Posted on January 13, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Another tequila sunrise

I know that some of you aren’t Facebook people and probably did not see this picture that I posted a few days ago. If you can get out of bed early enough, there are some spectacular sights including some amazing sunrises.

I received a lovely call on the weekend from Fran in Guysborough. She was calling to chat about the story “Mass Appeal” that appeared on my website and in The Casket  last week. It brought back a lot of memories for her growing up in a family of sixteen. She, too, was raised Catholic and went through some of the same pre-mass rituals including polishing 16 pairs of shoes. Some of you will remember the “It” white shoe polish. If you do, I know how old you are! She sounds like a natural born story teller and we chatted for quite some time. Near the end of the conversation she told me a story about her experience trying chewing tobacco. I had one of my own. Notice that I said one. If you have ever swallowed chewing tobacco juice, you will readily understand why I only tried it once. When I got off the phone, I rushed to my computer and whipped up 1000 words on this subject. The story is called ” The Spitting Image” and I will be posting it soon.

I mentioned to Fran about the Senior’s Café coming up February 5th. at the People’s Place library. It is the “Phil and Len Show” reincarnated. If you’re not working and want to come in for some story telling and treats, please come by the library at 2:00 on the 5th.

Tomorrow, I will be posting the story “A Splash of Inspiration.” I do some of my best thinking in the shower. How about you? When or where do you get flashes of inspiration?

And if you happened to miss it, just go to my website and go to the search box and enter “Laundry Quandry.” This story easily received the most comments of any story I’ve posted in months.

I still am brooding ( not really – I don’t do brooding very well! ) about the ticket I got for cell phone use while driving. I read and re-read the Motor Vehicle Act and the definition of “usage” is very vague. To reiterate, I was not texting, e-mailing or talking on my cell phone. I glanced at the screen to check a message. That qualifies as “usage.” With my tail between my legs, I dutifully went over to the Provincial Court building and paid my $169. fine. And speaking of tails, I used the opportunity to exorcise this event by writing a story about this event. It is called “Driven to Distraction” and I will be posting this soon as well. A dog plays the leading role.

On a more sombre note, I attended the funeral for Melissa Landry on the weekend. More than 1000 people were in attendance and it was a beautiful, moving ceremony. I had the privilege of singing for the funeral with the Cathedral choir. Rest in peace, Melissa.

Have a great week and count your many blessings.

Posted on January 11, 2014 under Storytelling with no comments yet

As far as males go, I am a reasonably domesticated animal.  I do my share of the grocery shopping and cooking.  I know what a vacuum is used for and I take out the garbage and recycling dutifully every Monday morning.  I even do laundry and iron my own shirts.

Recently my wife ventured off to Montreal to visit one of our granddaughters.  I was “home alone.”  In the lead up to Christmas, there was quite a bit of commotion around the house so, during this period of calm, I decided to tackle the beds … all seven of them.  They are an assortment of singles, doubles and queens.  Prior to marriage, the only thing I knew about singles and doubles was that they were a unit of measurement for alcohol.

When it comes to doing the beds, I have developed a fool proof system.  I do one bed at a time plus the pillow cases and then throw in a few other towels, underwear and socks to balance the load.  I learned from experience (bad experience) that trying to do several beds at once is not advisable.  Trying to match up sheets and pillow cases to the correct bed is simply a non-starter.

Everything was going along smoothly until I made a fatal error.  I texted my wife.

“I am changing the beds upstairs.”  Her reply:  “There is a set of fuzzy sheets for the double beds.  One of the double beds is already changed so you only have to do one”.   Simple enough.  Hard on the heels of the first message and before I could hit the reply button, came the following:  “There are two sets of white fuzzy sheets for the little beds.”

“I stripped the bed in the baby’s room and one bed where DJ was sleeping.  One of those has blue fuzzy sheets.”

“In the room with two little beds is another set of blue fuzzy sheets”… (confusion is now setting in). “Those fit the bed where DJ was sleeping.  Put them on it.”

“Gotcha.  And the other blue fuzzy set in the wash go back on the bed in the baby’s room, right?”

“You will have to wash the blue sheets from the baby’s room.  They fit our bed.  Then wash the yellow sheets from our bed and put them on the bed in the baby’s room.  Or if our sheets are Ok just wash and replace the blue fuzzy sheets on the bed in the baby’s room.”

Have you ever seen or heard the comedy skit “Who’s on First” by Abbott and Costello?  Go and listen to it immediately and then compare it to the passage you’ve just read.

I now have a much better understanding of the phrase “three sheets to the wind”.  It probably started after a man had his first lesson in changing beds and he threw the whole lot out the window.

Time to put this story to bed.

Posted on January 9, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

Yeah. I know. I’ve posted this picture before and by the end of the year you’ll see it a few more times. Every day so far this year, I have found at least one thing to be grateful about.  And every day, I have made note of this and deposited a small piece of paper with the date and the reason to be grateful. For example, here is what I wrote yesterday: ” During this bitterly cold, snowy winter with massive power outages across the country, I am grateful to have a warm home.” Hopefully I’m not sounding too preachy but if more people stayed in tune with gratefulness, I think they would be much happier.

As you know, one of my goals at the beginning of this year was to be able to find a way to acquire the resources to provide a hot meal for those who need it , every week of the year. I am doing my homework and have been in touch with the good folks at St. James United Church who already provide this service. No point in re-inventing the wheel. I will be meeting with some of them soon but the goal is to do a second day of the week at the church. What they need more than anything is teams of volunteers to take responsibility for the meal ( the cooking and serving – not the financial part ). Currently they have six “teams” who do the Tuesday meal on a rotational basis so someone volunteering needs to only commit every sixth week. I may be casting my net out  for help. I know most of you work, but there are lots who are retired too. Without making a formal commitment, how many of you are interested?  Show of hands? Just as I thought. We’ll get this done.

BIG response to the story about mass. ( “Mass Appeal” ) Sorry to you youngsters who couldn’t possibly understand some of the nuances of this story. Some time when you’re at loose ends, go and Google Second Vatican Council. It was a very big deal back in the early ’60’s. A lot of old timers to this day lament the day that the Catholic Church abandoned Latin for English.

I have lots of stories on the go. Will keep you posted.

If you missed the Len and Phil show last fall and if you’re not working ( rhymes with twerking! ) on Feb. 5th. at 2:00 p.m., drop down to People’s Place library. We’re going to do an hour long mini show. That does not mean we will be wearing mini skirts. While it’s called the “Senior’s Café” I am quite certain that all are welcome.

Have a great weekend.