Posted on July 15, 2014 under Storytelling with 3 comments

When the chips are down

 

 

Life is one long series of trade-offs.

There are plenty of examples of people having to make tough decisions; taking the good with the bad.  The current economic environment has forced many Maritimers to find employment in the oil patch.  The good news is that with the right skill set and plenty of discipline you can make a lot of money there. If you have a trade then there’s a real bonanza to be had.  The bad news is that you have to live where the work is, with rents and home prices that are astronomical.   This leads many people to do the commute.  They are trading money for lifestyle.  When you have a family to support you may not have any other choice.

The baby boomers are retiring en masse.  Their large homes are now flooding the market, driving down prices in small town Canada.  Many of these same people are choosing to move to larger centres where they have better access to services, especially medical and recreational; but more importantly, their grandchildren are there.  They have lived most of their adult lives in the comfortable arms of small communities and now they are faced with the prospect of living in a high rise in the city, where their neighbor could possibly be a member of the Hell’s Angels (Hopefully retired! – Editor) Yes, pensioners who sell their homes and move to the city can eliminate repairs to their homes, snow shovelling and property taxes; but what are they trading these things for?

Nowhere are trade-offs more apparent than in a marriage.

Giving up the single life is a big transition. “Doing your own thing,” one of the big catch all phrases from the 60’s, takes a back seat to compromise.  It becomes a delicate balancing act that is mastered over time.

One person in the relationship may have been a neat-freak before tying the knot, while the other … not so much.  Ditto for finances.  Having a Scrooge trying to match wits with a spendthrift can be like matches and gasoline.  Everything hopefully reaches a state of equilibrium over time.

Sometimes, the scales of justice tip precariously in one direction or the other.  If you’re a man, you have to build up a lot of credits.  Some people refer to them as “man chips”.

Just the other day, a friend of mine was telling me about a recent shopping trip he took with his wife.  She was in search of a purse, your basic walking around town variety.  This was the day before my friend was due to play in the Kilted Golf Tournament.  You should know that this tournament is really an excuse for anybody of Scottish heritage or anyone with the nerve to wear a kilt, to hit the links.  But before they take their first swing, most participants hit the bottle.  Mercifully it is a one day tournament but it generally leaks into the next day and absenteeism at work is rampant.

I am not here to glorify overconsumption of anything.  Just stating the facts.

The search for the perfect purse would have pleased Marco Polo.  It was an epic journey.  Finally, mercifully, the ultimate handbag was located.  Before reaching the checkout my friend casually asked about the price.  “It’s on sale.  It’s only $250.”  He could feel his cerebellum moving from side to side as if he had been in the ring and had absorbed a hay maker to the head.  Just as he was about to utter something utterly contemptible (and stupid), a small voice inside him said. “Don’t say a thing.  You need to conserve all those man chips.  You might spend them all tomorrow at the golf course and the bar afterwards, not to mention a late night pizza at the Wheel.”  (Sounds like he’ll go through at least $250 by lunchtime … – Editor)

Men, take it from the experts.  Weigh all of your options when the chips are down.

 

 

Posted on July 14, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

R.C.M.P. Pipes and Drums

 

 

Why do I love Antigonish?

There are so many reasons to love where I live. I’ll start with the obvious stuff. First of all, we are safe. By the luck of geography, we are generally not prone to natural disasters although last week’s tropical storm has left some people without power for over a week. Politically , we live in a reasonably stable part of the world. While we might not like the choice of political leadership on any given day, we elect people democratically and don’t have to worry about armed guards at the polling stations. We don’t get up in the morning worrying about mortar attacks. Our air is clean and we still have fish in our rivers and lakes.

Ok. Those are the macro issues.

This past week has left me with my head shaking. The amount of human energy expended ( 99% of it voluntary ) to host different events, is mind boggling. ( Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to spread some of these events out over a number of weeks. ) One tourist I spoke to,  was lamenting that they wished they could clone themselves in order to attend more than one event happening at the same time.

Here are just a few of the things that were going on in a small geographic area last week: The Highland Games; the Evolve concert ( which attracts thousands of visitors ); an international rowing regatta ( congrats to the folks in Lochaber ); Strathglass Farewell ( a musical production ); The Antigonish Art Fair; Doctor’s For Nova Scotia bike tour; The Kilted Golf Tournament; the Street Fair; lobster and salmon suppers galore; the hockey school; strawberry festivals,; the Farmer’s Market; a soccer tournament ( I’m sure there was probably a ball tournament too ! ); and if you were still bored you could have gone to one of our spectacular beaches, one of the many fine hiking trails or gone out to the Keppoch and gone trail riding.

It certainly helped that the weather was perfect all week long. When a province relies so heavily on tourism, good weather is so important. It lifts people’s spirits and it just makes hosting events ( especially outdoor events ) so much easier.

I am not the first nor will I be the last to propose the following as a tourism strategy. The province spends millions of dollars every year trying to market itself in other parts of Canada, the United States, and more and more to our European neighbors. I don’t think that this is necessarily a poor way to spend our tax dollars but I think that there is another market that is closer with a less expensive marketing budget: Nova Scotia.

Why doesn’t the province try and get Nova Scotians to explore their own province? I’m sure they do to some extent but when you think about the tourism dollars that leave the province every summer, keeping a small portion of it here would make a lot of sense.

I also believe the province needs to spend some money on an “ambassador program.” The best promoters and cheerleaders of Nova Scotia are Nova Scotians. I’m not bragging but me, along with some other people I know, go out of our way to welcome tourists. Here is a small example of how one encounter can add tourism dollars. I met a couple from Virginia  on Saturday on Main Street. They were trying to find their way back to the Trans Canada highway. They had come off the highway earlier on their way back from the Cabot Trail. We got chatting. They were at the east end of town near Chisholm Park. When I told them what was going on at the west end of town ( The longest running Highland Games in North America ), they decided on the spot to stay overnight and attend.

Do the multiplier on that one. What if we made it part of our collective psyche to market our community and province in simple ways like this? I believe it would have a profound effect on tourism.

I feel blessed to live in Antigonish. I happen to feel that it is one of the best small towns in Canada.

Have a great week.

Posted on July 12, 2014 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Phoebe

 

 

Prior to getting married, many religious denominations require that young couples take a marriage preparation course.  I’m all for that.  My wife and I were presenters for one of these programs back in the day, a few years after our own wedding.  If we only knew then what we know now!   A marriage preparation course reviews most aspects of what people should expect as a couple.  It talks about commitment and hard work.  It reflects on the notion of give and take.  Financial management is another very important topic.  A lot of time is spent talking about the enormous responsibilities of bringing children into the world.

Nowhere in the agenda, or in “Marriage for Dummies”, is the sensitive topic of pets addressed.  You thought I was going to say sex.

In my childhood, our family had a dog.  Chipper was most often found under the kitchen table hoping for a few scraps.  Fat chance with a family of ten.  I think the only time she got a whiff of a leftover was when Mom served liver.  Despite this dearth of treats, she still managed to pack on the weight.

Our children had angled for a pet for a long time.  When our youngest was two, we (my wife and the kids) decided on a cat.  I wasn’t crazy about the idea but acquiesced after days of bruising brow beating.  And before you knew it, we had three cats, the last one arriving concealed in a four wheeler helmet.   I actually became quite fond of the cats.  They all lived long lives and the last of the three was buried last year.

Still town residents, we learned very quickly the reproductive prowess of rabbits.  We were assured, by someone who should have known better, that the rabbits we acquired were two females.  We learned quickly that the male and female have to be separated before the litter arrives, and that the next litter will arrive almost immediately.

We decided to switch species.  When we moved to the country to accommodate our flock of chickens and roosters, our children immersed themselves in the world of 4H.

So it was with considerable interest that I was sitting at a table the other day at the Farmer’s Market, chatting with a friend about animals.  She had just procured a large bag of fresh carrots and greens from one of the vendors. She volunteered that this bag of nature’s best was not for human consumption but rather for an indigent rabbit.

“…for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer …” The marriage rite does not expressly talk about pets, especially pets that have been orphaned by your offspring.

We know the drill well.  One of your children meets the love of her life and presto, they acquire a pet.  When the relationship goes sour, one of the fallouts is the custody of the pet.  In many cases, Mom and Dad step in and unexpectedly become foster parents to a four legged creature.

I received a quick history on Phoebe, who was named after a character from the sitcom “Friends”.  The conversation was moving along nicely until my friend volunteered that the rabbit lived in the house. This was a domesticated bunny.  My head did a complete 360 degree swivel when I heard where the rabbit spends its days.

In the bathroom.

The rabbit is toilet trained (obviously, as it lives in the bathroom!) and spends its day hanging out with the tub, sink and toilet bowl.  Apparently this doe has a towel fetish and has destroyed more than one bath sheet.

I am now in a state of shock and bewilderment, trying to imagine some of the possibilities. What happens when you’re entertaining and a guest needs to powder her nose?  I am trying to conjure up the image of an invitee, having had a bit too much to drink, spying a rabbit in the bathtub just as she settles onto the throne.  Is someone pouring the drinks a little too strong?

Let’s just say that bringing up a rabbit would be a hare raising experience for all involved.