Remembrance Day

Having been born in 1963 I have no personal experiences with any of the World Wars, however having been born in England both wars affect me emotionally.

My mum was born in Liverpool, England just mere weeks after WWII was declared.My grandparents had 4 other children when my mum was born. When the Nazi's started bombing Liverpool to destroy her docks, my Nain shipped her elder children off to the safety of relatives living in North Wales. My mum being an infant was kept at home. For the first 5 years of my mums life she had little to no contact with her siblings.

Those first 5 years of her life consisted of a mulitude of nights spent in the backyard bomb shelter. My grandparents watched, over the course of the war, the homes of their neighbours being obliterated by Hitler's bombs. My mum lost in those bombings, some of the first friends she had made in her young life. The concept of death and mourning and such intense fear at such a young age in such a horrific way is just incomprehensible to me. I don't know how kids of that era survived emotionally as they did physically.

My grandparents and my mum were some of the fortunate ones on the street. Their home was never hit, while others just across the street or a few homes down were destroyed and their neighbours killed. They survived thankfully, and I am here today because of that.

I cannot even fathom for a moment what it must have been like to experience life at that time. The scream of the air raid siren tearing you from what must have been fitful sleeping anyway, having to run with nothing more than what you were wearing into the cold, dead of night air, to take cramped refuge in the bomb shelter.

The rations of food staples, the unknowing of what each day would bring. Would your home be hit, would you be caught in town running necessary errands with nowhere to take refuge from the destruction that the german planes would leave in their wake.

My Grandfather was considered "essential home service" and was not sent off to war, but was part of the Home Front Guards and would routinely patrol the city of Liverpool. I very proudly wear one of two medallions he was awarded for this service on a necklace.
My grandfather and many like him had the duty of patrolling the city searching for the Nazi army that may have infiltrated and was invading not just your beloved country but your homes too.

While I'm sure they tried to live as normal a life as possible, and on some days I'm certain it was easy to forget there was a war raging, as the skies would be filled with nothing more sinister than clouds and ladies gathered for a spot of tea or met in the parks for the children to run off some pent up energy, in the backs of their minds was the constant nagging fear of the unimaginable.

My last trip to London was an emotional one. Being a huge history buff, I thoroughly enjoyed walking along the Thames admiring the beautiful cast iron Lions. On closer look though, I saw how pockmarked they were. Dents, dings, holes throughout and wondered why they were in such rough shape, why they wouldn't have been repaired or replaced.

Of course it never occured to me at the time to wonder as to the cause of this damage.
It was later in conversation with my Aunt that I found out why these majestic statues had never been replaced. They have proudly stood in London since before the war. The damage was sustained from the innumerable bombs dropped on London and it was felt that they should remain where they are, as they are, as an everyday reminder of our history, of our spirit, of our pride. I wholeheartedly agree.

To walk throughout London and Liverpool you can still see evidence of the war, the damage that was sustained. It truly does stand as a proud reminder of how we overcame the enemy, how strong we are as a nation, how proud we are of our British heritage.

Today, Remembrance Day, we pause to remember and pay tribute to those brave soldiers from around the world who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live in freedom and enjoy life to it's fullest.

In my opinion, those brave soldiers should be remembered and thanked every single day of our humble lives and we should never, ever forget how fortunate we are today, because of what they did for all of us in years past.

Thank a soldier!

Lest we forget.

Glorious weekend weather

What an absolutely glorious November weekend this was on all fronts.

Yesterday we spent the day hiking and checking out some new waterfalls practically on our doorstep but falls we never knew existed. It was fabulous, both were beautiful spots.

But one, Eugenia Falls was terrifying to me. I am deathly afraid of heights and this waterfall plunges 30+ metres. At this time of year the water is little more than a dribble and the rocks at the base are boulders and very, very visible along with hundreds of trees that have lost their footing on the cliffs and plunged into the abyss!

While there is a wall surrounding the immediate entrance to the falls, if you walk the trail, it ends, from there is a wire fence which also ends...at that point it's a thin "fence" of pine and cedar trees that divide you and the trail from the sheer drop off to the abyss below!

Needless to say we were hesitant to venture further than from where the wire fence ends. The trail was leaf covered and slippery according to a seasoned hiker who recommended another trail for us and the kids to try higher up and relatively safer.

The hubby in true male form decided he could get better pictures from the other side of the wall and as some others before us did, he crawled over it and stood, be still my racing heart, on the edge of the cliff to take some shots. He did get some good ones I must admit, but I know I've also gained a few more gray hairs. At one point I had to walk away as I was so nervous my legs were shaking and I did not want to witness him going over if he slipped. We plan to return in the Spring when the dam is opened up and the trickle becomes a full fledged waterfall. Apparently it's something wonderous to behold.

We left Eugenia and taking the scenic route wound our way to Blue Mountain. We spent some time walking around the village, enjoying the firepit and then went into one of the restaurants for a much needed dinner. Of course before we called it a night the kids had to have their Beavertails, can't leave Blue Mountain without a Beavertail, and then it was a leisurely drive home.

It was a great, fun-filled, warm, sunny, healthy day! If this could be what our winters were like ... I'd be the happiest person on earth.