Our days at the Bar MW this week have been a mixture of many things. The picture round-up starts with a cartoon that Russell posted on his social media. He related to it so strongly and he shared it with some definite emotion. Our corner of the province had some soaking rains this week. The timing is poor for the grain farmers trying to harvest but it means alot for pasture conditions and taking down the fire risks. Around here we are all feeling very grateful.
Another answer to our needs was the chance for Russ to get in very quickly to have a root canal done. On Tuesday he sent me this selfie from the dental chair while I waited for him at the Estevan library. He started to feel relief very quickly.Jenn came down to pick up her dog Paisley whom we had been dogsitting and while she was with us she cut Morgan’s hair. She is doing alot to keep him comfortable this summer!The next day my sister in law Tammy and I went to Regina. While Tammy was in her appointment I whipped over to Jill’s apartment for a visit. As I pulled away from there afterward I felt I had just had the best part of my day, just being with Jill was good for my soul. Later Tammy and I dropped into Starbucks and I caught this picture of Jill listening to a customer. This is very true to who Jill is. While I was in Regina Russell hosted new friends we became connected to through one of our family in Nova Scotia. Charles, a strawberry and sweet potato farmer, had come to Saskatchewan with his wife to visit their family in Estevan. Before heading to Halifax on Thursday Charles squeezed in a visit to the ranch to meet us and see what we do. He brought his son-in-law and grandson. They helped Russ check pastures. Charles told Russell it was a very good day.Meanwhile Morgan was doing something he loves. He spends a few days in the summer helping at the government community pasture. He took this picture from on top of his horse in his role as heeler while Francis treated a cow for footrot.This is a screenshot from our family chat, not a live video link. Those of us who watched it know that the fun fact Gina shared in this part of the audition intro is that she can hotwire a Case 2390 tractor.Sterling productions released this promo shot this week. Jill’s play is coming up and we are really looking forward to seeing it!Russ is working on a fairly large fencing project. While dealing with posts he came across this survey stake, marking the boundary line of the pasture. He says that is good evidence he is building at the right spot! The stake is dated 1959. How very cool eh?!My sister in law Tammy organized a really nice family gathering in Estevan for Valarie, (Russell and Tammy’s sister), who celebrated her 60th birthday on Friday. We really enjoyed being with our extended family circle and friends of the family to mark this milestone with Val.After the party and some back to school shopping we headed up to Arcola for the rodeo. We had a very important rodeo act to see, the kick-off, which was the Truco Trick Riders. Morgan’s girl-friend Jordanna is seen here, I must give Russ credit for the cool framing of the picture.Here is Russ and I at the rodeo. It was a bit of a painful night for me. I am an absolute chicken, I am so uncomfortable watching the roughstock events, I mostly look away. I do all the running for food, beverages, garbage disposal, anything to give me an excuse to leave my seat and miss some of those moments when humans hit the ground near the mighty hooves of powerful animals. If I could go to the bathroom on others behalf I would. Why even attend you might ask? Well this evening, the answer started with Jordanna and ended with Tenley.This is Tenley. She has been a part of our family for several years now in her official role as one of Gina’s besties. We have the hugest soft spot for her in our hearts. Tenley was one of four women doing bronc riding at the rodeo. We needed to stay and watch her give it her all.Tenley shared this picture with me. It gives me goosebumps. She is brave and so strong in everyday life, this picture makes that extra clear. Tenley had to wait a long time in the chute before they opened that gate. The announcer said she must have ice water in her veins. Noting her presence as she waited through a long delay he said she was “cool as a cucumber, she’s the coolest cucumber in the fridge, nothings bothering her at all.” She had a good ride and stayed safe. We were very thankful. When she sent me this picture she said, “sitting in that chute is a feeling I can’t explain. You truly feel as though you have ice water running through your veins!”
Saturday things came to a bit of a standstill for me personally. I was struggling. I simply cannot write a blog about this life and only tell a partial tale, it feels dishonest. I live with humans and sometimes things get really hard. I feel my feelings very hugely at times. We are working through stuff. The wisdom below sits right with me.
A little comic relief. Russell asked me to take this picture to commemorate an important day. He had decided that this was his last day wearing this work shirt. He has had it a long time and its special to him. My sister gave it to him. At one point he outgrew it and gave it to a friend, then Russ slimmed down and the friend outgrew it and gave it back to him. Its travelled many roads with these guys. Only one of six tears is visible in this picture.The job of the day at the ranch on Saturday was to trim horses hooves. Our friend Layne has a hydraulic tipping table he hauls here and he sets up shop. Friends with horses and donkeys come over and get their animals done too. Its a big day with lots of work and lots of visiting. In the chute at this point is our donkey, you might remember we named him “Elton John.” He is as cool as his name suggests.Today the guys were up early with a fun plan in their minds. We had friends coming over to bring the last calves of 2023 home to be tagged, needled, branded, and castrated. We usually do that in the pole shed with a small crew and a tipping table for the calves. Morgan requested that we do this last small group like an old fashioned branding, Russell agreed. It was indeed fun. It seemed less gentle on the animals in one sense, that was iffy for me. But there were perks to this other way too. The calves were not separated from their Mamas as long and they were soothed to see them nearby it seemed.Morgan and Carter Ewart were on horseback and doing all the roping. Russ, Emerson, Laurie and Tyce saw that all the jobs were done for each calf. Coffee dog is seen here, she was not terrifically helpful, Maddie got dog of the day today.Carter is seen here dragging a calf down to the guys. Tyce is ready with a piece of equipment that will temporarily and painlessly keep the calf immobilized, its called a “deadman”. Tyce is very experienced with how to do this work and was invaluable today. He is Jordanna’s Dad.Emerson was the runner, bringing needles and tags to the team. Jen was the operating room nurse, filling taggers, needles and the de-nutter. In the background is Laurie’s son and his family. We had a good visit.An action shot.
It was a very diverse week at the Bar MW. I think in everything that transpired, from parties to appointments, to time with our kids, and big jobs getting tackled, hurt feelings, rodeo feelings, much animal action and everything in between, those five words can apply powerfully, “we believe in each other.”
Thursday evening Russ got a message. It was from a woman sitting in the front row in the theatre at the Canadian College of Performing Arts. She was awaiting the start of “Love and Information” on its opening night. Meanwhile our girl Gina was backstage, ready and waiting for her cue to enter. The message sent was a picture of a foot nearing the stage and just two words, “front seat”. At intermission we received an asssessment of the first half. The woman is Tammy Shaw, she was raised in the same small town near here that Gina called home for the first 3 months of her life. Tammy lives in Victoria and has been generous and kind towards Gina, very mindful of the connections we share. The connection is pretty solid. When I pulled into Gainsborough, Saskatchewan on June 28th, 1999 as the brand new minister who had never met a soul out here, my assignment was to go to Tammy’s Mom’s insurance business, meet Cheryl-Anne and get the keys to my new home, the United Church manse. Cheryl-Anne gave a wonderful warm welcome, I could not have imagined then that her daughter and my daughter would be sharing the moments they did this past weekend.
This picture is part of the first scene that Gina was in, that is Gina on the left side. It was a scene where she needed to make eye contact with an audience member. It was Tammy who was in the right spot to be that person. That really pleased Gina and she made sure to tell us about this.
Photo Credit: Peter Pokorny
When the show was over Tammy and her daughter waited to talk with Gina and they presented her with flowers. This impressed me so much, it was just so thoughtful.
The thing is that Russell and I had planned to be in Victoria and to attend the show. We thought we had a window where we could make it happen. Covid and cold weather conspired against us. I am beyond thrilled that on opening night Gina had fans in the crowd. We made sure to be in touch with Tammy afterwards so that she could know how much her support meant to us. Tammy relayed that she wasn’t doing a big thing, because for her it was a connection to home, and she needed that too. So Tammy, this next picture is for you. This is young Gina, on the back step at the manse in Gainsborough, taking in the summer sun from that particular corner of the world. You know all about it.
The next night Gina had a triple whammy of support. Her Aunt Janet and Uncle Ray were watching the livestream in Vancouver, we were watching the livestream with the Connelly’s, and in person in the theatre were Miles and Shelley Vass. They are friends we worship with here in Carnduff and our connections of friend, family, and ranching go way back. Shelley’s Dad Jack was the first person I told in the church community about dating Russell. I remember saying to him, “Jack, I have something to tell you, (he was a member of the Ministry & Personnell Committee) I have been spending time with Russell Bayliss, it maybe doesn’t make sense but…..” he cut me off, “it makes perfect sense to me!” I needed to hear that. Jack was among my circle of support for the rest of his years.
It was great to hear from Shelley after the show that they had loved it and were so glad they were there. She reported back “we had a hug and a chat with your star!” Oh that does a Mama good to think about her girl getting that warmth and adoration from home. Shelley sent this picture of the program.
Saturday evening, closing night, my sister Margie and her family were watching from their home just outside of Saskatoon. I know that Gina was encouraged by the simple knowledge that people are with her in this big journey she is on.
My appreciation for the support that Gina received is the reason “super-thankful” appears in the title of this blog. It really is the heart of this blog entry. I want to celebrate that the ties that connect us to each other are so life-giving. Especially in these times of increased isolation I feel like we should take note every time they show up and reveal to us the importance they really do carry. The ties that connect us are maybe the binding that allows us to keep well amid very trying or new or discouraging or big developments. They are the ties that bind. They are the ties that keep us from becoming frayed. They are sometimes not obvious until they are. I am thankful, so thankful for them.
There are other words in the blog title……..sentimental being one of them. Gina and I had a pretty big visit on the phone this weekend, I was puttering and talking, putting away Christmas decor (not the tree, Jill wants that up til April at least…..), but shelf ornaments were getting wrapped and boxed. Long ago I started keeping some of the favorite clothes of the kids’ childhood to use as protective wrap for our special Christmas things. As Gina and I reviewed the highs and lows of the show experiences I was pulling these very small and very memorable clothes from a box and getting the job done. I broke into the conversation, “oh Gina, I just pulled your striped pants out, you know I have a memory of a picture of you wearing these pants and looking in that full length mirror that was in the hallway. You were really checking yourself out, getting very aware of your own physicality. I don’t think I could have imagined this moment now back then.” It was a really poignant moment in the conversation for me. As I handled those old pants, remembering the little girl who once wore them it felt like a celebration of growth and giftedness. I couldn’t find that picture but I found this one. These are the striped pants that will protect my favorite nativity figurine all year long.
As I looked for the striped pants picture I had in mind I came across a few other noteable ones. When Gina was 2 we took her and baby Jill to see Sesame Street Live. This picture represents her first encounter with a stage. The shirt she is wearing here is one of our favorites from the olden days. It has a story that goes with it, we call it her “troubles Daddy!” shirt. Last week the cat wore it.
These favorite clothes today.
Sometimes I enjoy puzzling over how things come to be. I do that alot actually. I was struck looking at pictures today, of how at a very young age Gina was surrounded by somewhat unusual action. Here at the age of almost 4 months she finds herself in the midst of lunch on a horse chase. I wonder what went through her head as Blaine peeked at her with that big horse looming so near.
These horses were milling in the ditch beside her. What leads a country girl to have strength and fearlessness on stage? Do moments like these contribute? I don’t know but its interesting to think about.
Pictures of livestock help to transition to the last word in the title of the blog……snassy. This also is a pivot from dwelling on Gina’s experiences and turns us to Morgan for a bit of humor. Morgan loves to use the word “sassy” and he pronounces it with zest. In itself it is not a funny word really, but the way Morgan brings it into use it just has a humorous tone to it, all the time. Well on Saturday we took advantage of mild temperatures and being home and we got a big job done. With the help of Laurie and Dawson we put our heifers and late calves through the chute and gave them a treatment to prevent parasites and skin bugs. It was an all afternoon job and held both monotony and rodeo type excitement at times. At one point I looked at Morgan and noted that it seemed he was wearing his good jeans. I hassled him about this. He assured me these looked like good jeans but in fact had very inconvenient “air conditioning” (a bad and not stylish hole). Then it was his turn to hassle me, he told me I was being snippy, I said, “yeah especially because it seems I am wearing my good jeans!” “Well Mom!” Morgan said, “you are being snippy and sassy!” And there and then in the midst of that monotonous work a new word was born, “snassy” and it gave us something to smile about then and since.
Morgan at his station, bringing the calves up the alleyway to get them to the chute for their treatments.
This was a long blog. If you got this far, thank you for your endurance. I just couldn’t leave any part out. I think for me being sentimental is one of the ways I nourish the ties that exist between me and the people and things of the past. I seem to need that. Expressing gratitude is how I nurture the ties that bind in the current moment. Its a big part of my faith. When people say thank you to me I notice it, I feel it, I know it has nourishing power. I try to offer it back as much as possible. I could do better with that though. And how could I leave out snassy? If we didn’t get to celebrate humor I am not sure we could carry on around here.
Super thankful, sentimental and snassy……..thats me.
P.S. The new characters on the blog tonight gave their permission to me to use their names here.
As Far As The Eye Can See 