Christmas, 2013

Merry Christmas to our dear friends and family!

I hope you are keeping warm and cozy at this frosty time of year. The snow in Stratford just keeps falling, reminding us that we live in the snow-belt of southwestern Ontario.

We have a lot of catching up to do and I always look forward to hearing your news, whether it’s over the phone, by letter, Facebook, or if we should be so lucky, in person!

I am in my second year working for Stratford Public Library. Although I came into this career late in life, I couldn’t be happier. In August, I finally earned my diploma in Library and Information Technology. It’s been a long haul over four years of part-time distance education (online), but I don’t regret one minute of it.

William, on the other hand, has been forced to re-evaluate his career path. Over the summer, while working for a Toronto construction firm installing wiring and lighting fixtures, he developed painful tendonitis in his leg from standing on ladders all day. He was unable to continue working in the field and has been back in Stratford since September keeping busy with driver’s ed., a guitar repair course, working at Domino’s Pizza, and physiotherapy. His therapist told Wil that it’s his mother’s long and lanky Dutch genetics that are to blame, and that he should stay off ladders! Doesn’t that just take the cake! Come January, he plans to be in ship-shape to head back to life in Toronto.

2013 marked Alida’s 5^th year at Murphys Point Provincial Park (her 7^th with Ontario Parks). She also volunteered on a committee of reps across Canada to develop a website designed to attract more young people to Canada’s parks. In the spring, she was asked to pitch the website at the Canadian Parks Council conference in Mont Tremblant, QC. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but she must have done all right because the Parks Council agreed to fund the website GotParks. She is an occasional contributor to the website’s blog -- check out the “Stories” section for her humorous and insightful musings.

Pierre also marked his 5^th year at Molesworth Farm Supply. Although there is never-a-dull-moment on the job, he prefers to focus his attention on his “get-aways”. In May, he went on a 4-day solo kayak trip along the historic Rideau Canal. And yes, this was the same week that Eastern Ontario experienced a tornado! He had some interesting encounters with Mother Nature on that adventure! In August, he and I, and our Jack Russell, Maeve, spent a week at Murphys Point, hiking, canoeing, swimming, cycling, and of course, checking out Alida’s interpretive programs including the annual “Spirit Walk” -- a theatrical play blending historical fact with fiction that unfolds along the Silver Queen Mine Trail. Bonus: this year Alida wrote, directed, and once again starred in the “Spirit Walk” as Miss Adelaide Whitfield, the spinster schoolmarm.

Pierre’s final epic adventure of the year was a 5-day hiking trip in September with Alida completing almost 70 kilometres of the Rideau Trail. They couldn’t have asked for a better stretch of weather with sunny highs around 18°C. The trail offered a variety of terrains from gravel roads to steep, rocky inclines to farmers’ fields. The true test of their mettle came towards the end when, sore and exhausted, they had 6 beaver dams to cross before meeting their destination!

There is so much more I could tell you about, such as the wonderful wedding we attended in Quebec’s Eastern Townships this fall of Gerhard and Stephanie, Pierre’s second cousin. It

was a rare opportunity for us to get together with Pierre’s dad, sisters, and their families (alas, minus brother-in-law, Mike, who had to stay behind in Armstrong, BC). We were able to include a visit with my mom and sisters in Lachine. Mom is in a nursing home only a few blocks from Emmy. Her health isn’t the best. Dementia and hard-of-hearing make life challenging for her. Rosi has returned from Honduras, for the time-being, to work and share in the care of Mom giving Emmy much-needed support.

Pierre and I are looking forward to having Alida, Wil and Ali, Wil’s girlfriend, home for Christmas. The house is decorated… but I have yet to begin my baking. Definitely time to pull out the recipes for our Christmas favourites and write out my shopping list.

We wish you a happy Christmas and all the best for 2014!

Lots of love, Pam and Pierre and, of course, wee Maeve