Texas-bound - Langenburg and Brandon

Texas-Bound

The day has arrived. As we try to remember everything we are going to need to take along, I check off the items on my list as they are packed. The passports, the pills, the border-crossing letters from MDS, and some grocery items we are not able to get in the U.S., for example, Harmonie margarine, decent peanut butter and Cheese Whiz, and Dristan tablets for colds.

Our little Maltese dog has known for weeks we are leaving and she has been glued to my side the past few days. No dogs are allowed on the MDS sites; besides, this is John’s time that he does not have to share my attention with the dog…

We enjoyed having the grandchildren over for sleepovers the last weekend. It is comforting to know that we will be home for December. We have committed ourselves to volunteer for November in Marble Falls. We are flying back from Austin on December 3rd, returning on the 27th and then have to move our RV from Marble Falls to New Iberia, LA, where we are stationed for January and February, 2011.

My husband is very happy to be travelling down the road in his “new” 2001 GMC 3500 Sierra SLE dually with a 6.6 Duramax diesel and an Allison transmission. He has realized for some time that we needed a bigger truck to pull our large RV and this year found what he was looking for. I was hoping for maybe “a step up” from our three-quarter ton diesel, but this is the “full meal deal”. Hopefully the benefits will outweigh my objections to having a dually 4 x 4. We toyed with the idea of hauling our Toyota car behind the truck, but decided against it. Time will tell if that decision was a good one. Riding like the one-ton it is, it certainly is not easy for me to write notes as we drive on these bumpy Saskatchewan roads!

We arrived in Foam Lake in time to catch the local coffee shop packed with farmers discussing this year’s harvest. It was a little late for lunch, but we were hungry.

Langenburg was our destination for our first stop. Things are quite laid back at my Mom’s house. She retires early and gets up early as well. Saturday evening we were invited to Ken and Miss Jackie’s for a feast to thank friends who helped with their threshing this past summer. Mom had been there for Thanksgiving the weekend before. She is hard of hearing and does not enjoy it when everyone is talking at once, so she declined to come with us for the supper. We arrived home at 7:30 p.m. to find her in bed already!

The wind was so cold this week, it already felt like snow.

We got to catch one more Roughrider game before leaving Saskatchewan, even though it was quite disappointing. How many of us watch the game and wonder why we haven’t made the effort to enter free at Safeway for the prizes they award when we get a touchdown? As John always says, no tickee, no laundley.

Arriving in Brandon, we are visiting with John’s brother, Jake. He and his wife have just returned from a week-long Prostate Cancer Canada Network Annual Meeting in Toronto. Jake is 78 and has been living with prostate cancer for 14 years, and diabetes for several years. Five years ago, the cancer spread to his bones. He has had surgery and every treatment available and is now taking a type of chemo, a combination of Zomeda and Prednisone. The doctors cannot understand why his bone deterioration has apparently been stalled - whether it is his excellent attitude, or a result of the Omega 3-6-9, calcium and Vitamin D three times a day, and Vitamin B1. He has always had a VERY positive outlook on his illness and it is certain that this has contributed to his longevity. Jake indicated his reason for attending the convention was not for anything that could be done for him, because he feels it is too late for him, but rather to learn what was coming down the pipe that he could share with his sons and grandsons and friends. He was very excited to learn about the innovations in prostate cancer surgery using robotic lazer treatment and bring the information back to his prostate cancer group in Brandon.

For your information, Movember, an organization that started in Australia, has taken as its cause prostate cancer awareness programs. They raised over $20M in Australia, then came to Canada and last year raised $7.9M in Canada for prostate cancer awareness research projects. They sponsored this annual conference for all prostate groups across Canada. “Movember” is prostate cancer awareness month. Men are letting their mustache grow and ladies are encouraged to wear false mustaches for prostate cancer awareness. When you see a two-tone blue sticker on a car, comparable to the pink ribbon for breast cancer, or a lady with a false mustache, be aware this is with respect to prostate cancer.

We are pleased to enjoy our visit for this week and make our way south Friday morning, October 22nd.

Shopper article leaving home for Nov. MDS posting

WE’RE OFF TO MARBLE FALLS, TEXAS

Most of the fall season projects with MDS Senior RV Program begin October 4, 2010. However, the project that we have been assigned to starts on November 1st. We will be returning to the “hill country” of Marble Falls, Texas. The RV site at Camp of the Hills, where we had parked in spring of 2009, was by far the most beautiful scenery of any we have encountered since we have been with the Senior RV Program.

This summer, we had learned of the disastrous fire which destroyed the beautiful main Lodge at the Camp of the Hills. Googling “Camp of the Hills” and seeing the structure in flames was horrific. The building was insured; however, the insurance will only cover a portion of the losses.

Camp of the Hills caters to inner city homeless street children, sponsored by various area churches. MDS has volunteered to provide the workers to build 3 new buildings to replace the Lodge. Formerly, the Lodge’s main floor housed the business office of the Camp Director (the only paid employee), washrooms and the huge dining hall and totally outfitted kitchens. We recall admiring the awesome gigantic rock fireplace in the dining hall which is now gone. Camp Counsellors’ quarters, which also housed a full storehouse of all sizes and types of clothing that young campers might require, were on the lower level, as well as the nursing station with closets full of all the laundry and cleaning supplies for the camp. They also lost all their audio-visual equipment and computers.

The website advises that despite the loss, with the help of a lot of people who had a heart for the camp, they were able to accommodate their campers this summer.

Here at home, all our yard work is done, garbage hauled to the dump, everything put away for winter, our annual little farewell party with our neighbours was enjoyed by all…we’re ready to leave a bit ahead of time. My Mom will enjoy another visit en route, and we also want to spend a couple of days with our favorite brother, Jake, in Brandon. He has been battling prostate cancer for 13 years now and his doctors cannot figure out why he is not in more pain, with what they see on his scans for the past year. He is a testimony as to how a positive attitude in such an illness can be your best asset. We expected him to be failing when we returned from the south earlier this year, and they were just returning from a Carribean cruise with their daughter! They were totally thrilled with the VIP treatment they got at every hand, using the “transporter chair” which allowed him to participate in all of the activities without tiring out his legs too much. He even went scuba diving for the first time in his 79 years.

It will be nice not to have to drive in snow going down. It should take 4 days to get to Jasper, Texas, where our RV is stored. We have allowed time to stop in the Beaumont area and visit some of our friends from our last term. Does Mr. John still live in his house? How is Miss Jane doing in the Alzheimers wing of the Nursing Home? The girls from the Ben Rogers Welcome Centre will certainly remember us! They were very hospitable about letting me use their telephone with my phone card. This year we have a Magic Jack telephone which can be used on the computer, with free long distance. It has worked out well.

Next week’s article will be done on the road. We hope you enjoy your trip as you share our travels.

First newspaper article for P.A. Shopper Oct. 2010

Hello – we’re back to share our summer with you, before getting into our upcoming MDS experiences. We have greatly appreciated all the positive comments about our articles last winter and hope you enjoy coming to Texas with us in two weeks.

Aaah – summer in Saskatchewan. It started out like summer, but we soon wondered what happened to the good old summers we used to have!

I have always thought it would be neat to spend a week in Texas in summer, just to experience some nice HOT weather. It was always windy on the Gulf Coast. The residents informed us that the wind is a tremendous blessing down there; I had never considered that if it were not for the wind, they would not be able to tolerate the heat in summer. After a week, I probably would be plenty ready to go back to a Saskatchewan summer! Recently, we received an e-mail from MDS friends in California advising it was 103 degrees there. We could have used a day or two of that, at least…

After doing renovations to our home, which meant I could not have a garden last year, I was excited to be landscaping and getting ready in spring to plant a small garden again. That included bringing out all of the yard ornaments, and our two water fountains which did not get used last year.

Putting the clothesline back up was first on my agenda and to my great delight, John quickly had that task accomplished.

In May, our very beloved purebred Himalayan cat, Gizmo, insisted on being let outside after dark, never to return. He had been acting a bit strangely and it appears he had gone away to die in peace. We certainly miss his beautiful furry face at our patio door.

My mission this summer was to ensure our three grandchildren have some special holiday memories with Nana and Grampa from their childhood. Our family always spent most of the summer at Madge Lake where we had a cabin. Nowadays, young families have such hectic lives. Both parents are busy with their jobs and barely even get two days off at the same time to enjoy any kind of holiday with their kids.

We offered to take the grandchildren for 10 days to my Mom’s in Langenburg, Sk., as there were two sets of festivities scheduled. First was the goal of my cousin from Tennessee who comes up to his family farm every summer, to have 10 threshing machines running at one time in 2010. John was his “straw boss” for the occasion.

Over the years, Ken and Jaqueline have welcomed and entertained the local residents with a day of threshing, visiting and an old fashioned picnic several times during the summer. This weekend brought over 300 people to the farm to share in the old time festivities. Included in the roster of entertainment, our 12 year old granddaughter, Keely, sang two songs with my accompaniment and everyone said she was wonderful. Dressed in a pretty heritage dress complete with a hat, she sang “In the Highways In the Hedges” and “Let the Sun Shine In”. Bryton, who just turned 9 while we were on holidays, looked just like a young lad out of Wind at My Back, in his pair of overalls, striped T-shirt and a flat, brimmed tweed hat. Five year old Emily charmed all of the old-timers and captured Miss Jacqueline’s heart.

Everyone who attended tremendously enjoyed the day and not only did Ken achieve his goal of “10 in 2010”, but he also was proud to see the full page write up of the occasion in the Western Producer!

We then stayed the following week to take in Laff ‘n Linger Days, which only happens every 5 years in my home town. Great-Nana’s one bedroom senior duplex was hard-pressed to accommodate three extra adults, three children and a dog. John decided this “zoo” would be too much for him and there was work to do at home, so he left and came back for the weekend. The rest of us played “musical beds” with the hideabed and the tent and someone sleeping with Great-Nana. Keely wanted to see what Manitoba looked like, so we made the short trip to Russell. They spent many hours in the town pool and got a taste of living in small town Saskatchewan. Bryton slept over at Uncle Paul’s for a few nights, and would walk the three blocks back to Mom’s in the morning, with his pyjamas slung over his shoulder, just a singing away. It was neat to hear him comment “I love Langenburg”

Laff ‘N Linger Days included a very large heritage parade (for a small town of 1500 people). My cousin’s wife insisted she needed us to help her with the Mack Family Float. It was a large hay wagon pulled by an old tractor. John and I had made them a large sign for the entrance to their farm yard, as they did not have one. We put the sign on the back of the float and it looked wonderful! Miss Jacqueline, a cousin’s wife from B.C., and the children and I were all on the float, dressed in our heritage costumes. We were thrilled to win first prize in the heritage division! John and my Mom were “parade watchers”. All in all, our summer holiday with the kids was all we had hoped it would be and we have the pictures to prove it!!! Needless to say, it was also a summer holiday my 87 year old Mom will always cherish.