Posted on December 28, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

December 25/December 27

 

 

Apologies to my long suffering readers. You have heard this lament, many times before. But what the hell, it’s Christmas and anything goes.

Yesterday, the warmth of Christmas was washing over me as I stood in the lineup at Sobey’s in an effort to re-stock the fridge. And it wasn’t any lineup. It was the short lineup. The “quick checkout” was inexplicably closed but they had two other checkouts operational. The store wasn’t very busy early in the morning. But it was busy enough that there were people amassing at the two checkouts. One lineup was considerably longer than the other. Why, of why do I always fall for this ploy?

There was only one person ahead of me and she had a two year old ( I’m a grandfather and can identify 2 years old quickly and easily ). The two year old may have been suffering a Christmas hangover because she was, shall we say, a bit whiny and cranky. No worries. There was nothing left on the conveyor belt and the mother of the child had her purse at the ready. I secretly grinned at the poor saps in the long lineup.

Rendering the payment for the groceries is normally a straight ahead affair… unless you have left your credit cards in the car. The purchases had already been wrung in so no other customer could be served until this impasse was resolved. “Oh, my credit cards are in the car.” . Now, the poor mother, in all fairness,  had probably only slept 3 hours in the past four days so I’m not singling her out personally.  Scraping fingernails down an old slate chalk board could not have grated on my nerves any worse.

Mother and child casually (!) left the store to retrieve the cards. And I stood and waited…and waited… and waited. Now of course, the other lineup had become a mere trickle and for a moment ( a moment of sheer utter insanity ), I thought about changing lineups, but, having been down that road before, I bit my lip and endured the last of the agony. When the customer pondered whether or not she wanted the “Jamie Oliver stamps”, I was thinking very bad thoughts.

Just another precious shopping story.

So, what was the highlight of your Christmas? Did you test the outer reaches of the glycemic index?

For many of us, getting to meet and share time with our first Syrian refugee, Tareq Hudhud, was the high point of the holidays. We invited him over for his first taste of a street hockey game followed by large doses of scrumptious holiday treats ( thanks KMD ), a singsong and his first glimpse of hockey on a large screen TV. It is unfortunate that his new home country lost the contest. Tareq is a bright, very well educated guy and hopes to be practicing medicine in the not too distant future.

The most poignant part of the afternoon was the last half hour when he explained in gut wrenching detail, the horrors that he and his family have lived over the past four years. His story will be well documented so I’ll forego the details in this space. None of us can possibly fathom what the Syrians ( and millions of other people from other war torn countries ) are going through. He expressed deep gratitude at the welcome he received at the airport from representatives of SAFE and how Antigonishers have treated him since he got here.

Let us continue to embrace our new neighbors as more of them arrive in the weeks and months ahead.

“Faces in the Crowd” will continue this Thursday.

Have a great week.

Posted on December 21, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Santa’s elves are busy

 

 

The clock is winding down on another year. Tempus fugit. This will be a busy week for everyone and hopefully you will have a chance to relax and unwind with family and friends.

Sports fans know all about streaks and I’m not talking about the streaking craze that hit sports venues years ago when invariably somebody would run across the football field or basketball court completely naked. You do remember that, don’t you? I want to let you know that I may have the longest streak going ever. It’s not one I’m proud of but it likely saved our marriage. You see, I had the audacity to buy Betty a Christmas present the first year we were married. Mistake. Big mistake! I can’t even remember what it was ( I’m sure she knows ) but I decided right then and there that I would never try and buy a Christmas gift again. Every year, her gift miraculously appears under the tree, purchased by her and wrapped by her.

However, there was one memorable Christmas that I tried something completely different and she still talks about it to this day. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I bumped into Lennie Gallant in Charlottetown. I won’t spoil the story because I’m posting it tomorrow. It’s called “A Christmas Gift From Lennie.”

I will also be posting my second “Faces in the Crowd” on Christmas Eve morning. I received a very favorable response from the first one highlighting my nephew, and world class photographer, Dave Brosha.

Just a reminder for those of you craving an old fashioned Christmas carol singalong, that I will be at the R.K. MacDonald Nursing home tomorrow, Tuesday, December 22^nd at 1:30 p.m. to lead the singing of carols for the residents. Every year a group of us get together and make our way through the facility stopping in each of the lounges. The staff provide holiday snacks and, all in all, it is a very heartwarming experience. The more the merrier so if you need a “carol fix”, please join us.

I would like to thank all of you who have supported my work over the past year and to those of you who have purchased my latest book of short stories. If you’re getting down to the crunch, give me a shout and I can get an autographed copy into your hands before the 25^th.

Have a safe holiday and catch you in the New Year.

Posted on December 14, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

Dogs and people welcome

 

 

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin’ up the scenery , breakin’ my mind,

Do this, don’t do that,

Can’t you read the sign”

“Signs” . Five Man Electrical Band

What do you notice about this sign? Correct. I knew you were astute…. and so early in the morning. Must have had your first coffee already. There’s nothing special about this picture other than the tone of the message. The typical signs that we see are negative. Many of you will recognize this sign. It hangs from the gate at one of the entrances of Bethany. The Sisters of St. Martha want you, nay invite you, to use their premises. They are just asking for a little respect. This is a welcoming sign. These special women have always been ahead of the curve.

And speaking about welcoming, Antigonish is about to open its arms to several families of Syrian refugees. The first family is due any day now. Hopefully we will “embrace” them which is one of the key words in the SAFE acronym. Let’s put the welcome sign on the gates to Antigonish.

If you haven’t felt the urge to get involved to this point, fear not for there are other initiatives…including the one that I’m heading up for St. Ninian’s Parish. If you think you might want to help ( you don’t have to belong to St. Ninian’s Parish! ), I am hosting an information session this Wednesday, December 16^th. at 6:30 p.m.  in Room 018 at St. Ninian Place. We’re going to need lots of help so drop by if you’re able.

Coming up tomorrow is my story about Christmas parties, specifically office Christmas parties. There was a time when almost every business held an office party and quite often there was more than one on the same day. I attended an office party recently and while some of it looked familiar, other parts were different. Check it out tomorrow.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am launching a new idea this week. In place of Thursday Tidbits, you will find the new feature called “Faces in the Crowd.” These are short, bite sized stories ( around 50 words ) about people you might meet on the street. Some of the faces you might recognize ( like the first one! ) but after that, it will be pretty random. I hope you will like it…literally and literally. You know what I mean, Facebook world! Please let me know what you think. Be careful, you could end up being the subject of one of these stories if you’re not careful.

If you have a bit of time ( an hour and a half ) curl up with your special someone ( spouse, friend, the dog, a box of Pot of Gold Chocolates ! ) and go to Netflix and watch “Forks Over Knives.” It is a powerful story about the food we eat.

I have another new feature coming up but you’ll have to wait a few days before I tell you about this. One person knows already!

Have a great week.