Sunday, the 20th of May,  2012

What we knew as 'Victoria Day' in honour of the Queen's birthday, when we went to the lake and had fireworks and a picnic and waved flags, has now become May Longweekend!!!!!  Everyone takes to the road to go hither and yon to various celebrations and early summer fetes and I doubt if many remember Queen Victoria's birthday is the cause celebre.  It is twittered about and there is great excitement on Facebook

What we have here in the village is the 74th  Annual Elk's Rodeo, with bulls and bareback riding and steer wrestling and barrel races.  We have the Firemen's Pancake Breakfast, a Cowboy's Church service under canvas, a Big Parade, a Children's Chicken Run, an all day Beer Garden and although the same events are probably firing up a dozen communities in British Columbia, we also have  thousands of visitors wearing cowboy hats.  Well, it seems like thousands.

What we were most excited about this week-end was the Centennial Celebrations at Charles' High School - Pen High.  O.k., we were mildly excited - as excited as those in their late eighties allow themselves to get about a great crowd of people, tremendously noisy and hiding quite effectively in their midst the very people you would like to visit with - your OWN old classmates.

So at the last minute we arranged a nice quiet luncheon at the Frog City Cafe in the middle of Linden Gardens in Kaledan; an especially lovely day - sunny, but not too warm, with just the faintest breeze and the very best of company.  The gatherings diminish somewhat as one by one people are wafted off to that great classroom in the sky, but that makes those who are left even more precious.  

Braving the wicked traffic we picked up our old and dear friend, Jill, - not yet easy with her widowed state and newly released from hospital but looking surprisingly fit, abandoning her walker for just a cane!  

We turned in at the Gardens and joined the remnants of the Class of '42, sitting around the patio, sheltered by the lovely greenery that surrounds Frog City and off in the distance flashes of colour where the azalea hold centre stage now the spring bulbs have all faded.

We had a great lunch, - Charles and I had a nice borscht and a Hippie Hobo sandwich made out of twenty grain bread and avocado, cheese, ham, tomato and various other goodies.  The ones who were game took a little turn around the gardens and were in awe of the marvelous colours and the shady pathways.

Eventually we had to move on, but we drove home, contented, happy, full of the satisfaction of having touched the lives of dear and familiar friends once again.

Please ignore the video

below, - it is

recalcitrant

won't work, and won't disappear.......