A New Era?

An hour or so ago, while Nancy and I were walking home from the pool, I told her that I wasn't even sure what we did last week. And then it hit me...I spent a lot of time thinking and watching the Queen. While I was watching from the comfort of my home, 

Matt and Tom were in London, deciding whether or not they should join the queue. Actually, I came across the live stream almost by accident, surprised at how mesmerizing it was after watching for longer than I could have imagined. What, pray tell, was it that drew me in so deeply? Matt sent this post along yesterday from the Dean of Southwark, where he attends church, who does a much better job putting what I was feeling into words. 

Was it the silence, aside from the tap, tap, tap signaling the changing of the guards? Having heard that term for most of my life, this was an event that surely brought it to life. The diverse crowd? The beauty of the space? 

Meanwhile both Matt and Tom were sending photographs including this one from when they went to hear Charles proclaimed King.

Then there were photographs of the flowers in Green Park.

The sheer volume of so many flowers in one place was unbelievable. Someone even left a jar of marmalade.

Many of you have already seen this sweet video but it bears another watch, no pun intended! 

I could think of no segue so forgive me as we move on...

We did leave for pickleball at the right time, meaning before sunrise, and by golly, where were the crows?

It's hard to say, but what I can tell you is that last evening, following an early dinner and a full weekend watching sports, I asked Bruce to go for a walk with me to return something to Patti's place. The truth is that it has been very rare, for at least this past week, for it to not be raining in the evening. And dreary, lots of dreary afternoons and evenings. But, on Sunday it was actually pretty nice for a change. Not too hot either, giving us hope for the future. Looking East, the setting sun was reflecting in the cloud banks.

Turning towards home, first we heard them, followed by seeing dozens of crows flying out of the pine trees.

Just the beginning, or so I witnessed, as a huge mass of them flew eastward. (enlarge for full effect)

Now I am hoping to witness it again tonight as it seems as if we might be in for a dry evening. Seriously, there was one afternoon when the sun was shining and it felt weird, like, where did that come from?

Friday morning my phone rang in the bedroom at 7:30 in the morning. On Fridays we give our bodies a little break, so we were taking our time with the paper and having breakfast. The minute I answered Matt's call, I asked, "are you in the queue?" because I could hear chattering around him. Holy Cow!!! Indeed, he'd been in the queue for hours and hours and hours by the time he called, having arrived at 3:40 in the morning when he took this, a familiar sight to most, except this time lit up for the Queen.

Off topic and while on the subject of purple, Bruce bought Mary a purple chair to go with all things purple she owns.

Back to Matt's story, it was long and in the end worth it as he passed the coffin almost to the minute, 12 hours later.

He is on the left on the outside line near the back with a blue shirt and dark jacket on. I don't expect you to find him, and neither did I, but Bruce spotted him live. I took the above from my computer after he told me where to look. While tired from standing and shuffling, he said the experience was, as you can imagine, well worth the effort in the end. Good thing he went when he did because the queue kept getting longer throughout the weekend, growing to ten miles long at one point in time. 

How many do you think returned for the actual funeral procession? Judging by the crowds lining the streets, maybe some of them? Matt and Tom elected to watch on television and for those of us who did, what an absolute treat, magnificent in every way. We woke up at 5:30 this morning in order to watch and while Bruce went to his appointment at 7, I remained glued to the television screen, watching it on the BBC. While I know the planning has been going on for ages, the execution was impeccable which is no easy feat. That said, they made it look easy. How in the world they filmed it is also beyond me, but thank God they did. I absolutely loved the overhead shots in Westminster Abbey, a place Bruce and I have been fortunate enough to have visited many years ago.

Actually I cannot think of a single thing I didn't swoon over! When the procession began to Windsor, we popped up to the courts here and played for a while, returning in time to see this magnificent sight.

The photos taken of the television screen are not up to my standards but, by golly, I want to be able to look back one day and be reminded of this beauty. Those flowers...unbelievable! The crowds, even more so.

And so the new reign begins. and in today's world, it is anyone's guess how long it will last. :(

Two other things from the past week are worth mentioning, one of which is our brother Pat has been hospitalized at, what I call, the big house. Advent Health on Mills to be more precise. It is nothing short of remarkable how they have transformed their reputation over the years. New buildings after new buildings are a testament to their success.

According to the sign, they are #1, by what measure is unclear.

I'll tell you one place they shine and that is the parking garage where they have these cool lights to signal filled spaces.

Very impressive to me. In four days time he will be having surgery to correct a heart valve problem and hopefully come out as good as new.

Secondly, we spent time after the church service filling individual bags of food. I was on the end, dishing out a cup of lentils, while Bruce was holding bags under the funnel for all of the ingredients.

There were four lines of ten people and together we accomplished this.

So I really did accomplish something worthwhile this past week even though I spent hours upon hours watching all things related to the passing of Queen Elizabeth ll. It does seem pretty crazy when I type it, but, what can I say, it was very hard to look away. 

your friend,

Gail

p.s. I messaged my dear friend Jackie in Vancouver and she too was spending hours watching. I learned that she was in 12th grade when she watched the coronation!! 

p.p.s. It just dawned on me how many times I visited Queen Elizabeth park in Vancouver. Here is a post from one such visit.