Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (And Whimsy)
Posted on October 22, 2025 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet
Knock on wood
“Hello darkness my old friend,
I’ve come to talk to you again.”
Sound of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel
It won’t be long now before we are thrust into darkness. In the wee hours of November 2nd, Daylight Savings ends, gifting us with longer, darker days. Yes, we will receive an extra hour of sleep, but the joy will be short lived as we adapt yet again to the realities of the coming winter.
Take one’s medicine.
“To accept something that is unpleasant because it is necessary and cannot be avoided.” Merriam-Webster
There was a time that I took pride when filling out medical intake forms. For most of my adult life, I didn’t have any aches, pains, or illnesses that required medications. Oh my, how the script has flipped. The aging process eventually takes its toll and now I might have to build an extension on the medicine cabinet. On a recent visit to my family doctor, I commented that I had seen her more in the past five years than I had seen my previous family doctor in 35 years.
Indeed, we must take our medicine along with the half cup of pills many of us take on a daily basis.
When a group of seniors get together for coffee these days and lays out their litany of medical issues, we call this an “organ recital”.
I returned to the classroom a few weeks ago. Day 1, I had a rocky start. I was teaching French. “Est-ce que tu parles francais?” I was summoned part way through the day as one of the teachers had a family emergency that needed immediate attention. As I get older, I’m finding it more challenging to pivot quickly and arriving unprepared is not ideal.
I found the first class very challenging. I couldn’t seem to get the students settled. The thought crossed my mind that maybe time had finally caught up to me and that it might be time to fully retire. At lunch time, I felt a bit battered but was soon reassured by my colleagues that I wasn’t losing my touch. Everyone was having a challenging day. There was a full moon the night before. I was also informed that the first class that I had taught was a challenging bunch.
The next day, I substituted for the Gaelic teacher and on the third day, I filled in for the art teacher.
I saw this quote which nicely sums up the life of a teacher:
“Teachers who love kids teach elementary school. Teachers who love their subject matters teach high school. Teachers who are crazy teach middle school.”
Enough said!
Are you afflicted with Blue Jays fever? The Toronto based baseball team seemed to catch the imagination of the entire country in their attempt to get to the World Series. During the divisional series with the New York Yankees, my brother and his wife hosted a game watching gathering at their house. By the second inning, the living room was full. It brought back many memories of the Summit Series of September 1972 when a group of NHL stars defeated the Russian Red Army in a nail biting 8 game series.
World Series, here we come!
A pleasant distraction from wars and tariffs.
My 8th book, my autobiography, will be sent off to the printers any day now. I will be doing a book launch at the Antigonish Heritage Museum on Saturday, December 13th at 2:00 p.m.
Have a great weekend.
P.S. If you want to pre-order a book, drop me a note.
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