Can't forget Abigail.....!!!

As we were walking the streets of New Orleans recently, we came across this neat store sign. Of course, we thought of our little "Abbie". Now, I don't know about the "dinky dogs" part, but I'll bet they have some really cool Mardi Gras outfits that would fit!

Bailey Birthdays

March 8th - birthdays for Roni and Ted. Happy birthday to both.

As for Roni, here she is at the Restaurant Marrakesh at Epcot Center, celebrating her birthday with her sweetie. Between us we had roast lamb, beef shish kebab, pickled vegetables, couscous, spiced olives and a flaked pastry dessert. All this was washed down with Moroccan red wine and French white, as we soaked up the atmosphere of a Moroccan band and belly dancer.

Ain't She Sweet?

I was talking to brother Ted the other day about holiday homes. Little get-aways, tropical oases, a place in the sun. You know, the kind of place where you can kick back, relax, and smell the coffee while enjoying the little luxuries that a life of labour should bring.

Ted mentioned that Doug and I should buy such a place, thinking, no doubt, that by the time he and Colleen are ready for it, both Doug and I would be in care-homes. "Just pass the keys over brothers", he would say, "I'll take good care of it for you"

Now, most of you know me as a man of action, and when opportunity knocks, I am there to answer the door. Just yesterday, I came across a little beach house that caught more than mere attention. Listen to this - beachfront, oversized lot, quiet neighbours, surrounded by unspoiled nature, flow through ventilation, and .....Ted, I know Colleen will like this, diving right off the front deck!

Yes, I thought "absolutely perfect" best describes this too! So I bought it!



Don't worry Doug, I used Ted's credit card. Just 200 little payments of $1,000.00 and the title will be his, free and clear.

Home Away From Home

Davenport, Florida - our home for the next 30 days or so.

We had a great road trip, visiting or passing through Edmonton, Innisfail, Calgary, Great Falls, Sheridan (Wyoming), Colorado Springs, New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo, San Antonio, Napoleanville (Louisiana), New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, the Swannee River, and finally Davenport. Only took us 9 days.

On the 10th day, we rested.

Today, we saw a couple of alligators, and a few other swamp creatures (but not Roger Clemens). Tomorrow, we see the Atlanta Braves in a spring training baseball game play the Cleveland Indians down the road in Winter Haven. Two tickets cost all of $11.00 each (plus tax, agency fee, and facilitation fee) so even if we do happen to see Roger Clemens, it's still a bargain.

We'll try to catch a Blue Jays game when we travel to the Tampa Bay area (an hour's drive west). I don't know any players on their roster either.

All My Bags are Packed ....

I'm ready to go...... finally. I think.

Yes, just after bro' Doug, sis' Lenore, and Auntie Abbey flew the coop, we are eager to follow. Ted and C'leen had no hesitation. Even daughter Lor. On the road tomorrow with a pit stop in Calgary, then head for the sun (that reminds me, take the Uncle Remus Chronicles....).


So, how much stuff do you need, really, when you go off on an extended vacation? I'm thinking, what I forget, I can just buy, or maybe I really don't need it after all. Here's hoping.

So, stop by occasionally and I'll try and update you on our adventures.


The only regret about leaving for so long - that I won't get to watch the Oilers playoff run this year.

A Great Birthday!

I want to thank everyone for their kind birthday wishes yesterday. I got calls from both my brothers as well as Mom, Laurel, Kelly, Gus, Alex, and even Donna H. and Allan! Thank you so much. It’s great to know people are thinking about you.

I relayed most of this story to Doug and Ted, but thought others might appreciate it too. When Mom phoned, she told me that when I was born, Dad made quite the scene at our apartment in Washington D.C. You might remember that Dad was a D.C. cop back then. It seems that he was on duty that morning when around 9 a.m. mom felt the first signs that this might be my birth day. Mom said “I made the mistake of phoning your father too soon”. He and his police partner came screaming up the street in their cruiser with lights flashing and siren wailing. Running into the house, they found Mom calmly tidying up the kitchen a bit. “We've come to take you to the hospital” Dad yelled!

Mom thought that perhaps a phone call to her doctor was in order before rushing off. They found him at the lake. He asked if she was experiencing any labour pains yet. “Well, no, not really” said Mom. “Call me later, when your pains start” said her doctor. “You’ll know.” So, around 4 o’clock in the afternoon they made the trip to the hospital (complete with police escort) and I was born a few hours later.

Mom and I (a tired little guy!) in a late winter outing at the upscale Rockcliffe Park in Washington, D.C.

Dad holding me in our Washington D.C. apartment

With Dad, Uncle Mark and Aunt Claire at the reflecting pool in front of the Washington Monument in 1950

Now when Doug was born, circumstances were a bit different. As with all new parents, the thrill and excitement of one’s first child doesn’t always translate into equal enthusiasm for the second. We were living in Cloan at the time and the nearest hospital was in Wilkie. Being mid-December, and being 1951, travel was a problem in the winter as country roads would usually be blown in by snowstorms and pretty-much impassable by car. Snowploughs weren’t a common sight in the Cloan district. Somehow Dad got word to Grandpa Gendall who dutifully showed up with his team of horses and freight wagon. In those days, one replaced the wagon’s wheels with skis in the winter. Off went Mom and Dad with Grandpa Gendall standing in the front of the wagon holding the horses’ reins. A couple of Grandpa’s dogs, Laddie and Lassie followed.

Grandpa Gendall with his team of horses near Cloan

Well, fourteen miles and three hours later the little caravan arrived at the Wilkie Hospital. I’m told it was quite a sight with the horses, wagon, passengers and dogs in tow. After dropping Mom at the hospital, Dad and Grandpa immediately adjourned to the Wilkie Hotel for a few drinks before heading back to Cloan with the team. Mom followed a few days later with Doug, but was able to take the train. The twice weekly railroad ran between Wilkie and Cloan and carried passengers as well as freight.

We think this is a photograph of Doug with someone at Grandpa Gendall’s house.

Five years later, along came Ted.

I remember that day very well. I was 8 years old at the time and we were still living in our Cloan house. Mom was washing some clothes in the kitchen. I’m not sure where Dad was. He was no longer farming and was away somewhere I guess. I know that he once had a job with the Fuller Brush Company as a travelling salesman so perhaps he was out on calls. At any rate, Mom was using one of those corrugated metal washboard things that you use to wash clothes. It sits in a big tub of soapy water and you rub the wet clothes up and down on it to get the dirt out. Obviously, we weren’t too well off in those days. She would scrub an article of clothing and then squeeze the water out and plunk it down on the table beside her, making a big pile to later hang out on the line. There she was, in her dress and apron, her hair falling over her face as she leaned over this big tub of laundry, scrubbing the clothes on the washboard.

I was in the living room, looking after Doug. He was five at the time and still in diapers. You had to watch him closely because he liked to pull his diaper off and play with whatever he found in there. It got real messy sometimes. Anyway, I heard this big “thump” from the kitchen so went to look. There was Mom, still leaning over the laundry tub with both hands in the water. I thought she had dropped a big pair of jeans on the floor between her feet, but lo and behold, there was Ted! Mom looked down at the floor and said “Could you get that for me, Ray?”

So, I quickly ran over, picked up the newborn Theodore, swished him off in the rinse tub and wrapped him up in some dry clothes until Mom finished the wash and could attend to him. It wasn’t wise to leave Doug alone for too long, as I explained earlier.

Doug and I with the newly-arrived Ted a few days later.

This last photo was taken in Cloan in 1960

I hope you enjoyed my sharing these recollections with you and thanks again for your phone calls.

Tagged, Eh?

I haven't played tag since grade 8 (not counting that time in Las Vegas a few years ago). It's a good way to get us to update our blogs though.

Lets see, ...... The rules: Each player lists 8 random facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 4 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

OK....
1. One reason I am doing this is I don't think I could stand the embarrassment of having Allen actually update his blog before I do mine.

2. Megan is my favourite niece.

3. I have no addictions. If I did, cookies would be at the top of the list.

4. I actually know a lot more than people think I do. That makes me really good at Trivial Pursuit games, although I am admittedly weak in the cartoon-book-character category.

5. I get upset at drivers that straddle two lanes at stop signs.

6. I believe that mankind will save itself from disease, war, pestilence, and country music in a series of small steps rather than the "magic bullet" theorists.

7. Most of today's strong chewing gum flavours make me sneeze - a lot.

8. "Raymondo" comes from the first time I ever lied. At Disneyland, my two young daughters were horrified when they heard me give my name to the Latino operator of the ET ride as "Raymondo". "Dad, you lied!". Guilty. But at the end of the ride, ET said "Goodbye Raymondo". It was worth it.

As I don't know anyone else with their own blog aside from the ones Snowflake and Laurel already tagged, I'll have to pass on the tag to just Allan. Go for it Big Al!!