Birthdays

Today is my son Aaron's birthday! He is the wonderful guy who is responsible for our new verandah that I wrote about in the summer. Of course birthdays are for the birthday people but they are also a day for parents. Lives are changed forever with the birth of a first child.

Aaron might have been born the day before; that's when I was induced. My doctor, a very short man, climbed up onto a little stool and poked me with an instrument that looked like a knitting needle. "There", he pronounced. "That should do the trick. I'm going home now, to start digging a bomb shelter in my back yard." It was the day that Ronald Reagan was elected president of the U.S.

We spent the better part of the morning arguing with one of the nurses about my last name. She declared that there was no way that she could bring a baby to me that did not have the same last name on his bracelet as mine. My identification bracelet was changed three times. At one point, she enquired, "This Knott that you go by...is that your stage name?" Pat confirmed that I was indeed, a Broadway actor.

Later we walked the halls in a circle, trying to encourage labour. Every time we passed the corner room, the woman inside was yelling "Hey!" So every time he heard that, Pat would follow with "Jude." It was a long day.

Of course it all ended in the delivery room with Pat and a team of medical folks. As they all encouraged me to "push, push push", I felt like we were at a football game and I was the only guy on the team.

Yes, that day changes you forever. Happy Birthday Aaron. I love you!

High school reunion

I am sounding like a broken record but, again, sorry for the lack of contact. Real life has a way of getting in the way of my writing life. One recent event was my husband's high school reunion. When such events are organized there are a variety of reactions. Many folks have no desire to see anyone from that period of their lives. Others, such as the organizing committee at St. Pete's in Peterborough, work for a year because it is so important to them. I was so impressed with their effort  that I sent them this letter.

1965  A group of grade nines

Thanks for the Memories

I didn’t attend St. Peters High School. However, on Friday, October 11^th, there I was, along with about a thousand other people, crowding into the current building on Medical Drive as St. Pete’s celebrated its 100^th anniversary. I was there with my husband, Patrick and my mother in law, Rita. Pat attended St Pete’s from 1965 to 1970.

When we arrived from Ottawa on Friday afternoon, Rita expressed misgivings about attending the event. At eighty-eight, she didn’t think she would know many there. We convinced her to come along and it took her all of three seconds to meet someone she knew. I turned around and there she was, hugging an old friend. The entire evening went that way. It was virtually impossible to go more than five feet in the main foyer without her meeting yet another relative, friend or neighbour. Although I did not attend St Pete's, it gave me great pleasure to simply witness her and Pat’s enjoyment of the entire evening. When we told Rita that there was a pub at St. Anne’s parish hall, starting at ten pm, she needed no convincing, so off we went for more socializing.

The sentiment expressed over and over again that weekend was that this reunion at St Peters was simply a wonderful opportunity to visit with people that you might not have seen for a long time and may never see again. While we were in the sixties room, taking in the displays and listening to the great singing, someone looked around at the crowd and remarked that in twenty-five years, most of the people in that room would be dead. Sad but true; life is fleeting. Why not take any chance we have to visit at a celebration, rather than at a funeral home?

I never expected to see anyone from my past at St Pete's. After all, I grew up in Ottawa. What a happy surprise to see Jim and Sharon O. there! Although Pat originally knew them from Peterborough, I remember them as the wonderful couple who befriended us when we lived in Exeter, Ontario in the 70’s.

So, to the organizers who worked for a year to put together this reunion weekend, thank you. The level of organization was very impressive. The parking lot attendants, the current high school student volunteers, the welcoming area, the refreshments, the outstanding displays in the foyer and decade rooms...these all contributed to our enjoyment. Of course the two-sided name tags, complete with graduation dates, were very handy as folks with faulty memories looked first at the face before glancing down to the name tag for confirmation. There were athletic events on Saturday afternoon, a mass in the morning and a dance to finish it all off. I can’t imagine how many hours of work went into such a massive celebration.

The success of such an event can be measured in many ways: by the number of people who had pre-registered by Friday night, by the number of walk in registrations at the door, or by the number of people who attended the various events. In my view the success of the St Pete’s reunion is best measured by the smiles of recognition, the heartfelt hugs, and the long conversations as people reminisced. Perhaps Rita said it best when she pronounced it one of the best events ever held in Peterborough. I’ll always remember the end of the dance and the three of us dancing together, while singing along enthusiastically to  “Wasn’t that a party?!”  Thank you to the organizing committee for the happiness and new memories that you created for so many people.

"A white sports coat, and a pink carnation"  One of the many displays at the reunion!

Harperland Part 2

Well, it's been quite a day... an all day Harperfest! Things started off this morning on CBC radio with an interview on The Current with Paul Wells. His new book, The Longer I'm Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada, looks back from Harper's rise to power up to today. It was an interesting interview. Wells asserted that Harper is the most right wing PM we have had in his lifetime, far to the right of Diefenbaker and Mulroney. He said that Harper is such a control freak he never eats in public in case an awkward photo might be taken. He rehearses his speeches over and over, never taking chances, never giving impromptu remarks. Say what you want about Michael Ignatieff but I remember reading that his campaign speeches were often different and he always took questions. Harper, on the other hand, gave the same campaign speech over and over again.

Later, on Q, Jian Gomeshi interviewed veteran journalist Don Newman about his memoir, Welcome to the Broadcast. Again, a very interesting conversation about all kinds of political figures.

The day has been capped off with Mike Duffy's bombshell speech in the Senate. Now I am not about to start the Mike Duffy fan club but really..... at last..... someone is going to be able to show Harper for the person he really is. According to Duffy, Harper was in on the money deal from the start. Here we have a big name Conservative insider telling us how Harper operates. It is confirmation of exactly what many observers have been saying for a long time.  In Duffy's words, there is "unaccountable power in the PMO." To hear such a  totally blunt speech, as opposed to the usual Conservative  message machine is unbelievable.

Today was the political equivalent of a hockey playoff game, near the end of a series. The day has ended with CBC's The National, complete with At Issue and Rex Murphy. Murphy thinks that now Harper "must haul himself out of his surly cocoon." We'll see.

New Wardrobe Item

"What's that smell?" Pat asked. "That would be the rubbing alcohol," I replied. "Why on earth do you smell like rubbing alcohol?" he persisted. " I need it. It's my latest attempt to make this work."

You see, it all goes back to my new wardrobe item. I'll give you a hint. It has to do with a part of my aging anatomy now being officially declared incompetent.

I know what you're thinking. There are so many parts of me that could be declared incompetent. We could start with my brain that has such difficulty remembering names and book and movie titles. What about other body parts? As anyone who has seen me lately might observe...there's a whole lot of sagging going on.

My feet should have been declared incompetent years ago. Now I only wear footwear that will accomodate my orthotics. Even my eyelashes are duds. I scrub them with baby shampoo to keep the blepharitis (crusty eyelids) at bay. And no, this has nothing to do with my hair. My profile photo shows me with the curls that I had for approximately 45 years. It turns out they were hormonal. They arrived with puberty and left with menopause. Nothing remains the same.

Give up? Well the part of me that has most recently been examined are my legs. While they have looked pretty horrendous for years, I never cared because I can't see the back of my legs. They felt okay so I ignored them. However, they've gradually been getting more sore. Around the time we spent five days straight painting all the verandah spindles, in the extreme heat in July, they really made their prescence known. They were all crampy and achy.

I had an ultrasound done and the official diagnosis came back..."venous incompetence". Basically, the valves in my deep veins are not working. Of course this is not a particularly unusual problem. All kinds of people have bad veins and in my case I should not be surprised. My mother has had serious leg problems for  most of her life. One of the doctors who operated on her legs years ago, pronounced her legs the worst in the city of Ottawa. So really, I am lucky that mine have not bothered me much until now.

I should do more reading about it but basically, two of the common suggestions for treatment are to elevate your legs and to wear compression (support) stockings. So, I got a prescription for the stockings and set out to buy them. I chose a pair but the cashier convinced me to buy the next size up. I took them home, put them on and they promptly fell down. Because she had recommended the size change the salesperson agreed to exchange them.

Compression stockings don't look quite as bad as they used to. Yes, they're kind of shiny but I can live with that. I put on my new stockings and they felt good...tight but good. These are a thigh high model with a wide band at the top. On the outside the band looks lacey but on the inside it has a rubber backing. The idea is that the rubber just sticks to the top of your leg.

Well, they did stick and stay up there at first. But after a couple of days I decided I should wash them. Ever since that I have had trouble keeping them up. They start off fine but once I have walked around the house a bit there they are, down at my ankles.

So, I spoke to the salesperson who advised me to wet the rubber band before I put on the stockings. That worked for about 15 minutes. Next I was advised to clean off the rubber band with rubbing alcohol every time I put them on. That would clean off all my dead skin cells and help them to stick better. I cleaned off the offending skin cells but again, down they went. 

And so, later today I am going back to the store. Apparently the last resort is to buy a roll on glue stick, which you apply to your legs before you put on the stockings. 

Maybe this is the real reason that people my age retire. It takes so much time to get ready to get out the door. By the time do your back exercises so you can get out of bed, scrub your crusty eyelids, put your orthotics in the right shoes, put in your hearing aid, glue on your stockings, and cream up your wrinkly skin, it's almost lunch time!

A Happier Note - Culture Days in Ottawa

If you were in Ottawa in 1969 you may recognize this. It's not often we get to see it. Happily, last weekend, Culture Days were celebrated in many cities and towns across Canada. As part of Ottawa's celebration, the National Arts Centre was home to several events.

That lovely collection of colours is a section of the curtain in the NAC's main venue, Southam Hall. I remember seeing it when the Arts Centre opened in 1969 but have rarely seen it since. They simply don't use it much. Most of the time it hangs unseen, way up high above the stage.

For a half hour last Sunday it was lowered and members of the public were invited to see it. Then it disappeared again, so that people could participate in a variety of activities, one being backstage tours. 

It was fun to stand on that stage and see Southam Hall from the other side.

We enjoyed speaking to a carpenter in the props area and viewed some of the dressing rooms, which are pretty ordinary.

Besides the tours there were also free concerts.

These brass players from the NAC orchestra put on a fun show.

Coincidentally, there was another unique event  last Sunday afternoon that was not connected to Culture Days. Heritage Ottawa is an organization that offers guided walks through various Ottawa neighbourhoods. Last Sunday's was downtown, at a couple of parks that we'd never been to. Do you recognize this one?

Give up? Those three photos were taken on the roof of the Rideau Centre! The guided walk was on the rooftop gardens of the Rideau Centre and the National Arts Centre. I certainly did not know that there are three hundred trees growing on top of the shopping centre along with two kilometeres of walking paths. So much for thinking that green roofs are a relatively new idea! (The Rideau Centre opened in 1983.)

From the vantage point of the Rideau Centre garden, tour leader David Jeans pointed out various heriatge buildings. 

The best known of those were the Chateau Laurier and the former train station, now known as the government conference centre.

We then crossed over the Canal 

and onto the gardens of the NAC. While these are not nearly as large as those on top of the Rideau Centre, it was still great to realize that they are there and open for the public to enjoy. 

David Jeans pointed out that the NAC rooftop affords wonderful vantage points for viewing the Canada Day fireworks so we'll try to remember that next July. We finished our afternoon feeling pretty darn lucky to be living here.

Living in Harperland Part 1

Originally I thought I would start a separate blog about our pal Stephen Harper and that blog would start at the time of the next federal election. However, I simply cannot wait that long. Almost daily I come across something in the paper, radio, TV or internet about how our lives are being affected by this government.  So, if you are, by any chance, a Harper fan, then you'll want to skip my upcoming Living In Harperland items. Eventually I'd also like to start another series...about life in Ottawa. There's bound to be a lot of overlap in those two series.

It's hard to know where to begin. Let's start with the enemies of the government list which came out this summer, at the time of the swearing in of the new cabinet members....a heads up for them, of who to avoid‎. Now of course I have not seen the complete list but just for the record..Mr. Harper....if my name is not on that list, it was an omission. Sign me up. There are all kinds of articles about this list. Here's Andrew Coyne's.

You know when you listen to news reports they often will say something like, "Meanwhile Ottawa says"....or "while the provinces say ...Ottawa says...." For folks not living in Ottawa, you might get the superficial impression that the reference to Ottawa refers to the citizens of Ottawa. That is ...we might all be pals of the current government. It reminds me of driving to Saskatchewan when Trudeau was the PM. We were at a gas station in a small prairie town and the attendant (yes, back in the days when there was service at all gas stations) asked us where we were from. When we told him Ottawa, he got all riled up and told us exactly what we could do with Mr. Trudeau! Anyhow, just for the record, in the last federal election, in the 7 Ottawa area ridings there were 2 Liberals and 4 Conservatives elected. I live in Ottawa Centre which elected an NDP member. Ottawa Centre reflect my own personal brand. I've always been an ABC voter..Anyone But Conservative. Ottawa Centre goes back and forth between the Liberals and New Democrats.

Since summer has just ended and with it, the season for watching Mosaika..that's what I will start with. There have long been summer evening shows on Parliament Hill. They used to be called Sound and Light shows. I enjoyed them but they were nothing compared to the Mosaika show which started in 2010. It uses the Parliament buildings as a screen with amazing visual effects. It's about a half hour long and entertaining for folks of all ages.  We have seen it every year since it started and all of our out of town visitors have enjoyed it.

So last month we took friends to see it and I was really looking forward to seeing it again. While I enjoyed it,  I wasn't as enthusiastic this time. The next day I spoke to my niece about it and she asked, "Mary Ellen, is it true... what my friend told me? that Mosaika has been Harperized?"

That hit the nail on the head...it has indeed been Harperized. (There is almost nothing in Ottawa that has been left untouched by this man.) What struck me as I watched it was the increase in military history. Of course the war of 1812 was given prominent mention. Besides the increased time with reminders of military glory I couldn't help but notice the Prime Ministers who were recognized and not recognized. If you were a Conservative you had a lot better chance at airtime than your Liberal counterparts.  I'm not sure how to check out the script but from my sometimes faulty memory.... John Deifenbaker is prominenently quoted...."the right honourable John Diefenbaker" intro, then his voice giving a part of  a speech, while Lester Pearson, winner of the Nobel Peach Prize and our flag guy, is not. Also lacking almost any mention is a certain Pierre Trudeau.

 The increase in military content was discussed in another piece in The Citizen.

“This year we’re aligning ourselves more with some of the milestones and celebrations in Canadian history,” said NCC spokeswoman Denise LeBlanc, noting the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. “Those choices were made by the NCC, of course in consultation with our partners. We went to our board of directors in April and brought that proposal to them.”

The program content would have been reviewed by the office of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, the federal minister responsible for the NCC, the ministry of Canadian Heritage, and the Prime Minister’s Office, she said.

“It has a very high level of government awareness,” said LeBlanc. “It’s a very visible program on Parliament Hill on one of the most iconic buildings in the country, so it’s reviewed at a high level.” That has been the case all along, she says. 

Yup...Harperized for sure! Mosaika finished its run on September 7th but it will be back next year. If you're in Ottawa next summer you really should see it. In spite of the new political slant, it's still worth seeing!

Still here !

My sincere apologies. It's been a long time since I have written. I won't bore you with mundane details but suffice it to say that I have been a busy grandma and daughter in law. Many folks worry that if they retire they will be bored but so far, I am constantly busy. Our grandson's first birthday was the highlight of the past month for sure.

As for the blog, well, I simply got discouraged. At one point I checked back and realized that many of my links were not working...how embarrassing. Happily, I visited Brendan last night and he has patiently re-taught me that skill. I think I have managed to restore all the links. So, I'm back!