They 've both made it !

Conditions at 6:00 am - overcast and 7*
Expected later 8* and drizzly


After much stressing, and lots of emails and facebook postings, Brenda can now confirm that Bernie and Caitlyn are both in New Zealand. When she last spoke with them last night before we went out, they hadn't yet met up, but at least they were both in the same country. Mission accomplished. And, Brenda quite skillfully proved that men can run, but they can't hide - we'll track them down wherever they are. She was calling all around trying to find Bernie to give him Caitlyn's flight information and wasn't having much luck. Finally she spoke with an office administrator who said that Bernie's cousin wasn't in the office, but was out with someone. Brenda described Bernie - big and tall with a beard, someone who won't be hard to miss, and the woman said, wait a minute, I think that might be who he's with. So she put the phone on hold, and headed outside and a few minutes later came back with Bernie. Bet he never expected the phone call coming in would be for him!  But by now, all should be good. Now they're on their own, and hopefully she can get on with things here.
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Well, the dance in Lorne Valley last night was quite the experience. I think you'd be hard pressed to find something like it anywhere. The Community Centre was once a one room school house. In fact, Donna went to that very school when she was younger. It sat empty for quite some time and was in danger of falling down and someone in the community took it upon themselves to rally people around and do something about it. It's quite small, but a very nice and usable space. Donna told me many people use it to host wedding and baby showers, family gatherings, etc. During the spring, summer and fall,  they hold the square dances there every Wednesday night.I'd been to square dances when I was much younger in Ontario, but there was always a caller, who talked you through the steps, but this is different. I learned this is called a square set.  The music is provided by a couple of Chaisson's, a family famous for their old time fiddling.  One fellow was on fiddle and one on keyboard. The crowd was small last night but very enthusiastic. A lot of older people were there and also many our age. It's a very traditional type of square dance with very specific movements that don't change. You go through the whole progression from start to finish and then later on the whole thing is done again. I think even Lloyd could do this one, once he'd done it a few times. It was really a lot of fun, but I found I got dizzy from all the swinging around. I hope that improves over time. By the time I sat down I felt a little nauseous. Then I had lunch and the thought of swinging around really didn't appeal to my stomach at all. Maybe I need to take some gravol next time in advance!  Brenda says she hasn't done it for many years but she was a natural. Right from the minute she got up there she  looked like she's been doing it for years. Donna arrived shortly after we did and the three of us had a great time. Someone passed a guest book to us to sign and then later they introduced the guests. When I was dancing one lady asked where we were from and I said Fort Auigustus. She was surprised because they thought we were tourists. I guess that's why they gave us the guestbook to sign. They are all finished now for the season, although they did decide last night to have one more dance on the 22nd of December but neither of us are able to go that night. They will start up again in the spring. We will definitely be going back, it was such fun.
As I sat there and watched this group of strangers going through the steps of this old fashioned dance, I felt like I had taken a step back in time, to a kinder, gentler era.  I felt fortunate to be part of it and wished that my grandchildren could have been there to witness a piece of rural Canadian history that they'd never get in school.
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It was really nice to see Donna again, and we plan to get together next Tuesday night. We  invited Brenda to join us but she has a meeting that night and can't make it. Hopefully next time. The three of us had a lot of fun.
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 This morning  when I opened up the blog,I noticed that there has been a visitor log in from Christ Church, New Zealand. A coincidence? I think not! If that was you Bernie, don't forget my bell! Ha Ha