Musings
About retirement… and random other things!
These blogs first appear as weekly columns in the Red Deer Advocate
Live in the moment
I fell again and it was on account of my dog again, but it wasn’t really his fault this time. We were roughhousing in the yard, going pretty hard in a game of chase, when we found ourselves running headlong into one another. Before we knew it, he had sideswiped my legs right out from under me and I made significant airtime before hitting the...
Right place, just a bit late
'A beautiful autumn day in Central Park - the timing for this was perfect!' I recently returned from a very nice vacation in New York. Oddly, I arrived just a few days after Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga surprised everyone with a little nightclub concert to celebrate the release of the new Stones album. Don’t worry, I’m not going to start ranting...
Full metal cleaning
Though I’m not going to win any good housekeeping awards, I do keep my place pretty tidy. But come fall, I turn into a bit of a cleaning beast. Scuttling along the floorboards with a spray bottle, shimmying between heavy furniture with a mop, slithering under beds with the dust buster. Dust bunnies and lone Cheerios that made the break and rolled...
Not fade away
When my former husband and I began talking about marriage in the mid-80s, we had the typical conversation to put everything on the table so we’d know what we were getting into. Not that it worked well in our case, but what is fascinating to me now is that my poignant declaration at the time was that my quest was to attend a Rolling Stones...
The loss of a landmark
'The whole family at The General Hospital Christmas party in 1961 - I'm the chubby baby on Mom's lap.' It’s been 25 years since an implosion brought down the Calgary General Hospital and felled that cornerstone of Calgary’s north. I’ve mentioned before what The General meant to my family – my dad spent his entire career there and all four of us...
Follow your dreams and never give up
'Laundry day at the volunteer hut on the kibbutz, while Terry Fox was changing the world.' Like many, I feel deep admiration for Terry Fox and consider him a national treasure. Through the years, people have shared that he was an unmatched inspiration to them, including a phys ed teacher who was a teenager at the time. Describing himself as...
Over the backyard fence
Ah this peaceful season of fall, with its long-shadowed days and glorious sunsets. The ease of autumn is working its magic, encouraging everyone outside to enjoy more comfortable temperatures and deeply rich colours. This is the season of sharing summer’s bounty, no matter how big or small the plot is that you’re harvesting! The other day I heard...
Multiple sounds of music
I admit to being a Sound of Music fanatic. I mean, there are worse things to be, but I realize this movie is one of those things that divides a population. You know the drill… there are two kinds of people in the world: those who love ketchup and those who hate it; those who do the work and those who take the credit; those who love The...
The big tissue issue
I’ve been clinging to my facial tissues since hearing the news that Kleenex will no longer be sold in Canada. The huge corporation sites ‘unique complexities’ for the decision, with some saying it’s a distribution problem. That, in itself, has me mopping my brow in confusion – with a Kleenex tissue, of course. How could Canada, where we have...