Thursday Tidbits
Posted on July 2, 2020 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet
Sock it to me
There’s an expression that I love. It goes like this: “It’s hard to make new old friends.”
Old friends are like a well-worn sweater or a pair of comfy slippers that you just can’t discard even though they are tattered and coming apart at the seams. Enduring friendships are to be celebrated and cherished even when you haven’t seen a person in decades.
Earlier this week I received an unexpected gift, a pair of Happy Socks. I am hardly a fashion maven. It’s difficult if not impossible to dress me up and make me look respectable. That was until a dear old friend, Patrice, sent me two pair of what I would call “designer socks”. This hose can be added to my rather bland collection of blue dress socks and several pair of “Darn Tough” socks that I use for long walks. The latter are very expensive but worth every penny if you’re planning on doing a lot of running or walking.
While I love my new footwear and its snappy design, it is the thought behind the receipt of this unexpected gift which really brightened my day. I haven’t seen Patrice in more than 40 years. We communicate occasionally on social media, but we haven’t had a face to face during this passage of time. Old friends are a treasured commodity.
Most, but not all, of my readers are Canadians. I have a handful of old friends living in the United States and “new old friends” that I met during my time in India three years ago, and while walking the Camino in Spain last year. Yesterday, we celebrated our country’s birthday. While most of the festivities were done online because of the pandemic, it didn’t diminish the feeling that many of us have for our “home and native land”. Canada is not perfect but when one looks around the world, most of us who call ourselves Canadians are very happy to call this place home. And grateful. In these very challenging times, I am glad to live in this country. I suspect that I am not alone.
Because I am feverishly trying to create something out of nothing while writing this post (!), I thought that I would tell you that my 6th book is on its way to the printer. I want to send out a huge thank you to my daughter, Ellie and to Jean Pearcey who worked super hard, especially in the past few days, to get my manuscript presentable. I hope to have copies of the book for sale before I leave for the north on July 26th. In all likelihood, I will do a virtual book launch on Facebook “live”. The books will be on sale locally at the 5 to $1.00 and of course, you can get a copy by contacting me directly. An online version of the book and e-book will be available on Amazon shortly.
Last weekend, I walked from town to Ballantyne’s Cove. The weather was hotter than I expected. It was in the high 20s. Forty kilometers into the walk, and sporting two rather nasty blisters, I was invited to spend some time at Friendway Park at Cape George Point. Paul and Marsha Purcell have a summer place high on a hill overlooking the ocean. Paul is a celebrated athlete, but I had never had the pleasure of meeting him until that afternoon. Along with their children, the Purcells were joined by the Bonvie family. It was one of those uniquely Maritime moments when the chemistry is almost instantaneous. It didn’t take long for well placed insults and barbs to start flying. We shared stories and laughter. The final 3 kilometers of the walk to the wharf at Ballantyne’s didn’t seem so onerous.
It actually isn’t hard to make new old friends!
Have a great weekend.
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