“what difference does it make if you live in a picturesque little outhouse
surrounded by 300 feeble minded goats and your faithful dog?
the question is: can you write?”
– Ernest Hemingway
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early winter hiking in MacCready Nature Reserve, Irish Hills, MI, USA 2020
RCMP Cpl. Robert Drapeau stands next to Ranger Gary Bath,
Lynn Marchessault, Payton Marchessault, Rebecca Marchessault
and Tim Marchessault near the U.S.-Canadian border crossing. (CNN)
CNN reports a story that’s sure to warm your heart:
There’s nice, and then there’s Canadian-nice, which sometimes involves driving a total stranger, her two kids, a pair of elderly dogs and a cat named “Midnight” more than a thousand miles through a snowstorm to another country.
It all started because Lynn Marchessault and her family needed to get from Georgia to Alaska, where her husband is stationed at the U.S. Army base – Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.
So Marchessault packed up all their belongings, bought a truck that could handle Alaska winters, rented a U-Haul, and made plans for a cross-country family adventure during the balmy days of early fall. But, 2020 happened.
Marchessault waited months for the travel documents that would allow her to drive from Georgia, through Canada and up to Alaska. Due to the coronavirus, Canada had instituted strict guidelines for Americans traveling through the country, en route to Alaska. By the time she got things in order, her September road trip was pushed to November. Besides the restrictions placed on her by the Canadian government, she knew she’d have to keep up a good driving pace to avoid the worst of winter weather.
The first 3,000 miles of the trip went well. They entered Canada through Saskatchewan. Border authorities checked Marchessault’s paperwork and warned her to keep to the main roads and stop only when necessary for food or gas.The family would have to order any food to-go, even at motels they stayed in along the way. She was allotted five days to drive through Canada and get to the U.S. border in Alaska.
The farther north they traveled, the worse the weather got. Marchessault, who was raised in the South, encountered her first winter white-out conditions. Then she ran out of windshield wiping fluid, slush covered her windows, she couldn’t see to drive, and her tires seemed to be losing traction.
Gary Bath, a Canadian ranger from British Columbia, whose job includes training members of the Canadian military to survive the Arctic, was at home when he saw his friend’s Facebook post about the stranded American family. “A lot of people were wanting to donate money or saying they wish they could help but no one was able to get off work or be close enough to go do it,” Bath told CTV News Channel on Friday. “So, I talked to my wife and we decided that I would drive all the way from Pink Mountain to the border.” Bath says he stepped in to offer the family a helping hand because “it was the right thing to do.”
“It took us two and half days, but for me it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “I love driving so what a great way to see parts of the country that I haven’t seen in a few minutes.” Marchessault says that she and her family are very grateful for Bath’s help and says that they intended to be lifelong friends. “We’re hoping that when we do leave Alaska some of the COVID restrictions will be lifted by then because we would stop to see Gary and his wife on the way through and just thank them again for what they did to help us,” Marchessault added.
credits: CNN, Martha Shade – CDV News, Den Lourenco
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“unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.”
-bob kerry
“simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.”
-george sand
“It is very frustrating not to be understood in this world. If you say one thing and keep being told that you mean something else, it can make you want to scream. But somewhere in the world there is a place for all of us, whether you are an electric form of decoration, peppermint-scented sweet, a source of timber, or a potato pancake. On a cold, snowy night, everyone and everything should be welcomed somewhere, and the latke was welcomed into a home full of people who understood what a latke is, and how it fits into its particular holiday.”
And then they ate it. AAAHHHH!!
-Lemony Snicket, The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming
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Happy Hanukah to all who celebrate
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credits: Daniel Handler, Lisa Brown, McSweeney’s Publishing
a quick exit.
why so sudden?
had goldilocks been there and heard the bears coming home?
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“the first bowl of chocolate pudding was too hot, but goldilocks ate it all anyway because, hey, it’s chocolate pudding, right?”
-Mo Willems (author)
“the oldest, shortest words – ‘yes’ and ‘no’ – are those which require the most thought.”
-Pythagoras
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image credit: roz chast, new york times, 2020
powerful messages found everywhere
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“in an open society, no idea can be above scrutiny, just as no people should be beneath dignity.”
-maajid nawaz
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grand trunk pub, detroit, michigan, usa -2020
wondering who in the woods calls this fallen log, ‘home’
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“there is something in the trees awaiting discovery.”
– steven magee
from rogueNASA – “Ok, so far we’ve had a pandemic, race wars, a global economic collapse, a presidential impeachment, Brexit, murder hornets, and a contested election. Am I missing anything?”
credits: rogueNASA
“life is an improvisation. you have no idea what’s going to happen next
and you are mostly making things up as you go along.”
stephen colbert
‘glitter soup’ from art candy
years ago, when visiting my daughter in australia, i met her friend jenni gray, (the artist behind art candy), and she has remained a friend to both of us ever since. while visiting, we had tea, a tour of the space where her art happens, and she even let me peek into a drawer filled with glitter. as a lifelong fan of glitter, it was like magic, and what could be better?
over the years, i’ve followed her work, and have become the lucky owner of some of her art. jenni works with mixed media creating beautiful whimsical art and cards. when she told me that her recent piece, named ‘glitter soup’ reminded her of me, i was honored.
jenni’s origin story is this: “Art Candy began at art school inspired by a love of language, especially slang, colour and the sheer exuberence of enjoying life !” she has certainly lived up to that and more. take a peek at her work in the link below, it’s sure to put a smile on your face.
Sweetness with soul.
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https://www.etsy.com/shop/artcandyaustralia
“from soup, comes stars”
what the glitter soup turned into
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“if art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for?”
-alice walker
