Go to the Water

  I believe the time that we question ourselves on "how many stories do I not know" is when you are sitting at a funeral. They are speaking lovingly about the deceased, and you are trying to figure out, "how did I not know that?". I just love eulogies. It seems it is the one and only time that a person's life is shared in such detail. I come away from every funeral I attend saying, "I didn't know that". Many times, it is because they are acquaintances and of course you don't know everything about them. But there are times when I'm at a family funeral and I think, where have I been? Did I grow up in another family? How did I not know that? I start to wonder "how many stories do I not know?".   I am always impressed with people who are so good at remembering details. They can repeat a story word for word. I remember Dad saying, "I don't want to repeat a story because I don't remember all of it and I would get it wrong...

I have always felt that as Canadians we use the word, "sorry" in excess. But it was during my recent shopping trip to Giant Tiger that I thought, we apologize for things way more than we need to. The store is very tight with lots of merchandise, meeting another cart means you must maneuver to get around each other. All, I could hear was a steady stream of "Sorry" as we all tried to get out of each other's way.  Saying "sorry", just flies out of our mouths especially when we are in each other's space. It is more of a way of being polite than being sorry, because that is what we do in Canada.    This is a perfect example of how apologetic we are. I was out walking when I saw a woman backing out of her driveway. She was looking the other way and just kept on backing up. She never looked my way, so I just waited for her to back up. When she turned and saw me waiting for her, she went into a state of shock and mouthed "I'm sorry" many time...

  I grew up on a farm, I raised my kids on a farm and my roots are farm based. I am so glad that I had that experience in my life. Farm living is unique and valuable.  This is how I describe the farming community that I once lived in,  "they know how to work hard, and they know how to play hard". It is common practice to work every day of the week, often very long hours, depending on the season it could easily exceed 12 hours/day.  I have to admit I am out of touch with today's young farmers, but I believe i t is still the same today as it always has been. The facts are that not one cattle farmer is going to wait until 8:00 AM to have the workday start and check the cows. That would be a disaster. A grain farmer would never take the weekend off, as opposed to combining that field that is ready to go. Or perhaps a weekend off in general for any reason.  Self-care for a farmer would possibly be a quick trip to the chiropractor, when it rained. I was recently told ...

I have carved out this little retirement routine: Monday is gym and my coffee group, Tuesday is usually an appointment day, Wednesday is volunteer day and paddling when in season, Thursday is a free day, and Friday closes out the week with gym. Saturday is the end of the week and Sunday is the start of the week.  After decades of hitting the ground running, one of the things I have loved about being in retirement is a slow start to the day. I find that I spend considerable time thinking about how long I am going to go before I "get ready" for the day. The "if" and "when" is a huge variable on a day-by-day basis.   What I do with Thursday is also unpredictable. On some Wednesdays I think, "I am doing nothing tomorrow. Absolutely, nothing!!!". I have come to realize, I don't do "absolutely nothing" well. I bounce from these thoughts; "is this the way you want to spend your retirement, doing nothing!". Then other times, I am,...

My granddaughter told me I make friends wherever I go. I guess having a conversation with a total stranger is making friends to her. I don't strike up a conversation with everyone, just when I am in the mood, or I feel I need to say something. I usually read the person before I start a conversation. In other words, it depends on the time and place.     I was recently on a plane. I never change my seat, EVER! I believe I am meant to sit in the seat I am assigned for a reason. This time the reason was to make new friends. From Comox to Calgary, my new friend had the neatest glasses. They looked like she had bedazzled them, but she got them in Mexico. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. She had such an interesting life as an owner of a general store on one of the islands off of BC. You had to take 2 ferries to get there. A life that was foreign yet fascinating to me.  My next seat partner was probably my age, everyone is my age it seems. Right from my first words, she ...

  Here we go again with a post about Baby Boomers. Even though people criticize and blame us for some of the environmental issues and more, I remain proud to be born in the Baby Boomer generation. As a generation, we are known for our work ethics, our strong opinions,  insight, and our ability to laugh at ourselves. We are such an important generation someone thought developing a list of the things we like to hang on to would be enjoyable reading. I hope you feel the same way.     1. Conspiracy theories. As a generation we have witnessed deep distrust in government, this leads to boomers questioning official narratives. Baby Boomers love to launch into a political debate going way back to previous governments. Currently, political talk must be at its all-time high. 2. Corporal Punishment. Hands on approach to discipline was the way of the world back then. We are all familiar with the line, "kids are to be seen, not heard". I think the hardest thing that BB strug...

I have been enjoying the show, "Extreme Makeover". On one of the episodes, the story line was about building a home and wellness center for people receiving cancer treatments. One of the hosts of the show had stage 3 breast cancer. She endured 5 months of chemo followed by radiation. At the end of her treatments, she made the decision that she was going to "Make her Cancer Count".  When I worked at the University, I was often assigned to an active surgical unit. It was very common to care for patients that had their cancer surgically removed. This was such a scary time for those patients and their families. During their recovery, we witnessed their sense of relief, not only because the surgery was over, but the mass was gone. They felt they had been given a fighting chance to beat their cancer.    When I was not on the surgical ward I was on the Palliative ward. It was at that time I had the honor and privilege of visiting the chemo and radiation departments. Cancer...

Millions of Canadians are lonely. The World Health Organization defines loneliness as "the social pain of not feeling connected". It predicts both lower mental and physical health. Research shows that lacking a sense of social connection is the same health risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.  Dr. Jody Carrington is a psychologist from Olds Alberta. She is well known, and I love the way she thinks. She said that we have never been so disconnected in the free world as we are right now. It is an epidemic. She feels that staying connected in this human race is the most direct route to happiness.  Connection is easy and she suggests, wave to your neighbor, buy coffee for the person behind you.  She has written a book, "Feeling Seen". It is on reconnection, repair or re-engage. Dr. Jody says, "when we are feeling seen, we will rise".  In some homes there isn't a dining room, and because of that it has been identified as one of the reason people are lonely. ...

Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014. It is for wounded, injured and sick miliary service personnel, serving or a veteran. The word "Invictus" means "unconquered". It is a word that embodies the fighting spirit of the wounded, injured and sick personnel and what they can achieve post-injury. Canada sent a 56-person team to the games in Vancouver. It included 22 serving members and 34 Veterans. They were among 25 nations that would compete in 11 adaptive sports. It was the seventh Invictus games and the first time that winter sports such as Alpine and Nordic skiing, skeleton bob, biathlon and wheelchair curling were introduced.   Harry hugging one of Canada's Captains When my daughter-in-law asked me if I would be interested in going to the Invictus Games, I took to a google search. I was aware of the games; I just had no understanding of the depth of what they meant. One thing I did know was that I wanted to be part of the Invictus Games 2025. She was...