05 April 2009
Return to the Island
05/04/09 18:30
The trip back to the Island went well. I even made the 8:15 ferry, but not by much. They stop selling tickets at 8:05 and I purchased my ticket at 8:02. I was not the last car that got on but almost. But at least I made it and did not have to wait for the 10:45 ferry crossing. It was very windy and the ferry had to take a detour to get to some calmer waters. At one point the Captain came on and asked that anyone with problems walking to remain sitting in their seats. I of course did not listen so I walked around the ferry looking like a drunken sailor bouncing from wall to wall.
I had a very nice time in Minnesota and want to thank everyone for taking the time to come and visit. It was nice seeing so many friends during my stay. Sheila's memorial was very nice and helped me with some closure. Hearing so many of her friends and family talk about her was great. Brenda a programmer we used to work with put together a nice memory book with contributed pictures for the family and Linda, our former boss, also gathered many old work pictures in an album. Boy did we look so young in some of those early pictures. I felt Sheila was with us that night and telling us all that she was only on a new journey and to celebrate with her. I only wish she had access to e-mail so we could hear more about her final trip.
Doug mentioned in his letter last week that he observed Earth Hour by turning off all of the lights. However it sounds like he may have been the only one as energy use in Nanaimo went up during Earth Hour. The city's electricity consumption increased 0.2% to join the ranks of other Island communities, such as Campbell River and Courtenay, that surged instead of conserving power. Doug is of the opinion the reason had more to do with demographics. The high proportion of seniors in Nanaimo who stayed up later than normal to be able to turn lights off at 8:30 skewed the numbers.
Otherwise life is getting back to normal. On Saturday, Doug, Barbara and I went to the Lantzville Fireman's Garage Sale. This is a fun sale as nothing is priced. You just go in, dig around until you find everything you want, then negotiate with the fireman about the price. Barbara negotiated her cost from $3 to $10. The money all goes to support the fire department so it is a good cause. We got a really nice looking "persian" rug (polyester, made in Belgium). It is green and blue and looks great. We have had to spend the last two days vacuuming, Fabreezing, and hanging the rug out in the sun to get the tobacco smoke out of it. By this evening all was well and the rug is now in the family room.
So until next week stay warm and dry,
Marsh and Doug
The following pictures are two of Sesame, one of Barbara's cat. Her other cat, Cosmo was out hunting for snakes. He loves to bring them in as a gift for Barbara who takes them away and then puts them back outside as they are generally still alive.
The other two pictures were taken on our walk on the Lantzville Beach. It was about 50 degrees today so it was a very pleasant walk.
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I had a very nice time in Minnesota and want to thank everyone for taking the time to come and visit. It was nice seeing so many friends during my stay. Sheila's memorial was very nice and helped me with some closure. Hearing so many of her friends and family talk about her was great. Brenda a programmer we used to work with put together a nice memory book with contributed pictures for the family and Linda, our former boss, also gathered many old work pictures in an album. Boy did we look so young in some of those early pictures. I felt Sheila was with us that night and telling us all that she was only on a new journey and to celebrate with her. I only wish she had access to e-mail so we could hear more about her final trip.
Doug mentioned in his letter last week that he observed Earth Hour by turning off all of the lights. However it sounds like he may have been the only one as energy use in Nanaimo went up during Earth Hour. The city's electricity consumption increased 0.2% to join the ranks of other Island communities, such as Campbell River and Courtenay, that surged instead of conserving power. Doug is of the opinion the reason had more to do with demographics. The high proportion of seniors in Nanaimo who stayed up later than normal to be able to turn lights off at 8:30 skewed the numbers.
Otherwise life is getting back to normal. On Saturday, Doug, Barbara and I went to the Lantzville Fireman's Garage Sale. This is a fun sale as nothing is priced. You just go in, dig around until you find everything you want, then negotiate with the fireman about the price. Barbara negotiated her cost from $3 to $10. The money all goes to support the fire department so it is a good cause. We got a really nice looking "persian" rug (polyester, made in Belgium). It is green and blue and looks great. We have had to spend the last two days vacuuming, Fabreezing, and hanging the rug out in the sun to get the tobacco smoke out of it. By this evening all was well and the rug is now in the family room.
So until next week stay warm and dry,
Marsh and Doug
The following pictures are two of Sesame, one of Barbara's cat. Her other cat, Cosmo was out hunting for snakes. He loves to bring them in as a gift for Barbara who takes them away and then puts them back outside as they are generally still alive.
The other two pictures were taken on our walk on the Lantzville Beach. It was about 50 degrees today so it was a very pleasant walk.
IMG_0468.JPG
IMG_0470.JPG
IMG_0511.JPG
IMG_0513.JPG