Posted on December 21, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with 3 comments

Love on the rocks

 

Is it possible to fall in love at the age of 69?

The short answer is yes.

No. I did not find my current love on a dating site. I guess it could be best characterized as a “blind date”. A friend from back home who knew about her suggested I look her up which I did. I encountered some hiccups in getting to actually meet her in person. Some messages got lost or misplaced. I had actually given up any hope of meeting her until I received a call one day that would change the trajectory of my life in my ‘golden years’.

Oh, I remember so well the first time we met. I found her dark and brooding, cold and distant. This was hardly a good first impression but over my lifetime I have learned not to be too quick to judge. I figured that if she was as nice as my friend made her out to be, that she would eventually warm up. In the early going, I was having my doubts. Chilly turned to frigid and I was concerned that my time with her would be short lived.

She had a few wrinkles which is what I would have expected of someone her age. I have a few myself. A match made in wrinkle heaven!

We persevered and after a few months, I started to notice a subtle change in our relationship. She seemed a little less distant and with each passing day in the early part of 2020, she actually lightened up which was a pleasant change.

And then Covid arrived putting a halt to this budding romance as I needed to head back to Nova Scotia. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that we would be apart for four months. This would be a serious test of our commitment to each other. I wasn’t sure if the relationship was worth pursuing but, in the end, I sent her a note indicating that I would be returning.

When I arrived back in the north on August 1^st, I noticed a complete change in my friend. She had warmed up considerably. Unshackled by winter, her dress and demeanor couldn’t have been much different. She was light and breezy and the colors she wore were quite striking. I now understood better what my friend had seen in her. We better understood each other and there was an air of comfort and familiarity. I’m not sure if it was her or me, but the relationship had changed. It was truly blossoming.

It’s hard to pinpoint a moment in time when one can declare unequivocally that they are in love, but I could feel it growing by the day.

Like many other people, I am unable to travel home at Christmas to be with my family and friends. I am not happy about this, but it is the harsh reality of a pandemic. The good news is that I get to spend my first Christmas with my new love.

I failed to mention that my new girlfriend is several million years old. She goes by the name of Kangiqsujuaq.

Gotcha!

Have a great Christmas week.

Posted on December 14, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

I hope Violet is enjoying her time in Wakem Bay.

 

Fasten your seatbelts.

We are hurtling towards Christmas at breakneck speed, a Christmas that will be unlike any other. I want all you old farts like me to wind the clock back 60 years, give or take. Do you remember what the last week of school before Christmas was like? Sure you do. You did very little of anything resembling actual schoolwork. You wondered if your teacher would ever run out of art projects. Your energy and excitement indexes were off the chart thinking about the dizzying array of presents under the tree. Of course, you realized that they weren’t all for you but in an era of very large families due to the baby boom, the sheer volume of presents on the living room floor on Christmas morning was awe inspiring.

In a normal year, this final week at school would be a virtual blizzard of indoor and outdoor activities here in Kangiqsujuaq. The crown jewels would be a community bazaar held in our gym, a Christmas dinner for our students and, of course, the Christmas concert. These have all been scrapped this year. Please nod if you are a music teacher or a retired music teacher. Yes. The Christmas concert is a very big deal for the children and their parents but for a music teacher, or whomever has the privilege (!) of organizing this event, it may be one of the most stressful things you will do in your life. We don’t have the luxury of a music teacher in our school, so a group of teachers is tasked with this activity. I helped out last year. Honestly, I haven’t heard too many teachers complaining about the cancellation of the Christmas concert! We’re not a bunch of Scrooges but most of you will understand this sentiment.

Tomorrow, instead of serving a nice hot turkey dinner, the entire school will trek out to the large inukshuk outside the village for a wiener roast. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun unless the temperature stays around -30 which it has been for the past few days.

We will take the children sledding and skating and I’m sure a few Christmas movies will be shown in our classrooms. We will make the best of it. I can guarantee one thing. The school will begin to pulsate today as we head into the final week of school before Christmas.

I plan to prepare a turkey dinner for my class sometime during the Christmas holidays.

And speaking of Christmas dinners (a nifty segue to my next topic), the fundraiser for the Christmas Dinner in the village is going well. We have raised $2,000 of the $3,000 we need to deliver a Christmas Dinner to families who might not otherwise have one. You can send me an e-transfer at lenpdmacdonald@gmail.com, drop into the Credit Union back home in Antigonish and make a deposit there or you can send me a cheque at Len MacDonald C/O Arsaniq School, C.P.160, Kangiqsujuaq, Quebec, J0M 1K0.

I want to thank everyone who has sent cards, letters and gifts to my students. A special thank you to a couple who sent a large box of gifts including hockey jerseys, knitted products, crafts and Christmas candy. In this box, very carefully wrapped (!) was a bottle of Steinhart strawberry vodka. Normally the mere mention of vodka causes revulsion because of an unpleasant encounter with a large bottle of vodka during my university years. I had heard many reports about this international award- winning spirit but was never brave enough to try it. Because I received it as a gift, I felt duty bound to have a sip. I can tell you one thing for certain. I will not be sharing this with Santa. It is delicious when sipped judiciously. I might leave Santa a can of Labatt’s Blue beer! Thanks so much, D&J for your kindness.

Some of you might remember Flat Stanley. Quite honestly, I don’t. Look it up if you don’t. Last week, I received a delightful letter from one of my granddaughters. She sent me a cut out character named Violet. I was asked to share some adventures with Violet and return her along with a letter and some pictures. This is a version of pen pals and a wonderful project. Speaking of pen pals, my students have been very excited receiving letters from new friends across this country. Thanks to all of you who have embraced this initiative. Violet has been making the rounds. I hope she enjoys her adventures in the north.

I attended my second sewing class yesterday. It is great fun, but I fear it will be spring or summer by the time I finish my pualuks!

Have a great week.

 

Posted on December 7, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Rabbit fur. The raw material for a pair of pualuk mittens

 

This is certain to be a Christmas like no other for most of us. Most but not all. There is a segment of the population who don’t experience the joy of Christmas because of circumstances. Regrettably, this will be just another Christmas.

I have been asked by many of my faithful readers if there was something they could do for my students or my school. The short answer is yes.

I have decided to spearhead a project to supply Christmas dinners to families who might not otherwise have one. This initiative has received the blessings of the community. Many of my colleagues from the south aren’t going home for Christmas because of the myriad of restrictions. They have agreed to help me prepare and deliver meals on or around Christmas day.

We estimate that providing these meals will cost approximately $3,000 and I am inviting my readers to make a small contribution to this effort. Many people are stretched at this time of the year and have already made commitments to various charitable causes in their home communities which I applaud. Organizations in my home town like the Fuel Fund and St.Vincent de Paul need your support.

If any of you would like to contribute, there are three ways to do this: 1) You can send me an e-transfer at lenpdmacdonald@gmail.com. 2) You can mail me a cheque at Len MacDonald C/O Arsaniq School, C.P. 160, Kangiqsujuaq, Quebec, J0M 1K0 3) If you live in Antigonish, drop into the Bergengren Credit Union. I have an account set up there in my name called Christmas Dinner Fund. Should we happen to exceed our target, any excess funds will go to The Family House which is a safe house in the village for families experiencing challenges.

To keep you informed and to have a bit of fun, I have been urged to humiliate myself and post a picture of myself during the “12 Days of Len” leading up to Christmas. I could be wearing a dress or a tank top – neither of these is visually appealing. If you have an idea for a pose, send it along.

Thank you for considering this request. Even though we have all been encouraged to stay apart, a project like this will bring people together.

What else?

Will Cubii’s be a must have gift this Christmas or possibly Dr.Ho’s magic pain reliever? Surely you have seen the ads that will help you lose wait and ease your pain, all the while lightening your wallet. I can see these piled up in your basement in a year or two along with thousands of treadmills, Bowflex machines, and Stair Masters. As far as I can tell, the only good use for a treadmill is a place to hang wet laundry when your dryer is on the fritz.

My favourite DVD movie this week? Woman in Gold. This is a fabulous movie about art that was stolen from Jewish families in Vienna during WW11. Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds are exceptional.

Every Sunday, a group of women meet in our staff room to sew. Even though the table is rectangular I will still call it a sewing circle! A few Inuit women teach people how to sew gloves, parkas and other clothing. I have poked my head in a few times just to say hello when I have been at the school planning or using the internet. They have been asking me to join them. So yesterday, I took the plunge.

The day before, I went to the Coop and purchased two rabbit pelts which will form the outer layer for a pair of pualuk gloves. I will spare you the boring details of day 1 but I only managed to prick my finger with the sewing needle about 6 times. Jessica is my teacher and she is an incredible woman who is well known and well respected in the community. I was joined by 8 of my colleagues who are in different stages of making gloves and parkas. After cutting the rabbit pelts into shape with an ulu (I asked Jessica to do this as an ulu is very sharp and I value all of my 10 fingers). I cut out the leather for the thumbs with a pair of scissors and then the sewing began. Getting started with anything new is always the hardest part.

Of course, the best part for me was listening to the banter around the room. I had the honor of sitting next to Jessica and hearing about her life growing up in an igloo. This is such an amazing opportunity and one I do not take for granted.

I left the room but returned shortly thereafter to get my keys which I had left behind. The women were all chuckling. One of them had commented that the room was much quieter after I left!

Have a great week and be safe.