Hunker down in the dark? With the light leaving that could be the temptation. But being the tough Canucks that we are, we always find other ways to get through our temporary light lessening world. The Santa Claus parade helps. Shiny floats, laughing children, smiley faces. And now neighbourhoods are beginning to glow with the extra string of lights over the door.
The other day it was calm and I was sitting on some boulders by the shore. I happened to see a white flash amongst the huge round rocks. I sat still and sure enough the flash re-appeared a couple of times. It was a very healthy, pure white weasel with a solid black tip on its tail. If it had been summer I probably would not have noticed its brown shape amongst the grey and red granite but its white gave it away. Another creature adapts with the same cloaking device.
The trip to Windsor was a wonderful experience. Unlike that unflattering rant of Stephen Colbert’s, I say that Windsor sings a sweet song of history and romance. The city is similar to Sault Ste Marie. It’s a border town, has a strong ethnic community and a river runs by it. We were visiting for a celebration at the University of Windsor.
The Alumni Association was inducting individuals and teams into their Sports Hall of Fame. Ward’s basketball team from 1971 to 1973, which had won the Ontario championship three years in a row, was among the honourees. Our star though was his coach, Paul “Doc” Thomas. He was our host and in his senior years, is boundless with his energy. Doc still coaches basketball at a private high school, plays jazz on the piano and vibes plus he cooks up a mean breakfast. He also drove us around Windsor and showed us some amazing sights. Thanks Doc.
Among the sites was a 4000 square foot English cottage style home built in 1928 by a rum runner named Harry Low. Low called his place Devonshire Lodge and the sight of it brought the Hobbits to my mind. The architecture boasts a unique roof that looks thatched and rolls over the copper eaves trough. Low asked the architect to make the roof “look like the waves of the sea”. And it does.
Another stunning sight was a memorial close to the city’s riverfront boardwalk. There, a 2.4 m high slab of black granite honours the sacrifices made at Dieppe during World War 11. One can read the words “Essex Scottish Regiment”, “August19, 1942” and “Red Beach” carved into the stone. And a hole, at an angle, is cut right through it. But it is what the monument DOES that startled me so. At one pm, on August 19, if the sun is shining, sunlight flows through the hole and illuminates a stainless steel maple leaf embedded in concrete on the ground. One pm, on August 19, 1942 is the exact moment when a call to surrender ended the Dieppe raid. The Windsor monument was erected in 2010 and is an exact duplicate of the one placed four years earlier, in 2006, at Red Beach, Dieppe. That was the landing site where so many young men lost their lives.
A young woman from Windsor designed the memorial. Rory O’Connor was abudding art student when an idea lit up her imagination. She was putting in the long hours of a lengthy road trip. When she saw sunshine on the dashboard it occurred to her that it would be a great idea to incorporate sunshine into the story of the Dieppe raid. The sunshine idea is one that we can all use. As the November sun slants low in the sky we can rejoice in its golden glow. That shortest day is closer than you think. Each hour that passes brings us back to the light.
