A Miraculous Journey

The 21 day meditation of Deepak & Oprah which is now in week 3 is all about the Miracle that is You. For a while during the meditations I felt that it was a bit too much of the same, that there was nothing new to be told, that I knew it all, in effect. How wrong I was!

As I let my mind start accepting again the wisdom of the ages, opening myself up to the inner message of ME I began to appreciate that there can never be too much repetition when it comes to knowing ourselves and appreciating our uniqueness in the universe. At the same time I also learn that we are all connected, over and over again.

Some part of me instinctively seems to know how to connect to people while another part keeps me in reserve. There is always more to learn in letting down that barrier and accepting that the barrier is not a good thing but blocks the path to accepting others for who they are. There should be no judgment, no irritation but only acceptance that they are as divine as myself.

I say that in all humbleness, not with ego. Yes, I am getting there – slowly but surely.

Namaste.

Nature Has Us Beat

I have been observing my cats lately and must say that the boys (who are 15 years old) are becoming more verbal and also crankier. Thumper in particular meows all day long, telling tales about how mean Cherie is and how selfish Kitsy is. Really?  And at night they snuggle up together at the foot of my bed and are good buddies again!

It amazes me how bees have this whole, perfect community of existence. No fighting with each other, all just cooperating to keep their mighty queen alive and producing.

And The Girls, well, they can peck at each other the odd time but basically the go out roaming in the grass looking for seeds and bugs and just frolicking like little kids. They are curious about everything and when they hear our voices chatting on the pergola deck they wandering around and twist their necks to look up at us and peep “what’s up, eh?”

Then there are all the little grey birds that swoop down in the chicken coop, picking up seeds and food and pretending that they aren’t thieves. Oh no, not they! Meanwhile the magpies brazenly make their presence known and are not ashamed to admit to their own level of thievery! Bold as brass, they are!

Nature functions, always true to themselves.

Be Kind

Can you believe that my last words were “be kind” and then what happens in the world? A mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand and another attack in the Netherlands? Not to mention the insanity spewing from Individual One.

We are living in a crazy time and a crazy world. To be honest I have no words to express my feelings on this.

Today I had to long conversations with my two best friends, Ninette and Silvia. Life is chaos sometimes but thank God we have each other to talk to and commiserate with. Not to mention all my other good friends and I literally go down on my knees in gratitude that I have the absolute best mother and siblings (and sweet sister-in-law) in the whole world. My nieces and nephews, and the great nephews are such a blessing and a joy to me, I cannot tell you.

When I talk to my friends they always say “it could be worse (for them), look what you are going through” but I always feel embarrassed by that – I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me because I don’t feel sorry for myself. Life has handed me a terrible card but that is the way it is. I am just so grateful that I have a resilient, stoic mind and a heritage of strong people in my DNA. I do not take credit for myself, it seems to be a natural thing and as I say, I am just so very blessed with the support and love that I receive every day from family and friends.

I wish I could use my blood and my psyche to cure the sick people in the world of their mental illness that includes such hate for innocent people. I cannot understand it. But hating these criminals is not the way to cure them as I saw on an interview early this morning. This person was cured of his own hate by the love shown to him by one of those he sought to harm. Thirty years later he is still working on helping others out of their hate.

I guess we always need to look at the people around us and encourage them to talk to us and let their loneliness be abated with kindness and thoughtfulness.

Now I am rambling. Suffice to say – my cup runneth over!

So Big - Edna Ferber

I’ve been doing some early Christmas shopping and picked up some hard cover books at Costco but unfortunately they are so heavy that I am having a hard time dipping into them.  So I pulled out some of my old classics which I do every once in a while.  Sort of placebo for the soul therapy.  As my readers know I enjoy reading “The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder as soon as it blizzards, this year I went with the first snow.  I always feel cosy and comforted that I have my cupboards stock with food and grateful that the heat is going. 
I’ve been reading the 2 volumes of One Basket which is Ferber’s early short story series but now I am deep into “So Big” one of my all time favorites (on my top 10 list).  I adore the story, I adore Selena, I love the word descriptions and the life lessons.  Some favorite lines
·         A fine show.  The trick is to play in it and look at it as the same time . . . Living.  All mixed up.  The more kinds of people you see, and the more things you do, and the more things that happen to you, the richer you are.  Even if they are not pleasant things.  That living.  Remember, no matter what happens, good or bad, it just so much . . . just so much velvet”.
·         “There are only two kinds of people in the world that really count.  One kind’s wheat and the other kind’s emeralds.
·         But always to her, red and green cabbages were to be jade and Burgundy, chrysoprase and porphyry.  Life has no weapons against a woman like that.
The book is about how the individuals see the world and so few see the beauty and  the Show.  They lead pedestrian lives even if they have money and education where Selena sees what could be.  She sees the Parade of Life.  It’s just so beautiful see wonder at people who can see the absolute joy in the world and I feel grateful that maybe, just maybe, I am one of those people.
So today when you do your commute, when you are shopping, maybe you can just take in the glory of living and the possibilities around us.   
My cup runneth over.

All About You

I am just coming out of a 21 day meditation with Deepak & Oprah with the theme of Becoming Unstuck and do I ever feel wonderful.  Just sitting still for 10 or 20 minutes and listening to their thoughts and then meditating on their ideas is peaceful.  When I feel illuminated by their ideas then it is truly wonderful.  Sure enough, some days are better than others but what I realize is that taking this time daily is very important to keep my balance and my cool.

I began to write about my current ordeal on roofing but this is really for everyone to think about.  As Bilbo said “it’s a dangerous thing, stepping out your front door” added with “don’t throw stones in a glass house” so let me just say this; we can work very hard at meditating and improving ourselves but we must first and foremost sink our ego, our pride and our tempers.  Whenever we are tried we need to think like a professional at work, pause, don’t press the send button until you know you are in control of your emotions.  To use yet another proverb “you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar” and “a soft word turns away wrath”.

Does anyone know how to pass that message on to The Donald?

What I am really trying to say is that meditation is not only for daily use in 21 day spurts, it is for a lifetime and awareness of the centering thought for the day must be all day long.  There is no use in trying to improve one’s inner being unless we can radiate it outwards to our loved ones and beyond.  The words of Ramana Maharshi are appropriate here “Your own self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world”.

Amen to that.

A Refuge in Books

Instead of pulling the blanket over my head to avoid thinking about cannibalistic hens I reach for the solid feel of a book, plump the pillows behind my back, turn on the reading lamp and plunge into a good book.  This month has been spent paddling a river and communing with a woodpecker in “The Lord God Bird”, riding over New Mexico’s desert in “Death Comes for the Archbishop” and fighting for liberty with Abigail Adams and her sisters in the wonderful book “Dear Abigail”.  Without conscious thought the books that came into my hands this past month were so in tune with my struggling farmer self that it was almost scary.

Books serve a multitude of purposes and while it may not be the highest form of praise, escape is a universal favorite reason to read.  If along the way you also learn history, become enlightened with new ideas, find a path to understanding yourself better, have a laugh, a cry and a wringing of the heart along the way then you have some added bonuses in the pursuit of reading a good book.  Not just any old book a good book.  How rare to find that combination of good writing, a lovely story and the bonus. 

This month while I was bemoaning my losses and hiding my nose in a book my head was also going around and around in the pursuit of worthy topics to write about.  Setting the right tone (not being a Debbie-downer), being mindful, meaningful and humorous all at once is a challenge that does not always come easily to the fingertips (or the mind).

The latest 21 Day Meditation with Deepak and Oprah is about “Getting Unstuck” and entering week 3 I find the lightbulb in my mind has turned back on and I am ready.

Ah, the relief.

Making Connections

When you go through a guided meditation you can really experience a breakthrough into yourself and your connection with the universe.  That sounds very airy fairy until you have actually had such an experience when you can get a sense of profound wisdom.

“Earth to Sanne. Earth to Sanne.”  I know that is maybe what you are thinking right now and I am into one of my flight’s of fancy but you would be wrong.  During my last 21 Day Meditation with Deepak Chopra we used the theme Belief.  By the third week I was well into making a connection with the universe and by that I mean that I was seeing past my personal experiences and just sensing space.  And then one day I felt this tremendous connection with others, not personal and not as theory but, Just There.  It sounds very odd as I say until you experience it yourself but it was very powerful and 2 months later I still think about how I felt in those moments.

Yesterday when I was writing about family I had a mental image of my readers judging me or arguing with me about how it isn’t possible to give so much time to their families.  I found myself smiling as I remembered my Connection Experience and it made me shake off that second guessing on whether I should post or not post (you’d be surprised at how many of my thoughts never get posted, believe it or not).

Why does one write?  Is it self-indulgence, wanting to be heard, making a connection, creating a story, using one’s imagination?  Perhaps a little of each but as one blogs one definitely feels they are making a connection with their readers.  Bloggers “put it out there” and for those of us who are Pollyannas at heart we just want to make folks smile, laugh, think and connect.

 Oh, and of course, we all want Peace on Earth.

Autumn Dreams

 

I was having a bit of a snooze on the front porch today and I thought “now this is the life of Riley”.  The sun was pouring in through the windows, the orange and yellow leaves were gently falling to the earth and all was mellow and calm.  The truth is that I have a hard time taking a nap so I lay on the sofa with eyes half closed and just thought about . . . nothing.  It was almost like meditation, making the mind blank only I didn’t think about it, it just happened.

With all the hustle and bustle of this past year I realize that I am not someone who can sit quietly for very long.  I need to be doing something which seems remarkable.  When I was younger, and especially while I was working, the thing that I liked best to do was just sit still and do nothing.  Now I find myself moving from one thing to another like some human pendulum.  It is very disconcerting to have this mobile side of myself surface.  I’ve tried to calm myself down and tell myself to slow down (especially after that ridiculous fall in the fish pond) but to no avail.  But this afternoon I told myself to go check out the front porch and the next thing I knew I was lying on that sofa and just enjoying the heat of the day.  Amazing.

It was more amazing to realize that I had let my mind go blank for a few moments and just experienced a sense of peace and wonder with little conscious thought.  Of course, the moment I realized I was doing it I snapped out of it which was unfortunate but also amusing.  Obviously it takes time to get into true meditation mode.  Last summer my sister and I tried to do a meditation which lasted about 2 minutes before my sister got distracted and began talking.  Another few seconds and it probably would have been me that would have broken the silence.

But quiet time is really nice . . . and quiet.

Canada Day

While I am not widely travelled I have seen enough of the world to say that I am happy I live in Canada.  Canada gives us freedoms few other countries have along with opportunity and the varied beauty of a vast land.  We live in a land with diversity of people who live amicably with each other.   We live in great safety and security.  On this day of celebration I just want to say that I am glad to be a Canadian living in a country at peace.  It’s a beautiful summer day and I am blessed.

Another Thanksgiving Weekend

Another year has gone by in a flash and I sit here thinking about what I am grateful for this Thanksgiving weekend.  Just saying the words “the traditional family, friends, harvest, work, health” at first seems lame but then I think about how many people don’t have the traditional family, friends, harvest, work or health and I say “give your head a shake” because it is never enough or wrong or lame to be thankful for what we have.

       Indeed, Thanksgiving weekends come and go, we say the words but do we actually feel them?  Deep down, do we feel what it is to be thankful or grateful?  I don’t think we do, on a daily basis, because we take so much for granted.  We take the country we live in as safe and sound, but unless we pay attention to the news, pay attention to what happens around us, we don’t really realize that being Canadian is a wonderful privilege because it could be so much worse.  We don’t realize that having a home and a job are fantastic givens in our lives when many people don’t have homes or jobs.  More than we realize.

       Even looking internally, forgetting about what others have or have not, do we know what it means to give thanks to the universe for our lot in life?  I said to my Mom yesterday as we drove to the grocery store “I am so grateful for the wonderful childhood that I had” and she replied “It makes me feel good to hear you say that”.  It was a simple, impulsive exchange but it was genuine.

       I’m hoping everyone did look at their lives with gratitude and amazement because we really do have a lot to be thankful for.

       My cup runneth over.

Happy Friday's Here Again

Let’s end the week on a happy note after my long tirade against social and economic injustice.  I’m currently watching some spectacular streaks made by 2 jets, which look like a monochrome rainbow.  Just the right vision to get me in the mood for an artistic story.

       So here I am,  a middle aged woman, struggling to get into my clothes.  What happened to simply throwing things on, brushing my hair and walking out of the house in ship shape?  From the inside out, it is now a struggle.  Forget panties, there’s this thing called Spanx which operates on the same concept as corsets forcing one’s body into a shape it long ago gave up.  Next layer, pantyhose.  Since when was it a struggle to put on hose?  I used to be able to do it standing up.  Now it is a nightmare to do it sitting down.  Yesterday i nearly popped my eyeball out while I was in a contortionist’s state.  Oh, I almost forgot the bra stage in the underwear process.  On second thought, let’s put the Victorian curtain over that particular hell before I begin contemplating suicide again. 

       Now we are at the stage of actual clothes and I will skip over the painful selection process of what will look good on me.  I’m putting on the dress, stepping into it like models supposedly do.  There’s a tug at the hips, this morning it’s a slight tug due to the Spanx which is pleasing but now I have to zip it up.  Once upon a time my arms were like that of a monkey and it was no problem to reach around back and zip it up!  Now it is done in stages, with a twist here and a jerk there and at the end of the zip I make a mental note to call the chiropractor for another appointment since my back is now out of whack.

       By the time I am dressed the sweat is pouring out of my face and I have yet to deal with the hair.  The makeup had already put on prior to the dressing up process but now it is dripping away or running down my neck.  The hair which was somewhat arranged is now a wet mop.  No handkerchief for me, I take a towel and start dabbing away at the face, but who can be dainty with a towel.  Before I  realize what I am doing I am scrubbing away and have to start all over again.  The second bell has long ago stopped ringing and I am late.

       So much for Happy Friday.

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf published her essay in 1929 and while the main point of her work was discussing the need for writers to have space (and money) of their own in order to excel at their work to the same degree as a man the whole concept of women having a place of their own was almost radical. 

       When a realtor shows a couple a home, they automatically assume that the woman’s room is the kitchen.  Have you noticed that?  Today we hear the term “man cave” but is there a lady’s boudoir designed in new homes?  There’s a “bonus room” out in a hallway, usually near what would be the children’s rooms.   My girlfriends tell me they used to have to lock themselves in the bathroom to get away from the trailing demands of their little children. Even then, the child would put their head to the floor crack and cry out “Mom what are you doing?”  I chuckled when they told me stories like that but at the same time I marvelled that there was no place for them to go in the house to simply be alone for five minutes.

       Some 80 years after Virginia wrote her essay we are still searching out space for ourselves, both literally and figuratively speaking.  What is your solution?  Is there space at work over a lunch hour where you can have some peace and quiet?  The space doesn’t need to be in the home if that is out of the question.  Is the community library an option?  Is taking a walk in the park and finding a bench to sit for some time appealing?  In fact, a person does not necessarily need to sit to be tranquil, simply walking in the open air can give one time to think or be still in mind and spirit.

       Be creative.  Think outside the room.

Tread Carefully

Have you been keeping your gratitude journal?  It’s been 4 days since I made my suggestion?  There’s no excuse because you can get a journal for a mere dollar at the local Dollar Store.  Shy or afraid because someone may read it?  Shame on them for intruding on your private moment.  But I remind you, gently, this is not an option to your path to tranquility.

       For those who know me you may be smiling because I am not always a tranquil person.  Indeed, I’ve been known to be slightly (?) volatile.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  A person ought to have passions in life, things that they feel strongly about and are not afraid to expound on, be it politics, sports, life in general, whatever sets you going.  Having passions does not mean that one cannot also be tranquil or pursue a peace of mind.

       Remember that the starting point of this week of thought (yes, I plan on doing this all week long) is to find a proper pace in one’s life so that we can have time to do the small things that help balance out your week.  Five minutes here and five minutes there will gently add up to moments of simple accomplishment.  Look, I was able to prepare my week’s menu for Mom.  I’ve been able to write my blog consistently.  I’ve taken on my exercise regime because the other items have been ticked off my to-do list.  Slow and steady, we will win our tiny little “race” of not racing.

       Is that an oxymoron?

Second Guessing Oneself

Unless you are a sociopath you have probably second guessed yourself once or twice in your lifetime.  It is a very disconcerting feeling to wonder if you have done the right thing but worse is having to admit that you might be wrong.

          One of the dangers of becoming mature (read older) is that we tend to have the idea that we now know it all and therefore cannot possibly make a mistake.  I say this tongue in cheek but if you admit it to yourself, don’t you often believe that you are probably right even when you say “well, I may be wrong but . . . “ or words to that effect?  I may have mentioned this before but my father used to confound me by saying that he would always be the wiser because of “life experience”.  Naturally it was difficult to combat those words but now I have them in my arsenal as I climb up the ladder of maturity.

          There is the downside to climbing up the ladder of maturity though, as my mother mentioned to me after making a call to her cousin.  Ingemarie said “now I’m on top of the ladder and I don’t like it very much” – meaning that the only place to go was the graveyard.  My mother is the second youngest of that whole crew and she is next on the ladder.  I looked at Mom and said that of the next generation I was getting mighty near the top as well because all the older ones have pretty near dropped off already.  It’s kind of an alarming state of life!

          I enjoy talking with my mother about life because she has a great deal of life experience even though she’s lived a very quiet life.  But she is observant and is a great reader and she likes to share her observations of life.  Fortunately for both of us, I am a great listener so I am learning a lot from her.  Some of the most valuable things I am learning is how to handle the aging process.  There are some things that I “know” but I am still not acting upon.  But other things are new revelations.

          Keeping current is a vital part of having a good quality of life in old age.  If you let the world pass you by then when you really need to know something, you will be at a loss.  So don’t put off learning all those electronic gadgets and don’t put off doing your research to all the things that will make your life easier in retirement.  There are so many things that I never thought of, even though I’ve been doing a lot of studying up on retirement.  For instance, there are a lot of programs for seniors that you can access through your provincial government (besides financial aid) and many of these programs are free.

          Something huge – loneliness.  As a person grows older her acquaintances drop off and unless you are constantly building new relationships suddenly you will be very lonely when you are in your 70’s or 80’s.  And for those of us who are young enough – what’s stopping you from adopting an elderly person in your church or your neighbourhood?  God and the universe will bless you for it.  This I know for sure.

Peace and Plenty

I bought Sarah Ban Breathnach’s latest book the other day and have been devouring it ever since.  I shake my head at the sad state she found herself in but at the same time I admire her resilience in bouncing back from financial ruin.  While one can hardly wish her experience on to her the message she brings is very timely considering the troubles people are experiencing around the world, especially in the United States.

I particularly like how Sarah picks up quotes from various women throughout history, especially women who wrote in the 1920’s and 30’s.  Those women lived under difficult times also and the life lessons, once absorbed, are valuable to women today.  Certainly we live in different times, our financial hardships are perhaps more varied, but in the end we can handle poverty with grace and dignity. 

As I’ve written before, I am a very Material Girl, and the thought of losing my home is so frightful to me that I can hardly stand to think about it.  Fortunately for me I am in a good financial position but this was not always the case.  I’ve had many a sleepless night wondering what was going to happen next.  Lucky for me that I am a Morning Optimist and usually I am able to look on the positive side of things once I wake up. But the darkness of night can bring a blackness to the mind that is positively daunting.  When I think of the poor people who had managed to put together money to buy a home only to discover a few years later that they were evicted because of the financial bubble burst in Wall Street, I get angry.  Personal greed in Wall Street has caused global disaster for hundreds of thousands of people.  For the life of me I cannot fathom how people can continue to have faith in a government (Democrat or Republican) that turns the other way and allows this corrupt financial system.

However that may be Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book gives hope to those who are finding themselves in a difficult situation.  As always, she advises that we look at our blessings and somehow, the rest will come.  For those in despair, this may seem completely unreasonable, but I am here to tell you that when I first read “Simple Abundance” I was not in the best financial position possible but I just took one day at a time and worked slowly and surely toward my goal.  That goal was to be mortgage free.  That meant no vacations for 15 years – yes 15 years – and I packed a lunch every single day.  I watched every penny.  Was it worth it?  You bet it was!

Today I have my health, I have an excellent job (by some miracle), and I have my house.  My cup runneth over.

First (Official) Anniversay

As I told you yesterday since beginning a series of anecdotes about our arrival in Canada I have had such wonderful feedback from my friends that I am encouraged to continue in this vein for a while but today I simply had to recognize my first anniversary as a blogger.  Bucket List, Hodge Podge, Canada, Critters, Country Rambling are some of the labels I have used over the course of this year of blogging.  I have had a great deal of enjoyment writing whatever came into my head.  I know the experiment may have been painful sometimes for my readers (apparently I talk too much about my dieting woes) but I beg you to cut me a little slack!  Can you imagine having to wake up at 4 a.m. five days a week to prepare for work?  This has been my routine for nearly 12 years now and a year ago I made the adjustment to blog rather than spend the first 30 minutes having my coffee and toast in bed while I read.  That has been my routine for 40 years!  It’s my way of slowly waking up and getting mentally ready for my day.

 When I was 13 years old I began writing my first “book”, inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s “Eight Cousins”.  I think I may even have that first effort lying around in one of my boxes.  I always loved Composition as a subject in school and I especially loved it when we could write about something outside a set program.  I remember in Grade 8 I wrote a fanciful tale about the love relationship of an orange peel with an apple peel.  I recall laughing while I wrote it and I really didn’t care what anyone else thought about the story since I had so much fun with the composing of it.  As my friends will tell you, every once in a while the sense of mischief gets into me and I will say or do something really absurd just for the heck of it.  After a while you will get the sense of it that I am pulling your leg while I am blogging, I just can’t help myself!  The other day 2 of our Venezuelan colleagues were standing in the hallway chatting away in Spanish and I passed them with the remark “Hey guys quit speaking Norwegian.”  They cracked up (okay, you had to be there!)

The most popular blog was the finale of Dancing with the Stars where I named Jennifer Grey and Bristol Palin “this is strictly off the cuff – tension mounts as we sit through the final hour of DWTS – who will win?”  Once in a while you may have noticed that I would do a celebrity story which was really a test to see if the name dropping would bring up the viewing.  Not the case.  I think the combination of Jennifer Grey and Bristol Palin, and the mix of DWTS and The Tea party all caused the “hits”.  You can see on the side panel other popular posts include Tarzan of the Apes, Windsor Park Collegiate and Ecuador. 

I guess what I want to say today is that I am grateful that there is a free venue where I can share my writing with the public even though it is a really tiny slice of the universe.  When I get a simple `like` on Facebook I am happy, comments are even better, when I get a critical comment I am inspired to do better.  So thank you to Blogspot, thank you to my followers, thank you to my friends and family who are encouraging me.  I hope the next year will be better and that I will give you lots of cozy thoughts and lots of laughs. 

My cup runneth over!

November 15 Beaujolais Week

Today my aunt turns 88.  My Faster Jonna’s birthday always heralded the beginning of the Christmas season; the first of the decorations would come out as she celebrated her birthday with family and friends.  I learned how to advertise my own birthday from her!  We are each other’s biggest fans.

            Some decades ago my mother and I happened to be in Denmark in the middle of November so the happy chance led us to celebrate my aunt’s birthday at the same time as the Beaujolais Nouveau arrived.  Until this very moment I always believed Beaujolais Nouveau was the 15^th of November.  No, it is actually the third Thursday of November so this year it will be on the 17^th.

            Who doesn’t love to celebrate?  There is something exciting in the air when a party is coming on and for me, the more fanfare, the better.  This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a Debutante celebration in the Philippine style.  When a Philippino daughter turns 18 she has a huge celebration and it is really something to behold.  We entered the room to the splendour of a Winter Masquerade Theme, the tables and chairs were all covered in white; elegant white and blue masks decorated as centerpieces on all the tables, with shiny mirrors and little pebbles strewn for effect.  There was a white backdrop on the stage, large face masks of white and blue and silver hanging decoratively with a fantastic castle display made of 3 cakes with little arches and fairy rooms to astonish the eye as the focal point.

            There was a grand march with the family entering the room, elegantly gowned and suited, wearing fancy eye masks until the debutante entered the room in a lovely tulle ballgown of shades of blue, aqua and green and carrying a really fancy, feathered eye mask on a wand.  Later in the evening Aimee, the debutante danced several dances along with her friends with as much elegance as the Dancing with the Stars celebrities.  It was very well done but this little lady deserved such a fine celebration as she is a wonderful daughter, a fine scholar and a great friend, as 18 of her peers came up to tell their story of friendship with admiration and love.  It was very touching.

            I know it’s hard to wake up every morning with a little celebration in our hearts but just recalling the party from Saturday night has lifted my spirits this morning.  I hope you have a good memory that you can call to mind to cheer you up while you are sitting in painful traffic this morning.  It beats cursing at the thoughtless ones who have caused the accidents by rushing along icy roads.           

            Slow down, smell the icicles and laugh.

            And HAPPY BIRTHDAY FASTER JONNA!

November

November usually starts the doldrum of winter.  The leaves are gone, the grass is grey-brown, the winds rise and whistle down from the mountains to slam into speeding vehicles along the highways and people start on the misery journey.  Heavy coats and boots come out of the closets, sniffling noses begin to be heard on the bus and smiling faces are rare along the sidewalks.

            November is the calm before the storm of activity that occurs as December approaches with Christmas shopping, Christmas parties and Christmas anticipation.  So revel in November as though this were your mini-hibernation.  Make like a bear and then breathe deeply the crisp air as you step outside and you will feel braver for having done so.  Put on your favourite dance music as you cook your dinner or tidy the house and don’t forget to sway those hips as you bustle about.  Pull out your Christmas cards and first enjoy looking over the leftovers of past years, then settle down at your writing space and work on the list of friends and family who will be lucky enough to receive one of your treasured notes.  Don’t rush, the first day simply address envelopes and choose the card for that person.  Remember, you are in hibernation mode so nothing needs to be done in a hurry.  Starting in November, there is plenty of time to savour the special moments that lead up to that glittering sparkling silver blue month of December.

            Yes, November is a humble month in Canada.  We don’t even have the anticipation of Thanksgiving as the Americans have but we can take away the grimness and bleakness by savouring a quiet and gentler pace before the madness begins.  November can be a time of reflection, reverie, a time for the soul to rest from the exciting pace of autumn’s first mania and the crazy days of shopping for bargains, or just plain SHOPPING. 

November is good.  Hello November.

Thanksgiving

Canada’s Thanksgiving Day did not come about in the same tradition as the Americans' Thanksgiving.  However, Canada has had days of thanksgiving as far back as the late 1500’s but our official holiday began in 1957 by a declaration of Parliament to celebrate the harvest and what we have today.  Interestingly the Maritimes don’t celebrate it although New Brunswick observes it.

            I enjoy the colours and smells of Thanksgiving and find the displays of pumpkins, corn and squashes of all kinds charming.  These displays have a welcoming hospitality that really adds to the idea of giving thanks.  In Canada we have so much to be thankful for that we may simply be taking for granted.  For instance we do live in a country of great abundance which is evidenced in our grocery stores.  Our nation has been safe from attack for decades and in fact hasn’t been invaded since the War of 1812.  As you well know I don’t consider our social structure to be perfect by any means but still our system is superior to that of the United States.  We do still have free Health Care and Education and Old Age Pensions.  We have heat, electricity and communication on demand.  We have freedom of speech and the freedom to travel where we wish.  We are a very fortunate country. 

            I give thanks for my wonderful family and friends.  For my excellent job, great boss, wonderful and supportive colleagues.  I give thanks for the ability to enjoy the things I love to do such as reading, writing, gardening, travelling, photography.  I give thanks that I haven’t broken my legs yet in zumba class.  I give thanks for my 4 wonderful critters, Cherie, Thumper, Harold and Arnold.

            Most of all I give thanks for having had such wonderful parents as my Mom and Dad.

Fresh Start

Here we go with the first week of September, a fresh start for scholars and those who stay in tune with the school cycle. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time sorting through all my scribbling and organizing them but I didn’t quite get to the evaluation process due to family commitments. So I’ve been sitting here at the computer for 20 minutes trying to come up with a theme. For some reason I thought of “As the twig is bent so grows the tree” so I did a little surfing and stumbled across a booklet about the blind. These were little articles published in 1958 though I think some of them may be older than that. One of the articles was about a gentlemen who became a Director for the State Commission in Iowa, Kenneth Jernigan, where he discussed his struggles with whether or not to use the handicapped parking space that was offered to him. It was a constant temptation to use the space that the security guards offered to him but he felt it wasn’t right to use the spot when there were people who simply were unable to walk further than he was capable of.

“Self deception is one of the easiest and most dangerous mistakes that a person can make.”

He was sorely tempted when the blizzards started but no, he was an example to his students as well as to the public in general. He was an advocate for the blind but he knew what was legitimate needs for the blind and what was excess. I found it an interesting article on doing the right thing even though others were perhaps trying to lead you to take an easier route. He wrote that the security guards were hurt when he continually declined their offer to take the handicapped parking spot and sometimes would end up walking quite a distance in the storm. He could hear the hurt in their voices and that would hurt him, however he remained steadfast though inside he was struggling away.

I’ll end by using his ending:

“So my Federationism [the work he did] and my bodily comfort, my wish to be honest and consistent and my wish to be polite and thought of as a good fellow in short, my spiritual aspirations and my bodily desires were in continuous conflict. What do you think I did? In the circumstances what would you have done? Whoever says that the world is not filled with temptations (for the blind as well as for the sighted) is either a naive nincompoop or a barefaced liar. Of such is humanity made neither angel nor devil but somewhere between, and always becoming.”