Violence all over

Ever since high school I have watched the evening newscast. As a teen I watched it with my parents, back in the days of Stanley Burke and Knowlton Nash. Even though I usually have the radio on during the day, I still want to see the faces in the news at the end of the day. Many people say it's a lousy way to end your day. Last night I was thinking that maybe they're right. It really does get discouraging.


I found it very moving to listen to Dr. Brian Williams of Parkland Memorial Hospital who worked to save police officers' lives after they were shot in Dallas last week. (It's a tragic coincidence that it was the same hospital where JFK was taken after he was shot in Dallas all those years ago.)

It was heart-wrenching to listen to this doctor speak of both his experience as a young black man with police and also his experience as a doctor witnessing the aftermath of violence. "I abhor what has been done to these officers and I grieve with their families. .....They are not the problem......This killing, it has to stop." If only people would listen to this wise man. The Dallas police chief was equally compelling. At one point he stated that police officers are called on to do too much, to solve societal ills that they are ill-equipped to solve. As examples he mentioned issues arising from financial shortfalls to mental illness and drug addiction progammes. I think he's right. Politicians would do well to heed his words.

Then there were a  few other items in the newscast..problems and conflicts in Iran, South Sudan, and the Ukraine.

Then came the item that really got to me. It was about MMA (mixed martial arts) and the sale of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) yesterday.   Apparently it is the biggest sports deal ever. UFC was sold for 4 billion dollars. It has the  largest pay per view audience in the world; 1.1billion households in 156 countries.  The item closed with talk of future plans to bring it to  Hollywood,  to promote these "athletes", for them to make the crossover to tv and movies. A loftier goal was to perhaps bring it to the Olympics.

Really?! How can the States, how can the world ever think to resolve issues of violence when billions of people all over the world are willing to pay to watch it? There's not enough violence with wars all over the globe, with mass shootings everywhere, that they pay to watch more of it? I simply do not understand what people are thinking. When I think of the violence that permeates our culture I want to weep for my grandchildren. I hope they don't start watching the news for a very long time. I sure don't want to be the one to try to explain what is happening.

Canada Day publication

Tonight CBC's The National featured various stories of refugees settling in to Canada. In keeping with that theme, I was pleased to have the following piece published in today's Canada Day version of The Ottawa Sun.

June 20th was World Refugee Day.  Ottawa marked the event at City Hall as part of Welcoming Ottawa Week. “Welcoming Ottawa Week is a wonderful platform for us to reflect on Ottawa’s current and historic welcome to refugees and newcomers, while showcasing our genuine respect for the courage and strength newcomers demonstrate in overcoming tremendous obstacles to join our community,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.

Perhaps he should talk with an employee I encountered at a local store that day. While grocery shopping I suddenly became aware of a loud conversation. A cashier was talking to a customer. “Well I hope Trump gets in. We can’t have Clinton. Imagine how many refugees she’ll bring in. Trudeau has let so many in here.”

 It’s one thing to follow news reports about Trump’s speeches, but to have someone spouting his rhetoric right in front of me was disturbing. My inner voice told me to walk away but, like watching a train wreck, I couldn’t leave.

“Take Sandy Hook “ she continued, turning her attention to a couple of fellow employees, “ If those teachers had been armed, we would have had a different result. It’s not guns that kill, it’s people who kill people.  Did you know that ISIL has sent 40,000 trained radicals all over the world? How many of them are here in Canada?”

Still reeling from her verbiage, I left and got into my car. Suddenly I was on a completely different wavelength. In honour of World Refugee Day, CBC radio’s All In A Day was airing an interview with Kaylee Brennan    and Raphael Cuestas.  Brennan works at Matthew House, which provides assistance to refugees. Cuestas is a volunteer there and a former client. The interview was exactly what I needed in order to restore my faith in humanity. Here was a refugee who is now working at two jobs. He regularly donates 10% of his salary to Matthew House so that other refugees can be helped.

The following day I attended an ESL drop-in group for Syrian refugees,  organized by the Catholic Centre for Immigrants. I spent my afternoon sitting around a table with four Syrian men. One of them is a pharmacist who has already obtained a driver’s license, a car and a job. When I remarked that he must have studied English in Syria, he told me that he never spoke English before coming to Canada four months ago. Upon his arrival he studied for sixteen hours a day. I asked what topics they’d like to cover: money, food or body parts. How difficult and humbling to have to start from zero. We started with the names of coins and focused on the pronunciation of words like quarter and forty.  (Why do those t’s sound like d’s?) We talked about the differences between chin and shin, cheek and cheque. We enjoyed a laugh over chest and breast. “At the store do I buy chicken chest?”

The room was hot and crowded with loud construction noise coming from the apartment overhead. At the end of  two hours I was ready for a break and I wasn’t the one who had to concentrate and practise pronunciation in a foreign language.

The troubling conversation in the grocery store is a distant memory but unfortunately only a small example of the current climate of fear around immigration. On a much larger scale we have the momentous Brexit decision. How much of that was fuelled by a similar fear: of immigrants, of those who are unfamiliar to us. Speaking from my experience as an ESL teacher and volunteer, I admire the stamina and courage of these families who are struggling to make a new life for themselves in Canada.

As we celebrate Canada Day and reflect on our past, present and future, I think about my own ancestors. They were all poor people who came to this country from Ireland, England and the Ukraine. They worked hard and contributed to the development of Canada.  I choose to believe that these newcomers will do the same.

Summer

Ah, summer! There are peonies in the garden and swim suits on the clothesline; it doesn't get much better than that.

Yesterday we went for our first outdoor swim of the year. It was heaven; warm water and even a heron who landed near us, to provide visual entertainment. What a perfect way to celebrate the first official day of summer.

The summer solstice always reminds me of our time in Exeter, Ontario. We lived there from 1976 to 1979. Those three years, in small town, rural Ontario, were a special time. The friendliness of the people more than made up for some of the  big city  conveniences that we missed.

On June 20th of 1977, I was a desperate teacher in need of a movie. We were nearing the end of the school year and I was trying to keep my Grade 7 and 8 class occupied. In those days you could order movies from your local public library. The order went to a much bigger branch library, (probably Stratford) and they sent it out. The movies were on those big metal reels and were shown on the school projector.

I had placed my order but had forgotten to pick it up. At the end of the school day, while writing my daybook for the next day, I suddenly realized my mistake. I had been counting on showing the movie the following morning. It was almost 5 pm, closing time at the library.  Thankfully, the town librarian, Elizabeth Schroeder, answered my frantic phone call. She assured me that my movie reels had arrived. I told her that there was no way I could walk over to the library before her closing time.

It's funny what my small brain forgets and remembers. Somehow I can still recall her cheery reply,
"Don't you worry about that. Isn't it the longest day of the year?  Surely I can stay here until you arrive. Let's just make the most of this long sunny day."

Here's to friendly folks, summer and long sunny days!

Ottawa Citizen Article

After quite a hiatus I'm happy to have a piece in today's Ottawa Citizen. I wrote it to try to promote the idea of Ottawa's Giveaway Weekend, which takes place this weekend. It's a great recycling idea that needs more publicity. I was also happy to promote a couple of Ottawa charities which deliver furniture to needy families. In the piece I mention my prize from last year's  Giveaway Weekend. It's a great camp kitchen that was in this battered box.

Here's a link to the piece.

http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/kot-dont-throw-that-useful-item-out-its-giveaway-weekend-in-ottawa
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Great Glebe - the 2016 version

In June of 2014 I wrote about the Great Glebe Garage Sale. Here's this year's recap.

The Great Glebe is the granddaddy of Ottawa garage sales and always takes place the Saturday after the May long weekend. It is immense and you would be foolish to try to drive anywhere near there that day. Thousands of people descend on the area to buy, sell or volunteer. This year's weather was hot and sunny so it was a perfect day to go for a walk among the lovely houses with their gardens all in bloom.

My favourite quote of the day came at 7:30 am, when I overheard a young child ask his Dad, "Is it later yet?" I wouldn't actually recommend bringing young kids to the Great Glebe. It's a very crowded event.  Some folks seem to think this is a fine time to show off their dogs. We even saw two dogs strapped into strollers. Now that's what the Great Glebe doesn't need...more dogs in strollers.

We didn't eat breakfast before we left the house. We were counting on finding last year's house that sold tasty breakfast sandwiches. However healthy food seemed to be in short supply this year. By 10 am we gave up looking for the breakfast sandwiches and settled for a hot dog. There were plenty of homes selling cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies. We did enjoy some fine fruit kabobs near the end of our morning.

The shopping itself was the usual interesting recycling experience with plenty of  surprising finds.  Perhaps our best buy of the day was a folding double stroller for $20.00. Avery and Eliza were thrilled with the little dinosaurs I brought home and proceeded to chase us with them, complete with scary dinosaur roars! Nothing says fun like having a twenty month old chase you with a tiny plastic dinosaur!

It seems nuts to say bring a cell phone but with that crowd it is so easy to get split up. The three of us were constantly texting our new positions. "Hey I'm at the corner now. I'm going to turn right on Fourth."

As usual there were so many good folks volunteering or working for good causes like Ecology Ottawa.  My favourite Great Glebe musicians, the Swampwater Dixieland Jazz Band,  were there again, raising money for the Ottawa Food Bank. I was most impressed with a group of young boys, about 10 years of age. They had a  bake table with a handmade poster explaining that they were raising money for fire victims in Alberta.

Here's the best part of the day. We walked around in that throng of thousands of people for four hours. In that time I never heard one angry word. I never heard an argument or any raised voices. Cars were crawling along, looking in vain for a parking spot or trying to pick up their purchases. Never once did I hear someone honk their horn. People were friendly, polite and accommodating. I came away with nothing but good feelings. How lucky we are to live in a city, where you can have so many people in such close quarters and they treat each other so well.

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Sunny Ways?

I have spent so much time bad-mouthing the Conservatives and praising Justin Trudeau and his new government that it would seem wrong not to comment on what happened in the House of Commons yesterday. Basically I simply can't believe it. Last night I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing on the tv news. Trudeau was totally out of line. His behaviour was rude beyond belief. His "sunny ways" mantra is gone, his reputation is changed forever and the opposition will surely hold onto that video for the next election campaign. What a foolish mistake.

I haven't done a lot of reading about this yet but it seems that there has been a lot of tension on the Hill this week. The Liberals have been trying to change procedures to get their legislation passed. However, no matter what the background, there is no excuse for Trudeau's behaviour. He's let everyone down...his government, his family, his supporters, the whole country and himself. No doubt tonight's CBC panels will have a field day with this episode.

Service

In the midst of the distressing news that usually permeates the media, I have been heartened to hear some good news lately. When fire struck Fort McMurray, good news stories just kept coming. People in small communities gave such a wonderful welcome to the evacuees. Some folks walked up and down the long line of cars with cans of gas for motorists who were about to run out. Others stood with signs offering free meals and places to stay. That tragedy has brought out the very best in so many people. It was particularly touching to hear that Syrian refugees, new arrivals in Alberta, were doing what they could to help the evacuees. Those people understand better than most, what it means to lose everything. These many tales of generosity restore your faith in humanity.

At this point Canadians have donated millions of dollars to the Canadian Red Cross. In turn the Red Cross has been able to make the largest individual payouts in their history.There have been some interesting questions raised about donations. Charity Intelligence Canada suggested that the small independent charities (like the Edmonton Food Bank) should also be receiving donations. CBC's The 180 talked about the importance of donating money rather than stuff when disaster strikes. All the donated items actually create a lot of extra work with sorting, storage and distribution.

All around me I constantly hear stories of goodness; people who volunteer with so many worthy organizations, people who cook meals for patients, people who constantly give so much time to serve others. In a recent interview on CBC's The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers, Governor General David Johnston offered three quotes on service:

"Service is an act of love."

"Love is service made visible."

"Service is the rent we pay for our space on earth."

If we pay attention, we can hear and see examples of service every day.  They are as welcome as the signs of rebirth all around us.