Posted on April 13, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with 3 comments

Be grateful for what we have.

 

“Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die,
Maybe it’s time to let the old ways dies,
It takes a lot to change a man,
Hell, it takes a lot to try,
Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die”
Maybe it’s Time. Bradley Cooper

I’m fast approaching the end of the beginning.

By the time most of you have read this, I will have completed my self- isolation and will have completed my first walk in fresh air in two weeks. I am going to temper my enthusiasm, however. This is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.

Today it will not be business as usual for me. After two weeks of being pampered by neighbors and friends in the cocoon of my apartment, I will step out into the world most of you have been living for several weeks. As a friend said, “You won’t be out and about.”

Yes, I will be able to walk and go for groceries once every few weeks but the ground rules for daily living will be much different. I won’t be able to walk The Main, stopping to chat on the sidewalks with friends. Hugs will be verboten and wandering in and out of stores, a distant memory.

Lunches at the Maritime Inn with old friends will be a decided no go and stopping into to Piper’s Pub for a cold one and listening to Betsy’s Boots is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Even going for a drive (or walk!) around The Cape is going to have to be put on hold.

We simply can’t afford to our ourselves in harm’s way. More to the point, we also can’t afford to be the one to put someone else in harm’s way by unselfish acts. “I am my brother’s keeper” has never meant so much.

Cherished family gatherings and singsongs are on hold. Zoom meetings will become as ubiquitous as the “Golden Arches”. For those who pray and worship, you’ll have to do this in the solitude of your place of dwelling. Many of you have been doing this for a long time so that won’t be a hardship.

This is no time to be complacent or smug. This pandemic is far from over and we need to get our mindset re-arranged. As depressing as it sounds, this is our new normal… as much as I loathe that moniker.

One can only hope that the most important thing that endures when we finally start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel is gratitude.

Staying at home and slowing down has made most of us appreciate the smaller things in life. It has also made us abundantly aware of the work force and the real heroes out there who often toil in low paying jobs crucial to our safety and survival. You know who I mean. Maybe for once, we can get away from a hierarchical society where someone is at the top of the ladder and someone else is at the bottom. We need to appreciate that we are all in this journey together and it is folly to think that one occupation is more important than the next.

Maybe it IS time to let the old ways die.

Have a great and safe week.

Posted on April 6, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

It is with great sadness that I announce the sudden and tragic death of a beloved member of the family. The death occurred at home last Friday, April 3rd. She served me so well for more than 10 years when I first laid eyes on her. She greeted me with a smile every day and perked me up when I was feeling down. Even on my worst days, she was there, loyal and dependable. She provided unconditional love and never let me down.

My day came to a grinding halt.

Let it be known that on Friday, April 3rd, 2020, my Bunn coffee maker gave up the ghost. (or the roast)

Desertion.

In most countries this would be grounds for divorce.

It’s a bit of a grind being without coffee during a period of self-isolation. I wasn’t sure whether to call the 811 number to report withdrawal symptoms or to call 911 and bring in the big guns because of a legitimate emergency.

One of the perks of self-isolation is that you can drink as many cups of coffee as you want. If you have to make 10 trips a day to the bathroom, no one will know or care. Can’t sleep at night from a caffeine overload? As a friend said to me the other day, “There is no real time in isolation. Do whatever the f… you want to do whenever you want to do it.” If you’re clinging to the ceiling at 2:00 in the morning, it matters not. You can go back to bed at 10:00 a.m.

After momentarily paying my respects, I got on to the serious task of finding an immediate replacement. I called my friend Bill who did some trouble shooting over the phone, but he quickly ascertained that nothing could be done to resuscitate the machine.

I really don’t need a sophisticated coffee maker any more that can make coffee on demand for ten people. As I continue to shed friends, mostly through attrition, a single cup cone apparatus will suffice. By late afternoon, a cone and some number 2 filters were dropped off at my stoop.

Without the kindness of family, I wondered how I might have handled this emergency? I reckoned that I could possibly have lasted 24 hours without a coffee, but not a minute more. I pictured myself putting on my winter wear and heading outdoors, breaking all the rules of self-isolation and risking scorn and the possibility of a fine. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I would have to find a 24-hour drive through restaurant to quell my caffeine craving. Yes, I know that some coffee chains won’t allow a person to walk through a drive through but I’m sure once they saw the look in my eyes, they would waive protocol and hand over a large senior’s black cup of java.

However, long before I could make it to the restaurant, there is a good chance that I might encounter a member of the RCMP or a by-law enforcement officer. I’m quite certain that they would recognize my plight and drive to the coffee shop at top speed with lights blazing and sirens blaring.

There will be a spring burial when the grounds are softer.

All unfiltered comments about this post are welcome.

As I walked the machine and carafe to our outdoor garbage boxes, someone whistled and said “Nice Bunns.”

Have a great week.

P.S. I DID NOT walk to the dumpster!

Posted on March 30, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

See you in August, Kangiqsujuaq.

 

Where is the center of the universe?

Good question.

The earth makes up an infinitesimally small portion of the universe, but it is our world.

And where is the center of our world?

Growing up in Canada, many of us have felt that North America, and the United States in particular, is the straw that stirs the drink. These days, I’m not so sure. My six-month stint in India three years ago was very revealing. I read the Hindu Times every day to try and get a feel for what was going on in that part of the world. On November 8, 2016, the rupee was demonetized in India causing chaos in the country. Twenty-four hours later, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. His election shocked a lot of people. It was page 12 news in the Hindu Times.

The world is in turmoil these days, unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetime. The outbreak of Covid-19 has brought the planet to a virtual standstill. Rich and poor, young and old, are being affected in some way. As usual, the poor will be disproportionately affected.
One would like to think that we’re all in this together but in some countries, rugged individualism still reigns supreme. Individual rights trump those of the common good. The results could be disastrous.

So now, I will unabashedly wave the Canadian flag. We have never been considered the center of the universe. Most often, we are an afterthought to our neighbors to the south. These days, that’s quite alright, thank you very much.
Like everyone else, I am watching the news closely to see how other countries are responding to the pandemic. Many have been able to “flatten the curve” by heeding the advice of the authorities.

I’m not going to suggest that Canada is perfect. Far from it. We have problems and divisions like everywhere else. We have huge disparities between the rich and the poor. Our treatment of indigenous people is still a cause for concern… and embarrassment. Serious differences between the Federal government and the provinces is a source for worry. Our friends in Alberta are getting crushed with plummeting oil prices and Covid-19. This affects all of us, so it behooves us not to be too gleeful about low gas prices. Diminishing revenues from the oil patch affect all of Canada. Green energy may come sooner than we think.

On balance, it appears that Canada is tackling the pandemic as well as any country, but this does not mean we can afford to be smug. We are all now a part of Team Canada and must rally around our epidemiologists, medical experts, front line health care workers and, dare I say it, our politicians. While a few of our elected officials continue to play politics at this most extraordinary time, it is a pleasant surprise to see provincial and territorial leaders along with the Federal Government, all putting their collective shoulders to the wheel. We are all in this together. We must be in this together.

Many of us long in the tooth remember vividly the unity our country experienced in 1972 when our hockey team defeated the Russians. I walked through the town and the campus of St.F.X. University after Paul Henderson’s electrifying goal, watching hundreds and hundreds of people waving Canadian flags and singing “Oh Canada”.

We are a big diverse country. There is alienation, prejudice, racial bias and all sorts of other problems. This is a time to put our divisiveness aside, grab the oars, and continue to pull hard together. There are many tough days ahead, but a crisis of this magnitude may have a very decided upside in terms of bringing us together.

The center of the universe, by the way, is not located in any part of the world. It rests inside of you.

I will steadfastly observe the “cone of silence” for the next two weeks. You won’t see me, but you’ll hear from me. Only a collapse of the internet will shut me up!

Please be safe.

P.S. Made it back to Halifax last night.