Posted on July 19, 2021 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

 

Leah’s Beach Treasures

 

“Roll out those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer,

Those days of soda, and pretzels and beer,

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,

Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer”.

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer – Nat King Cole

What does one do on a lazy, hazy day in the summertime?

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending mornings with my two young granddaughters. In truth, I didn’t have to do a whole lot because, as we grandparents know, it is much easier looking after two children than one. No explanation required. They did arts and crafts, spent some time on their electronic devices, and hung out at local playgrounds. In the middle of the week, one of them had to go away with her mom for a few days leaving me to amuse an 8-year-old.

Now, as fate would have it, the first day of one on one child care coincided with the British Open golf tournament. I used to play a lot of golf and thoroughly enjoy watching the four “Majors”. I particularly enjoy the British Open because of the time difference. The golf comes on early in the morning Atlantic time (in the middle of the night for you west coasters) and winds up early in the evening. If you are masochistic (and single), you can get away with watching approximately 14 hours of coverage.

I started watching the first round at 6:30 a.m., two hours before the arrival of my granddaughter. It was one of those lazy, hazy days of summer. It was warm and breezy but overcast. She asked me if she could start off her morning with some screen time. I barely blinked. She settled in with her iPad and I continued to watch golf. I daresay that both of us would have, in all likelihood, been quite content to rot for the entire morning doing nothing but gazing at a screen.

After one hour, my Catholic guilt got the better of me. While it wasn’t an ideal beach day, it looked like a perfect day for beach combing. Our quest? Beach glass. Believe it or not, in Nova Scotia, Canada’s Ocean Playground, there is a Facebook page (Halifax Adventure) highlighting the best beaches in the province for finding beach glass.

We drove to the public beach at Bayfield. Not surprisingly, the parking lot was virtually empty at this time of the day, especially on an overcast day. We crossed the boardwalk and made our way to the beach. Our toes had scarcely touched the warm sand when my granddaughter excitedly called me over to where she was standing. “Look what I found?” Instead of a smooth piece of green glass, she was holding two nickels which she had found in the sand. I knew we wouldn’t return home empty handed!

The quest began. We had the beach to ourselves. The only other living things were two extremely bored lifeguards and one highly annoying horse fly. I realize that a horse fly fits somewhere into the food chain but as far as I can tell, God made horse flies to test a human’s sanity.

The weather was ideal for this activity. There was no hot sun beating down. The waves gently rolled in, and a warm wind embraced us, keeping all but one, pesky insects away from us.

I hadn’t been beachcombing in a long time, but it became evident that there are two essentials to finding beach glass: you need very good eyesight, and you need the ability to get close to the ground. On both scores, I rated a big fat zero. I was more or less reduced to being the bucket carrier. Yes, I could easily identify rotted out crab shells and stones but trying to spot small pieces of beach glass was virtually impossible.

As it turns out, the pickings were slim. My granddaughter, down on her haunches, was able to find 14 small pieces of glass. She also found many interesting stones and shells which were added to the bucket. For more than an hour, we inched our way along the shoreline, slowly and methodically. If you find life rushed, may I suggest that you go beachcombing with a young child. It is the perfect activity to slow you down.

It was peaceful and pure bliss. The only sounds were the waves and the odd seagull passing overhead. The smell of salty ocean air was divine.

One cannot end a day at the beach without ice cream. We drove over to the wharf but sadly, the ice cream stand wasn’t open, which was perfectly understandable. When we returned to town, we visited an ice cream stand a few hundred yards away from my apartment.

Summer is about many things but spending time with a young child at the beach is one of those things that is priceless.

It is a chance to bond and to relive your youth.

It doesn’t get much better than this. As long as you don’t have to bend down!

Have a great week.

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 12, 2021 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Tranquility Trail

 

“I see trees of green,

Red roses too,

I see them bloom,

For me and you,

And I think to myself,

What a wonderful world.”

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

Life is truly wonderful in all of its complexity and simplicity.

Last Thursday, I launched a fundraiser to help support youth in my adopted home of Kangiqsujuaq, Quebec. https://www.week45.com/thursday-tidbits-285/

After posting the story and having breakfast, I headed out for my morning walk. It was such a glorious morning. The air was fresh and clear. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing. Part of my walk took me through the cross -country running trail on the campus of St.F.X. University. It reminds me a bit of a similar pathway (the chip trail) on the campus of the University of Victoria that my brother Tom and I walked many times.

I rarely take my cell phone with me but on this morning, it was a necessity as I was awaiting a call from the X-ray department at the hospital for an appointment.

As I wended me way through the trail, with the sun reflecting off the leaves on the trees and the delectable odor of wild roses filling the air, my phone started pinging. Our cell phones have telltale rings. We know what’s a text, an e-mail, a Messenger message etc.

A huge grin came on my face.

You see (once you’ve read my last post), I had offered a prize of a set of my 6 books to the first person who donated $100. There were two e-mails containing e-transfers. The first donation was from friends in Labrador who happened to be driving across Newfoundland. The second donation was at the opposite end of the country from a friend in Victoria. It was the first $100 donation. I looked at my phone and deduced that it was 4:30 a.m. out west. Now, I’m quite certain that my friend hadn’t set her alarm early to win this fabulous prize. She’s an early bird like me. The first two donations at opposite ends of the country. How good is that? Thanks, MG. Your books are in the mail.

It was at this precise moment that I started to think about life and how wonderful it can be. Despite all of the bad things going on in the world, along with rampant cynicism and mistrust for institutions, it is still a wonderful world.

Now, I am not about to chronicle every donation but the 3^rd one (while I was still on the trail) was from a friend in Amherst. In addition to her donation, she said that she would walk virtually (10 km) with me on Day 1 of my 75 km walk around The Cape. That got me thinking which is always a dangerous and troubling pastime for yours truly. I wondered aloud, to the amusement of the birds, if I could cajole others to walk a few kilometers on August 9^th and 10^th. Keeping with the 75- kilometer theme, I wondered if it would be possible if we could amass 750 kilometers in two days. I realize that not everyone is a walker so I will add cyclists, runners, roller bladers, skateboarders, and hikers to the list. Sorry. No motor vehicles. What do you think? Can we do it?

I know for sure that I will walk 75 kilometers. My friend, Brenda Gould, the affable proprietress of Elm Gardens has agreed to walk the entire 40 km on Day I. She is also collecting donations at the store so if you happen to stop by her flower shop after she completes her walk, please extend condolences to her for putting up with me for 8-9 hours! It is safe to say that we now have 115 km (75+40+10) already in the bank. I will remind you about this closer to the date. Maybe you could message me after the walk and tell me your total. This might also be a good opportunity as you are walking (hiking etc.) to reflect on Indigenous issues in the news these days.

One can never drink enough of “the milk of human kindness”.

Canada has a new Governor-General. Mary Simon is a distinguished Inuk woman, and I am proud to say that she grew up in the Nunavik region of Quebec where I worked the last two years. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/who-is-mary-simon-canada-s-first-indigenous-governor-general-1.5498435. Her opening remarks upon her appointment were in Inuktitut, a language that I have grown to love but sadly can’t speak. I can sing a handful of songs in Inuktitut. Mary has vast diplomatic experience, and she will need to muster all of her considerable skills to navigate the complex waters ahead of her. It must be a thrill for the Inuit people to see one of their own achieve such lofty heights.

Very often it is the simplest things in life that give us the greatest pleasure. A few days ago, I was sitting out back reading a book about Leonardo Da Vinci. He is best known as a painter, but he is much more. The author describes him best as a “relentlessly curious explorer”. I digress. A friend from Victoria called and she wanted to talk about writing. I was thrilled to hear from her, and we had a lovely chat. Thanks, JM. It was the highlight of my day.

“And I think to myself,

What a wonderful world”.

Have a great week.

P.S. I will continue to accept donation for Len’s Walk up to and including the walk on August 9^th and 10^th. You can send me an e-transfer at lenpdmacdonald@gmail.com or make a donation at the East Coast Credit Union (Bergengren ). Any excess donations will be given to The Family House in Kangiqsujuaq, a place where families can go in times of difficulty.