Posted on July 26, 2019 under News & Updates with 2 comments

 

I am asking you to take a few minutes to read this post and please share it with your friends.

I met Simone MacDonald at Sobey’s many years ago. We’re both early birds and we both like to walk. She has a wonderful spirit about her and a pretty decent sense of humour. We always seemed to find something to chuckle about at the checkout. She is also an avid skater.

A few weeks ago, Simone suffered a devastating stroke. She survived but has many hills to climb in the weeks, months and years ahead.

I consider myself among the fortunate ones. My health is good today and I don’t take that for granted. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.

In a few weeks time, I plan to walk around the Cabot Trail and my plan is to dedicate the walk to Simone. I also hope to be able to raise some money for the family as Simone faces a long rehabilitation.

So if you want to help, here’s the deal: The Cabot Trail is 300 kilometres long. Maybe you can contribute an amount of money per kilometre or a set amount. For example, a commitment of .10 cents a kilometre amounts to a donation of $30.

You can send me an e-transfer at lenpdmacdonald@gmail.com or stop by Sobey’s and make your donation there.

Thanks for your consideration.

Len

 

 

Posted on July 25, 2019 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

Athena and Ivory

 

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.”

Ice Cream. Howard Johnson.

I’m absolutely incorrigible.

I arrived home in early June after walking the Camino. With the exception of my marathon years, I was probably in the best shape of my life. My weight dropped below 170 lbs for the first time in a decade and I was lean and mean.

Now I’m just mean.

Walking 713K required a great deal of fuel. When you’re walking 31K a day, you can eat just about anything (which I did!) and your body will burn it up. But when you’re not walking all day, every day and you keep eating like you were on the Camino, bad things happen. Look no further than your belt buckle.

I have had the pleasure of spending the month of July with two lovely 11 year old ladies from Montreal. They’re leaving for home on Sunday which is bittersweet. We’ve had a lot of adventures. They’ve kept me on my toes. We’ve gone to the beach frequently; played board games, visited the library and did a big trip around the Cabot Trail. But the primary occupation every day was the quest for ice cream.

Someone (not me) promised the girls that they could have ice cream every day of their stay in Antigonish. That’s 30 days. I am not one to shirk my duties lightly. I took this as an order and not a suggestion.

I’m sure we didn’t get to every single ice cream stand but we got to most of them. Michelle’s Grill in the mall parking lot was on our list. Besides ice cream, Michelle also serves a delicious pineapple curry chicken stir fry, my personal favourite on her menu. The Koala Cone is dangerously situated about a 4 minute crawl from our apartment. We got to know the staff very well. Just off of the far end on Main Street on Adams Street is Granny’s Antiques and Gifts. Granny’s greatest gift is ice cream!

On our way to Bayfield to go swimming, we often stopped in at Brosha’s Short Stoppe to get our daily fix, especially if it happened to be a Monday. You see, when you’re an” ice cream hunter” you get to know the hours of operation of ice cream stands and on Mondays, the ice cream stand at the Bayfield Community Centre down at the wharf is closed. We had many pleasant walks along Bayfield beach to go over to the wharf.

No drive to Arisaig would be complete without visiting an authentic lighthouse which happens to be the location of the local ice cream stand. Grab an ice cream just as the sun is setting over the Northumberland Strait. If you have a hankering for maybe the best seafood chowder in these parts, drop into the Dockside Café just a few steps away from the lighthouse. While you’re eating chowder or a slice of their homemade pies, you can learn about the life cycle of lobsters with the interpretive display in the café.

On one of our many day trips, we stopped in at Fish and Ships (not a typo!) at Ballantynes Cove. Besides excellent ice cream, they have really good fish and chips and the setting is beautiful. You can stroll over to the Bluefin Interpretive Centre while you’re waiting for your food.

Speaking of the Cabot Trail. I am going to walk around the Trail in a few weeks and I know for certain that I will stop in at the ice cream place in Pleasant Bay. It’s in a convenience store/souvenir shop just after leaving the village and heading south towards Cheticamp.

When we wanted to mix it up a bit (we’re not a one trick pony), we would go for soft ice cream. We paid our annual visit to Snow Queen Leisure World to do the rides and have hot fudge sundaes. We also made treks to DQ and McDonald’s.

And that, folks is how you are forced to let your belt buckle out a notch or two and don’t even get me started on strawberry shortcake. Because the strawberry season was delayed because of crappy spring weather (is there such a thing as spring anymore in Nova Scotia?), strawberry lovers were forced to make up for lost time once the berries ripened. We had shortcake every day for the first week of strawberry season. Honestly.

It’s not that I want to walk the Cabot Trail. I NEED to walk the Cabot Trail.

I swear to God that they’ll put a sweet tooth on my tombstone.

Have a great weekend and if you get the chance, grab an ice cream cone!

Posted on July 22, 2019 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

“If you believed, they put a man on the moon.”

(With thanks to Bernice MacDonald Photography)

 

“Fly me to the moon,

Let me play among the stars,

Let me see what spring is like,

On Jupiter and Mars.”

Fly Me to The Moon. Frank Sinatra

Where were you on Sunday, July 20, 1969? If you weren’t born, you’ll be forgiven for not understanding the nostalgia felt recently by the 50 and over crowd. It was on this day, that man first stepped on the moon. While the moon landing is arguably the most important event of that calendar year, there were many other things that happened in the world that grabbed our attention.

I was playing in a golf tournament in the Annapolis Valley that day and on the way home, we heard the news on the radio. How about you?

The moon has inspired many songs over the decades.

“Moon River, wider than a mile; I’m crossing you in style someday.” Moon River. Frank Ocean

Richard Nixon became president of the United States in 1969 as the war in Vietnam raged. Joe Namath became a household name when he led his New York Jets football team to a stunning upset in the Super Bowl. The average income in North America was $8,500 and a gallon of gas cost 35 cents.

“I see a bad moon arising; I see trouble on the way.” Bad Moon Rising Credence Clearwater Revival.

The Beatles gave their last public appearance on the roof of Apple studio. Hard core Montreal Expos fans might remember that the Expos made their debut as the first major league baseball team outside of the United States on April 8, 1969

“And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too; I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.” Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd

I guess Montreal was the place to be in 1969. John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their second “bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel during which Lennon wrote and recorded “Give Peace a Chance”. Woodstock, a generational outdoor concert held in upstate New York, dominated the headlines in August of 1969. A “Who’s Who” in the world of popular music (including The Who!) was there including Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, The Band, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez and one of my all-time favourite groups, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

“Well it’s a marvellous night for a moondance; with the stars up above in your eyes.” Moondance. Van Morrison

The Beatles released their album “Abbey Road” in September of 1969. Many people consider it one of their best. Here Comes the Sun remains one of my favourites from that album. For those of you with a funny streak in you might remember the launch of Month Python’s Flying Circus in October that year. In what still ranks as one of the greatest upsets in baseball history, the (Amazing) New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

“If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon.” Man on the Moon R.E.M.

The child in all of us will surely remember Sesame Street.  The first episode of this amazing children’s educational program was aired in November of 1969. The first ATM machine was installed in New York City.

“I love you to the moon and back.” Guess How Much I Love You. Sam McBratney

I have always wondered about this expression as I see it repeatedly on social media platforms. Apparently, every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck for 30K. In a lifetime, that is the equivalent of driving to the moon and back. So when you tell someone that you love them “to the moon and back”, you’re essentially saying you will love them with all the blood your heart pumps your whole life.

Well, how’s that for some light fare during the dog days of summer?

I think I’ll just “moonwalk” out of here.

Have a great week.