Thursday Tidbits

Posted on July 17, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Our community in bloom

I would like to once again compliment the Town and the people who care enough to make our community look attractive to tourists. The “Communities in Bloom” initiative is a real winner. It seems that you can’t walk a few feet on Main Street without encountering a flower box or a hanging basket. They are absolutely beautiful and a real eye catcher. Kudos to Wayne and the other people who routinely water the flowers.

At the risk of leaving someone else, I want to recognize three couples who were instrumental in this community beautification effort: David Miller and Aida Arnold, John Hamilton and Minoli Amit, and Ernie MacLaughlin and his wife. It was their vision and hard work years ago that has resulted in the Town repeatedly being recognized as one of the most esthetically pleasing in the country.

I attended a reunion of former students of the old Antigonish High School the other day at Piper’s Pub, Besides the guest book, the other most important thing the organizers did was to bring stick on name tags. I didn’t recognize some of the older people but happily knew all of the people from my era. We all commented that we struggle with names and have bouts of forgetfulness. I wondered aloud at our table whether aging had anything to do with that! Oh my, but the years fly by. Shocking, actually. I am one of those who routinely pooh poohed reunions when I was younger but now I see how important they are… and fun.

I think just about every person in attendance must read The Casket ( or my website ). The vacuum cleaner story still has “legs.” Just about everybody in the room commented about the story and their version of “staging the house.” I guess misplacing items is common. One person told me that they found children’s toys in the oven the day after a showing. Good thing they weren’t preheating the oven for a roast!

So. Did you attend any of the Highland Games last week or some other festival? Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I look at the program for a major event. Even if you were cloned, it would be nearly impossible to see everything or do everything on the agenda. It got me to thinking about the “feast or famine” syndrome. You know what I mean. You hardly ever socialize but the two weeks leading up to Christmas, you get invited to a dozen office or house parties. Very often, more than one are happening on the same night and you dutifully make the rounds. By the end of the holiday, you are ready to kill somebody who puts a shrimp ring in front of you.

“Feast or Famine” looks at the “all or nothing” phenomenon. It calls into question the notion of seeking balance and moderation in our lives. Neither of these is possible, by the way. I have been studying the subject for nearly 63 years.

Have a great weekend.

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