2017: Busier Than Ever

(A busy record vendor at the fall Edm. Music Collectors’ show)

(A non-busy garage sale entertainer drawing in the customers with sixties oldies)

(A rather self-satisfied author at leisure in his Victoria Inn at Laurel Park hotel room overlooking the harbour about to partake of a room-service breakfast)

(Hard at work with the grandkids instilling a love of language and reading)

Around 2000 till 2002, I was teaching half-time, working at AB Film Classification half-time, and writing and editing several textbooks to meet curricular deadlines. Talk about OD-ing. No wonder I left teaching, retiring ‘early’ in 2002 after 30 years.

Things stayed busy after that for 3 more years with Film Classification full-time, doing more book projects, doing projects for Edmonton Public and AB Ed.

After that, there were to be 2 more book projects and the annual teacher convention workshops. I had a little more leisure time till I stopped the ed book projects and teacher convention stuff in 2010. Then I got a surfeit of leisure till about 2015 when life became much busier. From 2013 on, I started doing 2 blogs, which has kept the writing and poetry going.

Every day the past 2 years has been fully booked with the latter plus other stuff to do with house, health stuff, and family. I really don’t know how I managed to eke out whatever life while teaching all those years. It was pretty clear in 2002, though, that, financially, I didn’t need to teach anymore. Freedom 52 big-time for real. Even now I still get royalties from books going back to the earliest (1980) books. So I have been luckier than most people and even most Canadian authors of any stripe.

Yes, it remains very busy, but each day I accomplish several things and continue to move forward with different levels and ‘worlds’.

At this point, I have a poetry manuscript being reviewed by a big university, the two blogs still in operation, a third featuring my poetry in the works, a strong poem entered in the retired teachers’ magazine contest, a workshop on Emily Dickinson for the Edmonton Stroll of Poets in the wings.

Downsizing continues as “things” continue to be retired and sold off. I will be selling off my expensive, most valuable books on Kijiji in the spring.

2017 was an expensive year in a lot of ways: new garage door, unexpected new main water controls, a new Bathfitters shower, a spring trip to Victoria, a $2700 Rickenbacker 12 string dream-come-true, pre-paying for 2 funerals, bush trimming, and unexpected fallen tree removal, etc.

But new experience–playing music at my daughter’s staff luncheon in Gold Bar Park in the fall, doing an hour-long interview with music on the university’s CJSR, and developing a new poems-only website with a former Scona student-multi-talented webmeister-musician-filmmaker-friend James (The Man) Mireau.

All the usual good, sustaining, nourishing contacts and experiences continued as well including selling off musical items at the Edm. Music Collectors’ show, attending Symphony under the Sky in August, and participating in the Stroll of Poets: reading, hosting, and offering a workshop throughout the year.

Have I mentioned how busy I am these days? Health concerns are the next priority with the needed, impending (Jan.) eye surgery. I may have to give my kids the front-row Winspear tix for Bruce Cockburn about that time unfortunately, but won’t they have fun?

2018 is booking in/up fast already. Some other impending expenses include a new A/C for the upper house floor and a new water heater so I’m already ‘targeted’ for 2 thou! I do hope to get to my hometown Winnipeg for the 50th anniversary 1 year late after this year’s cancellation. The fun stuff with grandkids and granddog, and annual summer tri-family garage sale always are ongoing, of course. The perpetual downsizing.

Well, have I said I’m a lucky man? And as indicated above, very busy, too; in fact, even busier each day than ever before. I remain intact, happy, and hanging in.

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