Went to the service at/in Garrison Common this a.m. Blue Moon was there, and two other very familiar faces: Kevin Hebib dressed as a Canadian emma gee (machine gunner) and Ewan, who was actually wearing Oliver equipment in stead of British-issue webbing: that is, he was dressed as the quintessential Canadian recruit, complete with Ross Rifle. Afterwards, was very happy to run into Greg Watson and Kathy Sorensen Watson; bumped into yet more friends, including the site supervisor, who gave me his order of service, and Wayne Reeves -- the latter has been curating up a storm in Toronto as the First World War anniversaries hit home. I was able to share a number of stories, most notably I Was a Spy, the narrative of a Belgian nurse who won the Iron Cross from a grateful Germany for her work among their wounded. But that work, genuine though it was, was only cover for her espionage work, which she pursued with breathtaking fearlessness. At one point, she actually saw and reported on the arrival of the first gas canisters of the war -- the ones destined to be used on the Canadians -- dressed like Ewan -- at 2nd Ypres. But the high point of the day came when Kevin gave me a reproduction Sweetheart Pin. Apparently the City has hundreds of these. Anyway, because I saw some of them at the new exhibits at Fort York National Historic Site, there is already one in the new novel: it will be worn by the heroine, who goes overseas to avenge the death of one of her brothers by becoming a spy for the Allied cause. She will supply, among other things, target information for my battery of quick-firing 18-pounders. I hope Greg posts a photo he took of me talking to Kevin. I thought of local things during the 2 minutes silence, of people in my life now who look out for me, and of Blue Moon, the Police horse who has seen so much. It was a good service; the piper played Flowers of the Forest, which, for me, is the quintessence of any Remembrance day service.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:03:26 +0000
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