Spendour of Our North

A Stunning Revelation

I met a lady on the bus the other day.  She was a friendly sort and we started chatting.  It was a day after a heavy snowfall and roads and streets were a mess as the snowplows had not yet had a chance to clear them.
"Quite a mess" I told her,  "but then it's really no surprise.  This is the northern part of Canada, after all.
She laughed.  "This is nothing, where I come from."
Where do you come from?" I asked,
"I'm from the Northwest Territories," she said with a smile.  I wanted to hear more but our conversation was regretfully cut off when I arrived at my stop and had to get off.

It IS very beautiful country out there.  I have not been to the Territories but we travelled with a camper through the Yukon and Alaska one year and it was definitely an eye opener - an extremely  interesting one to me.  We "southerners (I lived in central Manitoba most of my life, now live here in Edmonton.) and I had always thought that north of the provincial border was bleak and barren and uninteresting.

NOT SO!!!!We did the Yukon/Alaska trip from mid June to mid July and we went as far north as the roads could take us. (the "North Pole site" marker).  It was absolutely one of the most fascinating trips I have ever been on!!! And I have travelled  quite alot - world wide!!! The countryside was ablaze with a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors of every kind of blossom imaginable. Huge mountains flaunt their majesty in spectacular snow-covered peaks, bluish grey rock and deep green forest vegetation that continues down into magnificently breathtaking valleys with the most incredible blue-green lakes with perfect mirror-like reflections of  that the unbelievable splendour in the background behind it.

Oh No! Our north is not barren and bleak.  It condenses its beauty into dramatic seasons of stunning grandeur that is absolutely unforgettable!!!

Stress Therapy

A Perfect Stress Releaver.  Bentley is a miniature Schnauzer  and a very empathatic companion when you just need a friend to commiserate with.  He never lectures you, never tells you to "just smarten up",  never scolds and never, ever, passes  judgement.  He is simply there to listen and be your friend in need.  He is always happy to see you no matter what your mood. No matter how long you have left him alone or neglected him, he never holds any grudges! He will simply lie quietly beside you and before you know it you will have forgotten that you felt bad or had any problems.  He'll have you smiling in no time.

Exasperated

Who Goofed And Set Me Up?

Last month, I ordered some books on line through my editor. Because my editor placed the order, I did not see the tracking numbers of the shipment or an estimated time of arrival of the shipment. That was not a concern for me.  We had done this before and had never encountered problems so I was totally unaware that the shipment was coming early (two weeks early, as a matter of fact).  The delivery guys  are usually courteous  and give me a ball park delivery date when they will be in the area, so I hang around home and wait for them. Since I had no reason to be on the lookout for them, I did not stick close to home and missed them for five trys. The guys DID try to let me know they were on the way.  They had sent me FIVE emails but I did not get them!  Google stuck them into my SPAM file.  I never check my spam file!  That is always  garbage mail!!!

I don't even have an idea what made me look there that Saturday night.  There I discovered FIVE  delivery notice emails dating since the 18th of February that my books had missed delivery to my door and had now finally been left at a post office almost a mile from my home awaiting pickup by me! (There was also an email from my niece who I correspond with regularly. For some odd reason it, too, was in the SPAM folder!! It was about a children's Birthday Party! Nothing flashy!)

I don't have a car  but I do have a little cart that I use for grocery shopping, so very impatiently, I waited till Monday to walk to that post office to pick up the books that should have been delivered to my apartment over two whole weeks ago!  What would have happened if I had not found out about the books being held in the post office.  What if they had shipped them back for non-delivery???

Why did those delivery emails go to the SPAM folder.  Did Google think they were Viagra shipments? Porn Pictures? Illicit drugs?!?!?   WHAT????  The books didn't even contain any explicit sex scenes, for heavens sake!!!!  People actually consider me straight-laced!

I guess I'll have to check my SPAM folder from now on, after all.  Heaven only knows what Google will stick into that folder next!  If I have missed legitimate emails in the past - that's life, I guess.

St. Patrick's Day

Not just for the Irish

I am not a green leprechaun

I’m not Irish through my birth

But I once kissed the Blarney Stone

And I saw St. Paddy’s berth.

So from his lofty perch I say

To folks both far and near

I wish you all God’s blessings

Throughout the coming year.

I wish for all a future  

Of a blissful youthful life

A world of second chances 

To fix your trials and strife.

A world that’s free of sorrow

A world of happy smiles

A world of pleasing biways

For miles and miles and miles.

A world of such perfection

No evil can conceive

No malice or iniquity

May your peaceful world percieve

I’d wish you all the treasures

And happiness galore

And nowhere be there sadness

It's banished forevermore

Happy St. Paddy’s Day to all.

Computer Handicap

Oops, I forgot to eat.

I'm a computer addict - a computer geek - if you will.  However a computer geek implies someone who is extremely knowledgeable about computers and how they work.  That totally eliminates me from the "geek"  category.  I only know what is absolutely necessary to what I am doing at the moment.  Beyond that, I am an ignoramus! When I run against a problem, I have a list of "go-to" people, my son, my daughter, my granddaughter, my niece (my editor), or a distant cousin who's an expert on blogging publications.  In other words, if it was not for these helpers I would be a strictly "text" person.  But that does not keep me off the computer!  I am a stubborn "gook" if nothing else.  I refuse to give up, even to the point of being a pain in other peoples' butts!  I can be a major pest without even trying!

Being retired and living alone in a one-bedroom apartment, I answer to no one.  This allows me the freedom to do as I please.  I get up when I feel like it, (anywhere between 7 and 10 AM). I go to bed when I am dead tired, (anywhere between 9 PM and 4 AM) and I eat when I get good and hungry, (breakfast can be anywhere from 8 AM  and 3 PM) thanks to my dictator, the computer!  Depending on what I start working on, what the computer hooks me with, and how determined I am to lick the problem at hand, I can lose all sense of time and purpose.  (You'd think that with such an erratic eating schedule, I would be skinny as a rail.)  NO SUCH LUCK!!! When I get to that fridge, I devour everything in sight!!!

So am I ready to change my ways???   Not on your life!!!!  I waited 65 years to get to this stage!!! Give it up? You think I'm nuts?   I intend to enjoy every minute of this.  I earned it and I am claiming it!
So go ahead and have fun with your envy!  It's your problem!   I intend to live the way I want to!

Alternative Possibilities

Alternate Possibilities

I have an ongoing problem.  It's been with me for almost fifteen years.  It will never go away. In fact, it will probably get worse with time and there is not a thing I can do to either improve, alter, or halt its progression.  I have learnt to adapt to my situation, but it is a major inconvenience in my life.

My problem is failing eyesight.  Back in '98 I lost sight in my left eye due to an ocular vein occlusion.  Though I regained some sight in it, I still am handicapped to a major degree, particularly for reading or close work.  Most of my friends know this and when they can, they offer helpful suggestions. The other day, a friend gave me a link to a site where I can download free ebooks onto my computer and then enlarge the print to make the print readable with my limited eyesight.  This would give me access to alot more reading material. That sounds wonderful! However it has a major drawback for me.  Between my writing (working on my fifth book), my blogging, my emails and some necessary research sessions, I am already spending way too much time at the computer.  I need to get away from that.  Audio books on cassettes and my walkman CD player are my escape from the computer chair and I utilize them while I do my housework, laundry, cooking, or exercising, thus maximizing the use of all my time while conserving my limited eyesight and giving my eyes a much needed break.

I am so very grateful to our modern technology for offering us alternative possibilities to exploit all our passions with enthusiasm and zeal. How very lucky we are in our retirement to indulge in exciting hobbies while still making productive use of our leisure time! What a boon this would have been to our ancestors!!!


  

A Grand Adventure

A Grand Adventure

As I gaze across a memory

Of idealistic youthful dreams

Those hopes and aspirations

That seemed just lacking schemes

Life's easy from a childish view

From the ignorance of bliss

Accomplishments and visions

Of success seem hard to miss

But days of youth slipped by so fast

And life took a different course

And suddenly the time has gone

Like a torrent of great force.

I’ve had to change perception

And adjust to meet the strife

Directions change with circumstance

And conditions shape a life.

Some goals that I had chosen

Were not easy to attain

The dreams I thought were simple once

I cannot dream again.

But life has not been futile

It’s been shaped by every venture

It’s been a rewarding journey

An altered grand adventure!