The Lansdowne Letters: Back into Circulation

Yikes!  
I just realized 
as I was heading to bed, 
that it is Friday!
1:36 a.m., and my post isn't finished.

My clock is all scrambled
from two days of flying.

Fortunately I was able to finish 
most of this latest northern post
in the lobby of our Waikiki hotel ~
a challenge because it is an active place!

  

Our Busy Lobby Area

Good thing my father's letter
pretty much stands on its own!


Saturday, October 15, 1960 
My father wrote:

Hello There:
Here I am at the close of another day, 
just as uninteresting and devoid of news as yesterday.
  
It seems that when you are out 
of circulation for a while, 
you just get out of touch 
with what’s going on in the place.

We got up early this morning 
and got our house cleaning done early, 
and then sat around waiting for the mail plane, 
and worrying that perhaps 
it wouldn’t make it today either.  

Our prayers were answered about one thirty, 
when we saw the plane coming in from the southwest.  
I am telling you, 
it was a most welcome sight!!!!!

canavbooks ~ license

I had a most wonderful mail this week, 
six letters and a nice box from Sara, 
three letters from Mother, one from Mac, 
and one from the Rev. Mr. Neilson, 
the Anglican Padre at Fort Hope. 

Also, I got seven Guardians, 
six Posts, two Times, one True, 
and one Argosy.  

ebay

I really appreciated 
the box from Sara.  
It contained, 
among other things, 
a lovely cake 
and some delicious fudge.

wikimedia 




I have enough reading matter 
to keep me going for quite a time.

It sure looks like freeze-up won’t be long now.  
It is getting quite chilly out.  
Will soon have to put on the long johns 
if it keeps getting colder at this rate.

Freezing Up in the Canadian North

flickr ~ license

This afternoon, Mike and Ann Flaherty 
and their baby Kathleen dropped in to see us.  
As you probably know (I think that I told you), 
Anne is an Ojibway girl.  

Her baby may be a half-breed, 
but it is one of the nicest babies 
that I have seen in a long time.  

Anne carries her in a tikinogan, 
and she looks so cute. 

 Not Anne and Kathleen ~

But it is an Ojibwa mother with her baby in a tikinogin.

wikimedia

The tikinogan is really the only practical way 
to transport a baby up here.  
Baby carriages are for the birds 
where there are no roads or sidewalks.  

Maureen and Dunc are planning to get a tikinagan 
when they have another child, if they are still in the North.

Tikinogan (left) and Moss Bag (right) 

Ojibway ~ Weagamow Lake, Northern Ontario, c. 1954 

wikimedia

We served Mike and Anne tea 
and some of Sara’s cake, 
and Anne wanted to know who the good cook was.  

Anne is the girl that I am going to be teaching 
grade five or six to when she and Mike get settled.  

It may seem queer to you people that 
a married woman would only have grade four or five, 
but believe me, Anne is one of the better 
and more ambitious of the Indians.  
A lot of the older ones only have grade one or two.  

It is so hard to get teachers to come to the North, 
that quite frequently the Indians 
only have a chance to get one or two grades.

Well, I guess that ties her up for the night.  
Will be seeing you all again tomorrow.

Bye for now,
Love, Don


I'll be more organized next week.
(I hope!)

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue