Karma

My 68th birthday is fast approaching and I'm contemplating what I've learned in my life. I do believe in karma because most of the bad things have been brought on by my own doing.

I know I've become a kinder, softer person because I'm lucky enough to have learned from my mistakes. As a young girl everything was either black or white to me with no inbetween but these days I see mostly shades of grey.

I have become increasingly intolerant to violence and cruelty which I feel is destroying the human race as we see more of it on the news, in movies, and in games. If we continue to become immune to violence and cruelty we will revert to savagery and lose our higher calling.

Truly good people enchant me. That they often come with a few flaws is no matter because they've reached the point I'd like to reach but haven't yet. I have a lot more to learn and a long way to go but at least I'm trying. You can't just wake up one morning and decide you will be a better person. You have to learn the lessons to gradually become one. By surrounding myself with good karma and opening my eyes and mind to understanding, it's made me a much happier person and possibly a better one.

I remember my grandmother saying she'd like to be young again but know what she knew as an old woman. I'm still at the stage where I couldn't face going through life with all it's trials and tribulations again for all the tea in China. Old age is peaceful in comparison. I don't want to go back and I'm looking forward to what comes next.

Feeling Foolish

My sister-in-law just wrote a blog about taking a tumble and flashing her pretty panties to the world. I sort of laughed when I read it but realized quickly that little accidents like that are terribly embarrassing at the time and we think the shame of it will never go away. It does, though, as the onlookers carry on with their own lives and their own misadventures.

Why is it so embarrassing to trip, even if we catch ourselves before we hit the ground? It's as though we've disrupted the smooth flow of civilization when we stub our toe on a ridge in the pavement. Arms fling out and legs do a ragged dance as we try to gain our composure. We usually stare back at the offending ridge or whatever caused us to make a spectacle of ourselves.

It's much worse when we're alone and stumble than when we have friends along to laugh with. Maybe that's why we're embarrassed. We know that strangers are giggling to themselves and we have no-one to take the edge off.

Animals don't feel foolish when they do awkward things so why should we? I think it's for the same reason that most of us don't enjoy being center stage. As children, it's drilled into us to conform and behave so we end up disliking to be singled out, especially if it isn't for praise. Falling in public and showing your underwear is a big step away from silently blending into the masses. It's hard to imagine at the moment that similar incidents have happened to a large chunk of the masses and they're probably giggling because they're thankful it's you tripping this time and not them.

I've had a few falls this summer. Once on the back deck while I was carrying a chair down the stairs...I was alone and landed on the wooden deck which wasn't solid enough to hurt me. The second time was while I was pulling weeds out of the flower bed and leaned in too far...I was alone and landed in the dirt which wasn't solid, either. Both times embarrassed the life out of me even though no-one saw me. I think that when you fall you forget all the grace which shields you from the world. It's that momentary nakedness that we don't like to show, even to ourselves.

I bet that my sister-in-law will never fully forget her experience but she should be able to laugh about it soon. We have to laugh at ourselves because we tend to do awfully dumb things. All of us!

Driving Less

A new survey proves we're using our cars less since the humungous increase in the price of gas. We've been inundated with threats of global warming partially due to the emissions from our cars but the threats didn't stop us from driving. Cost will do it, though.

If we have to pay a few dollars more to drive a few miles less then maybe it's all worth it...especially to the planet.

I tend to scoot about at a whim because I have the time to do that but now I plan my driving so that everything can be done in one trip. A big loss is not feeling free to just go for a long drive on a Sunday because the cost of the gas is a put-off. It takes about $80 to fill my tank from empty and a long drive would probably use up half of that. I have to question whether it's better to go on the drive or lounge in the yard and the yard has won the battle this year.

I'm sure businesses are suffering because fewer people are taking to the road and that's a sad by-product of our present situation. There will be job loss and increased prices for goods of all kinds which could push us into a depression. The upside is that our planet and the life on it will improve.

Car manufacturers probably could have produced vehicles years ago that didn't depend on gas and that wouldn't foul the air but they didn't. Maybe now we'll see a new breed of automobile better suited to the environment and to our pockets. I believe all industry is controlled by a select few of incredibly rich individuals who produce a product designed to further enrich them. They aren't concerned with ecology. What will get their attention is the reaction of the buying public and, apparently, we've spoken. We're tired of paying through the nose for our vehicles of transportation and are closing our wallets. That should scare the heck out of them.

In the meantime, the roads are slightly less congested and the air is slightly cleaner. We can live with that.

Collingwood Elvis Festival/2008

It went a little like this...Elvis songs galore, Elvis impersonators galore, and family fun at it's finest.

Mary, Faye, and I drove up to Collingwood on Friday (we took a few wrong turns but so what) and found a parking spot not far from the action. We'd decided to set up our lawn chairs downtown before we checked into our hotel and this way were able to get pretty close to the stage which was at one end of the main street. All traffic was blocked off so that Elvis fans could fill the sidewalks and road to watch the best darned free Elvis impersonator show in the world. It started at 1 P.M. and went on till about 10 or 11 P.M. The weather was perfect, warm and breezy.

We left our chairs only long enough to find a bathroom or food. The whole atmosphere of the Collingwood Elvis Festival is one of safe and friendly family fun and you run into Elvis impersonators everywhere. Some are entertainers and some just like to dress up. I've never seen anyone there that is sloppy drunk or obscene in any way although you do see a lot of characters. One of the cutest was a little boy about 3 years old dressed as Elvis and carrying a toy microphone. He put on quite a show just by walking around and posing for photo hounds.

On Saturday afternoon we had tickets ($34) for one the shows and spent about 3 hours listening to excellent Elvis tunes. We choose to buy tickets to a few shows but you could easily spend the whole weekend there and get more than your fill of free entertainment.

We've gotten familiar with a few of the Elvis entertainers although I still mix most of them up...they tend to look a lot alike. One of our favorites is a New Brunswicker named Mike Bravener and he and his band put on a free show on Saturday night for the fans. Elvis is the reason for the festival but these singers are very versatile in their singing ability. Mike sang rock, blues, and Elvis for us.

We headed back to our hotel (Blue Mountain Resort) around 9 P.M. only to discover a free Elvis show was being held in the center courtyard of the resort. Our balcony overlooked the courtyard, which is huge and which was absolutely filled with Elvis fans, so we had a perfect spot to sit out, drinks in hand, and listen to the show which ended around 11 P.M.

We lazed around most of Sunday morning but finally headed off to the Elvis gospel competition at 1 P.M. The tickets cost $17 each and entitled us to about 3 hours of incredible talent. It absolutely amazes you to hear the strength and quality of voice coming out of these fabulous entertainers.

The final competition ($52) on Sunday night started at 5 P.M. and lasted until approximately 10:30 P.M. There are many categories of singers, ranging from some as young as 10 years old and up. One of the winners was a 14 year old boy from Hamilton named Anthony Capalone who just filled us with awe. He was far and away one of the best singers I've ever heard and he more than deserved his award.

With few exceptions, the talent we saw on that stage was A1 and those entertainers could practice their craft anywhere, whether it be impersonating Elvis or just on their own. They were so good I got a little worried they might abandon the Elvis Festival in coming years and go off to earn millions in Las Vegas.

There was a post-festival-party open to everyone when the competition was over but we decided we were just too tuckered out to attend. I've never been to one before but was told they can go on till the wee hours of the morning. Instead we took our tired bodies back to our room, got into jammies, and poured ourselves some drinks.

Monday morning came all too soon and it was time to pack up and move out. We all agreed that we loved our room, the hotel, the town, the festival, and we'll return in 2009. Whoever created this festival (this was #14) and built it into the amazing event it is today deserves our praise and our thanks.

Getting back home proved to be a bit of a chore because, despite having 2 reliable navigators in the car (I'm not one of them), we took a ton of wrong turns which lost us a few hours travelling time. The nice thing is that it was through gorgeous countryside and we had no stringent time table anyway. Being a senior means that you do have the time to stop and smell the roses!

I'm glad to be home but I'm ever so glad I had the opportunity to be enveloped by "Elvis" for 3 days. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Shredded Curtains

Twenty-two plus years ago I splurged the family dollars and had custom sheers made for the livingroom window. Every spring I wash them in the gentle cycle of the washing machine and they look like new but the last few years I've begun to worry they might have reached the end of their life. Last year I left them up without washing because a few minute rips had appeared the year before but I really felt I had to take the chance and wash them this year.

I did and they fell apart. Damn!

Now my livingroom window is bare and faces the afternoon sun...not to mention the apartment buildings a block away. I'm going to splurge once more and have custom sheers made but it will be a few weeks before the window is covered. I haven't gotten the estimate of cost yet but I'm sure it will be more than I paid 22 years ago. Yikes!

Every time I spend the money my husband left me I feel a twinge of guilt. Not only is it the product of his life's work but it's also my children's future inheritance. I know they don't care one bit but I do. Dennis never balked at the cost of the old sheers and I doubt he'd complain about the cost of the new ones but I'm still going to feel that tiny stab of guilt when I pay the bill.

Maybe it's that slight sense of guilt that keeps me from taking a plane to Las Vegas and being a total gambling fool so guilt is not necessarily a bad thing to have.

What is a Freak?

My granddaughter, Lisette, is a feisty, passionate, idealistic 17 year old who has vastly different views of the world than I do. It would be easy to pass her views off as immature idealism but I'm too smart for that. It pays to listen and learn, doesn't it?

Lisette is a beautiful young CCAP...affectionately known as a Cuban, Canadian, American, Princess. She is smart as a whip and carries her strong convictions with pride. And she's not adverse to arguing her "core values" with her inate Latin intensity but she does so politely, at least with her elders.

And so the conversation began innocently enough with me stating nastily that the gay pride parade in Toronto was filled with freaks who don't really represent the gay people. Oh my god! From the back seat of the car we happened to be driving in came an indignant squawk. "Freaks!", she yelped. "People have the right to act and dress any way they want without being called freaks! They're only trying to draw attention to their plight to be treated equally!"...or something like that.

And so the conversation/argument went on. Me trying to stress that a man dressed as a woman humping a man dressed in a thong is not conducive to social reform and Lisette, much better spoken, stressing that this is indeed the way social reform is attained.

We conversed/argued all the way to the restaurant for lunch and no-one's mind was changed but I, being older and wiser, really did listen to her arguments and began to internally question my own. I told Lisette that I respected her views 100% and hoped she could respect mine. Isn't this what we want in our society...a respect for each other's views? It's hard for me to respect two men humping on a parade float but I have to rationalize that it is a legal venue for them to express themselves.

On the drive back to Canada, my oldest daughter, Kim, and I discussed the bra burning demonstrators of the 1960's and the social reform they brought about. I'm sure many oldsters thought of them as freaks because they usually didn't look like your average lady. They were aggressive women whose "core value" was that women deserved to be treated as equals to men and their attention getting device was a bra burning. Enough said! Lisette, you just might be right.

Another topic of conversation/argument was the gay pride day at Disneyworld. I was mistakenly under the impression that this was a day sanctioned by Disney and had been very angry about it. Since Disney has been enriched by the "families" of the world why would they promote a day for a group of people who are often an affront to these families? My son-in-law googled us an answer to that question. Disney does not promote this day. They do not restrict who enters their parks and that is quite right. The gays are the ones who organize this day and I can only believe it's an outright slap in the face to heterosexuals. You've heard the slogan, "We're queer and we're here", well, why would they swarm a family park to overtly display their sexual preference when they know so many of the parents there will not want their children exposed to this?

Lisette wasn't part of this discussion but the rest of us adults were unified in our opinion that it's wrong for anyone to organize a controversial group to spoil the vacation of unsuspecting families. A trip to Disneyworld is expensive and often it's the trip of a lifetime for families. In truth, how many of us would allow our young children to spend the day at Disneyworld surrounded by attention seeking gays? People might say, "What's wrong with kissing and hugging in public?". I say that in the year 2008 it is still deeply offensive for many people to see gay affection of any kind and that's all there is to it.

I was at the wharf in San Francisco a few years back on a busy afternoon and was highly disgusted to see a straight couple having sex in full view of passers-by. Some people might say, "This is a natural function of life". I say these two were attention seeking freaks who didn't care who they offended.

Yes, Lisette, sometimes people are simply freaks who thrive on offending.

As for the bra burning demonstrations of the 1960's...it did help bring awareness to the need for women to receive equal treatment in the world. But most of us ladies, young and old, still wear bras to this day. Freedom was won but we're smart enought to want to keep the comfort, too.

Target Should Retrain Staff

We, the buying public, really put up with a lot of crap from way too many sales people. It's almost become a pleasant surprise to us when we're greeted by a smiling, friendly sales person who actually makes it their mission to help us. Just so they know...we appreciate this immensely and it makes us want to buy your merchandise.

Over the past few months I've been subjected to sales people who couldn't speak English; worked in a nursery but knew precious little about the plants; walked right past me as I asked for help; kept up a personal conversation with another employee as I patiently waited directly in front of her (actually I got mad after about 30 seconds and interrupted her conversation...she gave ME a dirty look); knew absolutely nothing about where anything was in his store; etc., etc., etc.

None of these things bothered me as much as the treatment my daughter and I received in Target a few days ago. We were visiting in the Lorton, Virginia area and were in Target looking for back-to-school supplies and clothes for my grandson. Now, Target is a fairly clean store with usually helpful staff but we managed to run into one who should receive a poor conduct medal from her employer.

Our cart was loaded with books, pencils, pens, and all the other stuff schools don't supply students with these days. Clothing on our list included shoes, pyjamas, and a nice button down shirt. We gave up on the shirt and pyjamas because what was available was pretty crummy. We went to the shoe section and wandered up and down many rows of shoes but couldn't find the dress shoes my grandson needed (he's 9 1/2) so we asked one of the salesladies in the department who happened to be standing with 2 or 3 other salesladies who were working on something (I think restocking or just cleaning up). She said not one word but pointed we weren't sure where. Being a polite Canadian, I said "Thank you" and headed in the general direction she'd pointed to. It took me a few steps to realize just how rude she had been and I fumed all the way out of the store, occasionally mad enough to report her to the store manager but not mad enough to want her fired. I'm wondering who supervises the training of Target's sales people. Surely no store manager would approve of having their customers treated this way.

A note to Target...Having been insulted by your employee in this manner, I now have a very low opinion of the professionalism with which your company is run. It will be a long, long time before I drag myself and my money into one of your stores. You might want to give your employees a refresher course on how to treat customers.

Then we went to Walmart. I was looking for string ? baskets but couldn't find them and wasn't sure how to explain to a clerk what I wanted so I approached a group of sales people who were also either restocking or cleaning up. I asked one clerk if she could help me find the baskets. Immediately, she dropped what she was doing and walked with me to where she thought they might be. We didn't find any so she took me to another clerk in that department and they both tried to help me. I was in awe. It made me want to spend all my consumer dollars at Walmart!!

Actually, we bought 2 terrific pair of pyjamas and a real neat shirt for my grandson at Walmart, too. Good prices, good stuff, and professional employees.

Target...keep that in mind and make sure your sales people understand how easy it is to drive customers away.

Epiphany

I'm not sure if I'm using the right word but I believe I experienced an epiphany tonight. I'm almost a lifetime agnostic, believing in something but not what passes for religion today, so in times of stress or worry I don't pray to a god for help.

Tonight I was sitting on the sofa watching a program about coincidences on T.V. when, suddenly, I thought of our good fortune with my daughter's health. I often raise my hands in the air, draw my palms together, and bring my hands down to my chest in a thank you to whatever is out there in our universe who might have a hand in guiding us. That is what I did tonight in thanks for my daughter's reprieve. But tonight was different because I felt a strong connection to someone or something. The experience was so powerful that it made me cry. Had I finally seen the light after all these years?

I'm not sure what I experienced but I still feel the connection. I can only describe it as a goodness. This may all sound like foolishness but for someone like me who has been searching all her life, it was a magical moment.

Misdiagnosis

My daughter had a hysteroscopy (removal of a uterine polyp) last week and when she received the lab report it suggested the polyp was pre-cancerous and she would probably need a hysterectomy. Her doctor thought the lab report was confusing so checked into it further and found it had indeed been written incorrectly. The polyp was not pre-cancerous and no hysterectomy was needed.

Because of the wording of that lab report my daughter could have been subjected to needless surgery. In our euphoria over the good news I still had a niggling feeling that it's possible many of the lab reports that we await with baited breath might also be wrong.

How many people have body parts removed unnecessarily because a lab report was ambiguous or poorly worded? How many people suffer and die because their lab reports were misdiagnosed?

When my husband was ill and dying we trusted the doctors who diagnosed and cared for him without question. When you are ill you have to trust the "men in white coats" because they sometimes literally hold your life in their experienced hands. When you are seriously ill you feel very helpless and need to depend on the medical field to take care of you.

I still admire the profound abilities of doctors but I do wish they were perfect and incapable of making mistakes. An impossible wish.

My oldest daughter and I were planning to head out tomorrow to care for my youngest after her surgery but instead we're heading out to have a little vacation with her. What a wonderful outcome.

This Sucker is Coming Out!

My sister is a tiny little ball of fire. She's a fashion plate who loves flashy clothes and she gets her long (real!) nails done every 2 weeks in wild and flamboyant colors. Picture this little fahion plate trying to dig up an overgrown spirea bush at the cemetary today.

Sharon had worried she wouldn't be much help to me digging up the bush because she'd just gotten her nails done in a vibrant yellow with multi designs all over. My nails are sadly neglected so I told her not to worry because I'd do the digging. I forgot how little strength I have. I also forgot to take the trimmers to cut the bush back before we tried to dig it out.

So there we were...2 ladies of slightly advanced years (she'd kill me for saying that), one dressed casually and one dressed cute and to match her nails. I began trying to dig the darned bush out but it had been in the ground a long, long time and the roots went to China. Luckily the soil is excellent and easy to dig into but that made me a little nervous wondering just how close to the surface my ancestors might be resting. I struggled for a while with no success so Sharon decided to try her luck, nails or not.

She's a tough little cookie and managed to get the shrub wiggling. Now we had some hope. I took another turn but didn't make any headway so I was ready to give up. Sharon took the shovel and started breaking up the roots with it, saying with determination, "This sucker is coming out!!". And damned if it didn't! I was very happy to see only an empty hole with no great grampa peeking out.

We planted the hosta in it's place and also a large sunshine impatiens that Sharon had brought. It looks much nicer now and the struggle was worth it. We cleaned up and then took our dirty, sweaty selves to the nearest Tim Horton's.

We had a good laugh throughout the process and I realized that the people I hang out with have a positive outlook on life. We can find something to laugh about in everything we do. We're very lucky.

One sad thing about today...Sharon had taken out a shepherd's hook and hanging plant earlier in the year but they were gone. It's so pathetic that someone would rob a gravesite.

Overnight With Mary

My friend, Mary, called me last week and said that, since her husband was going on a trip for a week, she thought it would be nice if I came out and stayed with her for a while. I really don't like being away from home for too long but I knew it would be fun so decided to go and stay with her for just yesterday and today. We had a terrific time.

Mary and I go back to the 1970's when she married my brother-in-law. We became good friends but then their marriage broke up. Mary and I remained good friends and are to this day. There's something comforting about being in the company of someone who has known you for many years and seen you at both your best and your worst and still loves you. That's what good friends do and that's why they're good friends.

We hit the casino yesterday. I lost as usual. Mary came out a bit ahead. We had eaten a big lunch buffet at our favorite Chinese restaurant so didn't eat dinner until around 9 P.M. Mary barbecued burgers but we were still so full from lunch that it was difficult getting through even one. We drank wine and watched a new show on T.V. We yakked half the night and when I finally went to bed I couldn't sleep. It could have been the wine.

This morning I gave Mary a crash course on Ebay because she and her husband want to start playing around with it. At 10:30 we zipped out to McDonalds for breakfast and then Mary was kind enough to accommodate me by stopping at a few yard sales. We also stopped at a few stores and then went to a place we'd found that sold only Hostas. I got one for the cemetary but it's so goshdarned gorgeous that I might keep it and take one of my own out to the cemetary tomorrow.

I got home around suppertime and settled into my quiet little house. As much as I loved spending time with Mary, there's no place like home.

My "Dog" is Back!

Dog the Bounty Hunter is back on T.V. after being blacklisted because he used one of those no-no words. Thank heavens someone was smart enough to realize that it makes no sense to destroy a person's career just because they lost their temper and used the "n" word. Again, I find the word abhorent but it's just a word.

As rational human beings we have to put things into perspective and stop being so driven and hampered by words. Poor Dog lost thousands, possibly millions of dollars, because he said one damn word that he shouldn't have. But it was just a word!

We have people killing, raping, torturing others every day of the week and all of this is blasted on T.V. for us to watch and almost become immune to...but let one good old boy say the "n" word and too many of us go bonkers. I'm surprised that a law hasn't been passed to throw the offender in jail and execute him!

It's a word. Words hurt but they don't kill so let's get past the hysteria and get on with our lives.

In any case, I'm so glad that Dog is back on T.V. because there's just something so darned endearing about that guy and his family. He deserves to be able to make his living.

Inhumanity

I've been having trouble sleeping the last few nights and I know why. On the weekend a young boy was deliberately dragged under a car for 45 seconds. I can't seem to get the image of that horrific act out of my mind.

The boy is in critical condition in the hospital with unbelievable wounds. My mind can't escape the fact the driver of that car knew what he was doing. How can someone be so callous? How can a human being do something like that and continue to live with himself?

The two men in the car were in their early 20's. Surely one of those men will have a vestige of conscience and voluntarily face the consequences of their actions. It was understandably an "accident" to begin with but to knowingly drag that child underneath your car for 45 seconds while you race away from the scene is too brutal to understand.

It chills me to think that one moment the boy was a healthy young man and the next he was involved in an incident that will leave him horribly scarred and damaged for the rest of his life...if he lives.

What were those two men thinking as they dragged a screaming child all that distance? And how can they live with what they've done?

It's Hot. Dare I Complain?

We've had a lot of rain this spring and early summer so I haven't had to use the water sprinkler very much. Now that we're having a few hot and dry days in a row my grass is starting to look a little frazzled so I used the sprinkler this afternoon.

While I was out there I made the decision that the weeds in my flower bed had been there a little too long so I got my pail and began the arduous task of pulling them out. I didn't get them all because it was just too hot but it gives me pleasure to see a weed free garden and most of it is weed free now.

I haven't done much yard saleing this year, either, and that's a good way to get ideas for my garden. People love to show off and discuss their gardens when you compliment them. I didn't get many new ideas this year but I did find a nice man who grows hostas and sells them at his yard sale when he splits them.

A few weeks ago I visited the cemetary where my family is buried and discovered one of the bushes I'd planted there years ago was just too big and unruly. I asked my sister yesterday if it would be all right for us to pull the bush out and plant a lovely hosta in it's place. Of course, she doesn't care but it's always best to not just jump in and do things my own way. We'll get a hosta before next Sunday and then do the replanting.

Well, it's hot, sunny and a little uncomfortable outside but I'm making do with open windows, doors, and fans. When the summer heat causes me to complain too much I'll turn on the air conditioning. So far, so good, though.

Words That Offend

There seem to be far too many words that are "politically incorrect". Never in my life have I used the "n" word because I, personally, find it unsavory. I don't like to hear others use it, either, but I would never support a ban on free speech so therefore it is their right to use it freely. I don't and that's all that matters to me.

Some people are offended by certain words much too easily. Maybe they like to be offended because it gives them a feeling of righteousness, I suppose. I always thought it silly that being called "honky" was supposed to offend white people. It doesn't, as far as I know.

In my last blog I mentioned that Newfoundlanders have often been called "Newfies" and that it was offensive to some even though I can't understand why. I received a reply to that blog from one irate person who tried to insult me for being so "stupid". I've been called worse so it didn't bother me, just got me wondering why anyone would get so angry over that particular word.

We Canadians are called "Canucks" and that doesn't seem to bother anyone. I live on an escarpment and we're sometimes called "hillbillies". So what? Is it possible our skins are a little too thin if we get our backs up over a word?

Years ago gay people were labelled with all kinds of potentially insulting words but they got smart and started using those words themselves. Psychologically, it took the sting out of what had been considered an insult. Smart people.

For me there's only one word I consider an insult and that's the "n" word. But not "Newfie". I still think it's a kindly monicker for an east coaster. My husband was from the maritimes and he never thought the word insulting. Neither do I.

Stroke Victim Develops "Newfie" Accent

My sister-in-law lives in Newfoundland and feels highly insulted when people refer to Newfoundlanders as Newfies. I don't think for the world that the use of "Newfie" is necessarily a put down but, instead, an endearment for a part of Canada that is distinct in it's culture, it's habitat, and it's tongue. I wish we Ontarians had a nice nickname like that.

Recently a lady from Ontario had a stroke and, strangely, developed a Newfoundland accent even though she had no family on the east coast nor had ever been there herself. Apparently this is a rare disorder caused by the stroke damage and she could just as easily have begun speaking with a German accent or a French accent. What I find funny about this is that comedians are going to have a field day with this story.

Accents are interesting things. My daughter lived in Florida for quite a few years and I had noticed she had started speaking with a slight Floridian accent (yes, there definitely is one). During my visits her accent gradually lessened until it pretty much disappeared...until one of her Florida friends phoned or came around. Then her accent broadened until she sounded like a Florida cracker.

I read a newspaper article about the lady who had the stroke and it made a weird statement. It said that she'd previously had a southern Ontario accent. I don't think we have one. In fact, I think southern Ontarians are the only people in the world who don't have an accent. We're homogeneous...and that has nothing to do with gay pride.

The reason I say this is because most T.V. announcers sound like us. They rarely exhibit any kind of accent at all so they must be copying us...because we're homogeneous.

I'm joking, of course, but there is an element of truth in it. I could never identify an Ontarian anywhere in the world but my ears would catch a Newfie or Alabamian in a second. I'm jealous. I wish we had a unique sound...preferably one as pleasing as the east coasters' and southerners'.

Canada Day 2008

We celebrate Canada Day on July 1st to remind us all what a great country we live in. I've always thanked my lucky stars that my ancestors made the perilous trek from Ireland (on my mother's side) and wherever (on my father's side) to try their fortunes in Canada.

I love Canada. There's no other way to say it. I think we live in the most wonderful country in the world...flawed, but wonderful just the same. I know there's crime around me but I still feel a sense of safety while I go about my business. I'm probably less likely to face danger in Canada than in most other countries. I'm also less likely to face bankruptcy if I get sick.

Canada is composed of more diverse nationalities, religions, and cultures than I can count. The newcomers enrich Canada for the rest of us. We will surely blend in time and that will help eliminate the prejudice and wars around the world based on "difference".

I watched one of my favorite comedians on T.V. last night...Russell Peters. He's a Canadian of Indian heritage who pokes kindly fun at the eccentricities of all nationalities and religions. He said that, in time, everyone will be beige and I believe that's true. That will be the end of prejudice caused by a person's skin color and that can't come too soon.

Canadians are pretty well respected around the world for our pacifism. That's not a dirty word, you know. It wouldn't hurt the rest of the world to live and let live, would it?

Right now there's a family barbecue and party going on in the yard behind mine and they have a terrific group of musicians playing country music (my favorite). Moments ago the whole gang played and sang "Oh Canada" and, as always, it made me so emotional I cried.

Anyway, I love Canada and am forever grateful to call it home.