LOSING AN OLD FRIEND

            Well we put July to bed under a Full Blue Moon and we’re on to the Dog Days of August now. The summer’s been a pretty hectic one for us and other than the odd bad weather day it has been a very nice summer. Weather-wise, that is. Some would think it too hot while others will think it’s not hot enough, proving yet again, you just can’t make everyone happy.

            Last week we happened to get one of the really bad weather days when that crazy wind blew through town making a nuisance of itself. In fact, it whipped around a big old tree that was close to our house and snapped off a huge branch leaving the remainder of the tree too fragile to salvage so the whole thing had to come down before the rest of it fell into the house. I hate losing beautiful mature trees but at least there wasn’t any house or human damage done, but still, it was like losing a family member.

            It sure saddened our three children when they heard the news as this was the tree where the tire swing had hung for years and years and it was also one of their favourite climbing trees. They have so many fond memories of growing up in this yard and many of them are tied to that tree and others which are, thankfully, still standing.

            Nolan remembered how he once fell awkwardly off of the tire swing and landed in a handstand kind of way giving him “green stick” fractures in both of his wrists. Well, maybe some of the events weren’t so “fond” but they definitely were memorable.

            Emily also recalled how a game of mini-golf around the house ended in a memorable way as Nolan connected on a ball a little harder than he was supposed to and the golf ball ricocheted off of that tree and was flying straight for Em’s face when she was luckily able to deflect it with her hand leaving only a damaged pinky instead of a missing tooth or a broken nose or something. Good times, good times.

            Thankfully we were able to employ the equipment and talents of Benny Baker and Richard Levai as they had the tree cut down, chopped, cleaned up and removed from the yard within 24 hours. Man, those guys can work! Thanks again for your speedy response fellas. Much appreciated.

            In my lifetime I have witnessed some pretty nasty weather including vicious winter storms, tornados and scary thunderstorms. I am not sure if I completely believe that the weather patterns are more severe and numerous now than before but it sure appears that way.           

            Maybe it simply appears that way because nine times out of ten when I look at the weather report on my computer or smart phone there seems to be some kind of weather advisory alert blinking away in red. Severe thunderstorm activity; extreme heat warning; tornado warning; smokey air advisory; heavy rain warning; strong wind advisory…and on and on it goes. It almost seems to be a bit of “the boy crying wolf” going on here, though. If we are in continual alert won’t we get complacent when they don’t develop? I hope not. It’s better to be safe than sorry, I suppose.

            I’m more of a glass is half full than empty kind of guy so as sad as it is to see one summer month pass by it’s good to know that we have a full month of summer weather to look forward to in August. We also have a lot of activity planned for this month which will probably make it go by a little too fast but it will be fun making more memories…fond or otherwise.

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory”-Dr. Seuss.

WHERE THE HECK'S MY BALL GLOVE?

            Once again, it’s time to dust off the old cleats and see if the ball glove is where I put it after I used it the last time, which was about a year ago, or so, I guess. Mind you, these things have a tendency to move around the house by themselves in the basement or in the spare room or in the hall closet or one of the other places that I know I put the stuff last year but now it isn’t where I knew I put it and, of course, it’s someone else’s fault that I can’t find my ball bag and with only two of us left living in this house and it’s not where I KNOW I put it then “you know who” must have moved it or something.

The conversation regarding the missing ball gear went something like this:

Yelling from basement, “Hey, have you seen my ball stuff?”

“Nope, where’d you put it?”

“I hung it up right here in the basement beside my hockey bag.”

“Is it there now?”

“Would I be asking if it was there?”

“Smarty-pants, if it’s not there then you probably didn’t put it there because I never touched it. Are you sure it isn’t under something, or maybe fell on the floor, or perhaps you did put it in some other closet or room?”

Exasperating sigh, “NO. I hung it up last year when we got home and I put it right here.”

“And you don’t remember moving it or putting it somewhere else?”
“What did I just tell you? No. It was RIGHT HERE!”

“Is it that black Co-op duffle bag that smells like stinky feet and Rub A-5-3-5?”

“Yeah. Probably. You haven’t seen it but you remember how it smells?”

“I don’t remember how it smells because it smells like the bag I just pulled out of the closet.”

“How’d it get in there?! I swear I hung it up downstairs right after the tournament!”

“Sure you did, honey. Sure you did. Here you go…have a nice practice” Or words to that effect. Humble pie has a terrible taste, doesn’t it?

Well, thank goodness somebody found my stuff because it’s “Geezer Ball” time again. Yup, the good ol’ SBA (Saskatchewan Baseball Association)Twilighter Master’s Division Provincial Playoff Tournament is being held in Estevan this upcoming weekend and the Eden Valley Senators are going to be there.

It’s hard to believe that this group of ballplayers and their families have been attending these events for close to a decade now. Daryle Roth assembled the core group of players back in 2006 and while there have been some additions and deletions along the way the majority of these guys will have played together in ten of these tournaments. Counting this year.

We have a blast trying to defy our ages and recapture some youthful exuberance, even for just a day or two, before coming back home to lick our wounds while promising to be better prepared for the event next year. Which we probably won’t be because, like the missing ball bag, we’ll forget where our pain went and just before next year’s tournament comes around we’ll be searching for some gumption along with our ball gear. Then, with a little luck and maybe more than a little bit of help ,we’ll put it together for another go ‘round.

“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.”-Yogi Berra (1925-).

IMMORTALITY?....I COULD MAKE IT WORK

Whiling away this past winter’s hours Deb and I became fans of the television series Forever. The basic premise is that a New York City medical examiner dies 200 years ago while trying to rescue slaves as a doctor aboard a ship in the African slave trade and he becomes physically immortal. His long life has given him extensive knowledge in many areas along with very keen powers of observation making him an excellent crime solver while examining the bodies of the many homicide victims he is tasked to examine. His job as a medical examiner also gives him great insight into death and he is hoping to find answers as to why he never dies when killed; which happens in just about every episode. 

            Now, you’re probably wondering why I am all of the sudden a promoter of CTV and ABC Television shows, I’m not and the show is being cancelled after just one season, tsk, tsk, tsk, but the whole point of the information above is to tell you that the character in the series, Dr. Henry Morgan, somehow isn’t too happy with his immortality which goes completely against all human history as the search and desire for human biological and physical immortality has been sought after since the earliest recordings of mankind. Some scientists say it is merely decades away.

            I found it a little odd that, as we were travelling recently, I happened to mention to Debbie that I think a guy would have to be immortal in order to be able to see and live in so many, wonderful and beautiful places this planet has to offer and we were only covering a few miles in Western Canada for crying out loud! Think of the entire world! Even with all of their money Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or some other bazillionaire would have the financial resources but not the longevity to see it all.

            I’m talking about physical immortality here, of course, similar to the fictitious Dr. Henry Morgan, where you would stay around 40 years-old for a thousand years plus or so, not “life everlasting” as in eternal life, if you know what I mean. I’m thinking I’m never going to actually find out what it’d be like but I don’t know how “difficult” it would be to live for years and years.

Yes, I know, you’d want someone to not age right along with you, maybe, but still. And it would definitely be hard outliving all of your descendants but there’d be some upsides, too, I’m sure. Not being able to die means you could try anything. Bull fighting, cliff jumping, high-wire walking, chain saw juggling…you might want to check to see if your limbs would grow back first, you know, maybe start with a toe or a finger, or something…. Anyway, I’m pretty sure you’re getting the gist of my thought process here.

I don’t mean to bore you with another “how fantastic British Columbia is” story but it seemed to us that you could pull over pretty much anywhere out there and find a gorgeous place to live for a little while. I will also include the entire provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in there as well. In fact, I’m fairly certain that if you lived one decade in every spot you would like to call home it’d easily take you past a thousand years. That’s only 100 spots, if my math is correct. It’s barely a start.

As stated earlier, scientists are convinced we will achieve physical immortality soon but we’re supposed to be riding hover boards right now too, aren’t we? I am not sure, with 7 billion of us humans on the planet already, and the average lifespan rising, where we’d put everybody if they were to all live 1000 years plus but if science is able to make us not die it’d probably be able to figure that part out, too. I would hope.

I don’t think we’ll see it happen in my lifetime, but I’m working on my list of places to live, should the opportunity present itself.

“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.”-Woody Allen, (1939-).

TRAVELLING BEAUTIFUL BRITISH COLUMBIA

            Did anyone else notice my mathematically challenged subtraction in last week’s column? If you didn’t, then shame on the both of us. It was not Canada’s 118^th birthday, like I stated it was; it was Canada’s 148^th birthday on July 1st, 2015. I’m sure she’d be flattered that I thought she looked a lot younger than she really is, though.

            As mentioned in last week’s column, as well, we did get to celebrate the country’s 148^th Birthday on the shores of Okanagan Lake watching the July 1^st fireworks at Peachland, BC. In a province surrounded by spectacular beauty the quaint community of Peachland is, as promised, a beautiful peach of a place. It turned out to be a great place to spend Canada Day watching a parade, going swimming, eating ice cream and ooooing and aahhing at the fireworks.

            Of course, as with all good things, they must come to an end so after an eventful, full and fun 10 days in West Kelowna we had to say goodbye to our youngest daughter Emily and the beautiful Okanagan valley and make our way back to Kipling.

            In a reversal of last year’s trip, this year we travelled out to British Columbia via Highway #3 through the Crowsnest Pass and made the return trip through the Kicking Horse Pass on the Trans-Canada Highway. I know it’s all mountains and rivers and forests and streams and winding roads but you wouldn’t believe the difference in the road views when you reverse the directions.

            The Crowsnest highway was built in 1932 as a Great Depression project and mainly follows a mid-19^th century gold rush trail that had originally been traced out by an engineer named Edgar Dewdney. Dewdney later served as Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Territories and he was also the fifth Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. The Crowsnest Pass’s highest elevation reaches 1358m (4455ft).

            The Kicking Horse Pass and the adjacent Kicking Horse River, were named after James Hector, a naturalist, geologist, surgeon, and a member of John Palliser’s 1858 Palliser Expedition, who was actually kicked by his horse while exploring the region. It seems the name stuck. The Trans-Canada Highway was constructed through the pass in 1962 following the original CPR rail route. The Kicking Horse Pass’s elevation is 1643m (5390ft).

             Driving the highways through either of these passes can give you the willies at times but one has to admire the sheer determination and mind-boggling feats of engineering that were employed to complete the roadways through the mountains. The drive along Highway #1 from Golden through the Kicking Horse Pass was especially nerve-racking for me and I’m driving it on a finished pristine highway. Can you imagine what the road builders would have seen while they were constructing this thing? Yowza!

            I don’t know how they did it and I don’t know why they did what they did when they did it but the construction of those highways through those mountains is an absolutely awesome great Canadian achievement. And this tourist is happier for it.

            “There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements.”-Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!

            Happy Birthday Canada! Wow! 118 years young. How are you going to celebrate your country's birthday? In style I hope. Me? I'm going to indulge in the festivities on the shores of beautiful Okanagan Lake at Peachland, British Columbia, with my wife and our youngest daughter. It can't get much better than that!

            They're in the midst of a super heat wave here in the Okanagan Valley and even this heat lover is finding it a little extreme. The upside is that it is hot and sunny, not cold and rainy, and there are about a million ways to escape the heat. The lake water is cool and refreshing and there are no end to the beaches around the lake. Pick a spot and jump in!

            The speedy passing of time is always astounding to me as it seems that we were just moving Emily out to West Kelowna a short time ago. In reality it was ten months ago already and as we were leaving her to her new life out here last year we were already planning the return trip to see her during her summer school break this year.

            I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the good life in Canada than to drive 1000 miles/1600kms across three provinces viewing the variety of vegetation, topography and breathtaking scenery along the way.

            As anxious as we were to see Em as soon as possible we managed to take our time driving out stopping to smell the roses along the way, as it were. We pitched the tent at Fernie Provincial Park and were blown away by the serenity, the mountain view and the sounds of the  babbling brook meters away from our campsite. The experience is highly recommended.   

            For a prairie flatlander, like myself, the drive through the mountains wasn't as nerve racking as I had anticipated. Even though we'd done this drive merely a year ago it still takes more than a bit of cruising to get used to mountain driving. There isn't much time to "acclimatize" yourself  to the conditions, either, as it seems you go from driving in bald prairie to climbing mountains in a matter of minutes.

            The highways of BC are great but the drive wasn't totally without the odd belly flip as we bridged over sphincter tightening gorges at least a thousand feet deep and snaked our way up and down mountain sides, hair-pinning all the way.

            We drove the Kootenay Pass which is known locally as the "Salmo-Creston" route along the Crowsnest Highway in the Selkirk Mountains connecting the communities of Salmo and Creston. The elevation at Kootenay Pass is 5823ft (1775m) above sea level.

            Interestingly enough, Kelowna's elevation above sea level is 1588ft(484m) while Kipling's is 2170ft (661m). Who'd a thunk it? That information is hard to comprehend while sitting on Emily's patio looking around at the low-lying mountains in the background.

            While I am not a world traveller, or anything, there can be little doubt that BC, and in particular the Okanagan Valley, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It's not hard to believe that Kelowna and surrounding district is one of the most popular retirement destinations in Canada making it the third largest metropolitan area in British Columbia.

            It's actually hard to find someone who was born and raised here, though. I've met people from Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, St. Alphonse, Manitoba and Dawson Creek, Yukon. You know, they say that there are six degrees of separation between every person on Earth. My thinking is that it's only three degrees for people from Saskatchewan. On our first day here I found one woman who is Bob and Kay McGaw's daughter Christy's best friend in Regina and another woman who is great friends with Lana Jones, formally from Kipling! Small world, eh?

            We'll be thinking of you back home while we watch the Canada Day fireworks over Okanagan Lake and we hope you'll be having as good a time celebrating as we will be. However and wherever you choose to celebrate Canada Day... I hope you did it in great Canadian style!

"It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she's something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of."-Emily Carr (1871-1945).

REPRISE........MARRIAGE ADVICE.

As we are entering Wedding Season I thought I would reprise an old column that I submitted in this space five years ago. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been submitting these columns for five years and it’s even harder to believe that five years have gone by since our daughter Meghan’s wedding. I wrote the following article during the lead-up to that grand event. I think the advice is still applicable. See if you’ll agree.   

           

With a success rate of somewhere between 45-55%, (the experts are all pretty vague), it’s good to know that there is still some faith in the institution of marriage. My wife and I have been invited to a number of weddings this summer and our eldest daughter is also getting married this year so marriage has been a running theme around our house for a while now.

So I thought that it would be apropos for me, a veteran of the institution of marriage for close to…what is it now?…hmm…twenty-nine years as of the 5^th of September, to offer up some advice to the couples taking the plunge this year. Of course, it will be the males that will be best served with this advice but you ladies might also learn a thing or two from this veteran’s experiences.

My first piece of advice…always remember the number of years that you have been married. Do not hesitate like I just did. They will remember. For a long time. Oh, and by the way, kudos for picking a year that ends in a zero. Good thinking. The addition is so much easier. We were married in 1981; try doing the math with that one!

Second piece of advice…now listen close now…this is very important. Listen. That’s the advice. Listen to them. I know, I know, sometimes they might sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “Wha, wha, wha” and all, but they’ll ask for a playback and you had better be prepared. And most of the time you can get away with 20-30% accuracy but you have to have some knowledge of the subject. A lot of the time you don’t even have to answer, just nod and stuff but above all…LISTEN!

Here’s another very important piece of advice. Just when they are at their most UN-huggable…give them a hug. Yes, I know, but it’s just like going back to school after the summer break; you’re not going to WANT to do it…but you HAVE to! I’m serious! You should even be doing it now. Just for the practice. I am sure you’ve probably had a few tense moments during the wedding planning and everything; when she’s all crying and incoherent about dresses and flowers and food and such. Go ahead. You can do it. You HAVE to do it.

Now, here’s the big, big one and it’s for both of you and it’s the toughest one to do. It’s even harder than hugging the unhuggable. You have to know when you are wrong, and trust me, you will be wrong, both of you, sometime. And you’ll have to be able to say “I’m SORRY” with meaning. Not the old school yard “I’m sorry” when, really, you’re not, and it’ll probably be the hardest thing for you to do, but it’s the game-saver. You may even have a little experience with this one already, but if you are going to be committed, (to each other not into an institution), you will have to be very good at this one to make the marriage last long enough for you to have difficulty doing the math when asked how long the two of you have been married.

“The ritual of marriage is not simply a social event; it is a crossing of threads in the fabric of fate. Many strands bring the couple and their families together and spin their lives into a fabric that is woven on their children.-“Portuguese-Jewish Wedding Ceremony.

JUNE 21ST...BIG DAY!

           This Sunday is the 21^st of June. It’s a big day. First off, it’s Father’s Day, so hooray for that, and, consequently, it is also the first day of summer, so, double hooray, I guess.
            I have probably told you this before, but I’m going to tell you again, that the first day of summer was always my Dad and Mom’s favourite day of the year. Also, in another huge coincidence or divine intervention, depending on your particular views on that type of thing, both Dad and Mom passed on to the afterlife on the 21^st of June. Yep, the exact same day of the year. Their favourite day of the year. Dad passed away in 1990 and Mom in 2013.  You know, those two were always in sync.

            Now, if you don’t believe in divinity or anything then the 21^st of June is also the day for you for it just happens to be Atheist Solidarity Day! There you go. There’s a day for everyone, I guess.

            It’s also, Baby Boomer Recognition Day, Family Awareness Day, Go Skateboarding Day (?), Husband Caregiver Day (??), National Peaches and Cream Day, World Handshake Day and World Music Day. So if you’re not a Father, or your Dad is gone, there are enough other “Days” you can take part in, if you want to.

            I remember when it used to just be Father’s Day. Wasn’t that enough? Sure, it’d coincide with the summer solstice the odd time but the 3^rd Sunday in June was always Father’s Day. When did we have to start crowding these important days with stuff like Go Skateboarding Day and Family Awareness Day? Shouldn’t you be aware of your family everyday…good, bad, absent or otherwise? Hmmm? Just saying.

            Anyway, I recall a good quote about fathers from Mark Twain. He said, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Ha! I love that quote. Ain’t it the truth? As I recall Dad and I butted heads more than a time or two. I stubbornly held on to the belief that the old man was pretty stubborn when it came to having an open mind and seeing things my way. Oddly enough, I experienced the same thing in reverse with my own son. The good old right of passage, eh?

            Recently, I was reacquainted with a 1970 song by Cat Stevens, then, he’s Yusuf Islam now, called “Father and Son”. In the song the son is telling his father that it’s time for him to move on to bigger and better things in his life while his father is telling his son to take his time… “think a lot, why, think of everything you’ve got, for you will still be here tomorrow, but you dreams may not.” The song examines the relationship from both sides of the argument. In fact, when recently discussing the lyrics to this forty-five year old song Cat/Yusuf said that he realized that he was speaking of his father’s, father’s, father’s, father’s, father’s, father speaking. I know what he means.

                To me, Fatherhood is a gift. Not everyone gets the chance. Some fathers are with you for a long time while others are gone in a moment. I was lucky enough to have thirty-four years with my Dad. I don’t recall all of them and I wouldn’t have minded having him around for a few more.

Life is fleeting and one piece of advice that he told me over and over back in his “ignorant years” was exactly that, “Life is short, son, make the most of it. You’ll have a hard time believing me now, but in a few years you will know exactly what I mean.” And, boy, do I ever.

“A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he was meant to be.”-Frank A. Clark.