Mr. Jones had a funny sense of humour and you never knew if he was listening. And then the information he could give you. He drove me home, when I was living in Edmonton, from Janet's and Doug's place in Seeba Beach. We started talking about the arctic for some reason. He told me about finding rock cairns with notes inside them. They would copy the note, put it back, and send the original to the national museum in Ottawa. I have always wondered if they found one from the Franklin's crew that is languishing in the museum.
One day I asked him to tell me about the way that Hawaii had cone into creation. I didn't know it at the time that this was a major study of his. He was blind and hard to hear but he spoke with such detail about the underwater 'energy' that created the volcanic activity that forced those islands into existence. I do not do give this discussion justice.
He always had a good laugh with me, He liked to talk about the cat club Margaret, Janet, Alison and I had in the basement. Hearing the meowing.
He was always a little embarrassed when I gave him a hug,
My first dig was at the Lac Des Arc cabin, digging the pit for the septic tank. It took us so long we were digging in the dark. At the cabin we were always starving and we would beg him for this cake that came in a can, like soup. It was so delicious.
I remember walking past a long row of shelves, staked with newspapers, in the basement of their house on Crescent Road, I found one that had a front page photo of the Kon-Tikki expedition. (1947) There was also a small set of drawers with various things sorted inside them. One was labeled "Strings, too short for any use"
No one can beat this family. Second family to us. The Greene family.
