Posted on August 9, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 2 comments

Not to be confused with Twitter

 

“Whoa, the games people play now,

Every night and every day now”

Games People Play – Joe South

It’s midsummer quiz time, folks.

Put away your Wordle and Canuckle. Put down that deck of cards. Leave the Scrabble game on the shelf. No bingo today. I know that you’re all brilliant people. After all, you read my posts every Wednesday!

So, here we go. What do all of these things have in common?

The United States ended its involvement in the Vietnam War with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. A lot has been written about the ill-advised decision of the United States to get involved in this conflict.

If you happen to be a horse racing fan, Secretariat became the first horse since Citation to win the Triple Crown of horse racing. Secretariat set a dirt track record for the one and a half mile Belmont Stakes with a time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds.

Roe V. Wade made abortion a U.S. constitutional right. In 2022, the supreme court stripped away women’s constitutional protections for abortion.

Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match.

Popular movies: The Exorcist, Deliverance, Jesus Christ Superstar, American Graffiti and The Sting.

“Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd. This is one of my all-time favorite albums. I wore out the grooves on this vinyl album. “You’re so Vain”, “Delta Dawn”, “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown”, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”.

Canada’s Prime Minister was Pierre Trudeau.

The cost of gas was .40 a gallon or roughly .10 a liter.

Which brings me to the whole point of this quiz.

Ah, you’re too smart by half.

It didn’t take you long to figure out that all of these events took place in the year 1973. If your mental arithmetic is good, that was 50 years ago. And why, pray tell, am I turning back the clock to that particular year?

Last week, I received mail from the Alumni Office of my alma mater, St. Francis Xavier University. It included a schedule of events and a registration form for Homecoming this October. “Class of ’73 The Golden Grads Homecoming 2023. I stared at the correspondence in disbelief. How in the hell did this happen?

My elementary school was situated on the same footprint as our local University. Because I am incredibly lazy and don’t want to repeatedly have to spell out the name of this university, we’ll just call it “X” which is what most grads call it. Not to be confused with the new Twitter logo. Back in the early 60s when I was attending Morrison Elementary School, the graduates at X used to line up very near our school for their march to convocation. I remember thinking at the time that these grads must have been very old. I was 10 at the time. The X students would have been in their early 20s. When you’re young, everyone seems so much older.

In 1973, I graduated from X. I would receive my education degree three years later. Homecoming is a big deal for universities. Yes, it is an opportunity for alumni to get together to exchange old war stories, but it is very important for the university to remind former students of their glory days and to nudge them to support the university with ongoing donations to various endowments and scholarship funds.

Because I was a local, I attended many Homecomings over the years even when it wasn’t one of my class years. I was always struck with the arrival of the “golden grads”, people who had graduated 50 years ago. I viewed all of these Q-tips (white haired folks!) as old farts. I couldn’t imagine ever being “one of them”. But after opening my mail last week, it was abundantly clear that I am now one of those “old farts”.

I know that when I meet my fellow grads, we will all say the same thing. “Where did the time go?” I have written many times in this space about the passage of time. It really is quite shocking.

Now, I could have done the easy thing and registered for Homecoming online, but I filled in the registration form the old-fashioned way with a ballpoint pen and hand delivered it to the Alumni Office. The Alumni Office is located in Confusion Square, the name affectionately given to a courtyard in the middle of the old campus. I love wandering through university campuses, especially ones that have been around a long time. Many of the buildings at X have ivy climbing up their walls. And walking through campus in the middle of summer, when it is quiet, evokes so many memories.

I pass the library where I occasionally studied but most notably, where I learned to play bridge in the basement! I pass the reserve library which was firebombed in the spring of 1971 when the students went on strike over “open housing”. That year, we wrote take home exams. Many of my classmates completed these exams at the local tavern.

I haven’t had cause to go to the Alumni Office for many years. As I approached the building, I realized that it is housed in what used to be the campus bookstore. Not only did the bookstore carry textbooks but it also had a very good record section of vinyl albums. Fifty-one years ago, I stood in this very room purchasing one of my all-time favourite albums, “Harvest” by Neil Young. I chatted with the woman who accepted my registration form and regaled her with stories about the old bookstore. One thing I like about trips down memory lane is that they don’t cost anything (with the cost of gas these days)!

I’m sure the reunion will be a blast. It’s a privilege to have lived long enough to be a golden grad.

I still love “Dark Side of the Moon”.

“Breathe, breathe in the air,

Don’t be afraid to care,

Leave, but don’t leave me,

Look around, choose your own ground.

Long you live and high you fly,

Smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry,

All you touch and all you see,

Is all your life will ever be.”

Breathe – Pink Floyd

Have a great weekend.

“There’s a time for joy, a time for tears,

A time we’ll treasure through the years,

We’ll remember always,

Graduation day.”

Graduation Day – The Lettermen

 

 

 

Posted on August 2, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with one comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty all around us

 

“Slip slidin’ away,

Slip slidin’ away,

You know the nearer your destination,

The more you’re slip slidin’ away.”

Slip Slidin’ Away – Paul Simon

WARNING. This piece may cause drowsiness. Do not consume just before driving your car. I wanted to write something interesting and provocative this week but because I couldn’t think of a topic, I decided to write about nothing. 1176 words of nothingness.

Has anyone seen June or July? Apparently, they’ve gone missing or at least it seems that way. Did someone put them on speed dial? Did they slip out the back door when we weren’t watching? August has made an appearance but will desert us like a jilted lover too. Once you start seeing the back to school sales, you know that summer is “slip slidin’ away”.

I must admit that this has been the laziest summer that I can ever remember. Ok. So, I walked 800 kilometers in June which doesn’t rate as slothful behavior, but since I came home from Spain, I have been more or less homebound, other than my daily walks. There’s a lot going on in our community and our province but other than going to the Tattoo in Halifax, I haven’t felt the urge to attend many events. Maybe it has something to do with the oppressive heat and humidity lately even though this kind of weather generally doesn’t bother me. Of course, it’s easy to say this when you live in an air-conditioned apartment.

Every day is like Groundhog Day. I get up; have breakfast; go for my 7 km walk; cool down and eat some fruit; shower; read a book; lunch; power snooze; read a book; watch sport talk shows at supper hour; supper; read a book; Netflix. Lights out.

I love early mornings. I keep a window open in my bedroom. I especially love rainy mornings. Waking from a good night’s sleep (which includes two trips to the loo!), there is nothing more satisfying than to lie in bed and listen to the rain. Soothing is the best word I can find to describe this. The birds seem to love it as well. I often lie in bed wondering about the endless possibilities of the day in front of me. I also take a moment to thank my lucky stars. Gratitude affects attitude. It’s not always possible to feel this way especially when tragedy strikes, or poor health befalls us, but when things are going well, being consciously grateful is important.

I take nothing for granted. Being able to get out of bed is a gift. Having the ability to prepare food and the means to do it. I don’t take these for granted. Being able to see, breathe easily, hear and taste. None of these are taken for granted. Having an education to be able to read and have employment are not taken for granted. Having good health and a strong heart enables me to go for a daily walk. I think about people in nursing homes and how they would love to go for a stroll around the block or on the farm as they once did. I don’t take democracy for granted and appreciate the freedoms that come with this. We rarely think about these things until we’re retired and out of the line of fire. When you’re in the trenches trying to pay a mortgage and managing a house full of small children, the last thing you’re thinking about is democracy, unless, of course, you’re trying to decide who will get the last piece of pie!

Savoring the first cup of coffee (or tea) of the day is one of life’s small pleasures. Caressing the cup, the first few mouthfuls are divine. You’re not completely awake and if you’re retired like me and don’t have to rush around to get ready for work, the simple act of sitting and drinking a hot beverage is heavenly. Ditto for wine at supper.

There are many days when my motivation to go walking is very low. There is a litany of excuses from which to draw but I know that “motion is lotion” and even when my back tells me to recline and chill out, I always push myself out the door. I know that after 90 minutes of putting one foot in front of the other, I will feel so much better.

It’s not hard to amuse myself on my daily walk. Invariably, I bump into someone, and we stop to chat. One of the greatest gifts of retirement is not being in a hurry. At this time of the year, everything is in bloom which is a blessing for most of us and likely a curse for people who suffer from allergies. Because walking forces me to slow down and be more observant, I love looking at all the flower gardens in people’s yards. Looking at beautiful things is good for the soul. One thing I have observed over time is the incredible number of different shades of green. The next time you go for a stroll, count them.

And speaking of counting, I occasionally count cars, a throwback to my youth when we would count cars to amuse ourselves on road trips. Yes, from time-to-time boredom sets in and I will guess the number of cars that will pass me in the next kilometer. I know that this seems silly, but it takes my mind off walking especially on these very hot, sticky days. Little things amuse little minds. I also think of ice cream!

Of course, there’s usually a song rattling through my head which often turns into an earworm. For the uninitiated, an earworm is a song that gets stuck in your head, often for days. So, here’s a song that I’m thinking about right now. Hum a few bars and see how long this sticks in your brain!

“See you, in September,

 See you, when the summer’s through.”

See You in September – The Happening

I don’t want you falling asleep, so I’ll skip other parts of my daily routine. You see, it’s not only Jerry Seinfeld who has mastered the art of talking about nothing!

Positivity.

Facebook has become a bit of a trash can. Most of us hate it but it has become an addiction. Luckily there are glimmers of hope. Every second or third day, a friend posts the following:” It’s going to be a great day”. It is so simple but yet, very powerful. If you say it often enough, maybe, just maybe, the day in front of you will be filled with endless possibilities. Thanks, Cubby, for reminding us to think positive.

“Gee, Len. This was so fascinating. Maybe next week you can talk about doing your laundry or taking out the recycling.”

Alternatively, you could watch paint dry.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,

B-b-b-baby, you just ain’t seen nothing yet,

Here’s something you’re never going to forget,

B-b-b baby, you just ain’t seen nothing yet”.

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman, Turner Overdrive

Have a great weekend.

 

Posted on July 26, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with one comment

A walk down memory lane

 

“Remember when we said when we turned gray,

When the children grow up and move away,

We won’t be sad, we’ll be glad,

For all the life we’ve had,

 And we’ll remember when.”

Remember When – Alan Jackson

 

Do you ever feel that things are moving way too fast and that you wish the world would slow down? It feels like we just celebrated New Year’s and now the summer is “slip slidin’ away” like a river after torrential rain. Is there a way we can put the brakes on or are we permanently on fast forward?

The other thing that concerns many of us is the general state of the world. Mother Earth is experiencing such extreme weather. Wildfires seem to be breaking out everywhere and at the same time, once in a hundred-year floods seem to be commonplace. The world is beset by wars and conflicts and many of the world’s most important politicians are taking us down very dangerous roads. Democracy, for those who still believe in it, appears to be threatened.  Is the world going to hell in a handbasket? It’s enough to cause one to bury their heads in the sand or, at a bare minimum, in a good book. Escapism is rampant. Just check the stock prices for Netflix’s parent company.

Gee, Len. You’re brimming with optimism this morning.

The greatest form of escapism I know is nostalgia. I wrote a piece last week that was oozing with “the good old days”. I received a lot of feedback and I mentioned to someone that if I could bottle nostalgia and sell it, I would be a wealthy man. Like a runner’s high, I believe that nostalgia releases endorphins! Let’s collectively put our heads in the sand for just a few minutes.

As we make our way through the muggy dog days of summer, let’s put our feet up, pour ourselves a cold one or a cup of courage (also known as coffee) and let our minds wander back to a simpler time when the clock moved slower.

Do you remember?

Do you remember your very first step? Of course, you don’t but I certainly remember many missteps in my life.

Do you remember your first birthday? Hell no. I can hardly remember my 71^st birthday let alone my first. I’m sure most of you have a birthday that stands out. My 10^th was one of those. My birthday is on the 10^th. I was 10 years old, and I had 10 friends attend my party. How’s that for synchronicity?

Do you remember your first day at school? Sadly, yes. Because I was an August baby, I was young to be going off to school. I lasted until lunch time on day 1 and then took an extended leave for a year.

Do you remember your first confession? Only Catholics need to answer this one. Seriously? How many grade 2 children have sinned? It’s an awful thing telling a priest that you’ve sinned when you haven’t. Of course, at your second confession, you can tell the priest that you lied the first time you talked to him. Now, you are a legitimate sinner!

Do you remember your high school graduation? Many of my graduating class met at my parent’s house after graduation for a party. My father opened one beer which twenty of us shared. I believe that this was an early version of “safe grad”!

Do you remember your first job? For the princely sum of $1.00 an hour, I mowed graves at the cemetery. I worked alone and none of the residents complained about the quality of my work! The only time I got a break was when there was a burial.

Do you remember your first kiss? My first kiss was feeble and that’s being generous. It was memorable for me. Not so much for the unfortunate girl.

Do you remember your first love? It was memorable for me. Not so much for the girl. To protect the good name and reputation of this fair lass, I will say no more. Do you see a pattern here? We all remember our first love, usually followed quickly by our first (of many) heartbreaks.

Do you remember your first ice cream cone? There was a famous restaurant in my hometown called The Brigadoon. They had the best ice cream, milkshakes and sundaes. The back of that restaurant was the location of the bus stop.

Do you remember your first car? I bought a VW Beetle in the early 1970’s in Victoria, B.C. I paid $500 for it, and it wasn’t possible to squeeze $5.00 of gas into the tank. It remains my favourite vehicle of all time.

Do you remember the first movie you saw on the big screen? I can’t say with certainty, but I think my first movie that left an impact on me was Ben Hur. In 1959, our allowance was .50 cents. It cost .37 cents to go to the Saturday matinee. That left .13 cents to purchase penny candy at Dot’s canteen just across the street from the Capitol Theatre. With .13 cents, you could buy enough candy to keep all the dentists in Antigonish busy.

Do you remember your first UIC cheque? I contributed to Unemployment Insurance my entire life and drew exactly one cheque back in 1974. A number of my friends back then were on “pogey”, the term most frequently used to describe one’s state of unemployment. “Yes. No. Yes. Yes. No.” If you were out of work, you had to fill in a record of your unemployment status. There were five questions. If you were on pogey, the answers were easy to remember. Very often, when the UIC cheques arrived, we would have a pogey party to celebrate our good fortune. I believe that they now call it Employment Insurance but to my mind, pogey is still pogey!

Do you remember your wedding day? If you don’t, you’re either deceased or in witness protection. There was a hurricane the day before our wedding. It was still very stormy as we walked down the aisle.

Do you remember the birth of your first child? If you are a woman, I am not going to try to explain what you went through. In 1982, this was an era when men took an active part in labour and delivery. It was one of the scariest and most humbling experiences of my life.

Do you remember the first death that you experienced? An elderly neighbour passed away and, back then, the wake was held in people’s homes. It was a strange sensation entering the living room (which seemed like a misnomer on this ocassion!). I distinctly remember the overpowering smell of all the flowers and staring at the lifeless form of someone who once gave you cookies.

Do you remember the first (vinyl) record you bought? Was it a 33, 45 or 78? Being a 10-year-old in the early 60s, it was likely a Beatles record – a safe bet. I had a substantial LP collection which I sold for a song during a yard sale in the 1990s. Who would have believed that vinyl would make a comeback? I would love to listen to “Dark Side of the Moon” on vinyl one more time with a good set of headphones (and some legalized marijuana?!).

Do you remember buying your first home? We bought a very nice, practical, child proof home back in the 1980s for $86,000. Today, that wouldn’t be enough for a downpayment on a house in many Canadian cities. It would, however, buy you a nice truck.

I could go on ad infinitum, but I know that you have better things to do today than to sit with your eyes glazed over, thinking about the good old days.

Get your heads out of the sand and head to the beach and put your feet in the sand.

Have a great weekend.