The end of another year

Another year is coming to an end.  The years do really slip by faster and faster, and when they are done they are just a distant memory, the events of the year just past blending with all the other years.  I sometimes find it difficult to remember when something happened – was it last year or two years ago or five?  I just know that it happened.

 

Thankfully, this past year was a huge improvement over the previous year for me – no health or medical issues, no huge emotional issues, no broken bones, no beloved pets being sent on their way to the next life.  All in all, a good year.

 

For the most part.  Unfortunately, bad things are happening in the lives of people I love, and those things have become part of my life and created some uncertainty, some fear, some sadness.  I wish better for them, and as I said to one, I don’t pray often, but I do pray for them.  I don’t know if it helps, but it’s a way I can feel I’ve helped at least a little.  A few positive thoughts can’t hurt.

While I don’t really believe the turn of a calendar page makes a difference in our lives, it  sometimes feels like it does.  For me it was the difference – almost from the first day of last year to the last – between a really bad year and a good year.  As this year draws to a close, I don’t feel there’s something waiting for me or is about to happen – like there’s going to be a difference – as the old year passes.  And that’s a good thing – it’s normal and that bodes well. 

 

What I do hope, for those experiencing pain, heartache, uncertainty or upheaval, is that there is a huge difference as we move from 2013 to 2014 and that the new year brings hope and relief.   The turn of the year is as good a time for that as any.  Better, maybe, because it’s imminent, and sooner is better than later. 

As I was writing this, I was thinking of specific people because I know how their lives are affected by their individual circumstances.  But as I think more about it, I want to leave this wish out there for anyone in trying circumstances.  Everyone deserves to have their uncertainties settled, their pain relieved, their grief lessened, their burdens lightened.

May the coming year be a good one for us all.    

Bumper stickers aren't always right

Another month has gone by - unbelievable.  The good news (for me) is that we're in the best time of the year - the Christmas season.  The music came out on the weekend and the outside lights and greenery are up, so there's a little something to get me into the festive mood.  Our house is in a bit of disarray, though, because we're having some work done, so I can't decorate just yet.  I hope that comes soon.

While I was out shopping yesterday, I noticed a bumper sticker I hadn't seen before - "The more I learn about people, the better I like my dog".  Or something like that.  It's a quote from Mark Twain.

At first I was amused because it made me think of the now-long-departed pooch - I like to remember him and think about his antics and how much pleasure (and frustration, if I'm honest) he brought to me and to my family.  

But think about what it says - animals are more lovable than people.  I suppose there's some truth in that - dogs are fairly predictable, they obey (well, not always, if I think about my dog), they love unconditionally and they know their place in their human pack.  They are also cuddly and soft.  What's not to love?

But is that better than getting to know and love people in all their complexity?  In finding the part of people that makes you glad you met them, even if you don't always agree with them or don't believe in what they stand for?  Don't you want people to get to know you and look beyond whatever walls you have built or masks you wear?   Personally, I don't like the idea that someone thinks their dog - as wonderful as their dog might be - is better to love than me.  Easier, maybe, but not better.

It's a cute saying but a sad statement. 

What I learned on my vacation

It has been a relatively eventful month. 

First there was Thanksgiving, when The Kid came home for a few days and we got together with a few family members so we could be thankful together.  Thanksgiving is my second-favourite holiday – it happens at the best time of the year and makes me think about all I have to be thankful for – which is plenty. 

Almost immediately after Thanksgiving, Jim and I left for a fall vacation.  We drove to San Antonio, Texas and enjoyed driving through areas new to us on our way there and back.  It was a fabulous vacation – although entirely too short. 

I’m not going to bore anyone with details of the trip – I’ve already regaled a few friends and family members with tales from the road; I just thought I’d share a few things I observed.

·    None of the states we drove through looked the way I was expecting.  Louisiana is not all bayou; Texas is not all sagebrush and cattle ranches.  I was surprised that as we travelled from state to state, the country looked remarkably the same - we could have been in northern Michigan.  (Don’t get me wrong – I really like northern Michigan!)  That didn’t meet my expectations at all.  There was one notable exception – an elevated section of interstate through the Atchefalaya Basin in Louisiana went over and through a mix of waterways, swamps, trees and I’m not sure what else.  And when we came back onto the ground, it went back to the northern Michigan landscape.  It was fascinating.

 

·     As intrusive and damaging as it is, kudzu is also fascinatingly beautiful.  It covers trees, walls, poles – almost anything, it seems – and transforms them into fantastical forms and shapes.

 

·    There are a lot of white vehicles in Texas and Louisiana.  I don’t know if that’s factually correct – we just saw a lot of them, and concluded that there were more there than other places we’d seen. 

·    Travel websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor can be really helpful when you are looking for a restaurant or hotel in a strange place.  Don’t be put off by the occasional nasty review – you have to look at the overall remarks.  We used these sites often and as a result were introduced to some really wonderful  meals and accommodation.

·     There is no better way to spend an evening than on an outdoor patio with a margarita in your hand and chips and salsa on the table - unless there’s a plate of seafood stuffed jalapenos on the table instead of the chips and salsa.  That’s what we had in Galveston where the patio overlooked the Gulf of Mexico and we could watch dolphins and pelicans while sipping our drinks and nibbling the jalapenos so that they didn’t disappear too quickly.

·    Old hippies go to Galveston.  At least that’s what we surmised from the number of bongs and hash pipes we saw for sale in the historic downtown stores.  

·    Southerners really, truly are friendly and hospitable.

 

·    Sometimes the best times are those you haven’t planned.

 

·    Best t-shirt I didn’t buy – “I may not be politically correct, but I am right”.

Live is so much better

Awhile ago Jim and I decided to buy a series of tickets to performances by artists we'd never heard of.   The tickets were relatively inexpensive, so we weren't losing a lot if we didn't really like what we heard or saw.  The first concert was by Chic Gamine, a group out of Winnipeg and Montreal.  

We'd read enough about them to expect a sort of updated version of a Motown girl group.  Turns out there is a lot more to them - a whole lot more.  They are a talented group of vocalists, songwriters and performers; they were engaging and interesting and totally into the music.  

Because I loved the performance so much, I bought one of their CDs before I left.  I've been listening to it all weekend and I'm actually a little disappointed by it.  Don't get me wrong - it's good; very good.  But it doesn't give me the same feeling about the music and them that their live performance gave me.  There's something about the women (and the guy -  I keep forgetting there's a guy in the group - he's the drummer) that brings life to the songs.  The live versions of their songs are definitely better than the studio versions.

So if you want a treat, go to their website and check out their videos and go to YouTube for more.  Maybe you will fall in love with Chic Gamine, too.

New friends welcome

I suppose it had to happen sometime.  I am now the (proud?) owner of an iPad and iPhone, and I make use of them every day.  Not only for useful things like checking the weather or checking email or reading the paper, but also - more so - for entertainment.  I love the games I can play on my new devices.

Games.  Apps.  Now I understand how people can spend hours on their tablets and never notice how much time has passed.

The best are word games.  I love word games, and a friend at work introduced me to WordOn.  It's like Scrabble without the game board.  I am now playing with 15 different people and I know only four of them; the rest are strangers - people looking for someone to play with.  They seem to be people like myself - lovers of word games and just a teensy bit competitive when it comes to words.

For my part, using words is how I make a living. I have a reasonable vocabulary and.like to think that I am - maybe - above average when it comes to putting words together.  And I can spell.  So I think I have a pretty good chance of doing well at word games.

Obviously, others have the same idea.  I sometimes struggle to find ways to use my letters and the letters sent to me by another player, and I watch the scores carefully, trying to find ways to bring my score up.  I have never thought of myself as a competitive sort, but apparently I am.

What is the best thing about the game is that I can 'chat' with other players - just a few phrases or words of congratulations over a good word or apologies over a profanity that was the only word I could make.    

I have now come to understand what The Kid meant when he was playing online with people he never met.  He would refer to them as "his friends" and I endlessly ragged on him about how he should be spending time with his real friends and how he didn't know the people online so he shouldn't call them friends.  Now I see that even though I don't know most of the people  I play with online, I somehow think of them as "my WordOn friends".  I feel a responsibility to them - a responsibility to tune in and seen what words they've made or which letters they've sent me.  A responsibility to keep this strange, distant relationship going.  And they seem to feel the same way.   We all enjoy the few minutes we take to trade words and letters and maybe a few cheerful comments.

So if you are looking for me and I'm not here (I really did intend to post something weekly ... I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep that resolution) you might find me as valeriew on WordOn.  I'm using the default funny face - that's how you should find me.  I always welcome new WordOn friends.

Saviour wanted

It’s the end of the week and I still haven’t posted anything – the pressure is on.  I checked the random word generator for some help to get me started and it spit out ‘Bodhisat’.   

Believe it or not, I actually know this word, or at least a different form of the word - Bohdisattva – as it came up in a comparative religions course I took in university.  A Bodhisat is a Buddha-in-waiting – someone who has reached the highest degree of enlightenment – or saintship, if you want the word used in the dictionaries – and will become the Buddha in their next reincarnation.  I’ve always liked the word and the concept, but have wondered if Bodhisats actually know they will be the next Buddha.  Do people know they are enlightened?  Do they choose to be Bohdisats?  Do they want to be Buddha?  It’s a big job, and a thankless one - no one wants to listen. 

I’m sure all my questions would be answered if I was Buddhist or took the time to read a bit more.  I do know there have been 28 Buddhas and there’s another expected.  I actually find that kind of exciting.  Having grown up a big-C Christian (although that status is surely in doubt in the minds of some people), I was always taught that Jesus is *the* saviour – no others exist and no more are expected.  

Don’t you find that sad?  No one to show us where we’ve strayed?   No one to remind us what needs to be done?  No one to show us a better path?  

I like the idea of a saviour in the wings – I just don’t know how you’d recognize one.

Totally random

Today I thought I’d use the random word generator to help get me started on this post, but once again I was given a ridiculous word – grotesqueness.  For heaven’s sake – who programmed this?  Cheerlessness; grotesqueness – are there no cheerier words to spit out?

***

 

It’s almost the end of another summer and the beginning of what I consider to be the new year.  It’s hard to tell, though – we are having hot, sticky days and nights and it feels more like the middle of summer.  Except there’s something that makes it feel like fall is coming.  I can’t quite put my finger on it – is it that the sun is lower in the sky?  There’s a hint that leaves are turning soon?  Whatever it is, it’s making me anticipate fall and it’s making me happy. 

***

 

On a totally unrelated subject, I heard Paul McCartney’s new single – “New” – today.  If there was any doubt that Lennon was the more talented of Lennon-McCartney, this song would surely put that doubt to rest.  Why can’t old rockers quit while they’re ahead?  

**

 

And the last in a series of totally unrelated topics … why can’t the media finish what they start?  How many times do they get you into a story and then drop it when it ceases to be sensational so you never learn the outcome?  Why are celebrities who are famous only for being famous even news in the first place?  Do the media decide what they want you to know and who you should be reading about?