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

One of my many walking buddies

 

“Here’s a little song I wrote,
You might want to sing it note for note,
Don’t worry, be happy.”
Don’t Worry, Be Happy. Bobby McFerrin

Some days, it’s hard to put on a smiley face. Family problems, hassles at work, or illness can easily put a person in a funk. Some people have a knack for exuding a cheerful disposition regardless of how bad things are going while there are others can turn a sunny day into a dark one with a shitty attitude.

Worry can be insidious. It’s normal to worry. Worrying all the time can be detrimental to a person’s well-being.

I’m quite lucky. I’m not a worrier by nature. The last four months have provided a stern test for my worry meter. Returning to teaching after 40 years has been demanding to say the least. It might turn out to be one the craziest things I’ve ever done and possibly one of the most rewarding, a classic case of the risk/reward continuum.

Hiking seems to be the latest craze of the Baby Boomers. You know what it’s like to climb a mountain. It can be very strenuous but when you finally reach the pinnacle and take in a panoramic view, you realize it was all worth the effort. Then you get to go downhill which is the good part, unless you have gimpy knees.

I am extremely reluctant to say that I have crested the mountain up here in the arctic. It could be the lengthening days (and 2 straight weeks of sun filled days) that have improved my mood or the fact that I’m finally more comfortable in the classroom but for whatever reason, I feel a bit lighter. My belt buckle would argue.

Early last week, I met with one of the youngest teachers in the school. As mentioned in an earlier post, she has “it” whatever “it” is. In my estimation, she is a superstar teacher. She is wise beyond her years. I met with her to discuss classroom management issues. She gave me lots of great tips. She saved her best for the last. It wasn’t a classroom management tip at all. It was more of a pep talk. She assured me that I was making a difference in the lives of my students. She suggested that at the end of each day, I write down three positive things that happened. Even on our worst days, most of us can find a few positives. Try it. I think that the conscious act of writing down positive things might help lift more people out of their malaise.

Don’t worry. Be happy.

As part of teaching English as a second language to Inuit children I use music. This past week, I dug out three old tunes and added them to my students’ song books which I’m compiling for them: Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, “Let it Be” by the Beatles, and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin. They seem to like these, especially the refrains which they’ve mastered. They snap their fingers and whistle along with Bobby McFerrin.

The very first song that I taught them last November was John Denver’s “Country Roads”. They never seem to get tired of singing this and most of them have aced the words without even using their songbooks.

It’s March and I can see spring in the distance.

There’s a spring in my step.

March break is coming up… in April! I’ll explain this seemingly contradictory statement in a later post.

Have a great week.

P.S. On the count of three, I want everyone to whistle the refrain from “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. Please send me you best feel good song.

Posted on February 24, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Fawlty Showers?

 

“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

Quote attributed to the ancient Hebrews and Babylonians.

Shower versus bath? It is the question for the ages, right up there with the toilet paper roll. Should it be facing up or down?

I obviously have a fair bit of time on my hands when I can ponder such weighty matters. Maybe this is what isolation does to someone from “the south”.

Last week, I moved into my new apartment. Well, it’s new to me but by the looks of it, it may have been constructed around the time I was born. You’re right. I was supposed to move into the brand new fourplex built by the School Board, but I ended up in one of their other buildings. You have far better things to do with your life than hear about the machinations that led to my change of address.
I am not unhappy with the move.

Someone who walked through the apartment at the time of the move said that it needed some love. I was thinking that a Caterpillar D8 dozer, a lightning strike or a tsunami sweeping up Wakem Bay might be more appropriate. The apartment is dated but so am I so we’re a perfect fit. The floors need to be levelled and replaced. (The D8?) So do the windows and many appliances. But there is one gem – the bathroom. It is fairly modern. This is a relative term.

When I think of the great joys in life, I imagine a fantastic meal, a good night’s sleep, true love, or a Wheel Pizza. I’ll add one more to the list: a hot shower with good water pressure. One would think with evolution and natural selection that we would have perfected this creature comfort but “we haven’t come a long way, baby”, as finding a great shower can be elusive.

Hotels are notorious for faulty showers. Hey, maybe I’ll approach the BBC and start a new comedy series with this catchy title. Not that I frequent fancy hotels very often unless there is no choice, but keyless entries, remote controls, and mysterious shower fixtures keep staff busy running back and forth to my room.

I also found some interesting configurations during my time in India. I could eventually get them to work but was never certain on any given day whether I would be taking a hot shower or a cold one.

During my walk across Spain, I encountered some of the tiniest shower facilities on the planet. I have come to realize that the Conquistadors did not come to the New World seeking gold but rather bigger showers.

Forty years ago, I had my first knee operation. Back then they immobilized you, keeping you in a cast for 3-6 months. Taking a shower was a tricky endeavor, wrapping the leg and cast in green garbage bags. After a month of sponge baths, having a shower was pure ecstasy. I also remember clearly my first shower after having the cast removed. My leg looked like a toothpick on the Scarsdale diet!

So many shower heads just don’t work well. Add to this, shitty water pressure and you get an intermittent stream of water that couldn’t satify a squirrel.

My “new” old apartment has an awesome shower. I don’t care if they renovate my place (which they are threatening to do) and install crystal chandeliers along with a Dolby sound system playing Charley Pride. I will give them strict instructions to keep their hands off the shower.

Some of the new shower heads are bigger than the one sitting on my shoulders… and just as inefficient.

A great shower washes away one’s worries, cures aches and pains, soothes the spirit, and provides inspiration for writing stories and songs.

It also improves a person’s attitude and makes them smell better!

Before you shower your friends with praise, have a hot shower first.

Have a great week.

P.S. Don’t forget. It’s a leap year. This Saturday is February 29th. I have pledged not to drink any red wine on February 30th or 31st!

Posted on February 17, 2020 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Inuit artifacts at the NV

 

 

“It takes a village to raise a child.”

This African proverb reflects the emphasis African cultures place on family and community.

But what exactly is a village and how does it operate for the collective good of its citizens?

I decided to get a few answers to this question by taking my students on a fact-finding mission to the town hall in Kangiqsujuaq. Up here, the building is referred to as the NV, short for Northern Village. Having served 9 years as an elected official back home, I have some sense of how communities work but I was eager to learn how northern communities function and was particularly interested in having my students get a firsthand look at the inner workings of the place they call home.

Back in my high school days, we took a class called civics. Civics derives from the Latin word civicus, meaning relating to a citizen. We also took Latin and French. At the time, like thousands of students before us, we wondered why we had to take such boring subjects.
I can see you old-timers nodding your heads. We were so fortunate back in pre-historic times to take such interesting classes as woodworking, drafting, art, music, home economics, and lots of gym classes.

On a bitterly cold morning last week, we walked up to the NV to meet with Paula (not her real name), the secretary-treasurer. When we arrived, she was tied up, so the receptionist chatted with the students. The receptionist in any office is crucial to the smooth running of any business. Eventually, Paula showed up and escorted our entourage to Council Chambers. It is a beautiful room filled with windows, sunlight, Inuit art and optimism.

Initially, my class was much more interested in the adjustable swivel chairs where the councilors sit for meetings, but gradually, Paula had them completely engaged.

The village employs seventy people. Besides the administrative officials and support staff, the village employs drivers for the water trucks, sewage trucks, oil trucks, and garbage trucks. It also hires people to drive the two community transit buses, and the people who run the municipally owned gym, swimming pool and arena.

I was very curious about electricity generation. Being a remote community, I thought that keeping the power on, especially in the dead of winter, was pretty important. We learned that Hydro Quebec operates the power generating station. Electricity is produced by diesel powered generators. There are massive storage silos on the edge of town that hold all of the oil and gas needed to run the community for the winter months. In the spring, tankers will come into Wakem Bay to re-supply.

On more than one occasion, I wondered what would happen if the power went out for an extended period. Paula told me that their EMO (Emergency Measures Operation) plan would be to bring all the residents to the gymnasium. Nine hundred bodies in one room would bring the temperature up several degrees! When I thought about it afterwards, I grinned to myself. The Inuit lived on the land for centuries without electricity. If there was one place I should feel safe, it is here among the Inuit, the ultimate survivors.

I felt compelled to ask Paula about the village’s most pressing problem. I wasn’t surprised with her response. Alcohol, particularly bootlegging, is a serious issue in northern communities. To be fair, it is also a problem in southern communities.

I was very pleased that, without prompting, Paula told my students that learning to speak and write the English language was crucial if they were ever to consider working at the NV. It is the official working language of the village.

On Valentines Day, I asked the students to write a short thank you note to Paula and the staff for giving us their time. I hand delivered them to the NV on my way home at the end of the day.

It takes children to raise a village.

Someday my students could very well be part of a team that looks after its citizens.

Have a great week.