2014. Done and gone.
It was a great year for my wife and I. Much has been accomplished and many surprises are still leaving their aftertaste in our mouths.
January was bloody cold. The bird hunting (for sharp tail grouse) was off the chain and Dad even got his first Ptarmigan (a mostly arctic grouse). Jenny was sick. Real sick.
February, Jenny's Grandfather passed away, O'll Roy Gillott. A great man he was. Carpenter, truck driver, auto mechanic, furniture maker, drummer, fine wood worker and a very respected and intelligent man. The whole family misses him. Our sewer line froze for the 2nd time since Christmas so after a quick snake we were back to draining water. Cross country skiing was a great way to ease the stress of such a crappy situation, and something we did much of all month even though Jenny was sick. Real sick again.
This whole pregnancy thing was a real eye opener for me I'll tell you. My poor wife wasn't overly happy at all. Terrible heartburn, aches and pains, lack of sleep, swelling extremities and a baby rolling around in her all the time, topped off with barfing on a near daily basis made the long cold winter a little tougher on her. I tried my best to pull some extra weight around the house although, I'm not sure I made a difference. Poor woman. June couldn't some soon enough.
March and April passed by quickly. I wrote my Recreational Pilots Exam (and crushed it), spent a few weekends on the snow machine touring around the swamp getting a little bit of hunting and exploring. My last day out on the skidoo was April 10th.
Spring ice-out on the Moose River happened May 8th, which is around normal. This year, however, the town wasn't at any risk of flooding. Too many times we've seen the big Moose River come nearly flush with the road. It's a spectacular sight to see, a great big river, miles wide beginning to break apart and throw pieces of ice some the size of houses around like it's sawdust in the air.
Summer was amazing. Eleanor Miller was born on June 23rd, Jenny's mom and girlfriend were here to help out and life became so much more real. She's now 6 months old and it feels like yesterday we were bringing her home in the boat. She's taught us a new level of love which I'm sure every parent knows. Jenny is back to herself these days, beautiful, super happy that she's not sick and elated to be home on Maternity Leave with her new daughter. I'm proud of my wife. She's a very strong woman.
A few weeks after Eleanor was born I snuck in an epic 10 day canoe trip from Cochrane to James Bay on the Kattawagami River. Water levels were perfect for incredible whitewater. Then we took off out of Moosonee for the last 6 weeks of summer to visit family and relax in on the Ottawa River. We left Eleanor for one night and even got a short canoe trip on the Mattawa River in with some family.
Once back in Moosonee we were excited to get in to a routine as brand new parents, although, there was some apprehension because this was the first time with just us, and no help from our parents. But Jenny's a natural mother. She settled in like she was born with the full skill set of an experience mother, while I fumbled behind in her wake still trying to figure out how to hold her properly.
The rest of the year was mostly watching Eleanor grow big and juicy, smiling from ear to ear and even sleeping through the night about 55% of the time!
It's been the best year of my life, and I've got my wonderful wife to thank for that.
B
