Posted on November 10, 2017 under Storytelling with 12 comments

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8hQHRnhcAU[/embedyt]

MacPherson’s Lament – Highland Games Mass

 

“ He who sings, prays twice.”

St. Augustine.

A great voice has been stilled.

James MacPherson was Antigonish’s eighth wonder of the world. With his amazing voice and staggering talent, he could have made it big anywhere in the world.  He didn’t seek the limelight. He avoided it much of the time. He chose to stay close to the ones he loved the most, his family, his friends and fellow musicians.

“ I will play for him on my harp, with my lute and ten stringed lyre.”

He was a big man with a big voice and a big heart. When he sang, you felt that you were in the presence of genius. And indeed, you were. He was an extraordinary pipe organ player. He could play with the delicacy of a butterfly and with the power of a thunderstorm.

“ Ave, ave verum corpus natum de Maria virgine.”

Sitting in the choir loft watching James sing, play and direct was an honor. On any given day, the choir was never sure what hymns he would pull out of the filing cabinet. It depended on his mood. Or the atmospheric  conditions. Or the sermon he just heard. Or a reading from the gospel. Inspiration came immediately from the deep well of his musical repertoire.

It’s not easy to play a pipe organ , sing and direct a choir simultaneously. Both hands and two feet are required for the organ. But such was James’ brilliance that he could make it all work. We often marvelled when he would improvise something on the fly. Communion would be winding down and he would just cut loose with reckless abandon, making it up as he went. It was staggering to watch. When he finished, he would look at the choir and say “ you’ll never hear that piece again.”

“ And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings… and hold you in the palm of his hands.”

Special occasions brought out special music. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was one of his favorites . The Our Father and Hail Mary on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day were spine tingling. The Easter music, sung over four days, may have been his favorite.

When the choir was “on”, he would beam with the greatest of joy. He was thrilled when St.Ninian’s started to refurbish the Ozias LeDuc paintings.  He stared in awe when they unveiled St. Cecelia, the patron saint of musicians, positioned appropriately just above the choir loft.

“ Goodness and mercy all my life, will surely follow me,

And in God’s house forever more, a dwelling place shall be.”

He sang for the Pope. He sang for royalty. And now, he sings with the angels.

Rest well, good and faithful servant.

 

 

 

Posted on November 9, 2017 under Storytelling with 2 comments

Pre-surgery meal

 

“ This is the end, beautiful friend,

This is the end , my only friend, the end.”

The End. The Doors

I’m not so certain that Jim Morrison of The Doors was referring to the gluteus maximus when he penned this song in the mid 60’s.

None of us is going to live forever. Most  people don’t want to live a long life if they are going to be plagued with poor health. Most people I know, given their druthers,  would choose “ quality of time over quantity of time.” We are all aware of the things that we can do to mitigate risks and give us a fighting chance at longevity. But no one can make us eat properly or get us to exercise. Our doctor ( and our spouses! ) can advocate moderation in all things, especially vices like alcohol, tobacco and sweets. At the end of the day, we are “ masters of our own destiny.”

In other words, doing our best to prevent illness would seem to be a laudable objective.

We are deluged on a daily basis about advances in medicine, especially when it comes to cures for many cancers. Just about every family has a family member or knows someone who is going through cancer. There are many fundraisers in support of “ the cure.”  Billions and billions of dollars are being spent on research in an effort to eradicate this scourge once and for all. Not many would dispute these efforts  but one wonders about the other side of the equation , namely, prevention. I haven’t seen many fun runs in support of “ the prevention.”

Many years ago, Cancer Care Nova Scotia piloted a colon cancer prevention program. It starts with a “ do it yourself” kit that they send to everyone in Nova Scotia between the ages of 54-74. The program is designed to help find cancerous and pre-cancerous growths. The test is done every two years and I have been doing it since inception. To find out more visit http://www.cancercare.ns.ca/en/home/preventionscreening/coloncancerprevention/default.aspx

About 6 weeks ago, I did the test and the results came back as abnormal. I was surprised but not alarmed. My lifestyle is far from perfect but as a non-smoker, non-drinker, an active walker and an adherent  of a reasonably healthy diet, I didn’t think that I would receive this news. Yes, I have been accused on more than one occasion of being full of shit but I thought that that was only a metaphor!

I was strongly urged to have a colonoscopy.

I had an appointment with a nurse at St. Martha’s who walked me through the upcoming procedure. I was told not to worry as, more often than not, cancer is not found. They might have to remove a pre-cancerous polyp but most people come out unscathed.

Do you have a seat belt on your toilet? If you’re going to have a colonoscopy, I would highly recommend one! In the preceding 24 hours  before the day surgery , you’re restricted to clear liquids, starting first thing in the morning. This includes water, black tea or coffee, juices, jello and popsicles. At 4:00 p.m you take four little pills and a fizzy laxative. And then the fun begins. Quickly. I doubt if Mt. Vesuvius experienced eruptions quite like this. And just before going to bed, you consume another glass of the laxative. I can say with utter certainty, that, by sunrise, I had the clearest colon on the planet.

I arrived at the hospital at the appointed hour. After checking in at admitting, I walked down to day surgery and waited to be called. I looked at a chart on the walls seeing what things couldn’t be worn during the test. I sat with the day surgery nurse to complete the last of the paperwork. When she asked me if I had any more questions, I told her that I was quite upset. She looked alarmed but I assured her that I wasn’t one bit worried about the procedure.  I took umbrage that I couldn’t wear make up while the colonoscopy tube was being inserted into my nether regions. We both had a good laugh.

It helps when you know the surgeon who is going to shove a tube up your rectum. We shared a few family stories and even some laughter before the anesthetic was inserted into my IV. I woke up in the recovery room to a good cup of tea and a muffin. I had no recollection whatsoever of the actual procedure. There was a note by my bed from the doctor indicating that they had removed a small polyp from the lining of the colon.

I was picked up by my better half and we drove back to the apartment. En route, I had some fairly serious pains in my abdomen. I wondered if the doctor had taken a detour with the scope . Then I remembered that the colon is inflated during the procedure to give the surgeon a better look.  The gas build up went away quickly.

After no solid food for the better part of 40 hours, I was ravenous. As much as I craved some spicy Indian food, I thought better of that and dined on scrambled eggs and toast… and three Reese’s peanut butter cups, a holdover from Halloween.

I am a big believer in prevention and taking part in this cancer screening program is a great place to start. I received excellent care along the way.

I would like to propose a toast to the health care system: “ Bottoms up.” !

 

 

 

Posted on November 6, 2017 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

Buffy St. Marie

 

I have often said that if a person is smart, he or she should retire in a university town. Smart is one thing. Lucky is quite another. We live in a university town and enjoy all the benefits without having to uproot ourselves in retirement to come here, as some people have chosen to do.

Besides the obvious economic advantages of having St.F.X. plunked right in the middle of town, there are many social advantages as well. We can attend world class concerts and plays, go to a myriad of sporting events and even take a class or two if so inclined. And did I mention free lectures?

This past week was an example of having the opportunity to go and listen and learn from two people of very different backgrounds and walks of life.

Some of you might remember John Hatch, an affable young man who strolled onto our campus in the early 80’s and left as the all time leading scorer in basketball for the “ Blue and White.” John is now a senior executive with Apple Inc. in the United Kingdom and Sweden. He came ostensibly to speak with students about business and leadership. He attended some private classes with students but also gave a public lecture. John played for Canada’s Olympic team and also played professionally in Europe before settling into business life.

I think many young people were surprised to hear that the most important lesson he learned during his time at St.F.X. was humility. He stressed this  throughout his talk and urged students to park their egos at the door in all of life’s endeavours and to be a team player and good listener…. words of wisdom for all of us.

A few nights later, I once again sat in the audience at the Schwartz Auditorium which was filled to overflowing to listen to the remarkable singer/songwriter, artist, educator and activist, Buffy St. Marie. I had forgotten that amongst the hundreds of songs she penned, “ Up Where We Belong” won her an Academy Award in 1983. We watched a documentary movie about her life and then she spoke for an hour. She held the audience in her hands.

Her voice and message were powerful. Although she feels progress has been made, she still believes that it will take a long time for people to understand what happened to First Nations people over the centuries and how we should be treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Downton Abbey is no more.

I watched the final episode on Netflix on the weekend. Who was your favorite character? Lord or Lady Grantham? Mr. Bates? Anna? Mr. Mosely? Mr. Barrow? Lady Mary or Lady Edith? Mrs. Hughes? Carson, the butler? Daisy? Every character was extremely well cast. I’m torn. The two characters that fascinated and entertained me the most were the cook, Mrs. Patmore and the Dowager Countess played by the brilliant Maggie Smith. At Downton, these two characters represented the extreme ends of the pecking order. Both women were wise and witty. The best one liners always came from their mouths. The Dowager Countess of Grantham was acerbic and sarcastic but had a soft side under her gruff exterior. Mrs. Patmore was generous to a fault and her quips on any topics were to be savoured…like her cooking.

The writing and character development of this show is brilliant. With a long winter ahead, start watching. I guarantee that you will be well rewarded.

There’s always time for a first and this past week I had a colonoscopy. Regular readers know that I never shy away from any topic even those deemed “ indelicate.” A few years ago, I decided to tackle menopause. (https://www.week45.com/heat-wave/ )

On Thursday, I will attempt to demystify this procedure. The story is called “ Bottoms Up.”

Have a great week.