Here’s a picture of Karen and Bailey taken when Karen and Dick were out here in Surrey in early September this year. I had forgotten these pictures were on the camera. I was just looking through the disk and here is a kind of goofy picture.
We were going for a walk in Tynehead Park and Pam and Karen were in the backseat of the car. Bailey figures the backseat belongs to her and seemed unwilling to share it with Karen.
I offer this re-post on Remembrance Day.
On the the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, at eleven hundred hours, the guns will go silent….
November 11 is meant as a day to pay tribute to our soldiers who fought, and died to keep our country safe and free. I hope you will take two minutes to remember those who gave their lives, so that ours would be better.
I offer this video, as a reminder of how simple it is. On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the store’s PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.
Terry was impressed with the store’s leadership role in adopting the Legion’s “two minutes of silence” initiative. He felt that the store’s contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable.
When eleven o’clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the “two minutes of silence” to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect.
Terry’s anger towards the father for trying to engage the store’s clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was later channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, “A Pittance of Time”. Terry later recorded “A Pittance of Time” and included it on his full-length music CD, “The Power of the Dream”.
On Sunday we went for a long walk in Tynehead Park. There are lots of streams throughout the park, and they are filled with spawning salmon. It’s really amazing how large some of these fish are! The main Serpentine branch is filled with 
salmon, lots of species, struggling to make their way back up to the spawning grounds.
There are predators looking for an easy meal too. Otters and minks can be seen quickly wrestling a fish out of the water. We didn’t see any bears though I’m sure they are around. Tynehead has had warning signs about bears in the past, but not this weekend.
While walking the upper forest, we saw a family standing perfectly still alongside the path with their hands out. I thought it was as strange place to be looking for spare change, but nope, not that. They had some bird seed in the palm of their hands and the birds would swoop down, briefly land, grab a seed or a nut and flit away. The lady offered Pam a handful, and this little movie is what took place!
Halloween was a buncha fun this year! We did our usual display, with some different touches this year. We did a grave yard, with lots of extras. We lined one side of our walkway with blow ups, so people were kind of funneled in towards Pam in her 
ghoul outfit, with smoke billowing out at them.
It was really quite cute to see the kids come bravely strutting up, then slamming on the brakes and backing up a few paces when the smoke comes wafting out from under the table Pam uses to keep the candy bowls on…
I’ve got a movie of one little girl who needed to be quite convinced by her dad to continue on. I do apologize for how dark they are; I thought they were coming out very nicely, but no, they are quite dark.
The movie is about five minutes long – maybe too long to watch. But hey, if you’ve got some time, it does really give you a sense of how hectic things can get for Pam. Even though it is a bit dark, you can see some kids react when I give them a “Happy Halloween” shout-out!
We had a couple of “body-less” heads on poles on the opposite side of the walkway from the blowups. I stood in completely black clothes, hidden behind a rather ghoulish mask. The mask was so creepy, one woman said, “Love your display, but that one – (pointing at me, standing still, completely quiet) 
is just creepy!” I’d let them go get their candy, then as they walked away, I’d shout at them, “HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” and people would just freak! The lady mentioned above, shouted, “OMG you’re alive!”
Sometimes after I shouted, the kids would start running and not stop for a long time! One young lad took off like a shot, and his father was laughing so hard, he could barely stand up! We got lots of thank yous, and compliments… One fellow said, “No matter what anyone else does, we can always count on you to give us a scare!”
We had 228 bags of candy, and we ran out by 8:15 PM. That’s earlier than most years. I think it might have to do with us having the display up for quite a few days before Halloween. But also the weather was really terrific – nice and warm, with no rain and next to no wind.
It was a really fun evening – and the kids and parents were having so much fun. I’m sure Pam’s picture is on Facebook a thousand times! You wouldn’t believe how often they were taking her picture. Super gratifying stuff… really really enjoyed the evening. A really BIG Thanks to all of you who came and got scared, and chatted, and laughed.
