Thursday Tidbits

Posted on April 1, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 3 comments

Sailing off into the sunset

It was bound to happen. It was just a matter of time.

After 10 years and 1205 posts, the time has come to put Week45 to bed for good. Simply put, I have run out of gas. Have I finally run out of story ideas? Not really although I must admit that there have been many days when I had to scramble to get something ready for the 6:00 a.m. post. Let’s face it, the world would not have stopped or even noticed if I had taken the odd day off, but I always felt a sense of loyalty to my readers.

This grand experiment happened totally by accident. Paraphrasing Yogi Berra, I came to a fork in the road ten years ago and took it! On a trip to Florida, I wrote my very first piece on the flight from Toronto to Tampa. The rest, as they say, is history. A few people seemed to like my quirky sense of humour and before too long, I was writing for three newspapers. I’m not sure where the idea of writing a book came from but I decided to delve into the murky world of publishing. Originally (and quite naively) I thought I might be able to make a few bucks off this venture. Call it beginners’ luck but my first book sold over 1,000 copies. None of my other 5 books have reached such lofty heights.

Writing opened doors for me to travel. Undoubtedly, I would never have travelled to such far flung places as India and the Arctic were it not for my writing. The best part of the writing, however, has been this incredible connection with so many of you, some of whom I’ve never even met. It has been one long and interesting conversation.

So why am I hanging up my pen? There is a none too subtle pressure to produce stories every Monday and Thursday. It’s always in the back of my mind. As soon as my Monday Morning Musings has been posted, I immediately start wondering what I’m going to write about for my Thursday Tidbits.

In short, I am mentally fatigued and it’s time to take a break. A long, extended break.

I want to thank all of you for your remarkable loyalty… and stamina. Putting up with this nonsense for all these years should be considered purgatory on earth. You should all receive the Order of Canada.

Salut. Stay safe.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. It’s April Fool’s Day and I’m quite certain that I had a few of you going. Nah, I’m not going anywhere. You will continue to receive my mindless drivel for the foreseeable future.

P.P.S. On the weekend, I met up with four lovely, young women while out for my walk. When we finished, I invited them in for fresh coconut cream pie and apple crisp…. and tea… Red Rose. I’m not sure how we got on the topic of cremation but as we did, one of the girls let out an audible gasp. “Oh my God, I lost grandma.” She was staring down at the ring on her finger. She explained that when her grandmother died, she took some of her ashes and mixed it with a gel or cement and had it embedded in the ring. On our walk that day, granny disappeared. The ring was still firmly ensconced on her finger, but her grandmother was nowhere to be found.

Her reaction was somewhat odd. We all figured that the loss of something so precious would be devastating but she was quite sanguine and unperturbed. She felt that it was somewhat fitting that some of granny’s mortal remains would rest eternally on the lands of our founding people. What came out of her lips next was priceless. “I guess it’s better to lose granny on the tundra than behind a cushion on the couch mixed in with potato chips, cracker crumbs, and dust.”

Dust to dust. Ashes to ashes.

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