Posted on July 15, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

 

Bridge and Roses

(Photo by B.Gould)

 

“Slip sliding away,

Slip sliding away,

You know the nearer your destination,

The more you slip sliding away.”

Slip Slidin’ Away – Simon and Garfunkel

That whooshing sound you hear is the summer ‘slip slidin’ away’.

“Oh my god, Len. You make Eeyore seem like Polyanna.” Truth be told, I think my personality profile is tilted much more heavily towards Polyanna than Eeyore. Eeyore is generally characterized as the pessimistic, gloomy, depressed sidekick of Winnie the Pooh. Polyanna is often described as an excessively cheerful or optimistic person. I have more good days than bad. I am happy more than sad. It’s just that I looked at the calendar and it is already July 15^th. It happens every moth with shocking regularity. The month begins slowly, the 15^th arrives when you’re napping and then, pow, it’s the end of the month again. Please nod if you feel the same. There’s a good chance that everyone nodding is over 65.

In a recent post, I told you that I opted to do the MDN program (self-directed!) instead of the headier Masters in Adult Education. In case you missed that post (shame on you), an MDN is a Masters in Doing Nothing. I am happy to report that I am moving along so quickly and proficiently, that I am now pondering taking the leap and tackling the much more demanding PhD. (Piled Higher and Deeper). This will qualify me to teach a university course on slothfulness or possibly lead a singalong at a daycare centre.

How is it humanly possible to do so little in a given day and actually feel like you accomplished something? I suppose that getting out of bed is a moral victory of sorts and being able to go for a walk counts for something but, my goodness that is hardly a reason to contact the folks at Guinness World Book of Records.

I haven’t baked a single thing in 6 weeks and have prepared the grand total of one meal. Am I doing a cleanse? Not on your life unless you consider my morning shower as a chief component of my cleanse. I am probably eating healthier than I have in some time thanks to my friends at Fresh Food Matters. Their food is delicious and nutritious. I have eaten more salad in the past month and a half than I have in 69 years. I haven’t wasted a scrap of food either. I am so pleased to see that my crisper doesn’t contain a bag of soggy lettuce or tomatoes only fit for throwing at a politician.

I have taken sloth to new heights, and I am deliriously happy.

I am thrilled that I am getting to spend time with two of my granddaughters. I must admit that they are much more worldly than I was at the age of 9. They are very smart and bilingual. I admit to speaking passable English. I am learning about Minecraft and gender fluidity. I barely knew what the word gender meant at that tender age. We go to the playground, enjoy the occasional ice cream and will go to the beach whenever it stops raining. Cue “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh”. I guess we can’t complain about a soggy June on the east coast as our friends on the west coast experience extreme heat and wildfires.

Some of you might remember that 10 years ago or so, I wrote a bi-weekly piece in our local paper. It’s called The Casket. Go ahead and guffaw, those of you who think that the paper would only hire deadbeat writers like me. The Casket refers to a casket of jewels. On the opposite weeks, my friend, Phil wrote a column. Phil is a retired university English professor and a wonderful writer. Our column was called “As We See It”. Despite the fact that Phil has spent much of his adult life here in Antigonish, he is still considered by some as a CFA (Come From Away). I wrote from the perspective of a local. Phil’s stories came from a different area code. The contrasting styles seemed to work, and we were employed for a considerable amount of time. But everything runs its course including the paper itself which, sadly, bears no resemblance to the excellent and informative weekly it once was in its heyday.

I was chatting with Phil the other day and I’m trying to cajole him out of retirement for us to do a “Len and Phil” music and storytelling session sometime in the not-too-distant future. With all of the new brew pubs and distilleries opening up in the community lately, I think one of them might be a dandy place to hold such an event. The upside of holding it in a pub, is that, even if no one shows up, Phil and I would still be able to entertain one another and possibly the bar staff… if we tipped them enough!

I did it again. I managed to write 850 words about nothing. And I didn’t even tell you about the 30 km walk with my friend, Brenda last weekend or my recent cortisone shot. Riveting stuff but I didn’t want to get you too excited. If you bump into Brenda at Elm Gardens, ask her about corn starch!

Have a great weekend.

P.S. Speaking of the weekend, the first Art Fair of 2021 is tomorrow evening at Chisholm Park from 6-9 P.M.

Posted on July 8, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

 

Youth Day – Kangiqsujuaq

Representatives of the Fire Service, Police Department and Social Services meet to plan a Youth Day in Kangiqsujuaq.

 

“On the road again,

Just can’t wait to get on the road again.”

On The Road Again – Willie Nelson

What can I do?

Many of you are feeling distraught about the revelation of mass graves of indigenous children who attended residential schools. There is also a sense of helplessness. After all, what can one person do?

On a macro level, governments and the churches have to address this head on and make things right. At a minimum, they must act on the “calls to action” in the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This will take time. It’s hard to point a huge ocean vessel in a different direction. On a micro level, many Canadians expressed their concerns with muted Canada Day celebrations and plenty of people have taken to social media to express solidarity by posting orange banners with messages of “All Lives Matter”.

We all know that in all likelihood, there will be more revelations of mass graves and more outrage, but it seems that issues like these have a short shelf life. Other crisis will undoubtably emerge taking our attention (and the media’s) away form the residential school tragedy.

What can I do that might make a direct impact of the lives of indigenous people?

I have made no secret that I am turning 70 next month. Rather than lamenting the fact that my body aches, that wrinkles are appearing with regularity and that my eyesight is worsening (the list is considerably longer!), I feel privileged to have lived this long. Many have not enjoyed this luxury like the children who perished in residential homes.

Recently, I was in touch with community leaders in Kangiqsujuaq (where I taught school the past two years) to see if there was something that I might do that was positive and constructive. I received a message from the Fire Chief who informed me that the Fire Service, Police Service and Social Services in the village were teaming up to put on an information and fun day for the youth in the community sometime before school starts up in mid-August.

Covid has affected everyone in some way. It has been particularly hard on our oldest citizens and in many ways, our youngest citizens. Besides the fear of the virus, it has forced people to spend long periods of time away from friends and family. We were lucky in Kangiqsujuaq in that we were able to hold in person classes at school but most other extracurricular activities including group gatherings were cancelled or severely limited.

The event in Kangiqsujuaq will center around safety. There are many issues and challenges faced by young people in northern communities. The hope is to have a day of education and frank discussions with the young people. After all, they are the future leaders of the village.

This is where you come in.

I have committed to raising at least $1,500 to assist the organizers with the purchase of food and treats for the event.

So, here’s my plan. To celebrate my 70^th birthday, I have decided to go for a little stroll. My original plan was to walk 70km to match my age. After some consideration, I have upped that a bit to 75km which is the precise mileage to walk around “The Cape”. I will complete the walk over two days, August 9^th and 10^th. I will dedicate this walk to the youth of Kangiqsujuaq and hopefully draw attention to my fundraiser. Day 1 will be 40km and day 2 will be 35km. I have arranged overnight accommodations just outside of Ballantyne’s Cove. Many thanks to PP and MP for agreeing to put me up and put up with me.

I have set up an account at the East Coast Credit Union (it will always be the Bergengren Credit Union to me) called Len’s Walk, for those of you in Antigonish who want to make a donation in person. For the rest of my friends, you can send me an e-transfer at lenpdmacdonald@gmail.com.

Some quick math. As many of you brilliant mathematicians have already deduced, there is an easy correlation between 75 km and $1,500. It works out to $20 a kilometer. Any size donation will be greatly appreciated and will go directly to the young people of Kangiqsujuaq.

There is another way you might help. Why not lace up your runners and come and walk part of the route with me. I don’t expect that many of you would be keen to do all 75km but maybe one or two kilometers to help me pass the time. When we get closer to the date, I’ll give you more specifics about approximate times and locations.

I know that I always seem to have my hand out for some worthy cause. This one is personal to me, and I am confident that we will be able to raise the funds for this important event.

Thank you.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. I would be delighted if you would share this post with your friends. Tx.

P.P.S. The first person to donate $100 will receive a set (6) of my books. 

 

Posted on July 1, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

 

Eating and reading. These are a few of my favourite things.

 

Someone said that it’s a holiday today.

Thanks for the memo.

The only thing retirees know about the days of the week is that they all end in the letter Y. This wasn’t always the case. Most people of my generation have been working since they were teenagers. Many of us, especially in Catholic communities, came from large families. On our street alone, well in excess of 100 children occupied 27 homes. When you consider that 4 of these homes housed no children, you get the picture. I came from a family of 8 children. If you wanted the finer things in life like a CCM hockey stick, you damn well had to work for it.

At the tender age of 14, I got my first job. I was hired by Joe “Mike” MacDonald to cut the grass at the cemetery. I was paid the princely sum of $1.00 an hour which was the going rate for unskilled labor back in the 60s. In many ways, it was the ideal job. You worked unsupervised. No one in the cemetery was going to report a slothful youth. Other than the hum of the mower, it was quiet. There were only two times when you weren’t cutting grass: during a rainstorm and during a burial. I witnessed many committals from a distance. The hereafter was a mystery to a 14-year-old boy. It still is at the age of 69.

I am not going to spoil your holiday by giving you the details of my c.v. (Curriculum Vitae and not Corona Virus!). Safe to say, most of my loyal readers have worked all their lives. A few of us who didn’t get the memo that it was OK to stop someday, (?) continued to work beyond the normal retirement age of 65.

Now that I am officially retired, for the second time, I have been pondering the future. For the first time that I can ever remember, I don’t have many, if any, responsibilities. I have made inquiries about the possibility of doing a Masters in Adult Education at our local university. This has a lot of appeal: learning for the sake of learning. But it also sounds like it might be work.

After careful consideration I have decided that I will pursue a Masters in Doing Nothing (MDN). I seem to have already perfected the course syllabus. It involves sleeping, including power naps during the day… any time of the day. It incorporates a couple of walks a day, reading, eating, and consuming Netflix in rather large volumes. A glass of vino or a cold brew on a hot day, and, voila, you have attained your MDN.

I am reading a book about the life of Leonardo Da Vinci. I must admit that I know very little about art except our neighbor, Art MacD. who was the goaltender for our high school hockey team. Da Vinci was much, much more than an artist, as I have discovered. He had a brilliant mind and saw the world much differently than most mortals. However, he had one flaw that wouldn’t have gone down well with my mother. Leonardo was notorious for not finishing what he started. Many of his commissioned paintings were never completed.

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of a socially distanced outdoor meeting with Denise Davies. After traveling and working internationally for almost 45 years, Denise returned to Antigonish in 2010. In these past 11 years she has been photographing and writing about Nova Scotia. Recently she published an excellent book called “Out and About Antigonish”. If you want to explore nature, go for a hike, see our amazing beaches, learn about history, art, and culture, all within 2 hours of Antigonish, this is the book for you. When we are allowed to have visitors, this would be an excellent guidebook for them. www.outandaboutns.com

Are you bored with your cooking? So am I. While maple glazed pork tenderloin and sweet and sour meatballs sound yummy (unless you’re vegan!), after you’ve prepared and eaten them a gazillion times, the novelty and enjoyment fade quickly. Enter “Fresh Food Matters”. During my recent quarantine, I didn’t cook a single meal, unless you consider raisin toast and peanut butter a meal. Family and friends provided me with my main meal of the day. Never have I been so spoiled. My daughter suggested that I try one of Antigonish’s newest food emporiums. Fresh Food Matters prepares meals to go for unimaginative and uninspired people like yours truly. I am not suggesting that the rest of you are as unimaginative and uninspired as I am. They make delicious soups, hummus, fantastic salads and a variety of quiches and meals to go. https://www.talech.com/biz/ordering/328145/FRESH-FOOD-MATTERS-ANTIGONISH-NS#/menu. I may never cook again.

Part of my MDN involves childcare. I plan to spend time with my granddaughters this summer. A few days ago, I spent a few hours with one of them. With the school year ending in a few days’ time, I thought a little graduation ceremony (she’s in grade 3) was in order. We went out for lunch and then moseyed across the street to the 5 to $1.00 to pick up a graduation gift. She picked out a small plush toy and a box of Lego. We went back to my place. She quickly assembled a piano out of Lego and moved on to create a beautiful drawing.  I spectated. Watching a grandchild play might be one of the best spectator sports… ever.

The master of doing nothing will be hard at it on this holiday Thursday.

As Ringo Starr sang, “All I got to do is act naturally”!

Have a great weekend.