The Good Old Days

It's a windy, blustery November Sunday. It seems a good day to write a Blog as supper simmers in the oven.

The tree is lit and all my outside lights are on, even at this early hour, the traffic never stops on the Lower Road, so why not have drivers enjoy their trip? The lights on houses are so cheerful. 'Tis the season, after all. And soon enough, we'll be doing it all in reverse, taking decorations down.

I've watched lots of movies, some good, some great, and some I wouldn't finish, they were so bad. And lots more to go!

I've baked and cooked as if I had to feed a bunch of prisoners, looks like poor Jamie will be well fed.

But this kind of day brings on a certain kind of melancholy. CBC Gem is a great Cable TV station, it plays a lot of children's content, as they always did, and when I catch a few minutes of an animated Christmas show, my mind just flies backwards. Back to a quieter time, a safer time, a more uncomplicated time. A time when our biggest concern was making sure the kids had clean outfits for school the next day, and something tasty and appealing for all those lunches. Jamie's too, he lived out of a lunch can for almost 40 years, and even though he's been retired for 7 years, I still hesitate to put a sandwich before him at lunch time.

The cartoons of today are almost like watching real people, just think of "Polar Express" and many more. Walt Disney brought up most of our children on Sundays, and many a weekend was spent on a hike through the woods or bonfires with friends or swimming on the shore, then home for a good supper, and curling up to watch the latest from the Wonderful World of Disney. And I mean me too, I loved watching it with the kids.

We are in the throes of a Canada Post rotating mail strike again, if it hangs on much longer it will have the country on it's knees. But as you can see, I bought my Christmas stamps anyway, and I'm not afraid to use them.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas every year is working on my Christmas cards, and so although the Union had quashed that idea for 2024, I'm taking my chances this year. It feels funny to let it go, kind of like all the things that changed during and after Covid 19. But hopefully things will be back to normal this Christmas.

Normal is a funny word, we can apply it to many things. Last night I watched a new Christmas movie "Mary" about the birth of Jesus, but focusing mainly on his mother. We were taught to believe that a virgin conceived a child and was visited regularly by spirits and angels who guided her on her journey. She would give birth to a savior, a King. We normalized that.

It was such an important and significant historical event that even time itself has been measured in BC (before Christ) and AD (after Christ). That's pretty powerful. We have a different time stamp now, BC means Before Covid.........

But I can only imagine what my grandmother would have roared if I had come home pregnant at 16 or so, with not even a boyfriend, just a story about the Holy Spirit, she would have lost her mind. And I'd have been locked in the house. I would have heard, "I'll Holy Spirit ya!" at the top of her lungs.....

The story of how a young unmarried, pregnant couple travelled to a different country, homeless, with nothing and with no place to go is part of our faith and our culture. They were forced to beg for a place to stay, but no one would let them in. No one wanted them. A barn full of animals was better than nothing.

What has changed in 2000 years?

Families are still migrating and immigrating to other countries, sometimes legally, sometimes not if things are tough. Refuge camps have sprung up all over the world, little better than ghettos, but people are desperate.

No food or water? Begging for a place to sleep? What's changed?

In a country so rich, it is shameful that our children are going without enough food to eat, in record numbers. People who are the working poor are flying without a net, often working long weeks at minimum wage with no hope of a pension. Praying that the car will stay on the road a little longer and the fridge holds up. Never mind creating Christmas out of nothing, like some kind of wizard.

My work days are behind me, but I can do math. I don't know how some families are doing it. The pressures of the children dressing a certain way. Buying their lunch every day. Being allowed the luxury of an extra-curricular activity, nothing is cheap. I'm sure it's heart breaking for a lot of families.

To follow the news makes our troubles seem small indeed. Except I hope Trump blows up, as Momma would have retorted.

But the number of people that are homeless on our own little Island is mind blowing and there doesn't seem to be a solution. None that will work anyway, and the food bank lines just get longer. That's pretty basic stuff, food and shelter. Not a lot to ask.

CBC is now promoting being "kind" this Christmas all across the country, using probably very highly paid professional celebrities. I'd like to think we've always been kind. Most of us do the best we can. Helping out with countless fundraisers and the like.

And here comes Christmas, ready or not.

But hey, how about just taking a deep breath. Get outside, no matter what the weather, perhaps the colder the better. Breath. It is Canada after all! Love it or leave it! Breath. Move. It's addictive and healthy. After that shitty spell of humidity and howling mosquitoes this summer, this fresh cold crisp air is heavenly! Invigorating.

If you live in a town, get out for a brisk walk after supper to enjoy the pretty lights and shop windows. You won't regret it. For those of us in the country, we might take a drive to see the lobster pot/buoy trees that are popping up at the harbors, get out of the car and walk around to enjoy it.

December is only days away, with Christmas music, all day every day, and lots of new and old favorites. Throw on a couple of Hallmark movies while you try a new cookie recipe! That's what I do.

Send a couple of cards.

Write a little letter to a relative in Boston or Alberta, God knows we have lots of them!

Shock someone into d-fib and make a phone call. They'll be okay after they get over the shock.

And if all else fails...........

Mariah Carey anyone?