Monthly Archives: December 2008

Quiet beauty. Simple life. Family traditions. New family. 

Those are the words that come to mind when I think of my time in Terrace. All in all, I enjoyed my time there very much, and was finally able to relax and escape everything for awhile. It felt like it had been a long time since I’d had a proper holiday.

It was beautiful in Terrace. Cold, but beautiful. Surrounded by snowcapped mountains, snowy fields, and tall, dark trees. On the few occasions we got out and did some sightseeing, I reveled in the winter wonderland before my eyes. And I got kinda camera-happy! Perfect opportunities for me to work on my “photography”! Lol. Mom and I both loved the frozen waterfalls that lined the highways…so neat! We’d never seen such a sight before. They looked so ethereal, like something from a fairyland.

  

  

  

  

  

I love pine cones. Back in Regina, my favourite ornaments to put on the Christmas tree were the pine cones.

Speaking of ornaments, I went around snapping photos of Mrs. Pelletier’s Christmas ornaments and decorations:

  

   

 We all spent lots of time working on a puzzle that Charmaine had given Mrs. Pelletier last Christmas.  I’d forgotten how much I loved doing puzzles…it was one of my favourite pastimes as a child. Keeps the mind singularly focussed, and it’s just so satisfying when the correct piece snaps into place!

  

We went on an excursion to the Usk Pioneer Chapel one afternoon. It has only 4 tiny pews inside! It’s the dearest little church I’ve ever seen. There was a guest book inside, and one of the entries, dated a couple weeks ago, was written by a woman who was planning to get married at the chapel on Christmas day at 2pm. I wonder if the wedding actually happened. How cute! But super cold in the chapel as it is not heated. I hope she wore something warm!

  

Len took me to Kleanza creek one afternoon. We trudged in through the snow, following a couple of ski tracks. The pristine, magical white landscape filled me with both rapture and sadness. As I admired the beauty around me, all I could feel was sadness that Dad never got to see it. He would’ve loved the scenery. And yapped endlessly about the paintings he would paint. Deep in the woods there, surrounded by the kind of wilderness that Dad craved all those years, I wept. It’s been an emotional holiday. Our first Christmas without Dad. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, it seemed like everywhere I turned was a reminder of some memory of him, of us. I tried so hard to keep it together and try to enjoy the Christmas spirit, but that day at Kleanza, I just felt so sad, so lost, so full of regret.

But eventually, the dark thoughts gave way to calmer emotions. In Len’s arms, I was able to take comfort from the quiet beauty around me. I told myself that Dad would want me to enjoy it, and if indeed there is some sort of afterlife, if he was with me in spirit or could see me at that moment, I would want him to know that I was okay and that I had learned from him how to see beauty in the world around me.

So I went back to working on my new hobby:

  

 

   

Len’s family was so warm, so open, and made us feel right at home. I’m very thankful we were able to spend the holidays with family. I think it really helped to get us through Christmas relatively happily. I finally met Len’s dad! He’s just as funny and laid back as I’d imagined him to be. I’m so glad that I have such a wonderful new family to call my own.

  

  

     

Some of the happiest and most relaxing times of the holiday were spent beside the wood-burning stove downstairs. It was so warm, cozy, and with Len and I on side-by-side rocking recliners, reading books or playing scrabble, I was about as content as a person could be.