A true Cancerian, I can make a home anywhere. And throughout my life this is exactly what I have done. I could use a couple of old cliches and say, "home is where the heart is" or "home is where I hang my hat".
I have a lot to say when it comes to talkin' about HOME.
But before I even begin there is something I want to say about my favourite TV show. Family and close friends already know that if they want to talk to me they don't phone when "Canadian Idol" is on CTV. Since the show first aired I have become an avid fan. This season is no exception.
I have chosen my favourite and I do hope he wins. And, yes, I do cast my vote every week.
Here is a photo of the young man I think should be Canadian Idol. Jaydee Bixby is my #1 choice.
Jaydee Bixby has the voice and the face of an angel! How can he lose?
Ben Mulroney with the top six......but
sadly, Tara Oram, was eliminated this week.
The remaining five are
Brian Melo, Matt Ripley, Jaydee Bixby,
Carly Rae Jepson & Dwight d'Eon.
In a way TV shows are a part of HOME.........as for me, I'm hooked on Canadian Idol
but I admit
I'm a sucker for American Idol too.
I love good movies and most reality shows.
When I was a kid I used to wish I could reach into the TV and become a part of all that was happening. Today with interactive television I feel it is just like a
child's wish coming true.
I was seven years old when my parents bought our first TV set.
I remember it was a 17 inch Motorola.
We were so thrilled with this new delight that our mother, bless her heart,
would allow us to sit on the living room floor to eat our lunch
when we came home from school to watch,
you guessed it,
the test pattern.
Later I remember the Mickey Mouse Club and Howdy Doody with Clarabell.
In my teen years my girlfriends and I would dance the after school
hours away with Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
And, of course, the Ed Sullivan Show brought
Elvis into my life.
Is Jaydee Bixby this generation's Elvis? Wouldn't surprise me!
In my young mom days there was Carol Burnett & Dick Van Dyke.
Television has played a major part in my life. TV grew up with me.
We've gone from a 17 inch Motorola to a 42 inch Samsung.
Fortunately for me as my eyes have dimmed the screens have become larger.
And today with a DVD player my childhood Saturday matinees
are happening whenever I choose.
Movies like Gone With the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath
Speaking of home just this past weekend we acquired a home away from home. Another brand new experience and in our retirement years I believe it is good for the soul to experience new beginnings. This time the new home is a camper, a small trailer, a little doll house of a place situate in a wilderness park not far from the Town of Spanish.
My first camping experience took place when I was eight years old. I was a Brownie with brown long-sleeved uniform and yellow tie fastened to my blouse with the gold Brownie pin. I had learned the Brownie promise, "I promise to do my best, to do my duty, to God, the Queen, and my country, to help other people every day especially those at home." Quite a commitment for an eight year old child to make. As I made the promise to help people at home I was very excited about leaving home for the first time in my young life.
The summer that I turned eight I travelled by bus with my Brownie friends to the Salvation Army Camp located in Jackson's Point, Ontario. I don't remember a whole lot about the experience. I do remember sleeping in bunks in a cottage and I remember one of my room-mates being extremely home-sick and crying every night that she wanted to go home. I remember the cook at the camp and the huge chocolate cakes that she baked, mmm good! I remember the beautiful big lake and sandy beaches. Strangely I don't remember a whole lot more about my first camping experience.
My second camping experience took place when I was in my early teens. Once again I travelled by bus to the same camp in Jackson's Point. This time though there was a big difference. I was being paid for the experience. In exchange for the privilege of after-work hours swimming in Lake Simcoe I worked as a waitress throughout the summer. I served meals to the myriad camps that were scheduled. There was the Music Camp, the Seniors' Camp. There were the Brownies, the Cubs, the Girl Guides and, of course, my favourite at that time was the Boy Scout Camp. I remember that just down the road from the Salvation Army Camp there was the DeLasalle Camp where some very cute young boys were camping. Did I mention that I was in my teen years? Did I mention that I was becoming very aware of the opposite sex? Such fun years! But it was during this second camping experience that I had my most embarrassing moments.
Not a good swimmer I was standing at the end of a dock when some boys who were playing around pushed me into the water. I was wearing a one piece bathing suit but somehow, after my panic, when I came up for air my one piece suit no longer stretched above my waist. The neck strap had broken. It was a humbling experience. 50 years later I can still feel the embarassment.
My second camping experience was my last.
And now 50 years later I will become a camper again. I have a lot to learn and I am looking forward to this new opportunity to meet new friends and share new experiences.
Here I am in the kitchen of my home away from home. But always memory takes me back to the little home that had the most major impact on my life, the home of my childhood. I will write more about this home another day.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I am disappointed that my favourite, Jaydee Bixby, did not win the singing competition but he did an excellent job singing his way into the top two.
A big congratulations to Brian Melo, the new Canadian Idol.
Sunday, September 23, 2007...........another NEW DAY
I wasn't able to honour my duty to work at the Food Bank this week and I wasn't able to enjoy the camper this weekend. Nor did I make it to church this morning for the second week in a row. I doubt I will make it to the workshop I had hoped to attend tomorrow. Right now the reason for all of these absences is gratefully asleep. But when he is awake he is needing much love and attention. Poor Dudley is quite ill with vomiting & diarreah. Breaks my heart to see him not well. Hopefully we will be making a visit to the vet tomorrow.
What does this have to do with home you may ask? Well, what is home without family? And in our family Dudley is a full fledged member, honoured, respected, loved and cared for just as we would any other family member.
Dudley, aka, The Dudley;
The Boy;
Grumpy Old Man;
My Baby....
A rose by any other name........Dudley
lights up our lives, teaches us
unconditional love,
tolerance
and most of all,
forgiveness.
Now I believe all gods are one God. I respect all religions and I respect those who practice no religion.
But this planet is my home and because of the current world situation I do all that I can to learn as much as possible about religions and cultures other than my own. It has long been my hope that we could put an end to war. My wish is that all peoples could co-exist peacefully respecting differences and celebrating life itself.
One thing we try to make time for in our home is reading. I am currently reading a book entitled, "MY YEAR INSIDE RADICAL ISLAM", a Memoir written by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.
When I came to chapter eight entitled, "Man Bites Dog", I was disbelieving. I quote from this chapter the following words, "I had first learned about the problem of dogs in Islam when al-Husein and I visited Turkey together, and he told me about a hadith where the Prophet said that angels will refuse to enter a house with a dog in it. I had made an effort to study the ahadith in greater depth since then. And I learned that dogs were held in even lower regard than I initially believed. In one hadith, Muhammad said, 'Were dogs not a species of creature I should command that they all be killed'. The Prophet also said that dog owners would lose the reward of their good deeds."
I will do my best to continue to respect all religions. I will try very hard to respect differences however I will never have any respect for any person who does not respect dogs whether that person is Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, atheist.
God gave us animals that we might have dominion over them. In my mind, and feel free to correct me because I cannot find my Dictionary at the moment, dominion means responsibility; the responsibility to care for, respect and protect.
I hope The Dudley will soon be feeling well again. Thank you for keeping him in your prayers. He is a valued and precious family member and I am blessed to be sharing this life with him
If there are no dogs in Heaven
then I don't want to go there,
If angels fear to tread 'round my little puppy's bed
Then I care not what is said
because my love is stronger
than the words of foreign Prophets
who do not have respect
for the precious dogs God made
Can there be any doubt that they were created
to teach us loyalty
and love unconditional?
My home is Dudley's home,
My devotion is to him, as his has been to me.
And this is how it will remain throughout eternity.
And as Forest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."
OR MAYBE IT'S NOT.........here is a short P.S.
Many thanks to my friend, Shirley, who had a Dictionary handy and was kind enough to call to tell me that the definition of dominion is absolute authority, control.
Accepting this definition I do accept that we are granted absolute authority to provide care, respect, love, compassion and protection to our animal friends. Absolute authority & control is not an invitation to reject, to denigrade or in any way abuse.
And thanks, Shirley, for your concern for Dudley. He sends you and The Mouse much love.
And many thanks to my friend, Sandi, who suggested I try feeding Minute Rice to Dudley. I did so more than an hour ago and I am pleased to report that so far he is not rejecting it.
This is A New Day the Lord has made.....let us be glad and rejoice in it!
And so Brian, Dudley and I are rejoicing. Today we held a "Poop & Scoop Party" in the schoolyard......not on the living room, kitchen or bathroom floors as has been the case, due to Dudley's sickness, the past few days.. We thank God for small mercies.
Dudley, Brian and I thank each and every one of you for the wonderful, helpful, caring e-mails and phone calls received while he has been sick. We were truly quite amazed and very happy that so many of you were willing to share your wisdom, compassion and understanding. I mean we know many people would possibly say, hey, what's the big deal? He's just a dog, right?
But, to us, yes, Dudley is our dog but never JUST a dog.........he is precious to us as though he were a child in our care. And we know you feel the same way about your beautiful pets. And this makes us very happy. Thank God for animal lovers. And if you have not already done so Dudley invites each of you to send a photo along to us in an email if you would like your pet to shine in "The Stars Are Out Tonight" along with Dudley and his best friends. But please keep in mind the photo needs to be in either a Jpeg or a Gif format in order to upload it on to the website page.
The visit to the veterinarian's clinic yesterday resulted in an antibiotic being prescribed. Today I am calling it a miracle drug because Dudley is not only eating chicken & rice. He's eating his regular diet and his health is stable; no diarreah or vomiting. His energy level is on its way to his usual nuisance, lovable self.
We believe the sickness to have been caused by a severely bad reaction to vaccination shots given to Dudley in the recent past.
The veterinarian told us yesterday that due to Dudley's advancing years he will not be required to have a vaccination next year. I said Amen to that!
After this week I can truthfully say that Brian and I are truly "pooped" from the scooping. It's a week we will never forget and most of all we will never forget the love and understanding received from our wonderful friends. Thank you all, dear family and friends. I won't name names but you know who you are. ((hugs))
.....................................another New Day
Christmas is less than a month away. Soon it will be not only another new day but a brand new year.
This page is about HOME, my favourite place in all the world to be. I love my home and it's only because I've somehow managed to pick up a nasty cold with barking cough, sore throat and other sad symptoms best not talked about that I am actually home this week.
I am needing to cancel several planned activities and events this week. This is allowing me some time to actually think about working on this web site which is one of the things I had promised myself I would spend time doing in retirement. My last entry on this page is dated September 25, 2007. This tells me that for more than two months I have not found the time to sit down here, relax, think about the direction I am choosing to follow in my life.
I hate to admit it but the truth of the matter is that since retirement I have become a "human-doing". I am spending too much time going here and going there; doing this and doing that. Consequently I am losing sight of my original plan and intention which was to enjoy retirement, relax and make the most of being simply a "human-being".
It has taken a minor illness to drive the lesson home to me that though I I know I am blessed with a cup that runneth over I feel no longer in the driver's seat of my life. Instead I feel driven to deal with way too much on my plate.
What I am realizing is that although I am doing more, I am achieving less.
And so on this NEW DAY, I am putting the brakes on. I am taking yet another look at life and analyzing previous decisions that have placed me in a life of busy-ness. New Year's resolutions will be a promise to myself to DO less and BE more, to my partner, my family, my friends and, hoping it doesn't sound egotistical, to myself.
I'm afraid this decision may bring disappointment to some wonderful people I do not want to let down in any way. For this I feel, not guilty, but sorry because I really do hate to say no to people who ask me to help in any way, shape or form.
But retirement is an important part of life; something I have been anticipating for quite a while. And I know I am not alone when I say with truthfulness that since retiring from work I have been so darn busy I wonder now how I ever had the time before to get any work done.
I believe I am fortunate to realize what I have been doing in the early days of my retirement. After all I retired only a few short months ago.
As I said home, family, friends are number one with me and I am resolving to re-focus and to keep the focus on these aspects of life. Each new day is a gift and as we get older we never know how often we will continue to be gifted with opportunities to choose how we will spend the precious time given to us.
My home is where my heart is. I look forward in the new year to spending time with Brian doing some reno work in our basement. I want to spend more time writing creatively and though I will continue meeting with friends who share this passion I will spend more time in my home at my computer doing some actual writing that is meaningful, if to no one else, at least to myself. I must be growing old because I feel the temptation to begin recording memoirs of years past that may be of interest one day to my children and grandchildren.
I plan to continue to play the piano because in spite of no natural talent I enjoy it. Although I think it is time to stop taking lessons I do plan to spend more time in my home practicing what I have been taught. I hope I will continue to make progress no matter how slow or plodding that progress may be.
I plan to carry on my small, very private psychotherapy practice for women, "BY APPOINTMENT ONLY"
And I plan to spend as much time as possible in volunteer activity with aging friends resident in one of our local retirement homes. I have much to learn from these friends and, I hope, something to give that will add some little richness to their lives.
It has taken a nasty cold to keep me home this week. And today I feel grateful for the arrival of this illness because it has provided me the time alone to really think about what I am doing and what I want to continue doing.
Of all the activities in which I am involved I have chosen my three favourites; writing, music and community volunteering I hope I can do justice to the three because to me three is a perfect number and one to be highly aware of. I have devoted a web page in my Focus Site to the Number Three that may be of interest to you.
To those of you who will be hearing me saying NO to some activities in the near future, I say thanks for your understanding and your friendship. Thanks for asking me to participate. And thanks for accepting my NO. It is a tiny word but one that many of us have a very big deal of difficulty saying. I don't mind admitting I am one of the many.
I am reminded of the Buddhist saying, "To be one-eyed"...........to focus on one thing. To do that one thing well is far more worthy than to spread oneself too thin over many activities. It is better to be really good at one thing than to be mediocre at many. Fortunately I realize this is exactly the lesson I need to be learning at this time.
I'm a stubborn woman. Sometimes it takes a kick in the head like an illness to get me to listen to that inner voice; the real me who has found it necessary to create a sore throat and a cough to get an honest message across to my busy self.
It will soon be the end of 2007. It will soon be time for me to complete this web page on the subject of HOME and to move on to another new day and the topic of FRIENDS. Maybe you, my friend, have also fallen into the trap of having too much on your plate, never enough time to do those things you have always wanted to do; spend time with those people you have always wanted to spend more time with. Well, my friend, if you have then I encourage you to do what I am doing. Put the brakes on. Put yourself back into the driver's seat because after all, it is your life and it is your choice as to how you spend the time you are blessed to have in this wonderful life.
As we decorate our home for Christmas and the arrival of family and friends, I want to wish each of you, from our home to yours, a very cheerful Christmas and a prosperous 2008.
