Our Gentle River

A Tiny Apple. Notice Wire That I Didn't See. Photo Could Be Worth Thousands

  We came out the other side of Fiona in fine form. We were lucky. No wind damage. No water damage. The river didn’t even climb up the side of the bank to take a peek at our place, and the power was out for less than 24 hours.
 
​Dominic and I stayed with our friends, who live in a big house up the road from us. They were hurricane ready. We slept in their basement in a separate room from theirs. Gotta say it was cozy in their industrial bedroom. Real ambiance. The door was a sheet and it took a rapid canine training course to keep Dominic in our room. He is a curious little fella and they have a cat and a dog. 

Dominic By River

Dominic was in the lap of luxury. He had three different places to rest his weary body. My bed, a cozy dog bed and a large cage. He used them all. I’d wake up and he’d be on the bed. Wake up another time and he’d be in the cage. The next time I woke up he’d nodded off on the dog bed. It was merry-go-round musical beds and it went on all night.

I’m a bit of an ostrich and didn’t want to hear the storm, so I packed my ears with tissue. The ear plugs and the fan cut out the sound of the hurricane.

​It was hard to sleep while wondering if the little trailer was going to last. As I said to a friend, “I’ve lost my wife and now I may lose my home. Life can’t get any better than that.” 

Trailer the Same Before and After Storm

I mean what does one do when life threatens to give you another good kick in the wherever? What can one do, but keep on keeping on.

Before the storm hit, I’d sat along the side of the river. At that point it looked like a cute little brook. Oh I knew its potential. It wouldn’t trick me. However, it did. It didn’t flood me out.

​The past few years, Sue and I and others had discussed many ways of protecting our place from the river. Nothing seemed cheap, and people said the work might not pan out. The Middle River has changed its course many times. 

River Now Wider

However, as I looked downstream, I noticed that the river was much wider, because the concrete bridge had been totally removed and then large armour rocks laid along the sides. 

​Also, the new bailey-bridge had no central supports holding it up. So, the river’s flow was more unimpeded. Hallelujah! I’m hoping the temporary Bailey bridge stays there for a long time. In Cape Breton, temporary can be like a Minnesota farewell.

​Last blog I talked about little happenstances and how they can be interpreted in different ways. Well, just before I vacated the trailer and headed for our friends’ house, the phone rang. It was a sales rep. She called me Mr. Larry. Kind of cute. Anyway, when I told her about the hurricane she said,  “God will be with you, Mr. Larry. I’ll pray that you will be safe.” 

Clouds Approaching Baddeck River

Well, on Saturday morning, we all crawled out of our beds around seven pm. I’m not sure which bed Dominic crawled out of. Anyway, we all went outside to see the damage. There was no destruction that we could see and it was warm and barely raining.

​We all walked down the road to the trailer looking for damage. Only one fallen tree and the trailer was in fine shape.

Now I know that many people were closely watching the movement of the hurricane on their computers and cell phones. I so much wanted to vent one of my theories that morning. I would have said, if I had chosen to say it, and I may have, that there are two main realities in our modern world. There is the virtual world and there is the real world. I tend to rely more on the real world because if I don’t then I’m afraid that I am going to be surprised more times than I can count, plus, relying on the virtual info world makes me feel like I’m living in a painting with stick people. But still, god bless the virtual world. 

Pond By Red Island Trail

You want to know what the most dangerous part of our walk was on Saturday morning? I’ll tell you. 

My friend, Jim, was walking down the road while staring at his phone. Now I can guarantee there was no present prediction coming from it.
Suddenly his wife, Jennifer, shouted, “Look out!”

​Why did she shout? Because a very large buck came crashing out of an apple orchard and was heading straight for Jim. Luckily, it veered off. A real buck going into a real forest. Nothing virtual about it. Perfectly three dimensional.

​You may know a little bit about me by this time if you’ve read some of my blogs. I do have an ability to string stories and theories out of disparate occurrences, but do you know what? You probably don’t know what, so I’ll tell you.

Jim and Jennifer

When my relationship began with Sue, two bears suddenly appeared close to her cabin and they caused quite a fuss for awhile. I remember, before we became partners, Sue and I talking about bears and how they can be a healing totem. 

On Monday morning, Dominic and I were hiking up the road when we almost bumped into a black bear. The first bear I’ve seen on this road in over ten years.

​I know, I know, I should have been carrying bells and whistles. But, how are you to see a bear if your’e belling him off before you see her? I ask you that.

Near Where We Encountered the Bear

It may sound crazy, but I kind of think that Sue may have had something to do with the bear. Really crazy, if I go out on a limb and say that Mr. Larry thinks that Sue had something to do with the river setting things right or for that matter why I have a novel out that is called, “Dead and Not Dead. Maybe there is a fourth and fifth and many more dimensions. I sure as hell don’t know.

Eagle By Baddeck River

Now, before you make up your mind about how crazy this connection might be, think back to the days when, if you had to, that you spent sitting in a government building, asking a government employee, questions. Think of their answers. Think about all the talking craniums, and then think of the bear appearing the first full day that I was at home after the hurricane. I was exhausted, and had quite recently lost a partner and had thought I might lose my home. Don’t you think that these circumstances might’ve put a bit of a crimp in the universe, at least mine? 

Beautiful Baddeck River

I was at a friend’s the day after the hurricane. I dropped some water off at her place. As of Tuesday, she still had no power. I, at one point, bent down and picked up a coin. It was a dime. I said, “I can probably keep this because I think it is from Sue. Is that okay?”

Red Island Trail

She didn’t say, “Yes, Mr. Larry,” but she did say “Yes.”

What about the man who came walking out of a bush road and began talking about Sue. He had been part of the search. He apologized for chatting to me about Sue. He then bent over and picked up a coin off the bridge. 

​“Is that a dime,” I asked. 

​It was, and he gave it to me because he knew that it was from Sue to Mr. Larry. 

Neighbour's Farm House

On Thursday, my friend Torrey, who I gave water to, bent down and picked up a dime and gave it to me. No question of who it belonged to. I have a pile of dimes lying by Sue’s little red lamp. That’s where I say good night to her, and sometimes I can feel that she is there and counting the dimes.
 
​There’s a theory that dimes are the coin of choice for the spirits because they are so light.

Hiking With Torey On Red Island Bridge

I have another theory. I think that Sue, who is and was very bright, doesn’t have to toss dimes. She simply gets others to give me a shit-load. 

​For example, a few weeks ago I was at Tim Hortons. I handed the teller a bill. She cracked a package of coins and dumped a load of dimes into my hand. Easy peasy.

Red Lamp and Dimes

Who knows. Only the Shadow knows, and he got blown away on Saturday afternoon, and who knows where the hell he is.

​I do know this. When Dominic and I take our early morning walk through the forest we are going to have a full, but silent can of bear spray. Because, Mr. Larry may be able to string a series of events and concepts together, but Mr. Larry isn’t an idiot. Go figure.

Lane To House Where We Hid From Fiona