Monday, December 26, 2016

The Way We Were

MY HUSBAND and I stood on the church steps some thirty-five years ago not thinking that the lovely historic First United Church in White Rock with its big steeple would one day be demolished. The building has more wrinkles and cracks nowadays ... my husband and I do too.

Unlike in Europe where buildings exist for hundreds of years our relatively young country of Canada has a habit of ripping up "the old" for something new, especially in BC where buildings are mostly constructed of wood.

Although not a regular church goer, I nonetheless felt sentimental about its demise slated for next year. I took pictures of it over Christmas to preserve its memory and to show how impressive it still looks now. The evolution of the church began in 1910 and is documented HERE. The property is worth millions today and I believe, at this writing, the plan is to construct a smaller church and provide senior housing on the remaining portion of the land.

Over the years, ministers and dedicated volunteers within the church walls inspired folks in need and strove to make the community better. Christmas day dinners were served in the church basement for some thirty-five years.

This year would be the last and it was high time I helped set up the tables as well as enjoy a meal there. There were buckets of vegetables being peeled in one corner of the room and cooks expecting 250 guests bustled behind the scenes in the back kitchen on Christmas eve. Once all the volunteers arrived and we got past the initial confusion of where to begin everything fell into place beautifully. Wherever something needed attention someone got to it. Amazingly, the entire large room was decorated and the tables put up and set in little over an hour.

I don't think there would be a single starving person on the planet if people pulled together the way these volunteers did. Many who came to help were strangers to one another.

They say competition and/or religion make you strong and good but I think it's basic human kindness and pure cooperation that builds a better world.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Grotesque Monsters & Glorious Worlds

THE ICE AGE saw the destruction of many monsters but it seemed as if some came back during a recent cold spell in southwest BC. A string of Icicles clung to the greenery with a firm dinosaur-like grip smothering the winter berries.

Reptilian creatures with grotesque heads devoured the fruit.

Their jagged claws with freezing sharp tips sent a chilling message.

Beware you don't get stabbed by an icy spear on your way out the gate, it said.

Ducking to get to the car in the driveway ...

I observed magical reflections within the icy formations.

Ice cages entrapped the berries and ensnared their leaves.

I could imagine ice palaces within those slithery smooth walls and strange worlds where everything glistened and warmth was feared.

The glorious architecture all the more worthy of being revered because it is normally short-lived in my rainy corner of the world.


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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms