Journal Entries
She was my friend . . .
Posted Nov 29, 2012
She was my friend, and my instructor, and I miss her. Her name was Heather, and she was a Tai Chi instructor. More importantly, she was my friend. In September, she told me she had lymphoma, and that it was curable. That was the last time I saw her. On November 27, 2012 my friend Heather passed away.
We'd had hints at the Association that Heather's condition was worse than she tried to make us believe. Her sister flew in from Overseas. That worried us. A phone call to her worried us, she sounded so weak. Last week we heard she'd found a new home for her cat. That was a shock! Gracie was the joy of her life, and I can only imagine how upsetting it would have been for Heather to find her a new home.
Yesterday I got the phone call I was somehow expecting, but dreading none the less. Heather had passed away Tuesday morning.
Today was a Tai Chi class. I debated going, but knew I had to be with the group that had been her class. When I got there, I didn't want to do Tai Chi, but got up and did the set, to honour our instructor, from whom we'd received so much instruction, help, and encouragement. It was such a quiet class. We had a longer than usual tea break so we could talk about Heather, and maybe find some closure. The feeling was that she was there, doing the set with us.
Heather was a quiet, gentle person, who could make you feel like the most important person in the world as she talked to you or helped you. She could give you a workout that left you exhausted, but knowing you'd benefited from her help and correction.
Life will go on. We will remember Heather whenever we do a Thursday morning class, and remember this gentle sweet person we were all honoured to call Friend. 
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Latest reply: Nov 29, 2012
Hurricane Sandy
Posted Oct 29, 2012
Its a sad day for all who love the replica ship HMS Bounty. She was built in Lunenberg, NS and used in the movie Mutiny on the Bounty in 1962, and was featured in Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest.
Early this morning she was reported taking on water, and the crew abandoned ship in 2 life rafts.
The Coast Guard have picked up 14 of the 16 crew members, and the ship is reported as sunk.
At 5:57pm Atlantic time, that's about all the news. I'll try and update when more is known.
She was at Tall Ships in Halifax this last summer, and I went aboard, and took lots of pictures. It was the only time I was able to see her. I had my picture taken with the pirate, and I'm sure glad I did. Its my lasting memory of this beautiful tall ship.
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Latest reply: Oct 29, 2012
SHE
Posted May 18, 2012
She's getting nervous and excited all at once. Calm down! Deep breath in, deep breath out. Calm down!
Is this the right thing to do? Could she have made a mistake? It was the biggest decision of her life, to leave behind family and friends, work and familiar places, and move to the place she left so many years ago. This was the place of memories, of love that didn't last, but the stuff of daydreams for all these years.
She'd had to make changes, and she couldn't stay there anymore. Life had unkindly forced her into decisions she thought she wouldn't have to face for many years to come. Such a sense of loss, of uncertainty about the future – her future. Then the decision to get on with it – to change her life, to move half way across the country.
Landing at last, right on time. At Montreal the plane was half an hour late, and that had made her more nervous. Banking hard to the left. Lord, let the cat to be okay, she prays.
Now she's on the ground, moving, purposely slowly, through a strange airport, waiting, waiting for the luggage to come down. She grabs her bags and puts them on a trolley. Calm down! A man comes through a doorway carrying her pet carrier. “Is that a cat named Cleo?” Yes, Cleo is calm in her carrier, aware but not caring, like the Vet said she'd be. Bless the inventor of kids Gravol!
She's on the shuttle, traveling across the Angus L. MacDonald Bridge, and the grin starts. There's the Royal Canadian Navy ships. Now she looks in the other direction: Halifax! The grin gets bigger! Now the shuttle is going around to the big hotels, now up Spring Garden Road. It has been so many years! The grin is huge now. The shuttle crosses South Park Street to the corner of the Public Gardens.
There he is standing waiting for her, and he's grinning too! Cleo we're here! Now the shuttle stops and she grabs the pet carrier. Down the steps, she puts the carrier on the sidewalk, and wraps her arms around him.
“Welcome to Halifax, Mom”
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Latest reply: May 18, 2012
Out With Friends
Posted Apr 28, 2012
Last night I had a night out with a group of friends. About 18 of us gathered for a pot luck supper, where the food was wonderful! Everyone seems to trot out their specialty for a pot luck supper, and this was no exception. We all ate too much!
At 7:00 we all got into cars to go to The Pond Playhouse. This is a tiny community theatre on Parkhill Rd, just off Percell's Cove Rd in Halifax, NS. The theatre seats 90, so our group of 21, when 3 others joined us there, took up a fair amount of the seating!
The play was "The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes", written by David Belke. In a nutshell, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is called upon to solve a mystery in a Grange. He is, aparently, forever attached to the ghost of Sherlock Holmes, who he'd killed off 2 years before. Chaos and comedy ensue, but in the end they solve the case. If you ever get a chance, go see this play - its well worth the price of admission!
The production was done by the Theatre Arts Guild, Canada's oldest community theatre with a record of continuous operation - founded in 1931. The Pond Playhouse is the permanent home of the Theatre Arts Guild.
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Latest reply: Apr 28, 2012
Volunteerism
Posted Apr 5, 2012
I was thinking this morning, that I'm susceptible to being volunteered for just about anything, within my realm of abilities!
One of my Tai Chi instructors, out of the blue one day, asked me if I could do data entry (yes). Before I knew it, I was down at the Tai Chi Association doing data entry one afternoon a week.
We had a celebration at the same organization, one Saturday, and I wore one of my hand-knit sweaters. A lovely white haired lady came over to admire it, and next thing I knew, I somehow had volunteered to knit finger puppets for children at the hospital. And I don't remember saying I'd knit finger puppets!
Truth be told, I'm just as glad. I was looking for some little volunteer job to take up some of the spare time I had. As for the finger puppets, I'd admired some cute ones I saw years ago, but, with a grown son, and no prospect of grandchildren, there was no need to learn to make them. Besides, as every knitter knows, you end up with a basket full of scraps, and no use for them!
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Latest reply: Apr 5, 2012
Barneys Bucksaws
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