To thine own self be true

1965 vintage VW. Side tent-flap up. Find Momo book already inside.

“Gwanpa, you come in here, too.”   “I can’t fit.”

(Special Affects from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Calvin and Hobbes)

Family Day=Family Play

Bach’s “Two and Three Part Inventions” from Gould’s 44 disc Complete Bach Collection. The peace of spiritual exultation.

This bird showed up Thursday and acted somewhat oddly, hanging about the suet on the birdbath. Magpies are large creatures and tourists to Alberta are often in awe of them, exclaiming “What’s that beautiful bird?” (Ian Tyson once wrote a humorous song called “Magpie” and suggested it as the national anthem for the province. I can remember singing the chorus with him and an audience at an outdoor ESO concert. Very funny.)  For most residents, magpies are annoying loud, tricky to get rid of when raising a family, and often seen as predators–attacking baby birds or eggs in the spring.

Small birds are sometimes found dead in the yard; others of varying sizes swept up in the cedar bushes in the spring, once in a while a robin. Homeowners get used to finding these quiet, unexpected winter deaths during spring cleanup. The magpie that showed up Thursday was acting oddly and, although he could still fly from the yard to the tree twenty yards over, you could tell he wasn’t ‘right’ because he returned to the suet tray on the birdbath. He gradually turned to hopping around the ‘feeding tree’ picking up food off the ground.

Friday he was back in the morning over by the fence in a snowdrift close to a hollow, being harassed by another magpie. After the other bird gave up attacking or trying to motivate the magpie, it hopped into the hollow for a couple of hours. there would be no more flights out of the yard. I’ve seen outcasts before and know how some birds or animals will turn on their kind if weakness or illness is perceived. And after a day of watching an injured or ill creature, one starts to identify with them and look out for them. I put an extra suet tray on the ground by the tree for easier access when the bird returned to feed. Which it did finally.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th, and the magpie lingered by the tray as the afternoon deteriorated, going into the overnight storm. Around suppertime, I could no longer see it, and opened the patio door. It was lying quietly in the closest window well, out of the wind and snow. You could pull for it, but I had a sense of foreboding all evening as the storm set in. This morning I looked out and snow had enveloped the yard. the storm was past. I slid back the patio door and peered out. The bird was quite still and on its side, quite, serenely, dead.

In Jack London’s story “To Build a Fire”, the male protagonist goes off to sleep in the snow, gradually losing consciousness. I thought of how this must have been the case with the magpie and so many dead birds previously discovered. It had had a final meal, flown or hopped into the window well to seek some warmth and protection from the house, and gradually succumbed to the peaceful sleep of chilly death. I was grateful that the cat who frequents our yard did not apparently find the bird overnight, its feathers intact. There are, occasionally, such mercies in quiet, private deaths sometimes.

There is something pathetic about rolling a lifeless body of something that once sliced the air with its bulk and colour onto a shovel and dropping it into a common garbage bag for strange shouting men to chuck into a truck on pickup day. And many mysteries in the wake. What was wrong with the bird? Did it know it was in trouble? What pain or suffering had it known? Why did it pick this yard and window well to die in on Friday the 13th?

Death is an old ‘acquaintance’ of mine. I got to know it pretty well at the tender age of 18, working as a nursing orderly at Winnipeg General, sometimes preparing and transporting the dead from the wards to the morgue. That pretty much took out a lot of mystery of vis-à-vis death for me. I have seen and experienced it since, notably in the passing of both parents. I have no illusions about it and I have long been unafraid of it, having seen enough of it at an early age.

And always, it ends with a plastic bag of some form whether for bird, animal, or human. The body and what was a life is carefully and safely removed. And the passing experience forgotten about usually soon thereafter. One is only left to ponder what was, what had been, and why. In that, whatever remaining mystery or story.

When I retired from teaching 12 years ago, I stopped getting colds and would only get one once a year. It is largely from going to school, work, concerts, sports events, or being in a crowd of people that one gets colds. When I taught, I probably averaged severally a year, being variously infected at work or at home by my own kids. Recently, with the addition of a grandson who goes to day care, the number of colds have increased to about 3-4 a year.

The pattern in dealing with a potential cold situation whether going out into a crowd situation or having a sick family member over is the same. Automatic starting of a Cold FX 3-pill regimen, starting Vitamin C (1000mg  effervescent tabs of Redoxon can be helpful) and Echinacea, no alcohol, more rest, and getting enough sleep. Sometimes taking zinc, though it affects one’s taste. usually there is no hand contact with others, more washing of hands, and no touching of one’s eyes or nose. The first twinge of any symptom/s begins the Cold FX regimen for sure.

But sometimes one is doomed, usually signalled by the onset of general body achiness 9lasting the duration of a cold) and a full or congested head. If the nose starts to run, it is usually curtains, though meds like Tylenol can stop the flow. It becomes harder to think clearly and movement usually slows down. I find I don’t and can’t regularly exercise, and try to keep myself flowing with coffee (no tea–it contains tannic acid which can dry the throat and lead to coughing) and oranges. SK oranges available in January-February are fantastic for C-dosing. Soups become standard for lunches and it is important to keep the body warm with heating pads or body blankets.

Afternoon naps are a must for some recovery and rest. If one is coughing, especially out of control, Benylin DM or a sleeping pill may be necessary at bedtime to give the coughing a break. I haven’t used kleenexes in year and keep a large supply of handkerchiefs, preferring their softness, leaving my nose area less dry, red or chapped. One sometimes does go through 3-4 a day when the cold is at its heaviest, so these may need to be washed and cleaned to meet the need of daily running. The old Vicks inhalers still work when lying down to dry out the nose. Lately, I have been using a product my daughter gave me called No Snore, which I inhale during the day which seems to keep the nose open. Fishermen’s Friend lozenges are also good on the throat and, if you need to numb your throat when it stabs in pain, the cherry Cepacols work well.

What used to be said about colds being three days arriving, three days staying, and three days leaving is standard for a regular or bad cold. But I find that the symptoms can often be stopped in their tracks early and one can get only a mild or very phantom version if one is on top of one’s pills.

BTW/I am just finishing day 9 of my first cold in several months. I dodged one before Xmas, but this time I was a goner with my grandson coughing in my face as we played for several hours 2 Sundays ago. One would do well, incidentally, to avoid travelling with people who have colds in cars. if you are with them for close to an hour, you are likewise doomed. I keep the outer sleeve of my jackets open or loose so I can withdraw my fingers into the sleeve when opening doors or punching buttons in public. My only other recommendation for those in large crowd situations is to retire as soon as you can! You’ll see your no. of colds drop from 6 or so a year to saner nos. like 1.

Looking back and reflecting on raising a family, there were always colds on in the home every couple of weeks or so. On trips there were always 1-2 people sick. When I travelled on planes to conferences and drank more, I usually had a cold when I got back home. And when you start to think about the meetings and special occasions like Christmas and Easter that get spoiled by colds, you start to realize how the billions of germs around us daily have their ways with us even in hot summer sometimes.

Makes me wonder about historical events and times and how many people from the past were likely sick in any moment or episode. I’m sure you could see those runny noses and hear sneezing and hacking coughs in important meetings and places perpetually 365 days a year back then.

Excellent, landmark 3-part series being shown on CBC beginning Feb. 12. Done by a former 1990 Scona student, Niobe Thompson, who continues to autonomously follow his bliss, live out his incredible dreams, and explore interesting, unique possibilities. Music by another Sconaite Darren Fung. Highly recommended.

Note the speaking engagement time, reflecting the influence of his military experience on his sensibility. Part of my Canadian memorabilia collection which includes many rare signed letters from Canadian authors.

“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”
–Oscar Wilde

1. the prospect of table-sized octocopters running into ascending or descending planes, birds, buildings, towers,skyscrapers, apartment buildings, power lines, cranes, etc.
2. the danger of drone engine failure or package-holding ability with drones or 5 lb. packages crashing meteorically into people, cars, buildings, schools, animals, etc., below.
3. the huge cost of building Amazon sub-hubs near all major cities to meet the distance and cost limitations of drone use.
4. rough unpredictable winds, rough weather events with the same results as in 1 or 2.
5. no humans on board to override whatever drone mechanical failures.
6. inability to obtain signatures from customers, inability to ring doorbells, inability to put packages between storm doors, inability to deliver to specific units in apartments, business buildings.
7. cost of insurance for lawsuits that will pile up.
8. government refusal to ok licensing for drones in their jurisdictions.

A truly stupid dangerous technology developed in an attempt to eliminate human jobs and to eliminate the need for humans in potentially dangerous tasks.

My 3-year-old grandson coming down the stairs after an afternoon nap happily announcing: “It’s a NEW Day!! I’m going to play with Grandpa!” O, for that youthful delight and pleasure in ‘starting over’ and readiness for new or familiar possibilities!