August 18, 2005

Trinity Fest

Category: Miscellaneous :: Permalink

After a week and a half away, Moriah and I are back home again.

We left on August 4th and drove as far as Cranbrook, BC, where we stayed at the Singing Pines Bed and Breakfast. Travelling with a baby takes a lot longer than travelling alone, we’ve discovered, and we didn’t arrive until 1:00 AM. We left again in the morning, after a delicious breakfast, so we didn’t have much of a chance to enjoy the setting. Still, the B&B was far better than a motel for about the same price.

On the 5th, we arrived in Moscow, where we stayed with our friends Gary and Pat Greenfield. Ostensibly, we were in town for Trinity Fest, but our main goal was to visit with friends and family (Moriah’s parents and brothers were up for the first part of the week) and relax and we certainly accomplished that goal.

We didn’t dance, but we were able to watch part of the ball on Saturday night before heading down to Bucer’s for the rest of the evening (something we did most nights we were in Moscow). We saw a lot of people on Sunday in church, but we didn’t see the performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt that night. Instead, we had a great meal (and wonderful beer!) with Chris and Nery Morris.

On Monday, the conference started. The focus was on the American War of Independence. We attended, I think, three of the main lectures. Steve Wilkins’ first talk was particularly interesting and I would have liked to have heard the rest of his talks, but other things kept us from attending.

The one lecture we heard by Peter Lillback, however, raised some questions in our minds, especially when he referred positively to “Americanism” and seemed to have no problem with Paul Revere’s involvement in Freemasonry. (I’m told he addressed the masonic issue in another lecture which I didn’t hear.)

On Wednesday, we attended and greatly enjoyed Josh Appel’s talk on Gerard Manley Hopkins. I’ve long loved Hopkins, and this talk reminded me that I really do have to read more poetry.

Even more enjoyable than the lectures were the other features of the festival. On Monday night, we took part in the St. Brigid’s Feast, named after the hospitable nun who wished there were a sea of beer in heaven so that she could host even larger meals. After the feast, we walked over to the park nearby to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Toby Sumpter doing an excellent job in the role of Bottom.

On Tuesday night, there was a street festival downtown. (Overheard from one little girl the next day: “I had nine snowcones and eight cotton candies!”) The concerts by Darryl Brann, Doug Wilson and his ad hoc band, and Eric Engerbretson (who invited the audience to name any year in the last five decades and then played a top-ten song from whatever year they named) were a highlight of the festival for us.

On Wednesday night, we attended the concert by Cherish the Ladies: great Celtic music by a number of very talented performers.

We had planned to head home again that Friday, but as the conference drew to a close we realized that a conference is a conference and a vacation is a vacation. They aren’t the same thing. So we decided to stay a few days longer in Moscow. Instead, of returning on Friday, we spent the weekend in Moscow, hanging out with friends and spending lots of time together, before finally leaving on Monday.

Monday night we stayed at the Delphine Lodge near Invermere, BC, originally built as a hotel in 1899 and now operated as a bed and breakfast. The floors were extremely creaky, but the hosts were friendly, the bed was comfortable, and the breakfast was great.

We drove all day Tuesday, stopping for a little while in Lake Louise (which Moriah had never seen before) and in Jasper (for supper). But coming up Highway 40 between Grand Cache and Grande Prairie, we hit some of the worst fog we’ve ever seen. We had to crawl along, trying to keep our eyes on the white line on the side of the road and hoping that there were no animals on the road ahead of us. Finally, the Lord brought us out of the fog and we arrived home sometime after midnight.

It was great to see you, Mom and Dad Phillips and Boone and Lindsay, and it was wonderful to be able to see so many good friends. We miss you already. Now we’re adjusting to being home and I’m scrambling to get ready for Sunday.

Posted by John Barach @ 7:12 pm | Discuss (0)

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