Posted on November 6, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

Shades of YMCA

 

 

I spend so much time chauffeuring the ladies to the malls in Florida that they chipped in and bought me a taxi driver’s hat. Looking a bit like one of the Village People, I spontaneously broke out with a chorus of Y M C A !

Do you have any idea of how many words an average 3 year old child knows? It’s around 1000 and this number leaps to an astonishing 50,000 words by the time a child reaches the age of 12. This is sometimes puzzling as many teenagers respond to questions with monosyllabic grunts. Where have you heard this before: “ Where are you going?” “ Out.” “Who are you going with?” “ Nobody.” “ When will you be home?” “ Later.”

The English language can be downright confusing for people from other countries who come to live here. Several words sound exactly the same but have very different meanings, like “ there” “their” and “they’re.”

And some of our shortest words have very complex undertones.

Take the word “we.”

On the surface, “we” is a pronoun,  very easy to understand. That is, until you enter a relationship or get married. When a spouse says to her partner, “we have to rake the leaves,” it really means that “he” is going to rake the leaves. You get my drift. Ah yes, the royal “we.” I am working on a story with this as the theme. Working on a title and it looks like this: “ We” do it All For “You.”

As regular readers know, I shy away from controversial stuff like politics. My goal is to entertain and not wade into shark infested waters. But watching the mid term elections in the U.S. and reading Graham Steele’s new book “What I learned About Politics,” makes me feel that democracy as we know it is in really bad shape. The U.S. is almost dysfunctional. There is no middle ground in their political system any more…or at least that’s how it appears at ground level. Enough.

A small committee is continuing to work out the details of how the community can assist Austin and Marilyn with their wedding. This is a real wonderful story. I am the “foreign correspondent” on the committee but we want to make sure that this is done properly and with dignity. After all, it is their wedding and we don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. An update will be coming shortly. Many thanks to all of you who have been in touch with me with offers of support. I still contend that Antigonish is the best small town anywhere. We’re far from perfect but when it’s crunch time, we deliver.

Have a great day.

P.S. My good friend, M.D. sent me this video link a few days ago. If you have 6 minutes and 27 seconds at the end of your busy day, take a peek.

http://www.aboveandbeyond.ca/bruce-teacher-letters-students/

Posted on October 30, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Antiques galore

 

 

“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

I’m not sure who gets credit for this oft quoted adage but there is a great deal of truth in it. Not everyone subscribes to this.

Many people are in such a rush to get to their destination,  that they sometimes forget to take time to appreciate the scenery. And I’m not just talking about mountains and rivers. People start wishing for Friday on Mondays. They spend all of their lives dreaming about the day they can retire, instead of embracing each day. And when it comes to travel, the shortest distance between two points seems to be the goal.

I should know. I have been guilty of all these things at one point or another.

The picture above was taken in downtown Bangor. No one goes to downtown Bangor. Everyone in the Maritimes drives or takes bus tours to Maine. The objective is to either bypass Bangor altogether or, if they are going shopping, a trip to the Bangor Mall is a must.

We decided to take a break from the driving and “take the road less travelled” and go into downtown Bangor.

The Antique Marketplace and Café has to be one of the most interesting places that I`ve ever been. It has acres of antiques and knick knacks and a wonderful old fashioned café with terrific food. I had a chat with Leann, the waitress who has been doing this line of work forever. We came to the conclusion that veterans like her are a mixture of weather people, travel agents, psychologists, doctors, financial advisors and mothers to the many people who pour out their hearts to these “grand dames. I thought this might be a great story idea so coming soon, look for “Counter Culture.”

You knew that I would be writing about our trip to Florida and I certainly wouldn’t want to disappoint you. At the end of day 2, we found ourselves hunkered down at the Comfort Inn in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. ( technically, it’s Pittson PA ). Now Wilkes- Barre is best known for three reasons: it is the home of Planters Peanuts, hurricane Agnes ravaged the city in 1972 and one of its beloved hockey heroes is our own Dennis Bonvie.

We checked in at the end of a long day and were met at the front desk by Bobbi and Becky. I asked for the senior’s rate and for some inexplicable reason, they didn’t ID me! We were only in our room a short time when we received a call from Becky. She wanted to make sure everything was satisfactory with the room and invited us for a complimentary buffet at suppertime… manager appreciation day. Nice touch. I met the general manager Eliza briefly and gave her a copy of my new book to share with the staff.

Well I don’t know too many Maritimers who will pass up a free meal of brown beans and pulled pork especially when there is complimentary wine and beer. We even sat around with some of the staff after the meal, including the sales manager, “Princess Stephanie.”  Later in the evening, Betty called the front desk to see if they had a separate room that she could get. I overheard something about the aftermath of the brown beans.

It’s funny how some places you stay have the knack of making you feel right at home. I highly recommend this place if you happen to be driving through Sidney Crosby country.

Glad you enjoyed “ Trouble in Paradise.”

Have a great week.

Easy on the Halloween candy.

 

One more antique

Posted on October 23, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Take a hike, Mac!

 

 

I was really desperate for a picture to go with today’s post so I went right to the bottom of the barrel and found this one. It was taken on the Cape George hiking trails awhile ago. Expect some different pictures shortly as Betty and I sojourn south, by car, for a vacation.

Yesterday’s events in Ottawa are very sobering for all of us. We all know that the world changed radically after 9-11 and terrorism has now found our shores. We all pause to reflect on lives lost and the loss of innocence.

Someone asked me the other day if I ever considered writing something more serious, with a bit more heft, as it were. I could,  and I have,  but choose not to. There are enough bad things to write about. Hopefully, the appeal to my stories is that I look on the brighter side of things, or at least find the humour in everyday life.

We all know ( unfortunately ) , that Nova Scotia’s greatest export is people. We have been sending our best and brightest abroad for a very long time. While we think the mass exodus to the oil patch is unprecedented, it is just another part of a cycle. I haven’t done an exhaustive study on this but I think the export of teachers would rival that of pipefitters and welders. I was mulling this over the other day after writing the story about my first paid day of substitute teaching. ( you liked that one, BTW ).

I decided to expand upon that theme and have just finished a new story about Maritime teachers plying their trade in other parts of the country. Let’s just say that teachers from the Maritimes are a spirited lot and have occasionally found themselves in some unusual circumstances. In “ Trouble in Paradise,” there are two teacher “incidents” that have come under the microscope. This story will appear in The Casket next Wednesday and also on my website.

My Halloween story is scheduled to be published this coming Saturday. It is called, “ The Case For Halloween.” As mentioned in an earlier post, the “joyless curmudgeons of political correctness” have tried to remove as much fun as humanly possible by calling this “orange and black day.” And don’t even get me started on Christmas. If I go sideways one of these days and start calling it something weird, please feel free to march me down to the lagoon at the end of Main Street and toss me in.

Three “never heard before stories” will be launched at the fundraiser in Heatherton on Sunday. Ticket sales are very good. Hope you can make it. I still have a few to sell so give me a shout .

Have a great weekend.