Once again, the days have turned into weeks and I haven’t taken the time to write my blog. Still, it is nice not to have to feel quite as committed to it as I did from Africa when I wrote every Sunday for three years.

The weather in Saskatchewan is the big ‘talk’ as it continues to be mild with no snow. It has been a nice way to adjust to winter after three years in the Zambian sunshine and warmth. We leave on Friday Jan 20th for a few days in Ontario with Ryan, Sally, and Evan before flying to Costa Rica for 5 weeks. That should also help with the adjustment phase.

We are still quite busy with our move to Hanley. With the nice weather, I’ve been trimming trees and doing yard work and Marilyn has started painting rooms in the house. We have a lot of painting to do. Christmas also took a big bite out of our schedule but was a blast.

We also took a day to drive with no particular destination in mind. The landscape in Saskatchewan still fascinates me and everywhere we go, everything is a picture.

If you didn’t catch this news item on CTV about Zambia, then check it out.  QUITE SHOCKING

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/08/victorial-falls-bungee-jumper

This blog is short if you don’t count the fact that each picture is worth a thousand words. Enjoy.

Abandoned House

It is so common to see many abandoned homesteads when driving around Saskatchewan.

A typical building in a small Saskatchewan town

One of many rural churches which dot the landscape

Taking advantage of the spring-like weather

Bob's Man Shed (all cleaned and organized)

A "new and improved" grain elevator

Peter's Family Christamas

Traditional Boxing Day Family Bowling

St.Peter's Cathedral (about 100km east of Hanley)

Santa visits our new home (with lots of presents)

I’ve bought the 1985 Chrysler Newport that is sitting in our garage (conditional on mechanical inspection this Wednesday)

Only 81,000km (It started right up after sitting for two years)

The Newport will go nicely with these others in my collection

Hi.

It has been several weeks since I wrote you. I hope you are well and looking forward to the festive season. As you know, we have been settling into our house in Hanley. There are a lot of fun and interesting stories as we rent this cool house with Mrs. Englehardt’s stuff in it including the 1985 Chrysler NewYorker in the garage where I’ve spent a fair bit of time lately hanging up tools, cleaning out a lot of clutter, and getting ready to have this great space as my own. Last night we went to Saskatoon to see a comedy group called Skit Skit. After pushing the envelope on gays, blacks (niggas), fat people, and other sensitivities they got quite clever and funny in the second half. They had a very funny ‘air band’ competition skit and one where surgeons and architects and lawyers can’t find work but actor’s jobs are everywhere.

We hung up outdoor Christmas lights all across the front and some along the little fence at the back. There are four houses now in a row on our street in Hanley which have lights up. It looks very cool as seen in this picture which is worth one thousand and six words exactly. We got our tree this afternoon. Ed bought it for us and we cut it down at the Christmas tree farm which is a few kilometers away down a few dirt roads where there are absolutely no trees until you get to the farm. They prune their trees out here so it was hard to find one that wasn’t so perfect it would look artificial. Alas, no amount of shaking it or tossing it on the ground could make it look real. Marilyn’s Christmas concert went well and it was a fun couple of weeks when her cousins got together to rehearse. Marilyn did a lot of research on Christmas Traditions from around the world – past and present – with a narrative and songs selected from many different nationalities. Ling, who runs the little Chinese restaurant with her husband played piano (beautifully) but when she arrived she had selected ‘Music Box Dancer” by Canadian composer Frank Mills rather than a Chinese song.                           From left to right: Cousin Ron, Cousin Walter, Cousin Chris, Cousin Marilyn and Cousin Kathy

The weather has been quite nice every day and I’m starting to tease some of the locals about how I used to hear all this whining about how cold it got in Saskatchewan but hey it’s lovely weather here….almost warm. They just look at me and say “You’ll See”

I was cleaning out an old wooden box in the garage and the bottom was lined with a newspaper from 4 January, 1951. I had no idea how close we were to WWIII in Korea with President Harry S. Truman and General McArthur on one side (coincidentally in charge of the free world) and those communists in North Korea on the other, backed by those other communists China and Russia. A few days earlier the Chinese backed North had just captured the city of Seoul.

Here’s a line from an article on page 1 when Mr. Kenneth Sear Harris, Canada’s new Steel Administrator was asked what would happen in the steel industry in the event of all out war. He replied “There will have to be greater curtailment on civilian supply as we go deeper into military preparedness.” In the same issue there is a big picture and the caption “BUSHMAN, world famous gorilla was found dead in his cage at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Inside there is an ad from the Hudson’s Bay Company showing a lovely “gleaming chrome table so suited to our modern way of living”. Price $39.50. It looks a lot like the one I’m using in my new office.

Marilyn is busy getting ready to decorate our new tree and I’m now finished with my letter to you except to show you the walk in shower that I think is a fantastic invention even if it is surrounded by little cherry wallpaper (soon to be removed and replaced by wallpaper with little blueberries).…..and a picture of BUSHMAN which makes me very sad that he was caught and lived in a Zoo

BUSHMAN THE GORILLA (Probably not his real name)

On Wednesday, we are moving to our new home in Hanley. It is a three bedroom bungalow with double car garage on a corner lot in the flattest little town I’ve ever seen. It is just around the corner from Marilyn’s parents and they are so happy that we are going to be so close. We are looking forward to helping out whenever it is appropriate and enjoying doing things together.

Front View of our new home

The woman who lived in the house had a wheelchair ramp built in the front which is going to come in handy for me when I need it….ha ha. I know that day may be coming soon because I received a letter from the Canada Pension Fund reminding me I am eligible for a pension now or can wait and get more when I turn 65.

Back view of our corner lot and house

Yes, we have snow. It almost melted away but a new dumping arrived on Sunday.

We signed our lease yesterday and went to the Hanley Post Office to get our new postal box. I thought we might need the receipt to prove we are residents of Hanley but when we walked into the post office, the postmaster (Kathy) greeted us with smiles and said, “Oh you are moving into Lucille’s house”. She also reminded us that Curling is starting soon and hoped we might join.

The Hanley Legion

The building above is the Hanley Legion. It is only building remaining of the original three small school rooms where Marilyn attended her first years. I haven’t seen anyone going in or out of the building so I’m not sure how often Legion meetings are held.

During the past few weeks, we’ve been staying with Margie and attending all kinds of functions. I’m also exploring Saskatoon to learn my way around and find all the important stores (beer, Canadian Tire, best Pizza, etc.)

Margie and I attended the Saskatoon Remembrance Day Ceremonies which was an amazing tribute to our war veterans and those who lost their lives in the wars. There were three orchestras, a men’s choir, a pipe band, a brass band, and a soloist. It was quite moving and, as it turns out, broke a record for the largest crowd ever. It was also the largest attendance at an indoor Remembrance Day Ceremony in Canada.

Remembrance Day in Saskatoon

Marilyn couldn’t come to the Remembrance Day Ceremonies because she was rehearsing for an upcoming ‘Classical Afternoon’ of entertainment. She was in three numbers, complete with costume changes. It was a great afternoon of amazing talent and Marilyn certainly received a lot of complements for her performance.

Marilyn, Bob,and cousin Ron

I was quite surprised by the number of people who came up to me and said “So, I hear you are back from Africa”. Many people had visited our web site over the past three years and were quite aware of the work we did in Zambia.

Song from Annie Get Your Gun

We helped Margie hang Christmas lights and decorations at her home in Saskatoon.

Margie's Christmas Decorations

Marilyn and I also attended the ‘largest’ Western Canada Pow Wow at the Credit Union Centre. It was such a fun time with amazing traditional native dress, dancing, drumming, etc. Native culture is very strong out here and it made us proud that our aboriginal peoples have managed to survive the oppression and attempts at ‘assimilation’ over the many years since Canadian colonialism.

I will be posting a weekly blog on this site on Sundays for those of you who are interested. By the way, our new address is Box 269, 208 Garfield St., Hanley, SK S0G 2E0. We’ll soon have a new home phone we can pass along.