Posted on February 8, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

 

Yours truly and Donovan Purcell of The Curious Cat

 

I’m not feeling particularly wise today, so you’ll have to find your pearls of wisdom somewhere else. Maybe an old Get Smart rerun!

There are two events this week that I would like to bring to your attention. On Thursday, February 9^th (that’s tomorrow) at 7:00 p.m., I will be the guest speaker at People’s Place Library as part of their popular Armchair Traveler series. I will be showing a PowerPoint with photos and images of my time in the North. I will also be discussing my latest book about the North and my next writing project. I will have copies of my new book for sale and will be accepting cash, credit card, or debit payments. The book costs $20. Hope some of you can make it. I’m normally in my pajamas by 7:00 but will make an exception for this presentation, although the thought of me showing up in PJ’s might draw a crowd!

For those of you who would prefer a daytime event, I will be at The Curious Cat this Saturday, February 11^th at 1:00 to do a reading from my new book. If you have already purchased a book and want it signed, bring it along. If you haven’t purchased this rare gem (!), The Curious Cat would be more than happy to oblige.

I know there are lots of hockey fans out there. For you keeners, you are quite aware that the Vancouver Canucks are having a bad year and are in need of reinforcements. I am happy to report that a good friend (Thanks LME) loaned me a pair of his skates. I am threatening a comeback! I was at the arena for the free senior’s skate yesterday and there were several scouts checking me out. Truth be told, other than arena manager, Brendan Doyle (yes, Mr. Brendan’s Fairway himself), there wasn’t another breathing human being in the rink. It was only the second time in 40 years that I have donned the blades. I must admit that at first, I was a bit tentative, but like riding a bike, it came back quickly.

Thanks to all of you who have purchased a copy of my book. Sales have been very strong and I’m getting lots of positive feedback. Get in touch with me if you would like a copy. Actually, two people have purchased a complete set of my books (7 in total). This rare (!) collection is being offered as a Valentine’s Day special for $75. (Normally $110).

Have a great weekend.

 

Posted on February 1, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 5 comments

Longing for Inverness Beach

 

“But yah got to have friends,

The feeling’s oh so strong,

Yah got to have friends,

To make the day last long.”

Friends – Bette Midler

I am a pretty lucky guy.

At this stage of my life, as a 71 year old senior, attrition normally takes its toll. We’re shedding friends. Time is catching up to us and the runway is becoming shorter. It seems like almost every day, I hear about someone else passing away or in failing health. It can be quite depressing.

Many of you are aware that I went back up north AGAIN (!) last fall after swearing that I wouldn’t return after December of 2021. A colleague passed away suddenly, and I decided to go up and take over her class. I had planned to stay until the end of the school year, but fate intervened as it often does, and I returned home on Christmas Day. For good!

I experienced a heavy dose of trauma in the weeks leading up to Christmas with the deaths of three young students from suicide. When this transpired, I put on a brave face as I felt that I needed to be strong for my students and fellow colleagues.

After the Christmas holidays had died down and the reality of January set in, I noticed something. I didn’t feel quite right but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It wasn’t anything physical, but I was just a bit off. I’m sure you’ve all felt like this from time to time. I guess the best way I can describe it was that I was feeling flat. I had planned to start substitute teaching again but for many days in a row, I just couldn’t find my mojo. Finally, the light went on and I reckoned that I was having a latent reaction to the trauma I experienced before Christmas. I decided to seek help and went and had a chat with a therapist.

I found it both helpful and enlightening. After some gentle probing, I was able to articulate that I was quite angry and frustrated about the suicides. Most of my anger was, and is, directed towards the people who altered the course of the lives of indigenous people in the north. I won’t go into detail here, but the list of grievances is lengthy: colonialism; the shabby treatment of indigenous people by the Hudson Bay Company; forced relocations; residential schools; identification tags; the killing of the sled dogs… and more.

The book that I recently published is a lighthearted look at the north. It talks about my journey to the Nunavik region of Quebec and all the things I learned and experienced. I purposely decided to not go into the “heavy stuff”. But now, I feel compelled to address the heavy stuff head on. I plan to write a sequel to the book and try and explain what happened in the north and why problems persist to this day because of the tragic legacy of the past. I hope that some people will read it. I reckon that it will be therapeutic for me.

“Len. You’ve wandered off topic. You do this with shocking regularity.”

While I was in the north, I made a couple of hundred new friends. Back here at home, substitute teaching has put me in front of hundreds of students. So, I’m still in the accumulation phase of friendships and I’m starting to think that this may be a key determinant of good health. Yes, we need to eat properly, exercise and get plenty of rest to keep the chassis lubricated and firing on all cylinders but could there be anything more important than friendship?

Because I didn’t get home on time at Christmas, thanks to the weather and my friends (?) at Air Canada, I didn’t get to properly launch and promote my new book in the lead up to Christmas. When I checked book sales at the two local outlets right after Christmas, let’s just say that sales were tepid. That’s an understatement. Underwhelming is a more apt description. As I stared at boxes of unsold books in my apartment, I decided to use one of the oldest tactics in the books: direct sales.

Now, because I have accumulated a lot of friends over the decades, I have a long list and I started contacting them one at a time. I have been feeling like one of those door-to-door Electrolux salesmen from a bygone era. I am certainly gratified by the response that I have received and am happy to report that I have had to place two more orders for books. I haven’t sold quite as many as Prince Harry did on his first day (1.2 million) but when all is said and done, I should make enough profit to buy a Wheel pizza!

The happy by product of this initiative has been reconnecting with old friends. It has been a blast sharing old war stories and fond memories. I started offering a free delivery service in my hometown which has spawned many wonderful conversations on the doorstep and in living rooms.

I am feeling very fortunate making all of these contacts (and millions of dollars!) which has helped immensely to get me out of my funk.

I am happy to share a slice of pizza with you once all the books are sold!

Have a great weekend.

 

Posted on January 25, 2023 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with one comment

 

Putting my best foot forward

 

“You put your right foot in

You put your right foot out,

You put your right foot in,

And you shake it all about,

You do the hokey pokey ,

And you turn yourself around,

That’s what it’s all about.”

The Hokey Pokey – Ray Anthony

When I think about my body, I rarely think about my feet. Persistent, long term back pain is a daily reminder of that body party. I have a knee that has had three surgeries and from time to time, when I overdo it (like running in marathons), it gets cranky. When I look in the mirror, I realize that the creator supersized my nose and had the temerity to first, give me an afro in my youth and then to remove all evidence that I ever had hair in my dotage.There are some days that I do something really stupid and wonder if I have a brain. Mostly, we take our bodies for granted and only think about it when something isn’t working the way it should.

When my mom was in her 90s, she often commented that her feet had put on a lot of miles over the years. Now, I am not a step counter but someone who is 90 and averaged 20,000 steps a day (very possible for my mother’s generation who chased after 6,8,10 children) would have racked up 657,000,000 steps.

I can only remember twice in my life having an issue with my feet. For the better part of 10 years, I trained for and ran marathons. I developed a serious case of plantar fasciitis which is severe pain of the plantar fascia, the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and the bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the first steps of the day or following a period of rest. I tried every manner of cure and then discovered orthotics which did the trick. I remember running the Ottawa Marathon when my feet were at their worst. Luckily, so many other parts of my body were aching by the time I finished the race that I hardly noticed my feet. Why would anyone in their right mind, run a full marathon (42.1 kilometers) with plantar fasciitis? See my previous comment about my brain.

The only other significant foot episode that I encountered was during my walk across Spain in 2019 when I clocked 725 kilometers doing the Camino. Have you ever had a blister on your foot or on a toe? How about 20 or more at the same time? See my previous comment about my brain.

I’m not a spa guy. I do like to get a massage from time to time but I have never been tempted to enter the doors of an actual spa. At Christmas time, a dear friend gifted me a “sports pedicure and paraffin wax treatment”. She was aware of the trauma that I had experienced in the north after my most recent stint of teaching, and felt that I could use some pampering. While I was quite humbled with the gesture, the thought of actually walking into a spa and having a pedicure was a bit intimidating. I have never shied away from adventure and I thought, “What the hell” and decided to put on a brave face. And as the Nike ad says, “Just Do It”.

My pedicurist was a young Indian woman who had recently moved to Canada from the Punjab region of Northwestern India. I removed my footwear and socks, sat in a chair, and immersed my feet in warm, soapy water. I was asked to choose from a number of different colored salts and I chose lavender. Not sure if I’m a lavender kind of guy but apparently, that’s the most popular salt. The salt was added to the soapy water and now my feet were turning a lovely shade of purple.

I have to admit that the first half of the pedicure, I peppered the young lady with questions, as I knew that I would be compelled to write a piece about the experience.

Next my pedicurist (how many guys have ever uttered those words?!) cut and filed my toenails. She then applied a cuticle softener to the nails and my feet were immersed in the water again. After a few minutes, she used an instrument that pushed my cuticles around and then she removed said cuticles with snippers. It was around this time that I thought I should surrender to the process and rather than analyzing every single move that was being made, I would close my eyes and simply relax and sensate.

She next rubbed the bottoms of my feet with a scrubber to remove dead skin. She was applying quite a bit of force and I briefly wondered if she might just sandpaper her way all the way through my feet. She then exfoliated my feet with a substance that had the consistency of 10W30 motor oil mixed with beach sand. Not an unpleasant sensation. Just a bit weird.

If you at all ticklish, you might not enjoy the next part. The pedicurist started to gently massage my feet which initially made me shudder a bit but once she applied force, it was absolutely heavenly. She applied intermittent hands chops to my feet as well. It was simply divine and at that precise moment, I finally understood the appeal of a pedicure. Apparently in India, it is very common for men to get pedicures.

The pedicurist then grabbed a couple of clear plastic bags. She grabbed a cup and filled it with hot, paraffin wax. My foot was inserted into the bag and then she poured the hot wax over my feet. After all of the previous wonderful sensations, I thought that this was my punishment for asking so many questions! I had to chill for about 10 minutes before she peeled off the wax. Apparently, the wax is very good for healing cracks in the heel.

And then I was done. My feet felt amazing. As I get older, looking after my body (and mind) is more important than ever. Foot care is now on my list. Many seniors can’t even reach their feet anymore because of other infirmities.

I made my way out to the front desk and spoke to one of the staff. When I told her how much I enjoyed the pedicure, she suggested that I try a facial sometime. I thought she was joking but she was dead serious. She said that a facial is one of the most relaxing things they offer. She suggested that I book an appointment on “Facial Fridays” when the treatment is 50% off.

So, a big thank you to my excellent (and brave!) pedicurist and the folks at Secrets Spa and Hair Design for making me feel welcome at their establishment. And a special thank you to my friend IC for a most unique Christmas present.

Oddly enough, the staff didn’t suggest any hair designs for me!

Have a great weekend.