Head down, knuckles dragging

We said good bye to a really good person, friend, dad, husband and neighbour a few months back.

Fred was the first of the cottage neighbours to welcome me with a beer.  Every cottage season for as long as I've been going to the Kranjec's cottage.

Fred was German and had that famous German work ethic and yet had a soft side that balanced his head down, knuckles dragging mentality.


There was a tree planting memorial about a month after his funeral and it was celebration of his life and his love for his family and the simple life at the cottage.

So I think this is a red maple tree.  But I'm no tree expert.
The kids painted rocks to put around the tree.  And Terry even spread a portion of Fred's ashes at the root of the tree.

Some said a few words.


And in between Kieran played his violin while friends and family gathered their thoughts and emotions.

And people appreciated the musical intermissions.


I don't always enjoy the long drive up to the cottage.  It's 250km one way.  But once I'm there, life seems to slow down.  I see the draw.  It's closeness of the neighbours.  A throwback to how life used to be before the internet, before the dependency on technology.





Who needs Twitter and video games when you can have evening gatherings around a fire, talking (about something you could have tweeted) and drinking beer and making s'mores.  Having fun in the water.







I'm sure where ever Fred is, he has a cold beer ready for someone.