Posted on May 31, 2018 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

 

James MacPherson left us on November 8^th, 2017, but he will not be forgotten.

Besides being recognized by the Antigonish Highland Society at this year’s Highland Games, James will be honored as St. Ninian’s Parish will be hosting a concert at the Cathedral on Saturday, July 7^th at 8:00 p.m. “Pastoral Airs. A Concert in Memory of James MacPherson,” will feature an impressive lineup of musicians, many of whom performed with James over the years. These include Margaret MacGregor MacDonald, John Pellerin, Scott Williams, Phillip Cooper, Ranke DeVries, Thea Huard, Michael Aucoin, Emery VandeWiel, Audrey Cochrane and the St. Ninian’s Senior Choir. We are awaiting confirmation from a few other performers.

Tickets are $20 advance and $25 at the door. We expect the concert to be a sell out so you might want to get your tickets early. Tickets are available now at 5 to $1.00, MacKinnon Pharmasave and St.Ninian Parish office. For those of you reading this in far flung parts of the world, you can also order them online by going to the Antigonish Highland Society website beginning next week. https://www.antigonishhighlandsociety.ca/

James was the organist at St. Ninian’s for close to 50 years and a mainstay at the Highland Games for decades. He was passionate about St.Ninian’s Cathedral. He was particularly enamored with the restoration work being done on the Saints that adorn the walls of the cathedral. Please take a few minutes and look at this video which explains the historical significance of the paintings and the work being done to preserve them. http://www.saintninian.ca/history/artrestore.mp4

All of the proceeds of this concert will go to the continued restoration work.

The first Saint to be given a facelift was St. Cecelia and she is the patroness of musicians. She overlooks the choir loft and brought enormous joy to James when the restoration of her figure was completed.

Also, at the concert, we will be displaying copies of a stretched canvass print of the Anna Syperek painting of James at the organ which many of you would have seen on James’ memorial card. These will be available for purchase at Antigonish 5 to $1.00.

I will be the Emcee for the event and promise not to sing any solos! I can’t promise that there won’t be a few laughs as we celebrate the life of a gifted musician and great friend.

Hope to see you there. Get your tickets early.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. Please SHARE if you would.Tx.

 

 

 

Posted on May 24, 2018 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

 

Pearls of wisdom.

With shocking regularity, we are witnessing the end of an era as many well-known Antigonish area women have completed their earthly toil. And oh, how they toiled.

I wasn’t the only one thinking about mothers last week when I wrote about my mom’s death. Besides words of comfort, many of you took the time to speak about your own mothers, many praising them effusively. I have culled some of your comments to give you a flavour of what came across my computer.

“I was also blessed with a warm and caring mom and was lucky that I could sit beside her bed when she died, nine days before her 100^th birthday. But mothers like that never really leave you. They stay with you as long as you live. So, in a sense, they never die but live on in our memories and stay with us all of our lives.”

Someone chose a nautical metaphor. A ship leaves the harbor under full sail. “I stand and watch her at length until she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!” “Gone where?” “Gone from my sight.” The ship disappears over the horizon but it hasn’t gone forever. We just can’t see it. It’s sort of like losing a loved one. We can’t see them but we know they’re with us. They’re just beyond the horizon.

The next one struck me hard as well. Why is it that mothers are revered and often there is nary a mention of our fathers? “On reading the tribute to your mom, I couldn’t help thinking this too sounds so much like my mom, ladies of a generation who despite all that may have been hard, their character, grace, humour, and prayerful gratitude, made them such unique mamas. Sometimes I’ll offer a silent apology to dad (who died some time ago) that he doesn’t jump into my thoughts the way mom does.”

The past week brought about a lot of reminiscing. If you’re over 65, take a look at this list and put a check mark beside everyone you recognize:

Hot poultices for boils; Lestoil; cod liver oil pills; sunlight soap; iron on patches on the knees of blue jeans; 30 pound turkey in the oven at Christmas; cardboard boxes of meat from John D’s Meat Market; shoes lined up on newspaper the night before mass and polished with Scuff Coat; rinso; starlac; margarine with a belly button; choco; Perry Como; JFK; cherry blossoms; the electric hot plate on the floor with Friar’s balsam simmering away in a steel pot; sifting bugs out of the flour bin; Radio brand green peas; Lenten decades of the rosary; Lowney’s pail of hard candy that would stick together inside your Christmas stocking; the diaper pail; the wringer washer; Vince the milkman; Angus “the beard”; three digit telephone number; having a diaper wrapped around your neck with over a healthy dose of Vick’s vapo rub to ease the pain in your throat.

This is just a partial list.

So there, not a single creative thought from me. I stole all these things from you.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Mark Twain that was sent to me as well:

“My mother had a slender, small body but a large heart; a heart so large that everybody’s joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation.”

Have a great weekend.

 

 

Posted on May 17, 2018 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

Len and Pete

 

YUMM.

What do you buy for the person who has everything, or in my case, for the person who has nothing and wants nothing?

I jokingly say I have nothing, but in truth, I have everything, especially my health. I just don’t own a whole lot of personal possessions and plan to keep it that way. As a wise person once said, “To have more, want less.”

We literally and figuratively cleaned house when we moved into our two bedroom apartment three years ago. We got rid of 90% of our worldly possessions. Of the few things remaining that we kept was the toolbox. It was a mystery why we bought one in the first place when we became homeowners.  Neither one of us are particularly handy wielding a hammer. It is an even greater mystery why we kept it as apartment dwellers. Seriously, I don’t think any of the cable outlets wants us to replace Mike Holmes.

So are you looking for a unique gift? It could be to commemorate a birth or a death. It might be for a wedding (or a divorce)! I can already hear Loretta Lynn crooning D.I.V.O.R.C.E! It might be for a job promotion or an impending retirement. “Take This Job and Shove It” might be appropriate. Graduation, birthdays, special birthdays (“When I’m 64 ‘). Christmas. Easter. Thanksgiving. You get my drift. It could be for just about any occasion or life event.

I still remember getting some rather dirty looks from my wife early in our marriage for the wooden spoons and measuring cups I bought one Christmas.

Would you like to create some lasting memories?

YUMM is the answer to your prayers. Pete and I are thinking of launching a new music video service this fall. You simply send us the name of the recipient and the life event. You include in your message a song that the recipient might enjoy and we’ll create short musical video using parts of the song. (1-1:30 minutes). We’ll send you the clip from our YouTube channel and you can share it as you see fit. We’ll charge you $50. Your friends will love it.

So. What do you think? I’m looking for some feedback. I sent it to a few of my loyal readers to do a test drive and we have our first order booked.

And how, you ask, did we come up with the incredibly clever acronym? Well, that’s for you to figure out. If you can tell me what YUMM stands for, I’ll give you a copy of my three books. If you already have them, you can wait and I’ll give you one of the first copies of my India book due out late in the fall.

Have a great holiday weekend and stay safe.