Thursday Tidbits

Posted on October 14, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

Thanksgiving Day bonfire with colleagues

The weeks are flying by… as they always do. I often see posts on Facebook with parents lamenting how fast their 5-year-olds are aging. Whoa. Have I got news for you. Just wait until you been kicking around the sod for 70 years.

Another Thanksgiving Day has come and gone. It was wonderful to see all the pictures on Facebook of family gatherings. I hosted a Thanksgiving potluck the day before the actual holiday. About 20 of my colleagues showed up on a brilliant, sunny afternoon. The day before and the day after were cold and rainy so the Thanksgiving gods weredefinitely on our side that day. We had a great feast and retired to the beach in front of my house. We built a nice bonfire, and I grabbed my guitar and played a few tunes.

Before going our separate ways, we made a circle around the fire and each of us said one thing for which we were thankful. It was a nice way to end a splendid afternoon. One of the youngest staff members opined that forming a circle every day in a show of thanksgiving would be a good idea. I agree, Emeraude.

Some of you wise people aren’t on Facebook so you missed a post of mine last Friday. We held a Truth and Reconciliation walk for the entire school. Afterwards we congregated at the Family House to have a snack and chat with some of the elders from the community. I was asked to remain, and I spent an hour playing music, listening to stories and sharing food and laughter. It will go down as one of the highlights of my time in the north, especially the warm hug I received from one of the elder women before leaving. These are amazing people. Wise, warm, witty, and resilient.

A few brave souls sat through one of my live Facebook concerts (Pillow Talk North) on Monday evening. Note to the host of the show: DO NOT eat a spicy marinated chicken pizza a half an hour before trying to sing. I realize that my audience is very forgiving and thankfully so because I had to burp a few times. As Lynn Anderson once sang, “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”. It was fun chatting with friends from coast to coast. A few friends from Poland tuned in, albeit the next day with the 6- hour time difference. Unfortunately, the internet, which is normally very reliable, cut out halfway through the show, requiring me to tape two separate videos. If you happened to tune in late, you may have caught the second act first, never realizing that there was a first act. Honestly, you didn’t miss a whole lot. Just Len crooning and belching.

I don’t want you falling to the floor laughing but I have hired a personal trainer. “Len, I didn’t realize that there was a Goodlife Fitness center in Kangiqsujuaq.” There isn’t. One of our staff was a personal trainer down south and offered to work with me. With advancing age, I have found my muscles and joints seizing up more and more. I desperately need to increase my flexibility. Because I am a morning person, I do my exercises around 6:30. My goal is to be able to touch my toes by the time I’m 75!

I must say that I am getting a lot of exercise at the school. Besides my administrative duties, I have taken it upon myself to reorganize several storage rooms. Things have kind of piled up over the years and it was time for someone to purge, sort, and relabel things.

It’s hard to believe but yesterday we had to indicate our travel plans for Christmas. The Board arranges our flights and needs lots of lead time with the multitude of teacher from the south making their way across Canada for the holiday season. We all know that in the blink of an eye, the festive season will be here. While I love the north, getting a chance to go home and hang out with family and friends is a great gift.

Did it again. Seven hundred words about nothing.

Have a great weekend.

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