...day by day and days gone by!

THE PEACE OF THE ROCK!

Philip was born and raised a 'city boy'. St. Catharines, Ontario...population 150,000. Hamilton, Ontario...population 500,000. His only contact with rural life was when we went to Niagara-on-the-Lake to visit the family farm...population 2...Oma and Opa (my mom and dad). Newfoundland introduced him to an entirely new frontier.

He found it exciting, invigorating, fascinating!

Diane, of course, found it fabulous! And why wouldn't she...she was born there!

The Rock was in her blood...

...and where else in Canada can you sun tan on December 10th?

I, on the other hand, was captivated, enthralled, hypnotized, by the island's rugged, rocky shoreline...

...the blissful, blue Atlantic!

Did I say blissful? I meant the ocean's mighty majesty!

And we certainly loved the wonderful people who lived there!

No sooner had we arrived and we were officially 'screetched in' at a festive Newfie family gathering! Philip's up against the wall at the back of the room, enjoying the foolishness...but as far away as he could get. He wasn't having any part of it! ("...and they think I'm nuts!", he said).

In the winters we shoveled...

...in the summers we fished...

...and on weekends we 'sang up a storm'!

Following are some pictures that will give you a view of Newfoundland through Philip's eyes...and why we're convinced the 2 years we lived there were incredibly healthy for him. Amidst the ragged terrain and the oft-raging sea, there was a peace and a calm that put everything into perspective and assured us, and Philip, that, just like the famous James Stewart movie shown every year during the Christmas season, "It's a Wonderful Life'!

Sit back and enjoy!

When we first arrived in Newfoundland we told him this was the house his mother had been born in...he wasn't impressed!

So we showed him the real house...in Corner Brook...he loved it!

He also loved the house we lived in for 2 years in Ochre Pit Cove.

And why wouldn't he...the view was magnificent...so peaceful and tranquil!

Well not always! This was taken just one day earlier...different angle...same wharf.

Newfoundlanders are not concerned with house numbers...

...we live on Murphy's Lane...the 'yellow house'...

...or is it the 'red' one?

No...pretty sure it's the 'yellow' one!

Where else can you play catch 2 days before Christmas...

...and be completely snowed in a month later?

Here's Poppa picking blue berries...not a care in the world...

...here's Philip..."would somebody care to help?"

Resting after a hard day filling half a bucket!

Never a shortage of food. Here's a traditional 'Jigg's Dinner' in the making.

And here it is in the taking! Philip couldn't get enough of it ('course Philip can never get enough of anything edible!).

No shortage of beautiful churches in Newfoundland

...we attend the 'green' one!

Two in this picturesque hillside community.

Some things Philip would never see in the city...

...like his sister fishing at sunset on beautiful Western Bay Pond!

...or a horse-drawn cart passing by the house!

...or a local fisherman offering him a good size cod!

...and he sure wouldn't see this in the city...but he saw it every morning from his bedroom window!

Philip watched over my shoulder last night as I perused the picture files of Newfoundland. He did so with a gleam in his eyes, and a smile on his face. He recalled them all...misses the friends he left behind...and asked if we were going back? I told him if he stopped counting his movies at 6 in the morning and stopped sharpening the same pencils every 20 minutes...we'd consider it (just kidding!). I assured him we were...if not to live...certainly for a nice, long visit. He was okay with that!

He then turned and left, stopping just before entering his room. He reminded me that Johnny was coming in 19 days...that the Leafs and the Black Hawks had won...and that wrestling was on tomorrow evening - we needed to go to the store for his treat! He then told me he loved me and closed his door.

He's at home...and at peace...wherever he lives.

It is indeed, 'a wonderful life'!