As the family knows, we are the owners…  is that the right term?… of a dog.

We have adopted Janine and Vedran’s West Highland White Terrier… Reese

Now we know Reese very well as we have visited and housed her many times over her 14 years of life.  But, unlike in the past, she is now our’s (well possibly on loan from J & V)

A wonderful dog, but one trained by parents/owners, who were a lot more flexible on her discipline (granted as I type this Reese comes into the den and licks my leg)  ….

We had a cat Gimli for many years.  Owning a cat is like having a teenager.  You have to feed them and hug them occasionally (when they are nice) but most of the worry is when they go out at night… when will they come home.. what sex are they having?  Cats arrive home and say.. feed me and they will tolerate a little affection, but mostly they act like a teenager.  We could ignore Gimli when we went out in the evening knowing full well that she would take care of herself in the yard.

Having a dog is like raising a two year old.  Feeding and cleaning up, and constantly seeking affection. Reese would go out and eat slugs if we let her.

We do not sleep with Reese, which was a concern to us as her previous parents/owners had her sleep on their bed every night of her life.  Fortunately Reese is an older lady and loves the fact that she has a den bed in the peaceful laundry room where she can go off each night by herself for a sleep, not interrupted by the humans rolling over.  I actually have to wake her each morning at 7 am to have her tinkle outside.

It is a change in our lifestyle.  Whereas we used to just think about our lawn mowing and garbage collection before we headed off for a brief trip we now have to think about Reese.

But there are benefits.  Like my children when they were young, Reese thinks I am wonderful.  And every time a group of golfers arrives at the tee box on the 7th fairway behind us, she warns us with barks.  Does not leave the yard.. just warns us.   Still good information because any one of these foursomes could come and attack us as we sit on the patio.

A change in life and so far we are enjoying it, as we are about to take her for her evening walk around the golf course, which is an experience we never did without a doggie.

I know that all my followers must think we live on fresh fish since we live next to the ocean.  But not quite true.

Many years ago the US government paid off most of the BC coast commercial fishing licenses.  Easy money at the time but it meant that up and down the coast on the island most of the fishing boats went into harbor to stay, rotting at the pier.  The US government paid all this money to support the Alaskan fishing industry.

As a result, when we moved here in 2008, most of the semi-fresh salmon we buy at the store comes from Alaska.  We still have a few boats that did not sell their licenses, and they bring in Halibut and Ling Cod, but are not allowed to sell fresh salmon.  The indigenous fishermen sell their catches to restaurants.

Our local Thrifty store has a fish monger that tries his best to get fresh fish from local fishermen.  When he has a big Halibut it is not unusual for him to set up in the aisle to convince people that they need a freshly cut of Halibut.  Reminds you of a fish monger in a street in London in movies (granted on ice).

On Saturday I was at the store to pick up some milk and walked by the fish counter.  He had a few fresh salmon , caught that day, trimmed, headless and gutted. Probably 4 lbs when caught (so legal size).  About 1.5 kg cleaned.  Price… $7.25!!!

Roasted it on the BBQ tonight smothered in lemons and fresh Basil.  We have enough for 2 more meals.

It is great to live in Paradise.

Pat and I attended my high school reunion in Regina.  It was for the students that attended for the first 5 years from 1965 (so included graduates from 73)

We attended the reunion 25 years ago when many of our classmates attended and were young and still virile.  But time has passed.

I could barely recognize many of the people although strangely enough several guys came up to me before I had a name badge and said “Hey Bruce”  Apparently even without the Buddy Holly glasses I look the same as I did at 17 (or I like to think)

Our particular graduating class was poorly represented.  Only eleven but I suspect it was because this was a reunion put together by a small group and it is very difficult to trace people from 50 years ago.  I enjoyed it but there is no question that it was not as well organized as the one 25 years ago that had at least 50 volunteers working on it.

One of the sad things is the list of all the former students that have passed on.  They had a list and as I read through it I recognized a lot of names.

Now I will grant you, unlike my brother, I did not keep contact with many of my High School friends as the years went on.  So when we arrived most of the people I knew were the friends of Blaine.

Still a good day.  In the picture you will see Ludwig with his arm on me.  We knew each other in high school and while not good friends, got along.  Ludwig was one of the toughest guys at the school and we were on the football team together.  He went on to join the Regina Police and even though 70 is a deputy sheriff for the province.  (Sheriff people are in charge of bringing people to jail and escorting for courts)  There is no question that despite his age, no one would mix with him.

Altogether a pretty good weekend but a great part was the party Krystal hosted when we arrived where I got to see Roberta and Bill as well as my nephew’s daughter Casey.