TubaOrNotTuba

I’m having one of those I wonder if I ever moments. As in, I wonder if I ever played that particular piece. In brass band. I happened upon the enigma variations by Elgar and thanks to YouTube there are many performances available. They are beyond my ability now but I could have handled percussion parts back in the day. And maybe the tuba. I guess we will never know. Great stuff. Something to share with my sons in case they ever decide to go classical. There was a time over a century ago when a brass band was a real thing. Not just something brought out for a parade. Why, even I had my chance half century ago to play in a community brass band. Complete with uniforms. I was the percussionists so I got to take things easy at practice. No sessionals if you know what I mean. Do I miss the discipline? Of course it was a part of my life and my own favorite time. Includes people like Elgar and Holst and a few others. The songs of the British brass band. And yes, I said brass. This was not subtle music. This was meant to rouse the spirit and get you out marching in case the soldiers needed you. Now my own time in a brass band was more in concert mode but we knew. If there was ever another World War we would have our part to play. I kid you not. I wonder if I can afford to buy a used euphonium? No I will not but there is a trombone knocking around here somewheres. That might be enough to remind me just how much work it really was.

This week we’re sitting with a dog. Not ours. This one lives with the neighbors up the road and as they have decided to go on a short road trip we are sharing the sofa and the bed and the potato chips. Always the potato chips. He seems not to care about the flavor. And we spend some time watching documentaries. I do that a lot. Have for most of my life because it’s one way to get a handle on history. Today that time from before my birth which the West called the blitz. London in war. I have seen a number of documentaries but this was the first to cover a particular topic. Local greed. Can you say black market and government malfeasance and looting? Those are also a part of war. I know letting almost a century pass allows people to have a more rational view of what happened. It was not all keep calm and carry on despite what you see on the T-shirt. I have not known war but it is interesting to see how things have gone when mankind forgets to be civilized. Sometimes the enemy is right down the street. No matter. A little the wind is blowing a Gale I am comfortable. I have the blue eyed guy beside me and if I get more potato chips he will share those as well his part in the bigger picture. Sometimes you have to watch history. Reading is not enough. And I did learn that some things happen that are silly. Like flying an airplane with a big bright light on the nose while trying to elude the enemy.

From time to time you should look at your own work history. Specifically the strange jobs you took on to earn a small amount of money. I had a lot of them. For example during one summer I carried bricks. Old profession to be sure and I also learned to mix mortar. Managed to over colour a batch of mortar. I guess you had to be there. I delivered newspapers from door to door. A minor cog in a bigger machine. The publisher of the newspaper depended upon laborers like myself to go door to door in the worst of weather to leave a paper in a screen door. I also had to do collections which was the only way the publisher made money. Certain people take joy in not answering the door when they know that a small boy is shivering outside waiting for his $0.15. But along the way I also had a few jobs that required specific training and probably the most interesting one involve me and code. Not breaking code. Sending and receiving code. As in Morse. One of those skills that you have to teach yourself but once you have the skill you keep it for a lifetime. I did a small test this afternoon listening to some videos involving people with radios. A lot of bad code out there. The idea that characters would have spaces between them? How particular. Somewhere in my files I have a job list. All of this strange jobs I did when I was young to make a small amount of money. And believe me all I received was a small amount. I did not achieve a fortune and my children will not receive a sudden windfall somewhere down the road. I was not that important to the economy. Remember you can only carry so many bricks at a time but you have to carry a lot of them.

We are not always as intelligent as we think. This afternoon I watched a couple of targeted videos they talked about developments in public safety. Did you know there’s a reason why we try not to build our houses on top of active volcanoes? Or why we try to keep the weather outside when we’re inside? Today’s videos were a little more pointed. It seems that a lot of the features we now accept as normal in public buildings our recent developments. And in almost every case the developments came about because people died. The doors at the bottom of the stairs that open outwards had to be learned about; the hard way. We put up exit lights in crowded theatres to help people find the exits rather than covering the doors with heavy draperies. Fire hoses are much more practical than wooden paddles at extinguishing flames. And when we build something it is normal that someone expected before the patrons come. No setting the opening date to something that suits your pocketbook. I’m not going To Do List disasters here because others have taken care of that for me, but be warned. What you don’t know can kill you. And in many cases it already has taken care of others. That old device about checking where the exits are and not yelling fire in a crowded theatre was a development. With a capital D. At home try to surround yourself with knowledge before anything else. Make a plan. And said something happened follow that plan. Try not to invent under fire. That’s enough serious stuff for this evening. Back to regular programming. And supper. It is that time of day.

Keeping warm is always on my mind. I do live in the far north and we do get seasons here. Today I’m going to reflect on a period that my children never knew. The days when we heated our homes with coal. I made it there a couple of times. They’re really used a lot of coal and in some of our houses we had call to keep things hot. Coal was never a warm fuel. But, in one province, for one year we had something special. An almost automated furnace. Let me explain. There was a special window on the side of the house that led to a small room in the basement. On a regular basis a horse and cart would arrive and the driver would dump a certain amount of coal in through the whole. Fuel in lumps. And once the horses had left the driveway the next part was on the homeowner. We used that fuel to fill up a special box that we called the auger. It meant a large contraption with an endless screw inside and we would shovel coal into the maw of that box. Then over the period of the next few days the auger would move fuel from the box into the furnace. Now that was only half the job. We then had to clear the ashes out of the furnace and carry them outside to the driveway where we had a surface that was non-slip. The ashes had lots of sharp edges and you did not want to fall on them. But from the time the horse cart would arrive until the ashes met the ground we were warm. With that particular odor attached to heating your house with coal. One of those things you never forget. In contrast, I now have a water furnace. A very different sort of animal.

I believe that learning history is valuable. To me. What I have to do now is find a way to make any given piece of history more relevant to me and my background. Some things come simply. The dinosaurs were gone long before I got here so no need to concentrate on that. I doubt that we will ever be in the presence of aliens. No need to worry about that. However throughout my life there is been a risk of mass destruction. Not from global warming. Not from rising sea levels. However, I did grow up during that. When we all believed that we would die in a nuclear Holocaust. Hiding under desks. And so I’ve started trying to learn a little more about those who were responsible if you will. Today, I watched a short documentary on the life of doctor O. He who invented the big bomb. And so far the only point of relevance that I have found is that we were both alive at the same time more or less. Not in the same place but during the 60s we were both out there. Starting simple. The documentary was interesting because it showed me how being a great scientist may take a lifetime as you fall in and out of favor. That’s it. Not much more to add. Our snow is gone again after a night of rain. The lawn mower is in the garage after inflating that tire. And we’re getting ready for a visit from the blue eyed boy. In four days apparently. In preparation I am trying to limit the number of biscuits I throw out on the lawn. Not for the blue eyed boy but for his competitors. Nameless. I guess I should pick my next documentary because I have a lot more touring.

It is easy to find examples of corporate greed. I’m going to share one that is local. We have had newspapers in this part of the world since people moved here first. About 200 years ago. And one of the staples of things to list was the most recent death notices. In fact newspapers would add a small paragraph that encouraged other newspapers to copy the content. This was a social value. Well, now we live in a different time. Our local newspapers have been purchased by a conglomerate. And the death notices have moved behind a paywall. I guess that every dollar counts. Those who want to know can always look elsewhere for the content. But it comes back to the fact that families submit these notices fully expecting them to be read by others and now the bean counters at the newspaper office want you to pay for the privilege. Note those same newspapers are not offering to pay either the submitter or the carrier for the content they want free and they want their money. If you wonder why I have little interest in some supporting this model there you have it I no longer buy a newspaper I no longer have one delivered and now I have no longer want to visit their website. Other corporations have tried the paywall and most have dropped it as a poor model of business but not our local journalists. Sad really. For those who are interested in genealogy newspapers are always the first site to visit and now they will be the last. Their choice not mine. I guess when you’re in accounting you only have one goal and that is to make more money for your boss. And when that bus goes away no one will know. Or care.

And here we are. Our first snowfall of the season. For me, that strange sensation of going out with the ground below has changed. I had to take the blue bags out to the road and while doing so, I had to pay attention to my footing because the white stuff is slippery. We forget that little detail given how shortly ago it was summer. I’ve been outside since to re-fasten slash re-torque the wheels on the car. This time around nothing loose. That is how you want it to be. I have heard horrible stories from other people about the wheel going by as they drove along. That’s something on my ever want To Do List. This snow could all disappear. We’re still early. A month out from the holidays as they say. And we all know the risk of a green Christmas in this part of the world. But right now we leave tracks. Nothing to shovel but that also will come. This is just a taste. People have been talking about whether or not they see wasp nests in the trees. And the only image I have heard is that they’re high which according to folklore means deep snow before Spring. Is it true? No proof. Just folklore. But those who came before us paid careful attention to such things and if they say it will be, then it will be. Yes, I know the earth is warming but on a local scale we still pay attention to the tiny signs. I guess we should contact the neighbor who plows us out. Again still early but you have to be prepared for such things. I really don’t want to go shovel the lane anytime soon. Am I lazy? No, just wise.

Back when I was in the band. It is not what you think. My band had, typically more than 50 people at a shot and we were not terribly popular nor did we become rich and famous. However, I have been listening to a number of interviews given by people who were in bands in the traditional sense. Rock bands. Today in part because there’s a new book coming out, I ended up with a series of moments with people who are famous on the Canadian rock pantheon. And it was highly interesting. Those people live a life very different from my own but eventually we all must retire. And culture would have it that we write a memoir. Now just to keep us on track here I am not starting my memoir. At least not this year. I have been colouring the set of skills required though. If you write or talk every day and you take the time to record what you’ve written or said you end up with a great pile of content. There might not be anybody else interested but just in case. After all being in a band is its own reward. Do I miss my time in the band sitting on my throne? Yes, but then I’m the one that shifted from the throne to a chair. A tuber is heavy and awkward. And would I go back to being the tuba player? Yes, because I could then turn that into a chapter in my eventual memoirs. Hang in there. I have lots of expectations for the life ahead of me. Expectations are not plans. And if you ever come across a book in the discard pile at your local bookstore that talks about life as a tuba player it could be me. Or even worse the drummer who changed to the tuba chair.