BC SPCA

Very cute dog.

BC SPCA, ever heard of it? Also known as Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and where we are, Britsh Columbia, is for the BC. So anyway, my sister loves dogs. When we were still in Mexico, La Paz, she did a fundraiser and raised more than $100 for a small animal shelter in a almost uninhabited desert in Mexico. The place was called Baja Dogs, or Dogs of La Paz.

Now in Canada, she wants to do one for the SPCA. The original plan was for it to be a bake sale, but then we had other ideas. Frances found a magazine about the SPCA and it showed other kids that had raised money for the SPCA. In it, some other kids had painted rocks and sold them, and Frances thought that was a good idea and so the next time we went to the park, she brought a plastic back and collected rocks along the way. Finally, she brought home 21 rocks and we painted them.

I painted a ladybug, a rock that said, "Dogs Rock" on it, a rock that I painted green (and was supposed to be a frog, but after I was done painting it green and was starting to paint the outline of its legs and face, I learned the hard way that I was really bad at painting frogs, so I wiped the black away with a paper towel and turned it into a leaf with a caterpillar on it), a bee, a pink rock with a heart on it, a ray, and I still have two rocks to paint. Frances painted a dog, another dog, a smiley face, a pink rock, a rock that says, "Love" on it, a rock that says, "Happy" on it, a butterfly, and a spotted rock. And my mom painted a walrus.

Frances also make little yarn chains to sell. This morning, we went to a restaurant that hadn't opened yet, but was doing a practice day and all the money went to the SPCA.

We visited the SPCA just to see the animals and know where our money was going.

--ER

Stuff that Franny and I made.

 

World Travel

Del Viento about to sail under
Golden Gate Bridge

You know some of those ideas that just pop out of the middle of nowhere, and you don't know where they come from? That's how it was with this poem for me. It came up to me, shook my hand, and then I started writing.

World Travel

I fly away
I come back home
I meet you there
I meet alone

I learn new things
I read, I play
I take pictures
To hold the day

Time goes by
The seasons flee
And once again
I am free

I run there
I live there
And then I go

--ER

Frances protecting baby harbor seals near Half Moon Bay, California

My parents walking along the railway in Astoria

Christmas Aboard

British Columbia's parliament
building, right next to our boat.

Four stockings hanging on a bungy cord, tied on one end to the mast and the other tied to a light sticking out of the wall. Well, it's not your usual "the stockings were hung by the chimney with care." This would be my second Christmas aboard, and still no snow. Our first Christmas (here on the boat) was in Mexico (where it seemed like the middle of summer) and our second was here in Canada and just rain.

Do we have a Christmas tree? Yes. It is just about two feet tall and this year we bought little tiny lights for it. Our family is tradition is...well, I don't know what. When we lived in the house, we used to open some of our presents under the tree (which then reached up to the ceiling, which was pretty high up there since we lived in a house) and save some for the morning. And then other times we would just open all of the presents on Christmas Eve, then figure the presents from Santa would be enough till the next year. I forget what we did last year and this time we were supposed to open some of the presents on Christmas Eve. After dinner, we started opening presents until we realized we had just opened the last one.

And as far as traveling for Christmas goes (and if you don't count living on a boat traveling all over the world all the time), I've only gone somewhere for Christmas once, to my great grandma's house. So I guess I want to talk more about this Christmas, but there really isn't much to talk about.

--ER

My sister being silly on the baby swing.

Even the trash cans in Victoria are fancy.