Sept. 21

12C and o/c. The rain is supposed to hold off until tonight.
Summer is gone! Where did it go? I must have fallen asleep, maybe I should change my name to Rip!
The ring necked doves are making themselves useful and cleaning up the seed the little birds chuck out; good.
As of yesterday there have been 1011 visits to this site since I started and there are already 3 more this morning.
I have to warn all of you that I have been remiss since finishing the Pearce story and haven't started anything new, so there maybe a spell with little content.

Yesterday I made contact with a childhood friend of my Pender Harbour days. It was great talking to him and hopefully one day we will have a visit.

Oh how I’ll be glad to settle down again and get the children back into a routine.

  By the time the outgoing minister had left and the move to the manse was complete they had all settled in quite well. For Jean and Mary it was almost as if they had lived their whole lives in England. For John and Margaret it was not so easy, they both missed the freedom and expanses of British Columbia. John in particular found it the most difficult and when school started in the fall he found it even more difficult to fit into an “English Schoolboy” life and routine. Thanks to his mother’s discipline and insistence that grades must be kept up he did very well scholastically although part of that could be laid to his becoming less gregarious than he had been.

  He did respond well to the opportunity to be involved in organized sports and soon excelled in rugby and cricket. He tried out for football but found he wasn’t fast enough to excel.

  Of all the children he missed the friends he had left behind the most. He knew he should write to his best friend, but had become discouraged when after several letters he had only received one reply.

  By the second year of their new life the family was well established in their community; the hard work of the Doctor and Mrs. Pearce saw the pews fill once more in the church. Doctor Pearce infrequently served as a locum for doctors in one of the hospital in Leeds.

  Eventually most of John’s discontent disappeared, his success in the two sports earned him the admiration of his school mates and his memories of friends and the roaming he once enjoyed faded until they lived only in his dreams at night and occasionally in his daytime thoughts.

  The years passed, the desire to return to China lost its edge for the two parents then near the end of the fourth year, the Bishop telephoned and requested that Doctor Pearce visit him in his office. A time was set for the second day after the call and Doctor Pearce took the day coach to London.

  He was greeted warmly by the Bishop and commended on the good work he was doing in Headlingly.

  “Now Doctor I must tell you that we finally have a missionary post available but I’m afraid it is not in China.” He paused and watched the doctor for his reaction.

  Doctor Pearce started slightly then simply said, “Go on please.”

  “The situation in China has not turned around and over the last two years we have been broadening our missionary work in Africa, we have a brand new mission complete with a small field hospital in Somalia. As you are aware the country has been under British protection since 1941 and we believe that now is the time to promote our church in the region.”

  Doctor Pearce hesitated then speaking quietly said, “You know it is our wish to serve but with no experience in the region or the people can we be an asset?”

  “Nonsense, my good man! People are the same everywhere, the China experience gave you the experience to serve anywhere. The people – well the people of course are aboriginal and your time on the Canadian frontier exposed you to the aboriginal people of the far west. Now you don’t have to give me your answer today, go home talk to your family and give me your decision in three days time.”

  As Doctor Pearce rose to leave the Bishop added, “Oh by the by, if you decide against this move, we have another opening soon in Liverpool. The church there has been plagued by many problems and with your unique success in Headlingly this would be an excellent opportunity as well. Good day Doctor.”