Sidestep

This has been one hectic month, not to mention the other 10 leading up to it. And I do think this will go down as one my most challenging years yet, However we will discuss that on the next post.

Yet, some good has come along as well. The second week of November found me in  Montreal , Canada visiting the very lovely Pauline, you may know her from her work over at Obstination.

It was a great visit and yet I didn’t really get down to any of the local attractions as one might expect. I didn’t visit Montreal's great Biodome, didn’t make much of the nightlife, casinos, or jazz clubs. I didn’t catch any of the museums. However, I did make it to my favorite eatery though. A little underground niche called “Forget” Yeah, that’s what I thought as well, However, Pauline was a good sport and we were able to spend most of the entire week driving, tramping and getting lost in some of the best cemeteries I have ever come across bar none. Notre Dame Des Neiges cemetery being my favorite.

In fact that little adventure turned out to be a two-day fun festival in itself. The great thing about Norte Dame –if one can call it a blessing - is that cemetery personnel have been on strike for the last several months - (Guess they were having a harsher year than yours truly.) - and so the grounds were completely overgrown and very *cough-cough* lush. Which made for great photography.

Is it just me or do other people look up the local cemeteries of their final destination as part of their vacation plans?
That would be nice to know…

However it was not all fun and games… Being the spiritual person that I am I did venture to the top of  Saint Joseph ’s Oratory of Mount Royal Church with its basilica dome soaring 318 feet into the sky, just so that you know…

Saint Joseph ’s Oratory is one of the worlds most visited shrines. Second in height only to Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the church is large enough to accommodate up to 10,000 worshippers.

10,000 Go figure… I guess that’s why Celine doesn’t have concerts on Sunday… who would show up when they could just hang at the Basilica

Really this place rocks and has it’s own hill. Well, the only hill.

Legend has it that if pilgrims walk up the entire length of the stairs to the top they will be cured of their ailments… and I must say there is some truth to that because when we got to the top I was cured of any extra energy and vitality that I may have had stored up for the day. Coming down was no picnic either. No wonder Catholics spend so much time on their knees… they are freaking tired. Worn out.

Anyhow…

That was my trip in a nutshell. Spent November 21,22,23,and 24 with my kids and grandkids as what we have come to know as “The Valles’ Annual Dead Bird Society.” It’s something we as a family have been doing for the last ten years. Prior to that in November we were just a mess of variable scatterings. Some here. Some there. Some Lost.

So as the patriarch of this great family I decided we could use the historic onset of fall and autumn (also known as Black November) as a reminder that we as a country once took great pride in the slaughtering, pillaging and land robbing of countless, yes, countless American Natives as a touchstone for a family get together… I know it sounds a lot like Thanksgiving but we do it without all the fru-fru and lies that most of Americans sit down to in appreciation of what they have. And hope to get.

Well, it’s been a tiring week, month, year, day and my fingers are not used to this keyboard yet, so tomorrow boys and girls we will employ my venture into what has now gone down as The Procedure.

See ya then.