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Dear Friends;
Since our arrival in Saskatoon on 8 August, our feet have hardly touched the ground! There are always more things to do, although most of the more urgent things have been done. We like our house and feel very much at home in it.
It has been good to be able to be with family over the past few months. My mother had knee surgery on 2nd September, after which she stayed with us for two weeks before returning to her home in Carrot River. She has done very well and amazed the surgeon with her recovery. She now has no pain in her knees at all. My youngest nephew was married a few weeks ago, which pleased me very much as he is the only one of my three nephews whose wedding I have been able to attend.
As for church, I have been happy to attend services in a number of Saskatoon United Churches, and on some Sundays, not to attend church at all! I am in a complicated process of being readmitted to ministry in the United Church of Canada, so until that happens my weekends are free. I will be glad, though, when this is all settled and I can resume my work, which I miss very much.
A week after we landed here, summer arrived (uncharacteristically late) and stayed until well into September, (uncharacteristically late) when it turned cold and then snowed. Things were not looking good! However, the snow has long since disappeared and we have had several weeks of lovely sunny days with temperatures no colder that 10 below C at night, but many days as warm as 10 or 15 above C. We have winterised the car and ourselves, the car with winter tyres and Peter and me with warm coats and boots. We have enjoyed watching the huge flocks of Canada Geese on their migration south to Texas, strung out in v’s across the prairie skies. There is a lot of sky here!
It has been interesting, moving back to Saskatchewan after 28 years. Things have changed a great deal here. Saskatoon is no longer the sleepy prairie city of my memory. The recession has so far not affected Saskatchewan very much and many new homes are being built. On the down side, traffic has increased greatly in Saskatoon over the past years, and sometimes we wonder why we ever complained of traffic in Epsom.
I apologize for not writing to you sooner. The days and weeks have slipped by so quickly, all the while you have been doing some hard work regarding the future of your congregations. I know that it must have been a busy time for you with lots of meetings and decisions to make, but you are in good hands, with Peter Flint. I wish you well in this process.
I have a new email address pat.hall@sasktel.net You can still reach me on my bt internet address for a few more months. Our mailing address is:
255 Konihowski Road,
Saskatoon SK
Canada S7S 1A9,
and our phone number is 001-306-649 2242. Do let us know if you are planning a trip this way. We’d love to see you!
You might have wondered about the origin of the name of the road on which we live. It was named after Diane Jones Konihowski, an Olympic contender in the pentathlon, and her husband John Konihowski, a Canadian Football League receiver and all-round athlete.
Peter and I both wish you well, and may we all have the courage to live and act in ways that honour the whole of creation. God be with you.
Pat
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