Monday Morning Musings
Posted on December 1, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet
Saying goodbye to the sweets for awhile
I had never consumed a Krispy Kreme donut until our recent trip to Florida. It was interesting watching them produce them right in front of you. It was even more interesting eating them! But, alas, that was the last sweet that I’ll put in my system until Christmas day arrives.
Which brings me to a story I’m working on about “moderation.” Aren’t you just sick to death about everyone telling you to do things in moderation? I watched a very interesting video on the weekend (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U728AZnV0 ) about the perils of long distance running, something I did for eight years. It would appear that everything we do and everything we consume is bad for us, if we do it to excess. The exceptions to this might be red wine and dark chocolate. Sounds like a balanced diet to me! “A Question of Balance” might be a good title for a story , which , by the way, is the title of a Moody Blues album from 1970. I saw this band in Las Vegas many years ago , well past their prime and they were still awesome.
I also have a story coming up about some other interesting research projects. I have found that incredible amounts of money are spent on research which comes to some painfully obvious conclusions.
Of course, today is December 1st. and the mad rush has officially begun. Like you, I saw a fair bit of footage from the “Black Friday” sales in the U.S. and other countries. It looked more like the running of the bulls in Pamplona. I wonder what people in sub-Saharan Africa , who are lined up for a bag of flour at a relief station, would make of this. Sorry to all you die hard shoppers, but I find those images ( both ) quite disturbing. The gap between the haves and have nots continues to widen. Oops, there I go pontificating again.
The outdoor decorations are starting to emerge like the first kernels of corn in a popcorn popper. I will dutifully put ours up on the weekend. In the upcoming story “ Deck Orations,” I explore the tradition of decorating for the Christmas season. Some people go to incredible lengths while others ( like us ) , take a more minimalist approach. Actually, that’s being charitable. Our children have consistently scorned us for the meager effort we put into decorating for Christmas. Until they come to our rescue and do it themselves (!), we will continue to be among “the worst decorated houses” in Antigonish.
Don’t forget that I am available to come to your homes ( or offices ) during the Christmas season to entertain friends or clients. I will do some readings from my books and even sing a few Christmas tunes. I will bring some books for sale that would make a relatively inexpensive gift… and great reading material for the bathroom!
Later this month ( Boxing Day ), I will embark on a transcontinental trip ( by car ) with my son, Peter. The ultimate destination is Victoria, B.C. but our route will take us through the southern states, California and back up into Canada. ( Approximately 9,000 km. ) During this two week period, expect mostly stories from the road. Looking forward to the geography lesson.
Have a great week and hope to see you at one of my launches this week.
P.S. Because of recent changes to Facebook, the only way that you can be sure to receive my posts is to go to my website and become a subscriber through e-mail. ( at the bottom of my home page ). It’s old fashioned… but it works.
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