple nieces and a nephew in there, too, along with friends' children, friends' anniversaries, wonderful things like that. Traditions that are built and lived out, passed from one generation to another, around Christmas, Advent, music, Chr...

Today I will take you on a photo journey. Yesterday dawned a beautiful day and it became apparent I would fly out. I took a walk down the island and took pictures as a reminder of my beautiful adventure. Enjoy your trip! Surrounded by other small islands, this one is unusual--there are no deer! There are, instead, wolves, creating a natural predator for what is often a real pest on other islands. Anyone else see the irony here?? This is a great example of a nurse log--one laying its life down so many more can grow. Seems to me this is much of what my work is about-using others' stories, for better or worse, but definitely for the greater good! This church was so pretty in the morning light. It is one of the first buildings one sees past the beach, but I was not able to portray that because of the position of the sun. Dr Jane Smith says that education is like the salmon--it continues to feed the people and provide a livelihood. This is the school, where I provid...

Blowing and chilly, rain and puddles. No airplanes, either in or out. I am a hostage on a lovely island. I will return someday, I hope. I want to kayak here! The beaches are cobble, small coves with shells and seaweed. Crab is caught just offshore and the halibut is fresh. This island is protected largely, but when I asked abut deer, I found out that there is actually a large wolf population, so there are no deer. The people depend on the ocean for its bounty. I miss my family. Apparently my household is quiet--the weather inland is also threatening and snow is making much travel difficult, so the girls are staying closer to work rather than making the one hour commute. The prediction by the weekend is for a cold front to move in, so I think this storm front is making way for a high pressure system. I will be reunited with my family soon! My man just called and it is nice to hear his voice again. Funny how much I stay in constant touch- car phone, cell phone, computer and more. We had...

Kitkatla trip, part two. Last night, I stayed in a lovely B&B on the shore of Cow Bay in Prince Rupert. The storm became so loud as the night went on, I wondered at some point how I would sleep. But I surely did! This day dawned grey but calm. I enjoyed breakfast with a geological crew that is working in Alice Arm. They were really interesting and had seen some lovely sights in one of those well kept BC secrets. I made my way down to the float plane base about 8 AM, in the hopes there would be a no-show on that first flight. first thing Monday morning, no such luck. As the morning wore on, the weather whipped up, sending snow and wind our way. I was booked on a flight to Hartley Bay; however, even that was delayed. Since I was to start teaching the workshop at 9 this morning, when I arrived at 12:45, the group was so gracious. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to send a powerpoint presentation ahead for the group to start working on. Finally, time for take off. This is w...