17th
August
2019
Fifty years, already! What set the summer of ’69 apart from other years was the double whammy of “men on the moon” and “Woodstock”; I remember both. Attended neither, but we knew something special was taking place, because even in those (prehistoric) times we had media coverage. There’s not much talk of a revisit to the moon, but musically, the dreams are big.
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posted in genealogy, history |
2nd
July
2019
Where was I in 1975? At a guess, I was on the dance floor, at GJs, and doing a pretty tame version of The Bump. There, my confession. I knew what it meant, to be involved in the disco era. At a local level, to be sure. No aspirations to visit Studio 54. My wardrobe featured a pair of brown corduroy coveralls. No shoes that could be construed as a desire to be taller. I was just doing what everyone else did.
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posted in history, music |
13th
April
2019
Things gleaned from memory are interpretive. I don’t want to
say “selective”, but that’s the way of the beast. Probably explains why we
developed written records, as a society, and also why the skill of storytelling
was so valued by those who came before. I mean, most of us can handle the
salient things: the names of our siblings, and the right way to address our own
pets. Beyond that, a wilderness.
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posted in food, history |
30th
March
2019
Can we turn back time? Probably not. But, we can stop the
clock, just long enough to serve the illusion. This evening, I watched the
second chapter of a story I first saw a full half-century ago. Let’s begin with
a quote, shall we?
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posted in history, humour, media |
31st
January
2019
This morning, with urging from behind, I was tasked with
figuring out our latest mystery: why was the “shore power” not working. Given
the wind chill, I started with online manuals, and learned that the display in
the power cabinet of the RV was just a display. The intelligent section was out
of sight. I did the obvious, by unscrewing the display unit from its home in
the panel and resetting the data cable. Not enough.
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posted in history, technology |
20th
November
2018
When I read through local history material, I realize that I was fortunate. My parents did not have to leave home and go off to work for the winter. It used to be a thing.
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posted in history |
16th
November
2018
To the people who announce the weather events: today was a case of “failure to deliver”. Something about a snow storm? The schools and government offices closed early, in preparation. And then… nada.
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posted in food, history |
10th
November
2018
That song and video, by the Ennis Sisters: gets me every time. I’m far too young to have experienced either the first or Second Wars, but I know that I met elderly relatives that had gone into uniform, from here, over a century ago. They came home, obviously. So many others didn’t.
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posted in history |
6th
November
2018
For about thirty years, I lived in a large city. What set this one apart from so many others is that the city was old. By Canadian standards, nothing older, really. Boots on the ground for more than four centuries. Leaves a lot of stuff behind.
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posted in history |
5th
November
2018
With a few extra minutes in hand, and clement weather, I decided to see what a harvested potato field might offer the discerning scavenger. Truth be told, not much. I hesitated to dig, so my attention was drawn to the few spuds left sitting on top of the rows, and everything I saw was small and bruised. I guess I will continue to rely on regular markets.
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posted in food, history |
