Posted on March 12, 2018 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Yearbook from Antigonish High School – 1970

 

” We love you AHS, oh yes we do,

We love you AHS, oh yes we do,

When you’re not winning, we’re blue,

Oh AHS, we love you.”

( Popular cheer leading refrain in 1970 )

 

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.

We hear this expression quite a bit and it rings true most of the time. But try telling that to a group of young children who may be going to Disney for the first time this March break.

When I look back at my own fleeting running experience, preparing and training for the Boston Marathon was every bit as important and satisfying (most days!) as the big event itself. Speaking of the marathon, I have a lovely framed picture from Boston of myself and Charlene Druhan cheerfully waving and smiling at the camera. A recent guest to our apartment commented on how fresh we looked. I informed them that we were only at the half way point in the race. A picture at the end of the race would not have been nearly as dignified as Charlene literally dragged me across the finish line.

For a group of us, the next destination is a 50^th reunion of the last graduating class of the former Antigonish High School in 2020. And why have we started the journey so soon, you ask? First of all, it will take us a considerable amount of time to track down former classmates. The organizing committee has had a few meetings and we have spent the time poring over old yearbooks from AHS. What a trip down memory lane. It seems that just about every grad photo elicits a story which spins into other stories. There is no question that the journey will be every bit as satisfying as the destination with this endeavour.

Sadly, many of our classmates have passed away. Fifty years has a way of doing that.

Secondly, some of us are not as efficient planners as we once were and need double the time to get things done!

Many of the stories from these meeting revolve around former teachers. This is not meant to be a disparaging comment but when I think back to my own educational journey (a Catholic education), we feared the nuns every bit as much as we feared the Creator!

So, if you graduated from AHS in 1970, or were a grade 11 student in 1969 who chose to go to University from grade 11 ( an option back then ), work or elsewhere or were a grade 11 student in 1970 who did not go on to the new Regional High School ,we’re looking for you. You can sign up on our Facebook page ( AHS 50 year reunion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1586438914724621/ or get in touch with any one of the following committee members: Debbie (Cameron) MacDonald; Robert Sers;  Anne (Gillis) Moeller; Ann (Hatchette) MacDonald;  Bruce MacDonald;Eleanor (MacDonald) Brosha; and yours truly.

Retirement is amazing but if you’re anything like me, some days you wonder if it wouldn’t be less hectic to go back to work. It’s pretty bad when you have trouble trying to schedule a coffee with a friend. I think I need an Administrative Assistant! But truly, it is good to be healthy and busy. At the end of the day, I think most of us would like to “empty the tank” before calling it a day.

I will be enjoying the company of Katherine Reed for lunch sometime soon as she is the winner of the most recent Week45 contest. She identified the link between one of my new advertisers, MacIsaac Funeral Home and the line “it is a new undertaking for me…”

Have a great week.

P.S. On Saturday, I watched the drama unfold on television. No. I’m not talking about the amazing comeback of golfer, Tiger Woods. I’m talking about the debacle known as the Conservative leadership convention in Ontario. Looks like Christine Elliot is not “going gently into that good night.”

Donald Trump and now Doug Ford. How did we get here?

Posted on March 5, 2018 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

New threads from India. Thanks, Smita.

 

It was unintentional. It was bizarrely coincidental.

As I write this, it is day four of the vegan posse siege. I have been unable to leave my apartment as hordes of angry vegans stand outside my door chanting slogans and occasionally tossing cubes of tofu at my windows (no eggs allowed!).

Last week, I wrote a cheeky piece on veganism. I AM seriously looking at my diet as a way to deal with arthritis pain. Thanks for all of your pain remedies, btw! The day before I posted the story, I saw a poster at the library advertising a vegan potluck. I chuckled as I had already written my piece. How coincidental I thought. I did not check the date of the event but made a mental note to check this out and attend to learn more about the subject.

And so, I published the story last Thursday and found out that the potluck had indeed happened the day before… the very day I spied the poster from afar. If I was part of the vegan posse, I would have drawn a straight line between their potluck and my story.

It is actually quite ironic because last year in India, I consumed more tofu than I had in my previous 65 years on this planet. Mind you, most of the time I didn’t know I was eating tofu as it was part of some amazing dish I was eating. It’s all in the preparation as most tofu adherents would know. I plan to attend the next vegan potluck but may have to come in disguise!

Some of you may have noticed something new on my website: advertising. It is a new undertaking for me as several businesses here and in the Strait area have agreed to advertise on Week45. Please take a moment from time to time and click on their banner which will take you to their home page. I have one more space available if anyone out there is interested. Thank you to Highland Hearing, Trimac Toyota, The Maples  (Retirement Living), Success’N Planning, MacKinnon’s Pharmasave, MacIsaac Funeral Home and EMM Law.

Do you remember “soap on a rope?” Of course you do because you’re an old fart like me. I was quite startled to discover, during my lengthy research on the subject (30 seconds on Wikipedia), that SOAR has been around since the late 1940’s. It was created by the English Leather Company. Yes, the same company that makes the men’s aftershave that I wore for years hoping to lure young women when I was single. I think it made a better insect repellent!

For my younger readers, here’s what you need to know about soap on a rope. The user is meant to place the rope loop (which is attached to a bar of soap) over their head or around their wrist to prevent the soap from falling to the bottom of the shower floor. I can see SOAR making a very big comeback with the Boomers. We will be purchasing it by the bushel. We’ll hang it around our neck so that we remember where to find the soap. Hell, we can wear it all day long and it can double as an aftershave!

And why, you ask, am I bringing up this arcane item? The first Christmas gift that I received back in the 1982 when I started a 13 year stint as Administrator of the CACL Workshop was from Ignatius Delorey. It was soap on a rope. I was to receive several of them that year causing me to wonder if my showering techniques needed improvement.

Iggy passed away a few days. Once he discovered that I played guitar and could hum a few bars of Charley Pride, we were friends for life. I would see him coming down the hall way and he would be imitating strumming a guitar and singing Charley Pride. He had a wonderful, cheerful presence. I left CACL in 1994 but bumped into Ignatius several times over the years. These encounters followed a similar pattern started 36 years ago. Rest in peace my dear friend.

Have a great week.

 

Posted on February 26, 2018 under Monday Morning Musings with 6 comments

The Art of Conversation

 

A conversation.

I have been writing for six years now… 856 stories and counting. What started out as a lark has turned into a passion. I love to write. I know that I will never win any literary awards. My writing is simple and I rarely use any big words. Hell, my English methods teacher in my Education year at St.F.X. more or less told me ( and most of my classmates ! ), that I was borderline illiterate as he tore my first several essays to shreds issuing  failing grades. I think he would be surprised and possibly horrified, to know that I am working on my fourth book.

So. Pray tell, dear readers, why do you continue to read my musings?

I have a theory. Here are a few statistics: 73% of you are 55 and older with nearly 50% of you over the age of 65. Most of us have a shared experience. Our roots are similar with some mixture of Scottish, Irish and French. Most of us are Baby Boomers and grew up in the 50’s and 60’s as kids watching Ed Sullivan and Bonanza.

Being from Antigonish, most of us were raised Catholic. I always get a big reaction whenever I post something about my Catholic upbringing.  I have often thought about writing a whole book about growing up Catholic. And then I quickly come to my senses and realize that this is a really bad idea!

Most of my stories are just about everyday things. The topics are endless (and occasionally mindless). But the stories form some kind of narrative and what it boils down to is that we are really just having a conversation through the use of technology. I feel very connected to all of you. When I’m writing, it’s as if you’re sitting across the table with your cup of tea and we’re just shooting the breeze. You mention something harmless and right away my wheels are spinning knowing that I have the kernel for a story.

Lest you think that I pore over every word that I write, you’re wrong. That should be obvious! I usually jot down a few key points in my trusty scribbler (I’m keeping Hilroy in business). The meat of the story, if there’s such a thing, is usually crafted in my head somewhere between Hawthorne Street and Liquor Lane on my morning walks. As many of you know, I often pull out a line from a tune from the past to set the tone of the story.

And then, I turn on the computer, open the Word program and start. It usually comes gushing out like a storm drain in a flood… or an open sewer. Pick your own analogy. I write the whole piece start to finish, in one go, pausing only to sip my coffee. Most of what I write is done in the early hours of the morning.

Why am I telling you all of this? I don’t have a clue! From time to time, I bump into one of you on the street and we have this kind of conversation.

And really, Week45, is just one, elongated conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

One more thing. The most often asked question? What is Week45?

About 10 years ago, we took our first trip to Florida and shortly after that, we bought our first time share. For the uninitiated, time shares are typically bought by the week, based on a time share calendar. So, the first week of January becomes Week 1 and the last week of the year in December is Week 52. I know that you are all math whizzes and can quickly determine (roughly) what week of the year we bought our initial time share.

My writing “career” began in Florida and when it came time to “brand” my business, I thought Week45 was as good as any.

There. You know my most intimate secrets. And I know a lot of yours!

I’ll keep writing as long as you keep reading.

Have a great week.