Posted on February 9, 2022 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

Frozen Fir

 

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare.

WWOW! A new spelling for “WOW”.

Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom.

This is the inaugural effort for a Wednesday post. After ten years, Monday Morning Musings and Thursday Tidbits decided to take an early retirement package.

When I announced last week that MMM and TT were about to end, one charitable (but misguided!) reader commented that she was looking forward to my mid-week ‘pearls of wisdom’. I assured her that these would be fake pearls. Someone else quipped that they would be ‘cultured’ pearls. I have been accused of many things. Cultured is not one of them.

So, what will I dish up for my first WWOW? Sadly, more of the same hearty goulash that you’ve been consuming for 10 years. A leopard can’t change its spots. Neither can a Leonard.

When all else fails, my fallback position is music.

After listening to one of the most amazing choral renditions of the old Toto tune, “Africa” last week (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c9-poC5HGw&authuser=0), I commented to a friend that I sure hoped that there’s music in heaven, or in my case, hell! She replied that by all accounts there is music in heaven and that perhaps I would just have to trade in my guitar for a harp. I mentioned to her that several years ago, I took harp lessons until my instructor moved away. I often wondered if it was my playing that drove her to the Elysian Fields. Actually, I think she moved to Wolfville which is paradise to some.

Then our conversation went a little sideways.

My friend suggested that I might be able to charm my way through the Pearly Gates (more pearls of wisdom?), like Orpheus.

There was a time that I was quite interested in Greek Mythology. I can pinpoint it to 1969 when I was a member of our school’s Reach For The Top team. I was invited to be on the team and there were three subjects that I was supposed to be the resident expert: sports, classical music, and Greek Mythology. My contribution to the team was less than stellar as I chronicled in a piece called “Reach For The Bottom”. (https://www.week45.com/reach-for-the-bottom-2/)

I will leave it up to you, dear reader, to check out the story of Orpheus but guys, just remember this: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. In the case of Orpheus, he was torn to shreds by the angry women of Thrace. Apparently, he spurned their advances. Well, I certainly hope that I don’t get torn to pieces by a gaggle of angry women because of inattention! Of course, had I continued to play the harp, this may have been the sad outcome.

“I will play for Him on my harp; With my lute and ten-stringed lyre”. Like Cedars They Shall Stand – Dan Schutte

(Note to Len. If you do make it to the Pearly Gates, DO NOT play for Him on your harp.)

I would be remiss if I didn’t make a fleeting reference to romance with Valentine’s Day just a few days away. A few weeks ago, I posted a piece about guidelines for online dating. If you think dating during a pandemic is difficult, consider the case of Elizabet Barrett and Robert Browning.  Barrett and Browning are celebrated for their contribution to English literature and poetry. Against the wishes of her controlling and demanding father, Elizabeth Barrett started to correspond with Browning in secret. Over a period of 20 months, they exchanged 575 letters. This romance is not as celebrated as Romeo and Juliet but for sheer persistence and patience, this couple wrote one of the greatest love stories. (Ed. Note. I’m sure they would have appreciated Messenger and Zoom!)

Earlier on, I mentioned classical music. When I was in the north and had access to Sirius radio, I started off every day by sitting in a lounge chair with a cup of coffee, listening to classical music. I found that this practice had a calming effect which unfortunately was short lived. I remained serene until I entered the doors of the school. Now that I am at home and spend large amounts of time alone in my apartment, I have the luxury of listening to music. I usually have Mozart or Beethoven playing in the background while I do the dishes and make my bed.

Are you worried about getting old? Fear not.

An extensive study in the U.S. found that the most productive age in human life is between 60 to 70 years of age. The second most productive stage of the human being is from 70 to 80 years of age. As many of my readers are in this demographic, let us sing along with Bryan Adams. https://youtu.be/t4vGvh66UkQ

WWOW – Episode 1 is in the books.

Have a great weekend and Happy Valentine’s Day… especially to the women of Thrace!!!

P.S. I am a third of the way through DryFeb. I’ve sworn off booze for the month of February and am raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society. My goal is to raise $1,000 by the end of the month. As of today, I am a third of the way to achieving my fundraising goal. If you would like to make a donation, please check out this link: https://dryfeb.cmail19.com/t/i-l-edlklh-tyuryhujki-oj/

In conjunction with DryFeb, I decided to honor the memory of my late brother Tom who died of cancer two and a half years ago. For thirty days, I am walking 10km a day. Tom is walking with me. As of today, I have completed the first 100km, or one third of my objective. There have been some pretty messy days but compared to cancer, walking in an ice storm is really not so bad.

Posted on February 5, 2022 under Podcasts with no comments yet

Len and Pete chat about the first leg of road trip number two across the USA, getting lost in New York City, and avoiding some serious jail time.

 

Posted on February 3, 2022 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Walking with Tom

 

This is my last Thursday Tidbits. Earlier this week, I announced that I would no longer be publishing Monday Morning Musings or Thursday Tidbits. Here is an excerpt from that post:

“This will be my last Monday Morning Musings.

This is not an April Fool’s joke.

After ten years and nearly 1300 posts, I am going to scale back on my writing. Coming up with fresh material twice a week, every week, is getting harder and harder. I’m sure it is mostly age related. Of course, when I started out, I had no idea that a few harmless stories would take me to where I am today. Thursday will be my final Thursday Tidbits.

However, rather than abandon you and cause withdrawal symptoms (!), my plan is to do one story a week on Wednesdays. It will be called Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom. So now, rather than MMM and TT, it will be WWW. I will continue to do the Wednesday piece until I run out of gas. “

 

So, stay tuned for my very first Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom next Wednesday, February 9^th. Someone commented that they were looking forward to my “pearls of wisdom”. I assured this person that they would be fake pearls!

On to more serious matters. I feel certain that every one of my readers has been touched by cancer. Someone we know has had cancer and many of us have lost family, friends and loved ones to this insidious disease.

I recently signed up for DryFeb, a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. People can choose to remain dry (no alcohol) for some or all of the month. I chose the latter. My goal is to raise $1,000 for the Cancer Society. Donations can be made directly to the Canadian Cancer Society by clicking on this link. Donations of $25 and up receive a charitable receipt.

https://dryfeb.cmail19.com/t/i-l-edlklh-tyuryhujki-oj/

I must admit that January was not my most productive. There were some bright shining moments (Thanks CG) but other than daily walks and breathing, I wasn’t terribly motivated to do much of anything. I read a few books and wrote my twice weekly column and watched lots of television news and sports. And Netflix. Lots and lots of Netflix. One of my favourites was Falling For Figaro.

The DryFeb fundraiser for cancer got me to thinking about my late brother, Tom. Actually, he’s never far from my memory. I have a small urn with some of his ashes sitting on a shelf of my writing desk. To honour his memory, I decided to use this month (and a few extra days) to walk 10 kilometers a day. Not that I need much inspiration, but I will be carrying Tom’s ashes with me. This somehow seems fitting because Tom rarely slowed down. He went full throttle his entire life.

We all know that regular exercise is good for the heart and the head. I am sure that at least half of my nearly 1300 posts were created while running or walking. A recent study on aging had this to say: “Exercise is often touted as a way to stay healthy and vibrant at any age, but one finding that makes it particularly relevant as we get older is that movement has been shown to increase the size of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays a vital role in learning and memory. This is important because the hippocamus shrinks as we age, which can lead to memory deficits and increased risk of dementia. In one study of older adults, exercise increased hippocamus size by 2 percent, which is equivalent to reversing one to two years of age-related decline.”

Last thing.

A few days ago, on one of my walks, I ran into this old-timer. About 4 inches of snow had fallen the previous night and there was light snow falling as I approached him.

“Winters aren’t what they used to be,” he said.

“You’re right. We used to get a lot more snow than this,” was my replay.

Surveying the ground, he quipped, “For God’s sake, we used to make hay in this weather.”

I chuckled for the next hour. One of the other great things about walking is that you inevitably meet someone and strike upma conversation.

Thursday Tidbits is no more. I hope you have enjoyed reading these posts.

Stay well.

And as my friend Angela Meredith Gabaldon of Victoria says, “Keep movin’ and groovin’”.

Have a great weekend.