Thursday Tidbits

Posted on October 21, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 3 comments

Old things

 

“You may delay, but time will not.”

Benjamin Franklin.

Procrastination.

I was going to write about this sooner, but I kept putting it off.

Two deaths on Monday got me to thinking a lot about where I’m at,at this point in my life. I knew one of the deceased. Mike was a talented musician. I met him in the early 80s when he was a music student at St.F.X. He hadn’t been well for some time and succumbed to his illness. He was only 61, far, far too young to leave his wife and family. I did not know the second person. He was the brother of talented journalist, Neil MacDonald. Neil spoke glowingly about his brother and ended his tribute with this lovely line: “We started laughing together in grade school and never stopped, until he did.”

I promise that I’m not going to go full maudlin on you, but death is so common these days. I guess it has been forever thus, but it just seems to me that we can barely get through a week, let alone a day, without news of someone we know or love passing on.

My Monday post chronicled my efforts to clean out a very messy resource room at school. I received a lot of response. Some of you are full blown crazy like me and like things looking orderly, every waking minute of the day. A few of you confessed that you are procrastinators and are forever putting things off. I’m sure there’s a happy medium.

For those of you who are habitual procrastinators let me offer you this pearl of wisdom. What in the hell are you waiting for? Maybe it’s time for you to literally and figuratively clean out your closet, (basements, garages etc.). Unless you believe in reincarnation, you only have one life to live. Don’t wait for a crisis to jolt you into action. Lethargy is a friend of the devil. Why not try something new and daring or just make a ‘to do’ list and actually cross a few things off?

Learn how to make bread. Start walking. Find a new love … or lover! When Covid permits, why not travel around your province or state or, gasp travel outside your region. Even if this doesn’t appeal to you, there is nothing stopping you from traveling outside your comfort zone. That takes place in your head.

“I can’t tell you if there’s anything after this life, but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is not. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.” Baruch de Spinoza – Dutch philosopher

I watched Lady Chatterly’s Lover on the weekend. I had forgotten (wink, wink) that this was a pretty racy piece that D.H. Lawrence penned in 1928. Here’s a quote from the movie that caught my eye: “I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets.”

Enough pontificating, but you get my drift.

Now for something pretty ridiculous. I’ve been on a bit of a health kick lately. No alcohol and very modest amounts of sweets. I still walk a lot and lately have been working with a personal trainer trying to loosen some very tight muscles. So far so good. My diet still leaves a lot to be desired. A friend loaned me a book about nutrition. Superlife by Darin Olien purports to provide the reader with “five simple fixes that will make you healthy, fit and eternally awesome.” I doubt if I will ever achieve those lofty heights but I’m always ready to try something new. It so happened that I started reading this book on Saturday, the day after one of the most physically demanding weeks of my life, my tank was empty. I had zero energy. It was cold and rainy, the perfect weather to be a total slug. As I read more and more of the book I kept saying “Yes, yes, Len, you can do this. Be bold. Try something new.” From what I could glean from the book, my best bet was alfalfa sprouts and water. It seemed like most foods harbored some evil chemicals.

As the day wore on, I felt that I had to get off the couch and walk 500 yards to the nearest grocery store. It also houses the post office so, at a bare minimum, I could check my mail and get a breath of fresh air. It was getting close to supper, and I had zero interest in cooking. I was also hungry. We all know that the 11^th commandment goes something like this: “Thou shalt not go into a grocery store when ravenous.”

Dear reader, I am ashamed and a bit embarrassed to tell you that I made two purchases and neither of them was sprouts. The first was a bag of Old Dutch ripple potato chips. I hadn’t had a single potato chip since August and the craving was overwhelming. The second was a frozen, packaged dinner. It wasn’t quite a TV dinner but pretty damn close. Instead of a robust and healthy supper according to Mr. Olien, I had an appetizer of potato chips followed be a microwave dinner. And you know what? I didn’t feel even a tinge of guilt and loathing about my shitty choices for supper. Had I died that night, it would have been without regret… and with a touch of salt on my lips!

Now that I have crossed procrastination off my list, what’s next?

Have a great weekend.

P.S. The most wonderful thing happened in the wee hours yesterday morning. I opened the curtains in my living room. The moon was full and was casting a magnificent shadow on the bay. A huge cargo ship was in the bay with lights on. Sadly, the version of my iPhone couldn’t capture the beauty. As I was staring in awe, I flicked on Sirius radio. I kid you not, but Moonlight Sonata was playing. Sometimes the stars line up perfectly.