Thursday Tidbits

Posted on September 4, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

Bidding summer farewell

Well, it’s back to school and for most of us, the return to some form of normalcy. I truly think that we should lobby the  government to have September 1^st. as the first day of the year instead of January 1^st. Everybody is back into a regular rhythm. Kids are in school, the days are getting shorter and the Blue Jays are in a tailspin once again. Yup. Everything is normal.

I was very gratified with the response to “Happy Trails.” The Cabot Trail is special. I have some friends from Antigonish who were travelling in Alaska last year. They bumped into a couple from the U.S. who were on a two year voyage around the globe. They were into their 13^th. month and my friends asked them what was the most beautiful place they had been.  My friends hadn’t told these folks where they were from. They paused and said, “the Cabot Trail.” If you haven’t been there in a while, treat yourself, even if it’s only a day trip, and do “the Trail.” And don’t forget the butterscotch pie at The Clucking Hen restaurant!

So, we were having a family gathering on the long weekend. After gorging on sweets for most of the summer, I vowed publically that I was going to limit my dessert intake drastically starting September 1^st. Well one thing led to another and the topic of dieting came up. I had mentioned that my cholesterol was down for the first time in years at my last annual checkup in August. Of course, like a fool, my reaction was to go out and binge on greasy food and desserts knowing I had a full year before my next checkup. Why do we humans react this way? Why can`t we take this kind of news and redouble our efforts to do even better? Because we are weaklings and I am at the head of the list.

Just about everyone I know has at one time or another, tried to lose weight. We started talking about weigh ins and the lengths that people go to in the days and hours leading up to this nerve wracking event. One person confessed that she actually spit saliva into a cup on the drive into the weigh in. She boasted that she was still able to wear the earrings she wore as a teenager. Not sure if that is some badge of honour. I mean, have you ever seen an obese earlobe? As dangerous as this may sound, I am going to tackle the phenomenon of dieting. Soon. After I lose a pound or two!

Lots more stories to come including my trilogy about life working in a sawmill. The first two parts have been written. It’s amazing that a person’s brain can draw up images of the past including smells. I started my fleeting mill career working on a green chain. This was incredibly dirty and noisy work. You had to wear a leather apron and leather gloves ( a lovely ensemble! ) handling lumber that had just passed through a chemical bath. The smell oozed into your pores and you could taste it at the end of a shift. The good news is that there was a pub a mere 5 minute walk from the mill. I found ways to make that awful taste go away.

Coming up on Saturday is the story “They Call Me Yellow Jell-o.” Some friends “trashed” a cabin I was renting while teaching in Northern Alberta. You must read this one. It is 100% true. Many of the principals in the story have passed away so I feel no threat of reprisals.

Have a great week.

P.S. ( True Story ) A woman who was dieting , baked a pan of brownies. She and her husband shared one row of squares. The next morning , after he had left for work, she ate the remainder of the brownies in one sitting. Panicked, she hastily made another pan, let it cool and ate the first row. Her husband never knew the difference.

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