The Queen In 3D

      I picked up a couple of pairs of 3D glasses at the Post Office on Tuesday - available free to all Canadians - in preparation for a special TV program to be shown that evening on CBC TV.  What was uniquely special about this broadcast was that it would be showing, for the first time ever, 3D footage shot in 1953 of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Rare, archival footage found stored away and forgotten. Janet and I - our supper spread before us - sat ourselves down that evening to share with many thousand of others across Canada a rare prospect.
     The glasses, as you can see, are still based on the primitive throw away type of eye ware handed out to cinema goers during the early craze for 3D films They are as uncomfortable and tiring on the eyes now as they were then. Aside from that complaint the events portrayed were impressive.
     A fairy tale parade: the  Golden Coach gleaming magnificently; beautifully caparisoned horses bearing brightly liveried Palace soldiers and guards, whose colorful uniforms added that extra dash to the splendor of the day. They proudly lead the glittering procession as it swept along the route to St. Paul’s Cathedral;  flag waving throngs lining every inch of the way.
     There were also many other moments in the early life of the Queen and the royal family shown - in black and white -  before, during and after the war. Much  of it was reminiscent of others we had seen at the time and over the years. But for me and Janet the moment that stood out and thrilled was a section of the tour the Queen, and Prince Philip, had made across Canada, while she was still Princess Elizabeth. This was a few months before the death of her father and her mounting the throne. Many of the cities and towns she and Prince Philip visited during her Canadian tour were shown. Shots of  flowers being presented, public personages glowing in her presence and Anglophiles thrilled to tears. Then a sudden transition came in the quality of the old film, a section as new as though it had been shot a week ago suddenly appeared on the screen  It was a clip of the Command Performance , requested by the soon to be Queen, and given by the Winnipeg Ballet. There we were, in stunning clarity, members of the Royal (given that title a year later)Winnipeg Ballet Company, performing a section of the Arnold Spohr ballet, “Ballet Imperial!” And there, plain as could be, was me! What a surprise, and I must admit, a pleasure to see that moment live again. Janet was thrilled, for the first time she saw me in a Classical Ballet, not a musical. She picked me out, the film was that clear. It was a brief moment, but I’m so glad it was there to see. What a shot in the arm, for I had forgotten that I was really quite good. (That’s a bit shameless, but hell, why not! At my age I’m entitled!). So to round this off, I’m putting here a photo of the Royal couple taken during that Command Performance, and subsequently used on the cover of the first program given after the company was given the honor by Royal Decree,  to add the appellation "Royal" to its name. Here is a photo of myself from that program, 22 years old! A  footnote to the years gone by.

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• CBC-TV steps into 3-D with Queen documentary (cbc.ca)

A Look At The Future

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     Okay, Anita, and others who may be asking to be told what happened after we -- my wife and our four boys -- arrived in Vancouver.  Well, for me it was a homecoming, (outside of a visit for a couple of weeks earlier that same year, 1976, to  judge my chances of doing well in my career as a potter .Yup! there were some great changes made in my life). I had been away for 23 years, a long time, almost a generation, and many, many things had happened in those intervening years. But, I am going to do a brief move into the future at this point, and set out a few moments of the years between arriving home and penning this blog.
     We were met at the airport by my brother-in-law, Bun. Bun, and my dear sister, Peggy, had set up house for us in their basement, and for 3 months we lived with them, housed, and fed. Peggy also gave us an old car that had been sitting in the lane behind their house for ages, which got us around very well for almost 2 years. Afraid we were overstaying our welcome (I mean, The Man Who Came To Dinner and all that!), we moved into a house in Surrey, at the time a large unorganized area 20 miles from Vancouver, and now a very large city, and growing larger every year.    
     There were many ups and downs for all of us in our new lives, especially for the two older boys. It took them a long time to adjust to the vast differences between living and schooling in Canada and South Africa. They struggled and sometimes things went well, but at times not so. They both went back to South Africa for a spell but wisely decided to return and make a go of it. Janet got a job as a bookkeeper with Weight Watchers, and I worked on, struggling to make my pottery business a success, and my pots popular. Fortunately I did, and began to get a number of fine shops to carry my work.
     During this period I also did some work with amateur theatrics, directing and choreographing a couple productions. Then a big change. During our stay in Surrey we sponsored a young South African couple, recently married. The wife was a doctor - which stood her in good stead for a residency in Canada. They stayed with us for a short time after their arrival, but very soon  moved to a small, out-of-the-way town in the interior, where there was need for a resident doctor. After remaining for a couple of years they decided it was too remote for them, and moved over to Salt Spring Island, where she acted as locum for another doctor, finally taking over the practice.
      The above is apropos to the next 18 years of our lives. We, that's me, Janet, and the kids, decided to visit the couple after hearing so many wonderful things they had to say about the Island. We planned it for Labor Day weekend,  September 1980 . We were only planning to spend a couple of days with our friends, have a look at what the fuss was all about, and then head back to Surrey.

Image via Wikipedia - Fulford Valley

But fate stepped in. We  fell hook-line-and-sinker in love with the Island, came back to Surrey, put our house up for sale, sold it, and moved lock-stock-and-barrel onto Salt Spring, arriving the day before Halloween, October 1980! Almost two months to the day after our two day visit.
      Needless to say I am not going to go into a lengthy description of the Island -- a gorgeous place - or give a day-by-day, blow-by-blow breakdown of the those years. It is enough to say that we loved living there, even when things did not always go well. Then again, isn't that the way of life? Things happen that bring pain, and others that bring joy, but through it all we find that life is really worth living. I think that mainly it's because our natural curiosity wants to know what's waiting around the next corner.
     The younger boys went through grade school and high school on the Island. The two older ones stayed a short while, and then went back to the mainland, and to other places to fulfill their lives. Janet worked as an accountant/bookkeeper at a Senior Care Center, and I made pots.
     My studio was attached to our house. It contained my wheel, the kiln (electric, which warmed the studio beautifully in winter), and all the other paraphernalia necessary for a working, and productive, one man pottery business. I had been trained in South Africa, and as the studio there used electricity to fire the pots I decided to stay with that method in Canada.

Bisqued Pots ready for glazing

Besides I had developed successful glazes that mimicked, to an extent, colors associated with those achieved by gas or wood firings, and also, the learning curve to change to another firing method was not worth the time or the expense.