Monday Morning Musings

Posted on May 25, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

IMG_20150523_192455 (3)

“Somewhere over the ( double ) rainbow”

 

 

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Charles Dederich

Sometime this coming Thursday, I will be homeless and jobless. Normally this would be considered a very bad thing and cause for some alarm. I can happily say that I will walk out two doors on the same day. I will be retiring and barring some natural disaster ( a second lightning strike?! ), our house will pass over to a young family putting down roots in our community. We couldn’t be any happier for them…or us!

Even though I am in the retirement planning business, I don’t like the word retirement or the concept in general. I believe the definition is being redefined right in front of our eyes. Most of us will not have the luxury of putting up our feet and living off our vast wealth. That’s not what I have been witnessing anyway. More and more people are transitioning from full time work to something less demanding. In some cases, they have decided to do something completely different while offering an employer an incredible array of transferable skills.

Not everyone has the privilege of leaving work on their own timetable but if you do, knowing when to pack it in is important. Some people actually think that they are indispensable and that their place of work could not possibly survive without them. Ahem. I have news for those people and have decided to write a story about “knowing when to hold them and when to fold them.” ( Thanks, K.R. ) The story is called “Best Before” ( as in, “best before date” ) and will be coming up shortly at Week45.

Every waking hour that hasn’t been spent at work, has been spent at the house doing the “big purge.” It is mind numbing how much stuff is amassed over 33 years and how time consuming it is to figure out what to do with it. Some of you have already “been there and done that, “ and the rest of you will face this some day. It is a Herculean chore. On Saturday, I was staring at several bottles of spirits and wine that have been gathering dust for some time. I sent a text to a buddy of mine offering him the whole shebang. When he didn’t respond in a nanosecond, I was tempted to call Curry’s, MacIsaac’s or the ER room at the hospital. I had to call him an hour later and issued him a failing grade for his poor response time.

Betty and I will be traveling to Sydney later in the week to meet up with our old neighbors from Ross Street. I am also doing a fundraiser at Belmac in Sydney with a percentage of book sales going to a scholarship fund for the late Emma van Nostrand. If you’re in the Sydney area on Friday the 29th. stop in and see us at 70 Dodd Street.

Ok. It’s time to get back to some serious writing. While caressing her first coffee of the morning yesterday, Betty mentioned something about the keys to a happy marriage. Yes, we all know that a couple should never do dry wall together and that having a GPS in the car can save a marriage. But what are the other important things that keep a couple together through the good times and bad times? You’ll be surprised when you find out THE single most important thing to achieve marital bliss. Not sure what the title is yet but the theme is “A Guide to a Happy Marriage.” I’m sure the editor will find a title that’s much more appropriate!

Have a great week.

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Monday Morning Musings

Posted on May 18, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

Eagle

“We stand on guard for thee”

 

 

As you read this, I am hoping that you are at the cottage or in a campground having your first coffee of the day. Everything tastes better when you’re vacationing. And the first real long weekend of the year is extra special.

Did you find any mouse droppings at the cottage when you opened it up for the first time in eight months? Did you encounter your first black fly? Did you sit around the fire pit and sing every verse of “American Pie?” Or “Barrett’s Privateers?”  I know many of you had your first feed of lobsters. After a hiatus of nearly a week ( still moving stuff out of our house prior to the closing ), I got busy on the weekend and wrote a couple of stories.

“Longing For Long Weekends” is a snapshot of the sights, sounds and smells of long weekends. With apologies to all you fervent gardeners, the story is mostly about the first trip to the cottage or the initial camping trip of the season. I ramble on about everything from the heavy traffic ( everyone leaves work early on the Friday of a long weekend ) to smores. It may not have the hype of Christmas but for pure anticipation, there’s nothing quite like the Victoria weekend.

And speaking of Barretts, the most memorable Victoria Day I ever had was back in the early 70’s when several family members descended on the home of then Premier of British Columbia, Dave Barrett. Confession. We had taken our father to the Victoria Day parade in Victoria and retreated to a pub not far from the Premier’s home. Well, one thing led to another ( you know how these things go! ) and before we knew it, we were sitting in the Premier’s living room. If you want to read the full story, just go to the search box on my home page and type in “ Grin and Barrett.”

I have almost finished the first book in the “Anne of Green Gables” series. I wasn’t sure if I would like it but it is beautifully written.

I did something this past week that I had never done before… and I did it twice. I went to see a chiropractor. I won’t bore you with my back issues as I am sure that almost every other person my age has some body part that hurts. I am quite encouraged with the early results. I have nothing bad to say about traditional medicine, but I have always been open to alternative treatments.

I said that I wrote two stories on the weekend. As regular readers know, from time to time, I like to shine the light on local businesses. Like many people, I have grave concerns about the plight of small business with the onslaught of online shopping and “out shopping.” If we don’t support our local merchants, who will we turn to when local charities and sports teams come a calling?

I can’t say too much about the story as I plan to keep it “under the dome “ (  Maxwell Smart ) until it is published. Don’t you miss “Get Smart?” … and “Mash?” There I go again, living in the past.

Have a great week.

P.S. Canada: Hockey: Golden!

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Monday Morning Musings

Posted on May 11, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Len's Face

A face only a mother could love!

 

 

We all know that there’s plenty of bad news swirling around all the time. If you watch television, listen to the radio or read a newspaper, there is no shortage of heart break, misery and skullduggery. It can get you down and leave you feeling jaded, disheartened and cynical.

And then you witness something joyous , and your faith in humanity is restored.

I was honored to be the emcee at a fundraiser for Sadie Anderson this past weekend. Sadie is a 4 year old girl who is battling cancer and the community came together at Pipers Pub to give the family a financial and emotional lift. There was music, clowning, face painting and a silent auction… and large doses of love. There was no doubt that Sadie was the star. She came up on stage and sang a few songs ( Let it Go” from “Frozen” ) and , at the end of the evening told the large crowd that she loved them. And those who came,  dug deep and raised over $10,000 for the Andersons. This is why small towns rock.

I auctioned off my face. For $10.00 people could request something be painted on my face. You’ll have to look closely. My mother in law asked for a devil. In rapid fire succession ( I’m not making this up ), the requests were for the Montreal Canadiens logo and one of a horse’s arse. I’ll just let that one hang in the air for a minute! Had we were run out of room, all I had to do was take my hat off to reveal another canvas. One bold person suggested a face painting on another part of my body for $100 but I didn’t think the face painter would have stooped for that one.

It is obvious that you liked the story about Michael Campbell. Even though most of you don’t know him ( neither did I until I met him a few weeks ago ), you were captivated by his life story. If you didn`t get a chance to read the story, it is archived on my website.

We were up at our old house on the weekend continuing the “big purge.”  We only have a few weeks left before we hand over the keys . We came upon an old autographed picture of Bobby Hull, aka, “The Golden Jet.” People my age remember him streaking down the left wing and unloading his famous slapshot.  He had one of the first curved sticks ( I’m dating myself! ) and I think this coincided with goalies ( Jacques Plante being one of the pioneers ), starting  to use  face masks. Bobby Hull attended the “Father and Son” banquet at the Parish centre in 1960. This was quite a coup for Antigonish and those in the know tell me that Dr.Cecil Maclean was instrumental in getting top level hockey players like Hull and Belliveau to come to our town. I offered to give the picture away on Facebook and within minutes, it had a new home.

I am embarrassed to say this but I have never read the “Anne of Green Gables” series of books. This is at the top of my list when I retire in a few week’s time. My editor has also suggested that I read “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Once I’ve digested all of those, I may just curl up and tackle “War and Peace.” Seriously, how many of you have taken the time to read all 1456 pages ( 560,000 words ) ? The average length of my stories is 500 words so I would have to write 1000 stories to equal the word count of W@P.

Coming up on Wednesday, is the story of the capture of a mother raccoon and her babies from the roof of a porch…our porch! I had to bring in the big guns ( the Landry brothers of “Beaver Brothers” fame ) and during the rescue, our good friend ( and carpenter ) Carl Laudadio showed up to provide invaluable assistance. “True Professionals” is an apt title for this story. I think this is one that you will enjoy. If you want a sneak preview, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K0iS97P6U8 ( Not much happens in the first 20 seconds so be patient ).

Have a great weekend and count your blessings.

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