In my short life, I have had the great fortune of having a strange, eclectic and loving group of great friends. C. Zacharias (thats Mr. pigeon, to you) has been someone whom I have shared a common drive with, in ways of appreciation, admiration and honesty.
Above is a picture of him and his grandfather "Papa" in Swift Current, at his papa's home, taken on our trip in 2013. in the two trips that we embarked upon across the provinces, we had stopped in and spent at least a night at Papa's house each time. We would do some yard work; picking apples, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, and after washing up inside, before dinner, we would have a drink with him. He was whiskey and water, and we would follow suit, maybe we would have dinner at his place, soup and rolls if i recall, or out for chinese, some wine, and maybe another whiskey after dinner.
His house was always immaculate, a living room postured as it had been for the decades, kitchen tidy, rooms clean and beds ready for sleep. I believe it was on this trip, when we had been hitch hiking, that he had driven us out the the smitty's on highway 1, in the morning, and made sure that we had a proper breakfast before hitting the road. It was a great honour to have spent that time with someone of an earlier generation, whose existence, had made at least one of our lives possible at all.
In the last couple years, since i had met him, Papa had moved into an easier living situation, where he fell in love and was married for the second time in his life, at about 85. Now, sadly, Papa has moved on from this life, though not entirely and I am grateful to have had the chance to get to know him, that very small amount that i did.
thank you, to the pigeon, to kerry, to kristen, to Ann, and Des, and to Carl "papa" Hladnik. rest well, Sir.