Ted Kennedy's funeral is on television right now but I can't watch it. This has been such a sad year with so many deaths that I thought I would just write about him from a Canadian perspective.

I have always thought of the Kennedy brothers as being part of my generation but actually they were more my mother's generation. Ted was the youngest brother and was only 36 when Robert, his last surviving brother was killed. The Kennedys had and have wealth beyond the dreams of most of the rest of us. After Robert's murder, it would have been quite understandable for Ted to take that wealth and live behind barred gates in seclusion for the rest of his life. He could have become very self-indulgent like Howard Hughes or Michael Jackson. For a time, he did live a very wild life-style but soon found out that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered.

Perhaps because of his three children and his innumerable nieces and nephews, he decided that drinking to excess and womanizing was not the best example to set so he really settled down to make a positive impact on his generation.

He was called the "liberal lion" by some and, even when the far right held power in the US, he was not afraid to push for reform in the areas of women's rights and policies to help the poor. This did not make him very popular with some but I felt he was courageous and determined to make life better for those who had little or no influence to speak for themselves.

Ted Kennedy was surely a flawed hero. No-one who lived through the 1960s will ever forget the tragedy of Chappaquiddick and the death of a beautiful young woman. I feel this is the main reason that he would never have become president of the US. Nonetheless, instead of becoming bitter, he turned to a different path of trying to make life better for those who face more challenges than he did.

From a Canadian point of view, this man was larger than life: larger than his wealth and power and the world is poorer without him.

Food for thought . . .

Musings on a Summer Day

These images are in reverse order. I cannot figure out how to put them right so you'll have to pretend. They do tell the story of our adventure the last couple of weeks.

Many of you know our daughter, Jennifer, and the red car shows what happened when she was hit by a dump truck. God was gracious to her and she managed to escape with just a few bruises - no concussion, no broken bones, no open cuts. I am very thankful to two young Chinese women who stopped when they saw the accident and called me twice on their cell phone to let me know what was going on. They are truly good Samaritans.

The car is a total write-off. It was a very faithful member of our family for 15 years. Jennifer had it for about a year but before that, it was Dad's. Our Toyota dealer was able to find her a low mileage (24,000 km - about 10,000 miles), two year-old  Yaris that you see in the top picture. It is a standard which is what J. wanted and very well looked after. Hopefully it will serve her well for 10 or more years.

Dad has to have minor surgery on one of his toes on Thursday. I have to drive him to his former doctor in Newmarket since this has happened before with another toe and he feels very comfortable with him. On Friday, he has to go to the dentist. He broke off a piece of one of his front teeth. Our summer has been one exciting round of medical appointments. I am glad, however, that this kind of care is readily available to us.

There were a couple of interesting articles in today's paper. One was about a small town about 2 1/2 hours drive away from us called Smith Falls. Smith Falls is near Ottawa but was more famous for its Hershey factory. We used to go there two or three times a year to stock up on their very fresh chocolate products. Even though the factory made a profit and had been there for 46 years, the main office in the States decided they could make more money elsewhere so they moved this operation to Mexico and the States.  Smith Falls is a lovely little town so I hope it can survive this blow.

The other article concerned our army. Now, Canada has a VERY small army and with the war in Afghanistan, we are pretty much stretched to the limit. We have small numbers of soldiers serving elsewhere as well in a peacekeeping role but with the Olympics in British Columbia in 2010 and the G8 conference of world leaders in Ontario in the summer of 2010, the government is afraid that our army will be too small to handle everything. Instead of training new soldiers and thus supplying employment during this recession, it has decided to send civilians and retired soldiers to take on some of the less dangerous jobs the army is doing now. Not my idea of a great solution but they didn't ask me.

Well, I guess that's enough for now.

A Moment Away

This week we were again reminded that at any moment we are just a breath away from eternity.

This is how Jennifer's car looked after being whacked by a dump truck. There are so many "what if's" that go through my mind. If the truck had hit the driver's side of the car, Jennifer would probably have been killed. This is a very old car - 15 years old and had no airbags. The good thing is that the older cars are generally well-built and that saved Jennifer from much worse injury.

She had no broken bones, no cuts, no chipped teeth. She has a lot of bruises and stiffness and a very sore neck but no concussion.

As I said before, this crisis reminds us that at any second we can be catapulted into eternity. How prepared are we?

Am I, are you ready to meet our Maker?

Visiting the Past

I promised an update on our short vacation last week. We went to a resort in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario for three days. The resort was on a pretty lake called Balsam Lake and was lovely. I felt a little sorry for the owners of the resort because there were only abut 7 couples/families there and only about a quarter of the units were filled. 

The food was excellent. Because the owners were Chinese, they cooked an authentic Chinese dinner for us one night and it was delicious. I gained 2 pounds in 3 days and my husband gained 4 and no wonder. Our unit had a jacuzzi which I loved and used all 3 nights. It really helps the inflamed tendons in my right heel and my arthritis. Our suite also had a sauna but it was too warm to use this.

The weather was perfect for the time we were there and this was unusual for this summer when rain every day or so has been the norm.

We went on day trips in the area while we were there. We tried to find a cousin of mine in one town but were unsuccessful. On the second day we went to another small town to look for a cottage that I last saw about 55 years ago. My memories of this cottage were very strong and I felt I could find it if it was still there. 

The first person I described the location to owned a business in town. You would think she would know the area pretty well. She did give us directions which  we followed successfully to a degree. I knew this cottage was on the north side of a long stone pier that went out into the lake. The frustration came when I could see the pier but couldn't find a way to it.

After dipsy doodling around, we came upon a restaurant and stopped there. The first person we met walking his dog, didn't live in the area so we went into the building. We talked to a rather rough looking couple. The fellow looked and talked like a tough motorcycle guy - the kind you wouldn't take home to mother and someone I probably would have avoided under different circumstances.

After some discussion between the two of them, the fellow drew us a very crude map which involved us driving back the way we had come. If we had had anything better to do, we probably would have given up at this point but "in for a penny, in for a pound".

We went back and turned north on the highway and although, we didn't find the church we were told to look for and  followed a sign which told us we were going the right way but were not, we actually found the right road.

The cottage was right where I thought it was. The reason the first directions did not work out and would not have taken us there, was that the swing bridge that was on the way to the cottage was not in service. It was being repaired and if we had followed the first set of directions we would never have gotten to the cottage at all. (You would think the business owner would have known that, wouldn't you?)

The picture above shows the cottage. It was a bit of a disappointment, actually. It was much smaller than I remembered. The original cottage was red and white and was in better condition. I was surprised that some of the wood on the front was rotting and the grey paint really needed to be redone. However, although you can't relive the past, I was glad to have found the place I remembered and had many pleasant memories of.

Summertime

It's difficult to believe that this is the first of August already. Half of the summer is over. The weather here has been cooler and wetter than many summers of the recent past but I am not complaining. I do not cope well with the hot, humid, hazy stuff and we have saved a lot of money with not having to water every day.

I took this picture of a rainbow a couple of weeks ago. We had not actually had rain that day but obviously it was all around  us. I wonder what it is about rainbows that are so special to a lot of us? I think that part of it is that we don't see many rainbows. In my life I may have seen a total of 6 or so and that's not a lot considering how much rain I've seen.

The Bible tells us that the first rainbow was given by God to Noah as a sign that He would never again destroy the world with a flood. The Bible talks about a new heaven and new earth but the floods will not cover the earth and destroy everything as they did in Noah's day. In other words, we should not need to build an ark any time soon.

The last two weeks have been interesting. We went away for a three day vacation to a resort. The place we chose was lovely and very quiet. . The food was delicious . The owners were Chinese and one night we had an authentic Chinese dinner - so good. I put on two pounds in 3 days so it's a good thing we didn't stay longer. More about this trip in another blog.

This week we went to a local funeral home and arranged to pay for our funerals. That was fun - and expensive. We didn't want our children to worry about the expense when we die and the charges for services are not going to increase over time. They are locked in at today's prices which are high enough, believe me. Some people are freaked out with the thought of their own death and by the thought of actually planning for it but we aren't. It's just part of life and dealing with the inevitable is no different than planning a vacation, in my opinion.

This week I have my annual medical check-up and that is more daunting to me than planning my funeral. I don't like pain of any kind!

Yesterday I drove a lady in town to her dentist for Community Care. I was so impressed with this lady. She is a widow and lives in her own home where she looks after everything except the outside work. She told me she had finally found someone who could tell the difference between a weed and a plant worth keeping. This lady told me she was 93 and would be 94 in October.  I found that difficult to believe. She was very mobile although she did have a cane and she managed to go up a long flight of stairs to get to her dentist. She was also very sharp mentally. Not everyone her age is so fortunate.

The backyard landscaping is finally finished and looks good except that there are not many bushes. When you live in the boonies as we do, it's difficult to find bushes and shrubs at this time of year. Most of the planting will have to wait until next spring. Our veggie/fruit garden is not too bad although the landscaper tried his best to eliminate it. We've had beets and onions and strawberries and rhubarb and one cucumber. Nothing like fresh from the garden food. The tomatoes are coming although they are a bit later because of the cooler weather.

I guess that's enough for now!

Friends

I have been thinking a great deal about friendship the past few days. Many of you know Giz. I was sorry to read a post on her Face Book page where she talked about being "dumped" by someone she had known for eight years. While this is painful at any age, it seems to hurt more as you get older.

There have been two incidences in my own life this year where I, too, have been "dumped". One is by a member of my own family. With no explanation or warning or reason that I know of, one of our family members has just cut off contact with us. And not only with us. She does not seem to be in touch with anyone in our family. This is a distressing mystery.

The other instance involves friends who we have known for more than 20 years. They had their first grandchild this February and they emailed us when the baby was born. I sent their children a baby gift but I have not heard a word from them since. I expected to hear from them when my mother died but nothing even though we have tried to be supportive and encouraging to them over the years when they have had family tragedies. I sent them a card for their anniversary as is our custom but there has been no response at all. 

I admit that I do not understand this kind of behaviour at all. Some people say that some friendships are only for a season and we should be ready to let go when interest lags. When there is mutual disinterest, I agree that you just move on with your life. I do think, however, that it is only common courtesy to bring some kind of closure to a relationship that last lasted for years. It would be nice, in my case, to get some kind of explanation to the sudden silence because I am tending to treat both these situations as a rejection of me and that may or may not be true.

 The picture with this blog was taken on Saturday. For my birthday, I asked these two couples to meet us for a celebration lunch. We have all known each other for 20 plus years and try to have brunch or lunch every couple of months or so. We had a great time although this year has not been an easy one. Both our male friends have had health problems this past year and all three of the women have lost a parent recently. 

The kind of friendship we share has been a support through some tough times although we do have to work at staying in touch since we live a fair distance away from each other.

Food for thought . . . 

Dealing with Disappointment

I have had some time to think about why I am so upset about the mess in my backyard.  After all, the Queen is not coming to tea any time soon and there is really no pressing reason to have this work done by any given date although I do want to get some plants in the ground while the weather is good. I was so angry on Thursday and I have been trying to control my anger in recent years and have largely been successful until this week. 

There are three reasons for my over-reaction, I think.

The first is that I do get upset when people say they are going to do something and then don't do it. My mother-in-law used to tell Jennifer when she was just a little girl that she would do such and such with her and something would always come up and she didn't carry through on her promises. Although Jennifer was young she was aware that this wasn't right and I was sorry that she had to be so disappointed and hurt at such a young age. I finally had to tell my mother-in-law not to make promises unless she was going to keep them.

The landscaper also built our house and although he and his men do very good work, he never seems to do what he says he will do when he says he will do it. I knew this going in and it shouldn't have bothered me but it does. It is the same as lying to me and I can't abide people who consistently lie.

The second reason is that this is costing us thousands of dollars. This may not be a huge sum to the landscaper who just sold his house for 2 million dollars or so but it is a whole lot to me. We will no doubt get it back when we sell the house (if the work is ever finished, of course) but it is a lot of money. The money was left to me by my mother and I know that part of the anger was at myself. I feel guilty that somehow I am wasting the money that Mother worked so hard for and left to me.

The last reason is that in Canada our summers are so short and ours is quickly moving on. I wanted to be able to enjoy this new space this year. Instead I am looking at a bomb site and even though I asked him to be careful with the established plants, many of them will never survive his disregard for what's already there. I took this picture the first day any work was done and it looks just the same or maybe a little worse today - more than a week later.

The Bible tells us to be careful not to let a bitter root grow in our relationships. I know from sad experience how easily this can happen so I am trying to pray this through so that this man will see a godly example in my reactions to him. Living a Christian life was never supposed to be easy but does it have to be so difficult?