Posted on March 25, 2026 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 2 comments

A lucky Canadian

 

Ooh, what a lucky man he was,

Ooh, what a lucky man he was.

Lucky Man – Emerson, Lake and Palmer

I’m not the gambling sort.

I have only been to the casino a handful of times. I went to a bingo game once in a smokey hall in rural Nova Scotia. I rarely buy lottery tickets. I drop $20 quite often to support Minor Hockey. I see this as a charitable donation. Thankfully, I haven’t gotten caught up in the gambling frenzy that now dominates sports. The odds of me laying down a bet won’t show up any time soon on FanDuel.

Lucky in life? That’s a completely different tune.

I was chatting with one of my siblings the other day. We were comparing war wounds. Most of my brothers and sisters are hurtling (limping) towards 80. Eighty! We were reflecting on our good fortune. We both agreed that in so many ways, we were part of one of the most fortunate generations to inhabit this planet. The Baby Boomers in general (those born between 1946-1964) and Canadians “boomers” in particular, may well go down as one of the luckiest cohorts in history.

Please don’t hate us, Gen X-ers and Millennials,

I realize that this is a generalization. Depending on “the accident of birth”, most Boomers enjoyed benefits rarely seen in the past and not likely to be seen in a very long time going forward.

Many of us entered the housing market when prices were modest relative to income. The value of homes rose astronomically over the decades, creating massive wealth engines. And, unlike many other investments, our homes were not subject to capital gains.

We benefited from a strong post-war economy and enjoyed steady wage growth, although mowing lawns at St.Ninian’s Cemetery for $1.00 an hour didn’t exactly fatten my bank account. The stock market was our friend and those with a long-term view and patience, watched their portfolios grow exponentially. We benefited from a relatively stable job market that often provided defined benefit pension plans.

Higher education (and I’m not talking about pot smoking in university!) was more accessible and affordable compared to the high student debt loads faced by younger generations today.

And the Boomers wielded power in the halls of government. Our voting power influenced policies that benefited us and vote we did.

What makes Canada special is that our generation never had to go to war. This in no way diminishes the sacrifice made by many Canadians who fought and served in the war in Afghanistan and other global conflicts. Unlike our parents and grandparents, we didn’t live through world wars.

Gas was cheap. The air was clean. We sat on the beach with our boom boxes and listened to Hey Jude, American Pie, Bridge Over Troubled Water and California Dreamin’. We were picking up Good Vibrations.

These days, we no longer climb trees. We do chair yoga and Tai Chi to help us from seizing up.

The bumps and bruises and memory loss continue to accumulate but man, did most of us have it good for a very long time.

I’m hoping for a few more good innings.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. Great news. A recent study published in the Harvard Gazette suggests that drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day is tied to lower dementia risk. I must try and remember this!

 

Posted on March 18, 2026 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 2 comments

Four day spa treatment at SMH

 

“Thrown a curveball”. To be presented with an unexpected, difficult, or unpleasant situation that disrupts your plans.

It’s spring training in baseball and the “boys of summer” are back at it. The Toronto Bluejays are hoping for a reprise of their magical run to the World Series last year. For a number of years, I travelled to Florida and on many occasions, attended spring training games in Dunedin, a beautiful small city just up the road from Clearwater.

I never played organized baseball in my youth. We did play lots of baseball, but it was of the pickup variety. A phone call would be made to someone in another part of town and within an hour, a game would be in progress. We would track down an empty field somewhere in town – our own version of a “diamond in the rough”.  We didn’t have umpires and called balls and strikes on ourselves. No parental involvement. Our lives were simple. We weren’t over organized or micromanaged like the youth of today.

A few weeks ago, I had a rather nasty and unexpected surprise. I woke up in the middle of the night and was very unwell. Vomiting, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain necessitated a trip to the hospital. Four days later, I went back home minus one gall bladder. The care that I received at St.Martha’s Hospital was nothing short of extraordinary. Every single person I dealt with, from the janitors to my surgeon was kind and caring.

I jokingly said to a friend that the surgeon had a lot of gall to remove one of my organs while I was unconscious!

We hear so many horror stories about the health care system and waiting times. I was unbelievably lucky from the time I arrived at Emerg at 2:00 a.m. to getting surgery on a timely basis.

My main nurse during my stay was a young woman. Some people are born to be in a particular profession, and she was one of them. Competent, caring, and kind, she has all the tools to be a great nurse. Even when she was run off her feet, she always seemed to have time to answer a question or minister to my needs.

As I was being discharged, she asked me to give her my most important piece of advice, after me kicking around the planet for nearly 75 years. My initial response was to surround yourself with positive people. Of course, I was anxious to get out of the hospital and didn’t expand on this notion. A few days later, I sent her a thank you note where I added to this list. Here is what I shared with her:

• Practice gratitude: it’s a good idea to acknowledge the good in your life to improve your perspective and well-being.
• Build Strong Relationships: Invest time in family and friends as these supportive connections are essential for long-term happiness.
• Prioritize Physical Health: Exercise regularly, eat well, and get enough sleep to fuel your body and mind.
• Cultivate Resilience: Learn to bounce back from failure, viewing mistakes as necessary steps for growth.
• Find Your Purpose: Set meaningful goals that align with your passions, which provides direction and motivation.
• Live in the Present: Practice mindfulness and savor the small, daily moments rather than rushing through life.
• Keep Learning: Maintain curiosity and regularly acquire new skills to stay adaptable.
• Give Back: Engage in kindness, volunteering, or helping others, which adds deeper meaning to life.
• Stop Comparing: Remember these words from Desiderata: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”

(10) Stay Positive: Maintain a positive outlook and take responsibility for how you react to situations you cannot control.

I have never faced a curveball on a baseball field but like everyone else, I have had my share of “life curveballs”. Yes, often, we swing and miss and occasionally strike out but we have to pick ourselves up off the ground, brush off the dirt and take another swing.

Hitting it Out of the Park. To do something extremely well, exceed expectations, or achieve great success. In baseball, it refers to hitting a home run so hard that the ball leaves the park.

I am so grateful that we have a regional hospital in our hometown. The employees may not be great athletes but in my estimation, they “hit it out of the park” when I was trying to deal with a curveball.

Have a great weekend.

 

 

Posted on March 4, 2026 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 5 comments

 

Port Renfrew Beach

(Pete MacDonald photo)

 

“I wish I was twenty and in love with life and full of beans.”

Self Portrait – Mary Oliver

Where has the time gone?

I reconnected a few weeks ago with someone I met eight years ago. Her father and my mother were both living in a care facility, stripped of dignity as their minds deserted them. We sang songs for our parents, triggering a part of the brain that still fires on all cylinders. Both of our parents have departed, which, in the end, was a blessing.

“Memory: a golden bowl, or a basement without light.” Mary Oliver

As so many of us do these days, we spoke of the passage of time. As she was signing off, she remarked, “Aging is a funny thing and creeps up. We all wonder where time goes and there it is, every day.”

Can you feel it?

I sure can.

There’s someone stalking me.

I feel his presence.

I can almost smell him.

He pursues me relentlessly.

He goes by the name of time.

I’m not one who suffers from the mid-winter blues. Walking every day is my primary antidote along with regular exercise, lots of reading and avoiding the consumption of news.

Having said that, I find lately that feelings of melancholy occur more than I would like. Watching time fly past is a contributor, but the constant barrage of illness and death seems to have me a bit off my game. It seems that just about every family has someone who is dealing with cancer, recovering from cancer, or dying of cancer. Rarely does a week go by when you don’t hear of someone you know who has this dreaded illness.

It is true that the number of deaths seems very high, but I believe that the most likely explanation is that the Baby Boomers have arrived en masse. That, in itself, would skew the numbers in a significant way.

My late brother, Tom, had an expression that always resonated with me as he was dealing with cancer. “I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of not living.”

So, what is one to do?

Kick ass.

Pedal to the metal.

If you’re lucky and all your body parts are functioning at an acceptable level, I would humbly suggest that you take every opportunity to make the most of the time that’s available to you. As they say, “Live every day as if it’s your last.”

Sing in the shower.

Dance when no one is looking.

Eat that outrageous dessert.

Travel to that place that you always wanted to visit.

Write a letter to your best friend. Better still, write a letter to yourself.

Take up a new hobby.

Go zip lining.

Jump out of an airplane. Please wear a parachute!

Go and see your favourite band perform.

Eat ice cream at every chance.

Read a great book.

Dig your toes in the sand while sipping a margarita.

Eat. Breath. Live with joy.

Be kind to people.

To hell with all this doom and gloom.

Heaven can wait.

“Though I’m not twenty,

And won’t be again but ah! Seventy. And still

In Love with life. And still

Full of beans.”

Self-Portrait – Mary Oliver

Have a great weekend.