TubaOrNotTuba

Based on the last couple of days, I’m revising my list of favourite songs. Newly added hits include that one by the Beatles, the one that goes “Cluse your eye and I’ll kiss you” as well as an old marching song, the one that starts “My eye has seen the coming of the glory of the Lord”. On second though, after watching the Bill Mayer documentary Religulous, the second one is perhaps too much based on man and his imperfections.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m safe, at home now. The risk of falling has ended. You see, we’re in the midst of a thaw, and the city is in the midst of a budget crisis. Ergo, no abrasives or saline for pedestrians. My trek from here to the bus stop (and back) was equally suited to testing my ability at walking in zero gravity. Shuffle, shuffle, very carefully. If not, prepare to be very wet and cold, for water at the freezing point has little else to offer the supine citizen.

Read the rest of this entry »

When the alarm went off this morning, for the second time, little did I think that within the hour I would be shot in both arms. Dangerous living? Not so much. In the ongoing battle to avoid seasonal illness, my reservation had been made weeks ago to  meet with a local doctor and discuss my options. Seeing your doctor on a regular basis is important. If you don’t appear at least once every five years on the rolls, the clinic assumes you are deceased, (or worse, moved away) and your place is given to other waiting members of our socialized medicine regime.

Read the rest of this entry »

A minor variation in my working schedule today brought back a decade of memories. I went back to high school. Thankfully, not as a student, and none of the group that made my time there what it was were present. No, this was simply a day spent in a building where I know the hallways as well as I do my own backyard.

Read the rest of this entry »

An empty fridge is a great incentive to go out, in the middle of a thunderstorm, and purchase stuff that isn’t exactly necessary for good nutrition. Things like more dishwasher soap and assorted chocolate chip cookies. And don’t forget the cheese. We discovered that milk products are somewhat difficult to store in the context of camping, so good cheddar (or bad cheddar) was soon stricken from the list of essentials during our long time away from humdrum house.

Read the rest of this entry »

Two word, printed in black on a yellow background. Insignificant in most contexts, but for those who have to travel the Island byways, they are a phrase that actually means relief: Construction ends. This year
we’ve been roving to and fro between Eastern Kings and Charlottetown, so there’s been ample
opportunity to experience the sites near Mount Stewart and St. Peter’s. As vacation ends, I can bid them
farewell, adieu.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sitting in a small café, too late for breakfast so resigned to BLT purgatory; we’re sitting watching a clock slowly tick toward the moment where our dream is realized or rationalized away. Mustn’t forget the time zone difference, which in this case does make a difference. Too late, there’s been no reply. Head on down the road to town.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a long, tough winter around here. Now that the ground has reappeared, I’ve been doing the necessary inventory of damage and we’re going to remember this season as perhaps the hardest we’ve ever had. Nothing extreme; the earthquake back in 1988 will hold the record for destruction by force of nature for a while (I hope), but there are odd little reminders that man won’t win in a hand-to-hand with the climate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today, while reading the “local” English language newspaper (from the other city down the road), I felt a great cultural chasm open before me. With all my experience in the world, I have never seen, let alone tasted, a “matzoh ball“. The paper had three pages of coverage, not counting the front page headline; there’s a divide among the “sinkers” and “floaters”. What to do? Where to turn?

Read the rest of this entry »

Reading through the various newspapers that now have a porch on that Internet Highway often leads me to think about how good life is at home. Today an editorial that tried to compare the two big kids on the Canadian coffee bench (you know, Timmy and that Starbuck fellow from away) helped to reassure me; my daily cuppa is “just fine”.

Read the rest of this entry »