Posted on October 7, 2019 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Luke’s Tree

 

I don’t know much about chestnut trees. I climbed the big one in the back yard of our house near the old CJFX radio station building many, many times in my youth. Every year around this time, the chestnuts would mature and the prickly objects would fall to the ground. But like an angry dog whose bark is often worse than its bite, the prickly outer covering, once removed, reveals a smooth, warm object with a pleasant aroma. With a nail or some other sharp object, holes were made in the chestnuts and once a piece of string was passed through the holes, you had a homemade necklace. Simple pleasures. Simpler times.

And why this fit of nostalgia? Well, most of you know that it takes very little to get me rambling on about the good old days. The other day I received a picture of a bunch of ripened chestnuts. Along with the picture was this message: “Hi Len. The chestnut tree grew chestnuts for the first time this year.” Now, most times, a declaration like this would hardly make my heart flutter but on this occasion, I had a lump in my throat.

Seventeen years ago, we lived in the country in “Upper Cloverville”. We had chickens, tried our hand at gardening, and heated our house with wood that I joyfully split near our shed. We had four teenagers at the time and the constant driving to far flung areas of the county for dates and the like, convinced us that we should move back to town. We sold our house to a young couple. Before the closing date, a tragic accident took place not far from our home. A young 13 year old boy died in a car accident. We knew the family.

We decided to plant a small seedling on our property in memory of this young boy. One of the unwritten parts of the sales agreement was that the new owners would nurture this tree. Seventeen years later, Luke’s tree bore fruit and produced its first crop of chestnuts.

From all accounts, Luke Berthiaume was an amazing young boy. Shortly before his death he wrote the following in his journal: “Always remember to have a good day.” Loved ones are never forgotten. The chestnut tree stands in his honour.

My Camino book officially left the pier on Friday with the launch of “Eat, Sleep and Walk: Stories from the Camino”. I had a great turnout at the Arts House last Friday evening. On Saturday, I sat outside the Campus Bookstore at St.F.X. University and sold some books to visiting alumni, back in Antigonish for Homecoming 2019. I had several wonderful conversations with old friends. The conversation starter was my grad photo which I had brought along as a prop. I had considerably more hair then than I do now!

Many thanks to my brother Gerard and friend, Kathy who helped me transport books on the weekend. And a super big shout out to my friends at the Arts House for providing their space for my launch. I almost forgot to mention Diana who worked with me at the launch Friday and on Saturday, when I had a technology snag. She dropped what she was doing and made her way to campus. Thank you, Diana!

Always remember to have a good day.

 

Posted on September 30, 2019 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville where many C&W greats got their start

 

“Three chords and the truth”

WARNING: RANT ALERT

Call me a late bloomer or just call me old but with time on my hands lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. This is singularly a dangerous occupation for a senior citizen like me. I’m convinced that society doesn’t really want us thinking too much. It wants us to react to the blizzard of information thrown our way. It especially wants us to spend money on things we don’t really need.

It’s official. I have stopped watching television news. I just can’t stomach it any more. The little bits of news I consume are from my CBC News app. I pick and choose what I want to read rather than having it rammed down my throat.

I watched the opening salvo of the Federal Election coverage but I refuse to watch federal leaders tell me for weeks on end, how they are going to make Canada a better country. Sorry, I ain’t buying it. I saw one day of attack ads and that was enough to make me turn the channel and watch a Muppets rerun.

So now that I have finally rid myself of these irritants, what am I doing to fill those wasted hours?

I have rediscovered PBS. Instead of watching someone promising me the sun and the moon and a tax cut, I am learning about some of the great cities in the world like Prague, Berlin and Rome. I am watching all sorts of documentaries. I am not being force fed advertisements. I feel liberated.

Late one evening last week, I flicked on PBS just before turning in for the night. There was a special focusing on the history of Country and Western music. I got quite caught up in it and ended up staying up way beyond my normal bedtime. I won’t tell you what this is. I want you laughing with me and not at me!

I have continued to watch for the past several days and it has been quite the education. I am finally starting to realize the appeal of C&W music. The music is simple (three chords) and the lyrics are honest (the truth). In a world inundated with false news, there is something pure about Country music. You don’t have to struggle to understand what a performer is actually saying.

The other morning, rather than listen to Jay and Dan at 6:00 a.m., I turned on PBS and watched a fantastic concert from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, a place I visited with my son four years ago. The history lesson continued with a who’s who of the greats in C&W performing many of the classic hits. It is a bit of a slight to suggest that country musicians only know three chords. “Three chords and the truth” is a Country mantra, not mine. The stage was filled with world class musicians brilliantly displaying their craft. I was mesmerized.

I’ll take three chords and the truth over fake news any day.

“My god, Len you sound like a broken record.”

“What’s a record, grandpa?”

Have a great week.

P.S. I am hoping some of you can make it to my book launch this Friday, October 4^th. at 6:30 p.m. at The Arts House (former Visitor Information Centre next door to Boston Pizza).

Posted on September 23, 2019 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Ballantyne’s Cove

 

Seven years ago, I wrote my first story on the back of a boarding pass on a flight from Toronto to Tampa Bay. When I ran out of room on the boarding pass, I wrote the remainder of the story on a bar napkin. One thousand and thirty-eight (1,038) stories later, I’m still at it. William Shakespeare needn’t feel threatened. I like to write and I write about ordinary things. Often I write about extraordinary people and lately, I have been doing a fair bit of travel writing.

My fifth book is on its way from the printer and on Friday, October 4^th. at 6:30 p.m. at the Arts House (the former Visitor Information Centre), I will release book #5 – “Eat, Sleep and Walk: Stories from the Camino”. This book launch will be a bit different from the previous ones. Instead of reading passages from the new book, I plan to do a brief PowerPoint presentation. Rather than tell you about my walk across Spain this past May, I will show you some pictures of the landscape and some of the interesting people I interviewed for the book.

I hope you will be able to join me.

A few of you have wandered into the 5 to $1.00 looking for my new book. I expect to receive my books at the end of this week so hopefully they’ll be available the week of the 30^th. For those of you out of town, you can order a copy on Amazon. There’s a link here on my homepage that will direct you to Amazon and my book. Of course, for you locals, if you want to save a bit of tax, you can track me down and get a copy directly from me.

While I’m on the travel theme, there is an interesting event happening tomorrow evening (24^th) at the Red Sky Gallery on Main Street at 7:00 p.m.“Travel Tales: trauma and triumph on the road” will feature several local people, including yours truly, who will briefly describe some of their best (and most hair- raising) experiences traveling the world. I think I lost the last remaining hairs on my head during the three weeks I spent in New Delhi, India trying to sort out a visa problem.  If you’re interested in travel and storytelling, this is an event that you might quite enjoy.

Are you a small business owner? You might be interested in advertising on my glamourous website! As you can see from looking at my home page, several well- known businesses have chosen Week45 as one of their advertising platforms. The ads are inexpensive ($10/week) and on average are displayed between 20,000- 25,000 times over a six month period. I add new content to this website at least twice a week and with a loyal reading audience, advertisers get maximum exposure. I have a web team who can assist you with the design of your ad which is clickable directly to your home page. I have only four spots remaining.

Pie making: take two.

I’m on a roll. In the past 10 days, I’ve been on a pie making rampage. Well, not quite a rampage but I have made three pies – two butterscotch cream and one banana cream. Like writing, baking is a creative pursuit but unlike writing, it comes with many added calories. After all, quality control is paramount and before serving dessert to guests, the host has to ensure that the product is fit for human consumption. I will have to exercise caution or else I’ll have to walk a lot further than across Spain!

Have a great week.