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Showing posts from October, 2016

Way Way Too Many Pumpkins

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My friends, family and neighbors have all let me down.  Many a pumpkin was offered, and very few have left my yard.  Even my pumpkin thieving, (loving) sister didn't take very many this year.  All in all, I was only able to give away around 20.  When there are nearly 500, 20 does not make a dent.  So, I set to work painting and carving the ripe ones.  The kids and the husband carved a few each. The green ones have been used as props for the orange guys.  Even if more had turned orange in time for Halloween, I'm sure they still would have been used in the same way. On the deck and in front of the house, there are just over 300 pumpkins.  That is not counting ornamental gourds of which there were around 200, and they are scattered here and there.  I had a fantastic gourd patch this year.  There were so many different types, I never knew what I was going to find when I went out to pick a few. You know what I really love about my Halloween decorations?  Ninety-nine per

Pier 21 in Halifax

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Pier 21 stands out in my mind as the most emotional, interesting and memorable museum I have yet had the pleasure to visit.  Located on the Halifax Harbour, this port is where some 1 million immigrants landed in Canada between the years 1928 - 1971.  There was an incredible amount of information to take in.  I immersed myself most deeply into the personal stories, but what really moved me was experiencing, in a couple of hours, the evolution of our country, and how much has changed in how we treat each other.  While I got a strong feeling of the positive changes that have taken place over the years, I was still left with a heavy feeling of how much further we have left to go.  Not hopelessness, not at all, just the weight of of a very gradual change.  We're moving forward, just at a pace that is frustratingly slow. Here are just a few things that stood out to me, and I will spare you the detailed history, but will include links to websites if you would like to read more about