Posted on September 5, 2015 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Zen and the art of coloring… for grown ups

 

 

Where would you least like to be on the hottest and most humid day of the summer? How about in car dealership loaner car with the air conditioner not working 100%? Oh, and you are on your way to one of the busiest shopping malls in the province and there is road construction between you and your destination. And all for a colouring book.

A family vacationing in Nova Scotia decided to get their regular vehicle service and maintenance done in Halifax. They weren’t terribly keen on using a valuable vacation day away from their seaside cottage. However, with their return trip to Ontario fast approaching, it was decided that a low-key day doing chores would be time well spent.

John and Mary Anna dropped off their vehicle at the dealership. The loaner car was a new, eco-friendly model that turns the gasoline engine off and on automatically when the car is idling. The maintenance would take about an hour and a half, just enough time to zip over to Bayers Lake for a brief shopping expedition.

Always a very busy route for traffic, on this day the vehicles in the distance were moving at a snail’s pace. In short order the snail seemed like Speedy Gonzales as the cars and trucks further reduced speed, inching along like slugs after a rainfall. All the while, the mercury continued to climb along with the tempers of the drivers. Sometimes you can feel collective rage when you get these interminable construction delays. Driving the hybrid car is fraught with anxiety if you’re not used to it. You can’t help but wonder if the engine is going to start again when it goes into sleep mode.

They eventually reached the shopping centre, did their errands and headed back to retrieve their car. The construction was worse than before, if that is possible. They were halfway back to the dealership when John’s phone rang. It was the mechanic at the dealership informing them that they had discovered a significant problem that need to be rectified before the long road trip back home.

Their patience meter dropped a few notches.

And then they received a text from one of their teenage children. “Can U pick up 2 Enchanted Garden adult colouring bks for trip home?” They cringed when the daughter directed them to the closest store: Chapters in Bayer’s Lake.

They managed to get the car turned around and headed back upstream. Traffic was now all but stopped. They could almost see steam rising from the asphalt … and from the drivers all around them. They realized that they were going to be stuck in traffic for a very long time.

“Let’s take the next exit ramp and head to the Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, “said Mary Anna. They didn’t have a GPS and weren’t 100% sure of the quickest way to get there. As they were nearing the turnoff for Bedford, they thought of checking out the Sunnyside Mall first. Before going off on a wild goose chase, Mary Anna looked up the number for the good folks at Coles.

“How may I help you?” “I am looking for an adult coloring book,” was Mary Anna’s reply. There was a pause on the other end of the line. “What business are you looking for, ma’am?” Clearly exasperated, Mary Anna clipped off the words like a Gatling gun. “I. Am. Not. Looking. For. A. Business. I. Am. Looking. For. A. Colouring. Book.” The voice on the other end, obviously trained to deal with all manner of calls, said in her calmest voice possible, “This is the mall information desk.” Frustration turned to laughter on both ends of the line.

The call was patched through to Coles. The cheerful clerk indicated that they only had one copy of the colouring book but that Chapters in Bayer’s Lake had plenty!

You know that feeling when you aren’t sure whether to laugh or cry? This was one of these times.

The reassuring voice on the other end of the line spoke up again. “Coles at the Sunnyside Mall has plenty of copies also.” “Wait a minute. Aren’t I talking to the Coles Bookstore in Sunnyside at this very moment?” “No ma’am, this is the Coles store at the Bedford Place Mall.

It was only because the Sunnyside Mall and the Bedford Place Mall were across the street from each other that the marriage didn’t dissolve at that very moment. John couldn’t wait to get back to his high stress job in Ontario.

Mary Anna ran into the store and bought three copies of the colouring book along with a selection of pencil crayons. She returned to the car without uttering a word. As John slipped out onto the highway, Mary Anna carefully took the cellophane wrapper off one of the colouring books and grabbed a crayon. John looked puzzled as she started to colour, something he couldn’t ever remember her doing.

Adult colouring books are supposed to promote mindfulness and relieve stress.

Mary Anna decided to put the theory to the test.

Posted on August 31, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

I expect to be harping at you soon

 

 

When I retired a few months ago, I had three goals ( sitting around putting on pounds and being lazy wasn’t one of them ): (1) Whip myself into shape. I have enrolled in a program ( nutrition and exercise ) and will start tomorrow. The endless journey for wellness and balance continues. (2) Find a part time job to stay engaged. I started new work this past week ( casual/part time ). (3) Find a new hobby to keep the brain stimulated. The picture above says it all. My harp instructor is Thea Huard. She is wonderful and incredibly patient. ( www.antigonishcelticharp.wordpress.com )

First, the good news: summer has arrived in all its glory. The bad news: tomorrow is September 1^st. It looks like the best stretch of weather we’ve had all year will happen this week. Better late than never, as the expression goes. We spent yesterday afternoon at Lawrencetown Beach with some of the family. Hadn’t been there before. What an awesome beach.

Our family reunion is in the rear view mirror. There was a time when I was much younger that I didn’t think much of family reunions but the passage of time has changed all that. I now know that these get togethers are so important on so many levels. There is a lot of mileage when you consider that the youngest attendee was 2 and the oldest was 90. It is a time to reflect on the past, live in the moment and ponder the future.

I have some new stories ready for publication. “Done Roamin,” my Casket story later this week , is about a gentleman from Doctor’s Brook who, like many of his generation, went to the “Boston States” to seek employment back in the 50’s. He spent much of his working career in Boston and retired to Nova Scotia. I like writing these kinds of stories. They are about the lives of real people who faced all kinds of challenges ( like the rest of us ! ). We often romanticize about the “good old days” but for our parents’ generation, there wasn’t too much that was glamorous. I still think the reason for their longevity is their incredible work ethic. They didn’t have any choice. Without most of the modern conveniences that we take for granted, their lives involved physical exertion at every turn.

In my research, I was shown a story from a 1941 edition of The Casket. It is an incredible story of two women who went from Doctor’s Brook to Antigonish to do some shopping and were storm stayed for five days. After three days in Antigonish, they decided to walk in waist high snow back to Doctor’s Brook by way of Cloverville and Big Marsh. I thought running the Boston Marathon was a feat of endurance until I read about these incredibly tough women.

On a much more light hearted note, “Be Mindful” is a story about a couple who goes to Halifax to get their car serviced. While driving the dealership’s loaner car ( one of those eco friendly models ), they get stuck in horrible traffic on their way to Bayer’s Lake . It was one of those days when the humidity was through the roof. The air conditioning wasn’t working properly. Are you starting to get the picture? The regular maintenance checkup turns out to be something more serious. Well one thing leads to another, including a request from their daughter to pick up a couple of adult coloring books. I don’t want to spoil the story but the quest for the coloring books involves four malls. This story will make you laugh or cry or both because we’ve all been in a similar situation.

I am looking forward to a trip up to Neil’s Harbor to meet a family doctor who has been practicing there for over 40 years. I expect that he will have some great stories.

Have a great week.

Posted on August 29, 2015 under Storytelling with 3 comments

Playing the pipe organ is nothing to sneeze at

 

 

It seems that we’re all caught in one long, perpetual cycle of catching a cold. In the middle of winter, you always meet someone who utters these words: “Terrible cold goin’ around.” We have a winter cold, a spring cold, a summer cold and a fall cold. That pretty well takes care of the whole year. It’s pretty annoying and aggravating to you (and those close to you) when your nose is perpetually running; you’re sneezing incessantly and hacking profusely. The only people that truly love you are the manufacturers of tissues … and possibly your dog. Dogs are always compassionate.

Having a cold, in private, is bad enough but when you are out in public, that’s where things can get dicey.

The organist and choir director (he does both) entered the choir loft a few minutes before Sunday Mass. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was very much under the weather. He was exhibiting all of the classic symptoms. The choir “mothers”, who treat the organist as family, made quite a fuss about this unfortunate turn of events. Equally troublesome was the fact that the Bishop would be presiding, which always put the choir and organist on a higher level of alert.

With five minutes to go before Mass was to begin, he fished around in his sweater looking for a Kleenex but none was to be found. There is usually a box in the choir loft, but cold season had taken its toll and there wasn’t a tissue anywhere. The choir members shuffled through their purses and pockets and could only muster Kleenex of the “used” variety; hardly something that one would share with a friend.

A member of the alto section leapt into action. With the minutes ticking away before the opening hymn, she descended the spiral staircase two steps at a time to the main floor of the cathedral. She literally ran down the aisle and entered the sanctuary area of the church. The Bishop, rector and altar boys were all in a state of readiness, waiting for the first thundering notes of the grand pipe organ.

She entered the nearest washroom. It was now three minutes before the commencement of the service. She couldn’t see a box of tissues and there was no time to track down the custodian. She ran down the hallway that connects the cathedral to the parish centre. She searched every washroom to no avail. Nothing in the kitchen or in any of the classrooms. Aha! There, through the office window, she spotted a large box of Kleenex. One minute to show time. She rattled the doorknob of the locked office to no avail as the box of tissues on the desk taunted her.

Defeated, she retraced her steps and almost missed the fresh roll of toilet paper wrapped in paper in the sanctuary washroom. She grabbed it and, realizing that she couldn’t very well carry it back down the aisle, raced for the back door. Despite the chilly temperatures outside, she had worked up quite a sweat.

She furtively placed the offending object behind her back as she waved to the bishop who was now on his way to the altar. She was enormously relieved when she failed to encounter anyone else in authority. Does the parish employ security cameras, she wondered? If so, she would have some explaining to do.

She exited the sanctuary into the parking lot, ran around to the front of the cathedral and up the winding staircase; almost taking out the bell ringer on his way down. She thrust the roll of t.p. at the bewildered choir director and was completely out of breath as she returned to her spot in the choir loft. The organist struck the first notes to a familiar hymn. Psalm 23 had never sounded better.

She paused as she pondered the first few phrases: “The Lord in my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.” A wry grin crossed her face as she was tempted to add a few words. “… except maybe some Kleenex up here.”