Wrapping up the Year

We are coming to the end of the year and we hear the highlights of 2015 from the perspective of journalists of one sort or another.  It may be useful for individuals to take a look at their personal year and evaluate how it looked in January and how many expectations were achieved and where you fell short.

My January was full of enthusiasm for the spring, anticipating a terrific year in the garden, a European trip in the summer and more achievements for the fall.  Despite breaking my wrist in May I felt I had a terrific first half of the year, in fact a great 8 months but to be honest I have felt a little bit of floundering these last four months.  Thinking about it now I believe I just such a successful first year in retirement that it was going to be hard to match that momentum going forward.  Considering further I think I am being too hard on myself because one shouldn’t plot out year after year because then you are not living in the moment which is something I am learning about in my study of Buddhism.

So perhaps I am feeling slightly disappointed that I didn’t have more visible signs of a successful year because I didn’t build anything these last four months but not being visible doesn’t mean there hasn’t been growth or improvement.  I fondly hope that I am learning something of value with my studies in theology even though I am far from being the angelic being one would perhaps hope for.

So what I know for sure is this – we all need to cut ourselves some slack when we do the evaluation; you can be honest with yourself but you also need to be gentle and compassionate.  After all, we are only human.

Global Warming vs Climate Change

Recently the family has been in a “debate” regarding the new way the media is talking about the weather, environment and other nefarious things.  That is, the latest buzz words are “climate change” and “global warming” is so last year.  I really don’t go up very much in conspiracy theories so I haven’t been noticing anything particularly nefarious about the change of wording. In order to appease the theorists I decided to do a little research; below is a very good link to a site that gives a reasonable explanation of the terms and their use past and present. 

 

The truth is that people love conspiracy theories and with the internet they have free rein to seek out as many theories as they like.  The trouble is that nothing at all is truly validated, which can be very delightful for someone who wants to go around in circles about any subject.  I would just as soon jump ship before that happens, thank you very much.

I saw a rather interesting video recently from a former CBS journalist in which she spoke about something called “astroturf” which referred to a company (or whatever) paying someone in the public to support a theory, product, etc., it is the opposite of “grassroots”. 

 

I think it’s vital that when we listen to the news from any media form we also use our life experience and analytical abilities to evaluate what is as near the truth as possible.

 

“What if” is a fun game, but let’s remember that it really is only a guessing game.

 

https://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-change-global-warming.htm

 

Christmas Questions

Tis the season to start thinking about . . . things other than parties, gifts, and over indulgences.  This is also the season when it behooves one to think about others.  I think the message of Christmas frequently, almost always, is lost in the Merchandizing that inundates us.  Push all that aside and have a quiet moment.  When we pause and give our minds a chance to just rest and gently explore areas that aren’t top most in our mind (that would be all the white noise of the holiday season) do we even think about the religious aspect of the season? 

I thought I would look at the statistics in Canada and the USA on church going now and in the 1950’s.  I was very much surprised by the significant contrast between Canada and the USA.  Today only about 20% in Canada are regular church goers where almost 37% of Americans still attend church regularly.  At the same time 70% of Americans identify with a religion which is almost unchanged from 1937 statistics.  I find it curious that given the religious nature of Americans the holidays are commercialized to such an extent that it has affected the rest of the world.  When we hear the statistics on how much a person will spend over the holidays it just seems out of all proportion to the spirit of the holiday.

It’s no wonder that the holidays can create all kinds of anxiety for a person from satisfying expectations to dreading the January bills.  I’m thinking of encouraging my family to move away from the material side of Christmas and focus more on the true spirit of Christmas, spreading love and joy (without gifts).

I wonder how that will go over?

Sunshine in December

It’s hard to believe that we are midway through December, 10 days to Christmas and 16 days to 2016.  How do you approach December?  What I mean by this question is what type of emotions do you have when December 1^st hits?  Do you become filled with anticipation, joy, love for neighbours and friends?  Do you start getting anxious about Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, Christmas obligations and too many expenses?  Do you think that the year has gone too fast and do you start to feel regrets for things left unfinished?  A combination of two or more such feelings or something completely different?

This year I found myself anticipating the holiday season but when it continued brown and bare I did not get that Christmas feelings.  Now with the first real snowfall of the season everything is covered with hoar frost and snow so it looks especially charming.  My evergreens are getting taller and so now I can actually see them Christmas-like with snow weighing down the branches and small birds flit in and out as they gather seeds they are collecting from around the chicken coop.  They are busy little birds and it’s wonderful to think how they can exist on so little and in such harsh conditions.

As the month progresses closer to the big event Mom and I start pulling ourselves together, then we pull out the cookbooks and eventually we get started baking our “usual suspects”.  The challenges of going beyond vanilla krans and chocolate chip cookies is daunting since all the batches apparently produce mega cookies and we know that they will only be nibbled at and then set aside.  So what’s the point?  This year we miss our baking Santa who whips all kinds of cookies up in a weekend of marathon baking. 

Then there is the wrapping and all I can say is bless the inventor of Christmas bags – so much simpler than paper, tape and ribbons especially with awkward parcels.  Then of course there is the tagging, covering up last year’s tag because we cannot get away from that frugality of saving every possible scrap of Christmas wrapping.  Or can we?  In past years I have tried to do themed wrapping, going with a colour scheme and making nice little bows of ribbon but other years it’s a case of “let’s get this over with”.  Not exactly the kind of emotion one should have when wrapping up a gift, lovingly chosen and hoping to please a loved one.  That’s when you know you have hit stress level with too much buying, not enough time.  That’s when you start to question what the fuss is all about and pretty soon you can start blaming the Merchandizing Machine for all your troubles and woes.  Oh you’re a mean one Mr. Grinch.

In truth, I love this time of year even though some of the self-imposed obligations may seem tiresome once in a while.  Once I get in the swing of things I am loving every minute of it, especially when I have the Christmas carols blasting away.

Merry Christmas.

A New Addiction

It started innocently enough.  I was merely playing a game of Scrabble with my sister on Facebook which is quite frustrating since the program is as slow as molasses in January.  On this particular morning I just happened to glance at an ad on the side column but it caught my attention because it was an old, nostalgic looking photo and the text was in Danish.  Hmmm?  This is curious so I read it.  That was a slippery slope my friends.

It was an ad for MyHeritage which is a competitor of Ancestry.com but it is so much better.  When I have entered my name in Ancestry I get zero hits but with MyHeritage I was instantly landed on a relative’s site.  It was exciting since it confirmed a huge chunk of documentation that I had received from my mother’s cousin some decades before.  From there I was lost.

Only, it gets a little worse.  After being on the computer for about an hour I heard the telephone ring in the other room and I thought I heard the words “My Heritage” so I dashed to pick up the phone.  Some fifteen minutes later I had bought the complete package (don’t ask).  I spent the rest of the day going through scads of names, getting match after match until I thought I would scream Bingo and run for my winnings.  It was crazy.  I don’t think I have ever been so wildly addicted to something.  All I can say is thank heavens I was not actually gambling.

So if you are at all into geneology I do recommend this site, particularly for those who have a more diverse ancestry than typical Anglo Saxon.  The agent on the telephone told me that they have access to almost all the European databases and over 80 million family trees so the diversity appears to be much higher than what I experienced an Ancestry.

It was thrilling to discover names of my great, great grandparents on my father’s side of the family and to confirm some of the “legends” told in our early morning breakfast chats.  And can you believe this, my great, great grandfather’s name was Hans Christian Andersen K.  How appropriate is that?

Mornings with Dad

The other day I was lying in bed, reading my book, eating my toast and observing my cats who were l curled up at my feet and winking at me every once in a while.  It made me suddenly thinking about my childhood and a weekend tradition that we kids adored but I am sure my parents had ambivalent feelings about it.

The thing was that our dad worked very long hours, leaving the house around 5 a.m. and returning sometimes after 8 p.m.  Often we never saw my dad until the weekend so early on Saturday mornings we would knock and go into our parents’ bedroom.  Usually Mom was already up and making coffee and sandwiches for both of them which would be served in bed.  I should perhaps mention here that my father was served breakfast in bed every day of his married life (they do not make wives like my mother anymore, or perhaps ever before).  We would sit on the edge of Dad’s bed and tell him all about our week (this is where I usually mentioned the latest ghost story I had written for composition).  Pretty soon Dad would ease us every so skillfully over to Mom’s side of the bed where we would still sit on the edge, talk over her while more and more wildly jiggle the bed.  Mom endured everything patiently for a really long time where Dad had us on his side for maybe ten minutes, tops.

I was usually the first one up and about in the mornings so as I grew a little older I often got a lot of “advance” information from Dad.  One memorable Saturday morning I recall flipping through Dad’s “Hvem, Hvad, Hvor” (which is the Danish Annual Almanac) and coming upon a picture of a wild looking man with a peculiar mustache I asked him “whose that” whereupon Dad replied “the devil”.  My eyes flew first to the picture and then to Dad and asked “what”!  He then explained to me who Adolf Hitler was and what he had done to the world.  I was 8 years old and I don’t think I will ever forget that history lesson.

Shortly after I would enter the bedroom my sister would come in, then the boys all at once but just as steadily the younger ones would soon go out to the kitchen for breakfast.  Mom would get up to feed them and then it would just be my sister or oldest brother remaining.  Pretty soon it would just be me.  Dad and I could talk for hours about so many things although most of the time Dad did the talking but that is how I learned to be such a good listener.  I may not be a very patient person when it comes to being in a lineup but I can be very patient waiting for my turn to talk!

I really miss him.

Retaliation - Does It Work?

I have been watching the world reaction to the Paris tragedy with growing consternation.  While I understand how people can react in the heat of the moment I question the severe, retaliatory rhetoric that politicians are using across the globe.  In particular I feel that Prime Minister Cameron in the UK and President Hollande in France are being extremely forceful in their demands for “bombing the bejezus out of Syria”.  I can understand it when a layman would say something like this, particularly in the early days after the event, but I question the wisdom of a leader of a nation to speak in such a way.

I just want to compare their reactions to how President Bush retaliated after 9/11.  Did that work?  I think not, rather it seems to be giving the world more blowback.  At the same time, President Obama seems to be using very measured words and taking a different approach to what is happening on the terrorist front.  I am not expert and I also am not following these events closely but I have to wonder what history will say about the first decades of the 21^st century.  Reflecting on the last century I think we are heading in the same pathetic direction and ask the now proverbial question “when will we learn”?

I think Prime Minister J. Trudeau is taking the correct approach in withdrawing our bombers although I don’t know if putting more boots on the ground, even if it is in an instructional capacity is useful.  I simply don’t know.  Canada is a small country in terms of population and wealth and it is neither our heritage nor experience to get involved in war.  Do we want to consider this war in Syria as World War III?  Are we being hysterical about what is happening in the Middle East?  Can anyone tell me that there will be a solution or resolution to the discontent that has been happening in the Middle East for centuries?  Wiser heads than mine have said there will never be peace in the Middle East and I am pretty darn sure that bombing the crap out of Syria is not going to fix anything.

Meanwhile we have millions of people who are fleeing the horrific consequences of this war.  On the one hand the Western world is participating in bombing these people out of their homes and on the other hand they are holding out a hand to bring them into their countries, giving them aid in various forms.  It seems to me a contradiction to wreak havoc and then pat them on the head and say “there, there, everything will be alright”.   Of course we have a duty to provide solace to people in despair but it would make a whole lot more sense if we weren’t the ones causing the despair in the first place.

There’s been four years of upheaval since the Arab Spring and before that we have seen two decades of growing unrest in the Middle East, much of it causes by blowback from Western interference and exploitation.  I am not an expert but it seems to me that talks, education and avoiding exploitation may be a much easier way to resolve matters.  And maybe for non-Middle East countries to keep their noses out of other people’s affairs.

I’m just saying . . . .

Marching Time

When one crosses the threshold of 60 years of age the trembling heart may expect bugles, trumpets and drum rolls if only in the silence of the blood stream.  6 decades is quite a lot of living regardless of what century we are talking about.  Many changes occur in those 6 decades but it does seem that in the last century changes seem to have happened with increasing rapidity and it is little wonder that it is hard for any human to keep pace with the changes.

I recently watched a news bite that indicated the medical profession was looking into changing their recommendations on how early a child should be allowed to have a cellphone.  They were looking at three years of age being acceptable and I thought “I give up”.  Who am I to object to cellphones when doctors think it’s alright for an infant to have a cellphone?  It’s time to surrender to the 21^st century.

Or is it?

Don’t laugh but that is a cheesy line from the new show “The Grinder” starring Rob Lowe.  But I digress.

The reality of the world today is that it moves so quickly, technology changes our reality almost daily and those who are older find it increasingly difficult to keep up.  But even young folks have difficulty keeping pace simply because their lifestyle is so hectic.  Before the advent of cellphones and apps people could concentrate on their commute; you know, actually watching the traffic around them.  Today on the news they mentioned the double-decker bus accident that happened in Ontario two years ago; the driver was apparently watching the video screen that monitored the rest of the bus and so “wham”, his bus was hit and people died.  But he was doing what he had been told to do – watch his passengers.  People walk down the street and get hit by buses, cars and trains almost weekly.

It could be worse though, we could be living in the United States where people get shot in mass on a daily basis.  But hey, let’s not consider gun control because we all need to protect ourselves, right?