Posted on June 15, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Ben’s amazing art studio

 

 

It had been a full fifty years since I last visited the West Coast of Newfoundland until this past week when Betty and I took a four day mini vacation to visit friends ( our daughter’s in laws ). I know most of you will either fall asleep after reading 750 words or will have to rush off to work so I’m going to try and summarize the high points.

The scenery is breath taking, not at all what I expected , other than the standard pictures one sees of Gros Morne National Park. But like most places on the planet, after all the oohs and ahs, it always comes down to the people and you won’t find any finer than in Newfoundland. They are incredibly hospitable and friendly and I think they were all born with charm and a wicked sense of humour. In particular, I would like to thank our hosts and tour guides, Danny and Shirley for taking the time to show us around.

Traveller alert: if you ever go to Port Aux Basques as a foot passenger and plan to leave your car in North Sydney, ask me about the parking situation and the bizarre way you get from this private parking lot to the terminal. There’s an entire story that I might write about the two hours leading up to departure. I am tempted to call it “Terminal Illness.”  We, and two other very weary travellers,  were waiting for a shuttle to take us on to the boat. We feared that we might have been forgotten when a Marine Atlantic employee walked by. He said ( I’m not kidding ), “ If you see the ferry leaving the harbor, you’ll know you missed the boat.” More later on this heart warming experience.

Our home base was St. Georges, just across the bay from Stephenville. Less than 100 yards from the Conway’s back door, runs a stretch of the Trans Canada Trail. You can literally walk from Port Aux Basques to St. John’s ( approx.. 1000 kms. ). Now that would be quite the experience stopping every night in one of the small towns dotting the province.

If you ever go to Gros Morne you must go to Rocky Harbor. It is a quaint town and a local hotel hosts an evening of music and story telling called “Anchors Aweigh.” Once again, I could write an entire story about this. It is three hours of non stop rollicking music and fun. Four of the five musicians are old farts like me ( the accordion player is 74 and a whirling dervish ,at that ). The drummer is much younger. Mike MacDonald once played with the Fables. He is a fantastic drummer and singer. This is one of the best live shows you will ever see. They’ve been doing the show three nights a week for 19 years. And we didn’t get “dunched.” Anyone want to take a stab at what this means? It involves the overuse of a certain body part.

Gros Morne is, as advertised. Stunning. We didn’t get to Woody Point or Trout River but the locals tell us that these places are truly special. Almost forgot. We were out to dinner in Rocky Harbor and I asked for a non alcoholic beer. The waitress looked at me as if I had come from a far off planet. They didn’t have any but a few minutes later, she plunked an O’Doulls on the table. She had walked next door to the liquor store and bought a case. These are the kind of things that bring tourists back to Newfoundland. Hospitality is in the people’s DNA.

We traveled up to St. Anthony’s to get a glimpse of the icebergs. It is a very long drive especially when it is rainy and foggy the entire way. We stopped in Port Aux Choix for a bite to eat and to see the art studio owned by one Ben Ploughman ( www.bensstudio.ca ). Ben is an incredibly talented artist and an amazing story teller. Every one of his works has a story behind it and he is not shy to tell you all about his works. We bought a piece and it will soon adorn our living room wall. I am not an art collector but this is a place you really should visit if you get the chance. We spent a full hour at his studio.

If you’re from Newfoundland , I’m sure this is not news to you. Because the landscape is rugged and rocky, growing a vegetable garden can be a challenge. So, with typical ingenuity, Newfoundlanders plant their gardens along the side of the road, sometimes in the middle of nowhere. The expression “any port in a storm” comes to mind. Just outside of St.Anthony’s, we saw Ephram tending to his garden. I jumped out, took his picture and chatted for 15 minutes .I  plan to do a full length story of this phenomenon  at a later date.

So there you have it. What a wonderful four days.

“Long may your big jib draw.”

Have a great week.

 

Len and Ephram at his roadside garden

Posted on June 8, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

A Father’s Day gift?

 

 

Father’s Day is fast approaching. We were at Canadian Tire the other day when I spotted this lovely dual bevel sliding compound mitre saw. It was on sale and for just the slightest moment , I wondered what it would be like to own one of these big boys. I was quickly snapped back to reality when I realized that this would be like handing dynamite to a child as I can scarcely manage a hand saw. We gave away our vast array of hand saws ( one ) to the folks who bought our house. They will soon discover that it needs to be sharpened or thrown in the nearest garbage receptacle.

We had our first feed of lobsters on the weekend. Several of my siblings were in town so we gathered at the old homestead at 39. There was a time ( and I’m probably not alone on this one ) when we had several lobster boils each season and eating only one lobster would be a sacrilege. A half a dozen markets was the norm washed down with a handful of Schooner or Alpine beer… and maybe a drink of dark rum for dessert. Today, it is totally different. Most people my age can only manage a single crustacean and many of us no longer imbibe.

So, what happens when the person responsible for procuring the lobsters, goes to one of the national chain grocery stores and the simple act of buying 20 lobsters , turns into a debacle. I think you’re going to like this story unless you live on the Great Plains of the U.S. and have no idea what I’m talking about. Stay tuned for my latest offering “ Lobster Tales.” Coming soon.

I have one week of retirement under my belt and it was a lot crazier than I thought possible. The highlight of the week was a road trip to Mabou to meet Sally “Central.” She is an amazing woman and has many stories to tell. And well she should with her 100^th. birthday not all that far away. Most of us are interested in longevity and how some people manage a long, healthy life. You will be surprised when you find out her answer to the question I posed on this subject. Of course, we talked about religion, sports and politics. This is a story you won’t want to miss and it is simply titled  Sally “Central.”

Of course, to get to Mabou, we had to drive down Route 19 and honestly, it never looked better. It was a glorious, sunny day. The landscape was green and lush and the ocean ( Strait ) off to our left ( on the way down ) was simply breathtaking. No wonder people come from all over the world to visit Cape Breton.

On the other side of the Island is Johnstown just up the road from Big Pond. I have been invited to go there in July to do an event at their community hall. I am also going to have the opportunity to meet and interview Mike who, by all accounts, is quite the character. I am quite certain that I could spend the remainder of my life quite content driving through Cape Breton meeting people like Mike Campbell, Sally “Central” and Mike. Like many, I am fearful that the story telling tradition will die with this generation of people.

Coming up on Wednesday is “Len’s guide to a happy marriage.” It’s called “You’re Toast” and will also appear in The Casket.

Betty and I are taking a break later this week traveling to Newfoundland to visit Gros Morne National Park. This is something we’ve talked about for a very long time.

Have a great week.

P.S. An interesting bumper sticker: “Honk if you love Jesus. Text if you’d like to meet him.”

Posted on June 1, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Summer has arrived.

Rare sightings.

Over the weekend, a beluga whale was spotted swimming in Halifax Harbor. This is highly unusual according to marine experts. But something else happened last week that was much rarer. I was in Sydney to take part in a fundraiser. Betty was with me and I needed to stop at Dollarama on the Sydney – Glace Bay highway to get a few stationery supplies. She sat in the car and waited for me while I went shopping. This has never happened in 33 years of marriage. I hope that this does not become a common occurrence.

Last week will go down as one of the more epic ones for us. We sold our house ( yeah! ) and I retired from the financial planning business. We have settled into apartment living but not before completing the herculean task of purging and downsizing. Those of you who have already done this,  understand completely what I’m talking about.  It is physically and mentally exhausting… and necessary. Let’s face it. We all have way too much “stuff.”  I can’t imagine trying to do this at an older age or being forced into doing it because of other circumstances ( poor health etc. ). I can tell you, that it is a very liberating exercise.

I am not comfortable with the word “retirement.” I don’t think the word means anything any more. The whole face of retirement is changing right before our eyes as more and more people leave one career and take up something completely different, usually on a part time , casual basis. I am one of those who will not “ go gently into that good night.” I plan to continue to work and look forward to “re-hirement.” I want credit in Wikipedia for coining this new word, btw!

I received a terrific response to the story “Best Before.” If  you haven’t read it yet, you can always go to the search bar on my home page and type in the name. All of my stories are archived.

And I would also like to thank people for all of the nice comments I received last week when I wound up my financial planning career. Note that I didn’t say the “R” word!

Like many folks around here, I have been following the unfolding story about Austin and Marilyn and their impending nuptials. It is amazing how the community has rallied around this lovely couple. And what would I say to them about the keys to a long and happy marriage, if asked?

There has been volumes written about marriage and I am certainly no expert on the subject but I am a keen observer of the human condition. There are definitely “dos and don’t’s.” Never do drywalling together. Never ask your spouse to be the navigator on a long road trip. Men, make sure to put the toilet seat down every time, and do not buy your wives gifts like vacuum cleaners or power tools… unless they are carpenters!

In the newest story from Week45, “You’re Toast” explores the notion of what constitutes a happy marriage and what needs to be done to keep it that way. I had a lot of fun with this one and can hardly wait till the editor (!) gets her hands on it. ( She may get her hands on my throat as well .)

Have a great week.