Here is a photo that I just found from earlier this spring. It is of the tennis team that I played for in the BNP Paribas Indian Wells Seniors Tournament. We did not do well this year. Must have been over-confident from last year.
We are well on our way home. We stopped in Quebec City for our first night out of Moncton. Had a nice walk around the walled city including lower Quebec (walked down, but rode the lift up), found the old Anglican church founded by the Scottish troops after the battle on the Plains of Abraham (probably members of the 78th Fraser Highlanders), and took in a nice dinner.
Our hotel that evening was a bit of a surprise. When we first opened the door to our room we were hit with a blast of heat - the room was over 40 degree centigrade. The staff claim to have never seen this happen before. Fortunately they were able to find us another room.
This morning we woke up in Cornwall, ON. We stayed here so that we could visit Upper Canada Village for the first time in 40 years. I wanted to get some photographs of Louck's farm. The main farmhouse was moved from nearby and once was owned by a direct ancestor of Mary (Loucks) Lauro a good friend of ours. She has never seen the house.
Many of he 78th Frasers were Scottish survivors of the Jacobite rebellion and may have been present at the battle Culloden Moor in 1745. I believe that the 78th was recruited from the survivors of this battle and they were shipped to North America with General Wolf to ensure that they did not participate in any further rebellion against the crown, and that the regiment was disbanded in Quebec City after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham to ensure that they did not return to Scotland and take up their old ways. Further, Williams family history believes that an early member of the 78th was a Cameron ancestor of my mother. Wolf is not well thought of in Scotland for the butchering that took place at Culloden. We think pretty highly of him and he is enshrined in Westminster Abbey by the English - just different POVs
Home now . . .
Last time that we arrived at home it just did not feel right. This time when we arrived it felt very good. We were rested (actually unpacked already) and the home and community looked good - not grey and cold, but green and promising. We were hungry and thirsty so started dinner and cocktails (one should not withdraw from the travelling lifestyle too quickly; we would not want to get the tremors).
Canada Day, but nothing broadcast by CBC from Parliament Hill. I was counting on a live music broadcast from the Hill. When did this all change? CBC was showing the Dragon's Den - very patriotic - lots of flag waving and Kevin sang O'Canada, but still not the hill. I had to watch a Maple Leaf press conference explaining why Phil Kessel was traded. I did not know that he had been traded but I already knew why he was traded. Maybe the Food Channel will have a good show about how to preserve poutine (canned poutine - a great idea, not mine originally but a good idea).
We are home and that is good.