Saturday, April 23, 2011

Anne Murray at the Canadian Jamboree in 1977 (PEI)



I was looking at this old clip earlier today, then I happened to turn on CBC and caught the tail end of Anne Murray’s “Anne Murray and Friends” show about making her CD.

The clip talks about the scouts following her down to the beach for a show she put on. I was there, as leader for a patrol from Mission (I was only 18). We watched Anne work her magic, and I even recall the Israeli scouts (including girl scouts) getting up on the stage and playing “the good, the bad and the ugly” theme song with their hands, like flutes.

I’ve always loved Anne’s music. It was some of the first songs I learned on guitar and I still sometimes play songs like snowbird and I’m on the top of the world.

Thank you, Anne for so many years of music, that somehow connects with great joy and times of fun in my life!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Grown up Shoes for Little Feet

Today (Good Friday) I sat on the front porch and cleaned two pairs of shoes.


My hiking boots had been caked with mud, but it all nicely dusted off today. I'd taken them on a geocaching expedition with the 4SW Burnaby Cub Pack several weeks ago for spring camp 1, and we encountered some serious mud on the way (but had a great time!) I didn't have time to clean them until today.



Yesterday, I took my Willingdon small (Bible study) group in the small bus down to La Conner, WA to see the tulips at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. We wandered through a tulip field staring at the amazing blooms! What a picture they paint! Unfortunately, the fields had a lot of mud, much like river silt, the kind that gets into everything, so I had to dust and polish these shoes today, as well.


While I was polishing them, I recalled vividly, what it was like when I was little, to get ready for church on a Sunday morning. One of the things we'd do (I can't remember if we did it the night before, or just before heading out) was to polish our shoes. I had black shoes, that required regular polishing, that I'd wear for almost everything.

On Wed of this week, we took the Cubs karting at Ron McLean park. Down a ways from where we were karting, there is a ravine, which is part of the park. I remember playing in that ravine when I was about the same age as the cubs (8-10 years old). I clearly recall trying not to get my black shoes too dirty (or soak them in the creek). I also recall getting my bare legs (I was wearing shorts) into some stinging nettles.


We wore those shoes everywhere, with just a few exceptions. Of course, in the summer when it was warm I didn't wear any shoes or socks at all, and at school, you had to have gym shoes. You could only wear them for gym, so you wore your other shoes at other times. And of course, in really heavy rain, you wore your gumboots, and took them off and walked about in socks in school. I can recall having got a bit of water into my boots, so one of my socks was half soaked, and felt a bit cold as I padded about in the classroom.

The shoes we had were really the same shoes as grownups wore to an office, but in a smaller size. We were expected to dress like miniature grownups.

Funny how times change! Now, the kids have shoes that are specially designed for kids, with lights that flash, and velcro instead of laces, and super heros emblazoned on them!

And, no! I'm not going to say that it was better "way back when". Some things were, some things weren't. In this case, I like it that kids have something specially made for them. And no need to polish, just throw them in the clothes washer!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was on Monday of this week (April 4th), so I thought I'd post some old family photos on my blog. The next three pictures are of my 3rd birthday party:


I have no idea who the little boy in the background is. Obviously he was a friend of mine, but I can't place him.


I actually remember the cake and the party and getting the covered wagon. I really liked that toy!


The picture below is from the yard of the house we were in. This house was actually the old Jubilee Interurban Station, which we were renting from BC Electric. I blog about living here in another post.



Here are my older brothers and sisters, on the porch of the Jubilee Station house. Antoon is holding me (probably so I don't escape!) This is quite a bit before my 3rd birthday.



This next picture is a family portrait that hung on the wall. It was taken probably closer to my 4th birthday, as Margaret (my little sister) is already born.


And here I am, at a very early age. Already into the communications technology. I think you can see that it was inevitable!