This blog has moved to a new address.
It’s now at:
EVERYTHING is now at one Site — where I can back it up more easily.
This present site will stay put for a while, but I don’t plan to make any new posts to it.
Christmas Holidays are great. Families reunite. Friendships get renewed. The Annual Christmas Letters bring everyone up to date. When the year is complete, we then go on — refreshed — to the New Year.
The holidays are tough on some of us, however, and often for a variety of reasons. This year’s tragedy in Mistissini was that of a 27 year old father of three kids, who took his own life just before New Year’s Eve. The funeral was a week ago today.
What words of comfort can help, as we try to pull ourselves together and get on with our lives? I’m still working on that one. I do know that about 150-200 of us started to gather at the Church at eight in the morning. By noon we had managed to close the casket. Then we read the Burial Office. I don’t know that that really eased any pain. It DID help us get a step closer to what we had to do that day. The healing will come later, I pray. Nerves are raw right now, but there’s always hope in another day.
We got through the crisis and enjoyed our fellowship at the feast later on in the day. Life goes on. It’s a New Year.
This last Sunday, 9 January, we celebrated the Baptism of The Lord, and two little ones were baptized that morning. They were young and beautiful and peaceful. There was light in the darkness.
We keep going, as best we can, in love and in hope. That’s life (and death) on a Reserve.
The Christmas Services kept me busy, of course. By Sunday, the day after Christmas, I was ready for a quiet moment to mull things over and listen to the music of the Season. We’re now in the Season of Epiphany, trying to catch up to the Three Wise Men. I’m frantically trying to get my act (what’s left of it) together for the Annual Meeting at the end of this month.
A few minutes of sunshine today! True, the day has been mostly cloudy. However, there were minutes today — I’m pretty sure there were — when there really and truly was evidence of the sun.
On Thursday — day before yesterday — we had almost a full day of sun — the first I’ve seen of the sun since Thanksgiving Day (if there WAS sun on Thanksgiving, and I cannot remember now if there was….)
I’ve been told to start gobbling down Vitamin D pills.
Monday, Monday….
The snow is coming down sideways this morning. The storm has been blowing since yesterday afternoon. Sometimes the visibility is near white-out. All of this definitely calls for yet another pot of tea.
Tuesday, Tuesday….
The same deal. The North Wind is blowing snow all over the place. The town grader came through yesterday morning and cleared the road somewhat. There were hardly any cars out anyway all day yesterday. I can’t imagine there was much traveling. I missed the annual Christmas feast put on by the Pentecostal Church. I regret that, but driving was impossible, and I didn’t dare walk the relatively short distance. My driveway now has a four foot drift at the end. I’m grounded until I dig myself out or get dug out.