Posted on November 6, 2024 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

Fall colors

If not now, when?

I was chatting with a dear friend lately. We have known each other all our lives. We grew up on the same street. She’s a bit older (and wiser!) so we were never in the same class. She played in a legendary street hockey game with the boys when she was a small girl and managed to send me home in tears with a bloody nose. Hell hath no fury. Like so many childhood friendships, they wax and wane. Most of these friendships eventually fade away but a few have staying power. I am happy to report that this is one of them.

We had been making plans to get together for dinner, but you know how incredibly busy seniors can be! While trying to set a time and date, our conversation drifted off on to other topics. I casually mentioned that I was planning to travel to Spain next spring to tackle a different Camino. The Camino del Norte skirts the northern coastline of Spain along the Bay of Biscay and clocks in at about 850 kilomteters. My plan is to do the walk, spend a few days in Porto, Portugal to unwind and then visit Camino friends in Italy, Germany and England. In the words of the late Tommy Hunter…” the good Lord willin’”.

And why, you ask, would a seemingly sane 73-year-old man (?) spend nigh on 5 weeks traipsing across Spain?

Why not.

If not now, when?

The reality is that the clock is ticking. A second is still a second. A minute is still a minute. An hour is still an hour, and a day is still a day but, oh my, it doesn’t seem that way. It feels like time is drinking way too much Red Bull and is hurtling along like a runaway horse.

After my friend questioned my sanity (not for the first time!), I sent her this note: “You know, B., I’m trying my best not to let opportunities pass. Whether it is travel, new relationships, or musical endeavors (to name a few), I’m throwing caution to the wind. I don’t ever want to say…”I wish I had done…”. I want to get the most out of the time that I have left.”

I still believe that laughter is the best medicine.

I have been doing a lot of substitute teaching lately. It keeps me connected and engaged. The school is like a big extended family to me. I know all of the staff and most of the students now recognize me as a bit of a fixture. A new student who arrived in grade 7 from a feeder school stopped me in the hallway one day and asked me if I was the janitor. I have filled just about every conceivable position in the school and would happily do janitorial work. We have the best janitors at our school.

Last week, my assignment was a bit different. On a rotating basis, I covered for teachers who were having important planning meetings with school staff and parents. Every 15 minutes or so, I would head to a classroom and relieve the teacher. At the beginning of the school day a week ago, I walked into a classroom and made my way to the back of the room as the teacher explained that day’s lesson. He looked at me inquisitively. I took a seat and waited for him to take his leave. After a few minutes, it was apparent that there was a misfire. He finally asked me why I was there and then he realized that he was supposed to be in a meeting. He hadn’t received notice of the meeting. No harm done. He left, I took over the class and all was well.

During lunch hour, a group of us were sitting around the table and the teacher in question told his colleagues about the exchange that morning. His initial reaction when he had seen me as I wandered into his classroom was that I was possibly showing signs of early onset dementia. He had no idea why I was sitting at the back of his classroom. We all had a great laugh.

I had the most magnificent walk last week. It was the first really cold morning of the fall with the temperature just slightly below zero. There was a thick frost and the sky was cloudless. Walking through the woods I felt the crunch of the leaves underfoot. I’m not sure why this happens but when it’s this cold, the leaves fall in greater numbers. It felt as if I was walking in a storm except it was leaves falling rather than snow. Mercifully.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep.

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost

And miles (kilometers!) to go before I sleep.

Have a great weekend.

 

 

 

Posted on October 23, 2024 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

Huh?

 

“The seasons spinning round again,

The years keep rolling by.”

All My Life’s a Circle – Harry Chapin

You have to love the seasons.

Most people in my part of the world are experiencing one of the most magnificent falls in recent memory. The weather has been spectacular. If you’re an outdoors person, it has been a perfect time of year for a long bike ride, a hike in the mountains or a leisurely stroll on a country road. The Fall colors are breathtaking.

Fall

                                                               how

                                                             I love to catch

                                                           the falling leaves

                                                                   in autumn

                                            I

                                                                   Sit

                               and

                                                       wait

                                                                                                           beneath

                                                                     the

                                        trees

                                                                                       until

                                                            I’ve

                                                                          Cautumn

                                                                                                                                         Brian Bilston

Love this poem.

Every season coincides with some kind of special day. In “night’s deep silence” (the winter), we have New Year’s Day, followed by Valentine’s Day. Next up in early Spring is Easter. Then we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. In October we have Hallowe’en, Remembrance Day. Last but not least, we have Christmas in December.

I have highlighted December for a reason.

That’s because I’m going to go on a little rant.

I like the flow of the seasons. They arrive seamlessly one after the other.

At least, in theory.

That is, until some people decide that October is the perfect time to put up their Christmas tree. We haven’t even begun to carve our pumpkins and in some quarters, it’s the right time to put up the tree. And yes, yesterday, I saw my first Christmas ad on television.

I never thought that I would turn into one of those crotchety seniors who grumble at the least provocation, but I guess old age has finally caught up to me. Not all that long ago (just shortly after dinosaurs roamed the earth), we respectfully waited until November 12^th before officially leaping into Christmas. “Ten lords a-leaping”.

I know that many of my loyal readers are absolutely passionate about Christmas, and I respect that.

I just wonder how the needles will stay on the tree for the next 63 days!

Municipal elections are over.

The votes have been counted.

Democracy lives to fight another day.

Last week, in schools around the province of Nova Scotia, mock elections were held in the lead up to the actual elections. I happened to be in school, substitute teaching that day, and was seconded to help the teacher who had organized the event.

In my last piece, I talked about Civics 101.

What I witnessed last Friday was one of the finest demonstrations of democracy, writ large, that I have ever been part of. Every aspect of the mock election was a perfect mirror of an actual election. Grade 7 and 8 students acted as agents, poll clerks and scrutineers. Let’s face it. These young people are our future leaders and what better way to get them engaged at an early age than having them participate in the process. They were particularly excited when it came to counting the ballots.

Humility.         

Every day I spend with young students, I have opportunities to pass along little “pearls of wisdom”! One of the students assisting with the voting was bragging about how good she was at this task. I tried to explain to her that people who are good at different things whether it’s academics, sports or artistic endeavours, don’t need to tell people how good they are. It is evident.

Last week, I put on my one man show of music and story telling at our local museum. It was the first time that I tried a solo show using this format so I wasn’t sure how many people would show up. Twenty minutes before show time, there wasn’t one person in the museum unless you counted the mannequin of the ticket agent! People slowly trickled in and by 7:00 we nearly had a sellout crowd.

Before I got things rolling, I told the audience about a book launch that didn’t quite launch. I had always done my book launches in my hometown. For this particular book, I decided to do a second launch in a neighboring town where I used to have an office when I was in business. I decided to go “all in” and distributed flyers, did some radio spots and some ads in the local newspaper. I booked a restaurant for the launch and had them cater to the event. Big trays of sandwiches and sweets, coffee, tea.

It was a wintry evening but not one that you would consider stormy. I anxiously watched the front door. At about 6:58, two minutes before start time, a couple showed up. And that was the entirety of the “crowd”. Fifteen minutes later, I was on my way back to Antigonish with my proverbial tail between my legs.

Humble pie is not all that tasty!

“To everything, turn, turn, turn,

There is a season, turn, turn, turn”

Turn. Turn. Turn – The Byrds

Have a great weekend.

 

 

 

Posted on October 16, 2024 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 4 comments

It’s time for you to have your say.

This just in.

There are municipal elections this weekend across Nova Scotia.

A week ago, I was substitute teaching at our local Junior School. I was filling in for a grade 7 teacher who teaches English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies. I loved the assignment as English is my preferred subject and I enjoy teaching Social Studies. I also enjoy working with young adults.

I didn’t follow the lesson plan precisely as the teacher had laid it out and during the ELA classes, I introduced the long-forgotten spelling bee. When we were children, spelling bees were a staple especially when the boys were pitted against the girls. Of course, the girls always won!

In Social Studies, the teacher had been priming the students for a mock Municipal Election. I shared a slide presentation helping students to understand the differences between dictatorships and oligarchies, democracies and constitutional democracies. Not surprisingly, all of the students thought that democracy was the preferred model. They liked the idea of free and fair elections.

Municipalities are the creation of the provincial government. The Municipal Government Act is a piece of legislation that gives councils the authority to govern their municipalities.

I happen to know a little bit about this subject. I served on Town Council for 9 years several decades ago. I also ran unsuccessfully for mayor. Kay Chisholm was my opponent and the winner. We remain best of friends to this day. Getting elected used to be the fun part of the exercise. Once elected, the tedium of endless committee meetings sets in.

I’m not going to waste a lot of oxygen talking about the good old days. There have been challenging conversations between the Town of Antigonish and the County of Antigonish since time in memoriam. For sure, there were heated debates back in my time, but I don’t ever remember it being personal. We fought our battles. We won some and lost some but when the dust settled, friendships stayed intact.

Let’s face it. The average citizen is not terribly demanding. They want clean water coming out of their taps. They want the lights to stay on. They want their garbage picked up. They want their streets plowed when it snows. In order to receive these services, taxes must be paid. Those are the basics. Civics 101. To the uninitiated, high school civics back in the 1960s was the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizens, and how to be an active, informed, and responsible member of society.

The current Municipal Election has challenged the notion of civics as once understood. Civility has been replaced by enmity. Decorum has been upstaged and, in some cases, replaced by impropriety, rudeness and disrespect.

It’s quite shocking and disturbing. The threats to democracy around the world have trickled down to our small town. No longer is it acceptable to agree to disagree. The recent debate about amalgamation laid bare the worst in human behaviour. In any debate, there are two sides to an argument. Points are made followed by vigorous discussion, points and counterpoints. There are winners and there are losers and then it’s time to move on.

Sometimes, there are people who just won’t let go.

The amalgamation discussions turned very nasty and personal. There were threats levelled at several municipal officials in the town and the county. There are lots of screenshots, e-mails and voice mails to corroborate these activities.

How did we get to such a place where we are unable to have a civil discussion?

I realize that things don’t happen overnight. Societies shift and change like sand on the beach. I happen to believe that part of the problem has been the demise of community newspapers. Thankfully, we still have excellent regional papers like The Guysborough Journal and The Reporter in Port Hawkesbury but in Antigonish, the loss of The Casket as a true weekly newspaper, has had a big impact. The Casket once employed thoughtful journalists and writers who kept tabs on the comings and goings of our town and county. They reported objectively on the pressing issues of the day.

These days, “news” is most often gleaned from social media, the wild west of journalism. It’s hard to know what is real or fake.

I often have a discussion with students about winning and losing. School provides one of the first opportunities for young people to experience the agony of defeat and the ecstasy of winning. I tell students that in both cases, win or lose, learning to accept the outcome with grace is the most important lesson to be learned. In a lifetime, we will pile up a lot of defeats and victories.

“If you can meet with triumph and disaster,

And treat those two impostors just the same.”

If – Rudyard Kipling

It is time to vote.

There are some candidates who seem to have an axe to grind. Maybe these folks should go out to the woodshed, sharpen their axes and do something meaningful and chop some wood.

Maybe prospective candidates should take part in a spelling bee.

Here is a list of words that they might want to spell correctly. More importantly, maybe they should also have to explain the meaning of these words:

Civility.

Enmity.

Respect.

Acrimony.

Collaboration.

Impropriety

Decorum.

Integrity.

I don’t often share my vote with others.

This time, I will make an exception.

My vote is for civility and decorum.