Corona Music

Like every other aspect of our lives, this pandemic is affecting us all musically. We've still got our tickets for the James Taylor concert we were supposed to attend in April.  While I certainly miss going to concerts, I'm very grateful for all the events we  attended in the past. How fortunate we were to see Simon and Garfunkel, the Mc Garrigle Sisters, the famous Pauls - Simon and McCartney. Our favourite Bluesfest concert featured James Taylor. It was an absolutely perfect summer evening with all us old fogies, happily seated in our lawn chairs.   At Ottawa's NAC last fall we enjoyed a memorable evening with my mother, soaking up the music and wit of Ireland's Chieftains. Depending on how long this situation lasts, we may never see some of these older performers again. Oh, for the good old days of gathering in large crowds  - thousands of us singing along together - all our airborne germs mingling happily!

At the beginning of these strange times we tuned in to virtual concerts and singalongs. Lately I've been re-discovering some music from my past. When I'm at my mother's home I sometimes open up her old stereo. In the early sixties, when Dad bought it, a family friend told him he was crazy. He was convinced that us six kids would wreck it. However, here we are, all these years later, with the stereo still in fine working condition.

While going through the old albums I've found some gems. Most of them are Mom and Dad's but a few of them are from our teenage years. Here's one of my favourites. It's a K Tel record, with hits from the 60's. Who doesn't want to listen to Summer in the City or  Silence is Golden ?

I love the big band records as much as mom. And then there are all the Irish ones. However, the records that we keep playing are Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass. Most of their music is fast, energetic, and joyful. Playing it brings back pleasant memories from days long gone - a simpler, optimistic era.

And then there is the piano - the same one I practiced on as a child. After years of ignoring our piano at home, I have started playing at mom's. It's good for my fingers and good for my tiny brain to try to remember chords and key signatures again. Most of all it makes me feel good. I play songs from Mom's era and also  enjoy playing many of the old hymns. It's been a real pleasure to remind myself of these classic melodies. Music...my silver lining.

Happiness in Corona Times

This piece was written a while ago. 


Happiness in Corona Times

My priorities are shifting. Before Covid 19 re-shaped our world, I may have wished for a European vacation, a river cruise,  or maybe an island holiday with a gigantic  beach house, where our children and grandchildren could enjoy weeks of leisure together. What happiness that would bring, I imagined!

And now? Now I just wish that our daughter Norah and her family, who live in Toronto, could come and visit us at home in Ottawa. What I really want is an early morning snuggle in bed, with our grandchildren. When their family sleeps here, they often jump into our bed, first thing in the morning. Even if they stay here, later in the summer, should we be that physically close?

Of course we have been having plenty of virtual visits. If nothing else, this pandemic has forced old geezers like ourselves to become more familiar with computer software. Most Sundays we have a Facetime dinner together with them and our sons who live here, in town. We also have regular Zoom visits with the kids, where we try to augment their parents’ teaching sessions with songs, stories, some math, reading and a lot of jokes. Lately the Oompa Loompa song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a big hit. In between our regular sessions, we sometimes play games like Checkers and Snakes and Ladders on Together, another great piece of software.

On a sunny Saturday in May, we had a welcome reprieve. Norah’s family drove from Toronto to Peterborough and we drove there from Ottawa. We chose St. Anne’s Church, my husband’s childhood parish, as our meeting place.

It had been nine and a half weeks since we had last seen the kids - the longest stretch since our grandchildren started arriving. It was strange to see them and not touch – no welcoming, off-their-feet hugs for the kids, no heartfelt hugs for Norah and Sean, who are exhausted from the ongoing demands of work, child care and home schooling.

And yet, just seeing them was wonderful. Although we enjoy our regular virtual visits, nothing can compare with the real thing. Nine and a half weeks is not a long time but I’m sure Avery has grown a couple of inches since we last saw him. We sat in our lawn chairs, on the church grass and enjoyed our individual picnic lunches, under the shade of the maple trees. In that space, in these unusual circumstances, for that short time, life stood still and we simply enjoyed being together. The empty church parking lot was the perfect place for Avery and his five year old sister Eliza, to scooter around. Eliza showed off her new roller-blading skills. After a while, Pat and the kids all got out their ukeleles and played a few songs together. Looking across the street to his childhood elementary school brought back many happy memories for Pat.

There was no ocean, no beach house, no water slide, no swim-up bar, no spa. It was just a two hour, family picnic on a church lawn, but it was perfect.

To end our visit, we went over to Fairhaven, the long term care facility where Pat’s mother, Rita resides. People often ask us if we are worried about Rita, living in long term care right now. We’re feeling very lucky with Rita’s situation. There have been no Covid cases at Fairhaven and right from the start, we have been very impressed with the stringent measures put in place there, to safeguard staff and residents. We receive regular updates about Fairhaven  from Lionel Towns, the executive director, and personal updates on Rita’s condition from the very caring staff on her unit, Westview 2. Those updates from her caregivers are much appreciated because Rita herself is incapable of communicating with us. Over the past ten years we have gradually lost our vivacious, sociable Rita, to Alzheimers.

Some family members have had window visits with Rita over the past couple of months. Her ground floor room makes this very easy.

We called Fairhaven and asked if a staff member could make sure her chair was facing the window, so we could see each other. Instead, they told us that she would be sitting outside, in the fenced off garden behind the building. When we arrived, there she was, sitting in a chair, under an umbrella, well behind the fence. When she saw us, she became excited; smiling, waving and calling “you hoo.” Although she has not called us by name for some time, she still recognizes us. She still knows her people. She especially enjoys seeing children, so it was a treat for her to see Avery and Eliza.

Norah and family stayed for a short visit, then set off for Toronto. Pat’s brother Jay and wife Rosie joined us and for a half hour or so we serenaded Rita and the other residents gathered under the main sun shelter. As Pat played the ukelele and we accompanied him in song, Rita smiled, tapped her feet and sometimes waved her hands around. She thoroughly enjoyed herself. No, the tap dancing queen of earlier years is gone but there is still a love of music and people inside her. Standing in the hot sun, sharing music with her felt so good.

Jay and Pat serenade Rita

It’s hard to put into words how I felt that afternoon, as we drove back to Ottawa. I had prepared myself that it would be a long, tiring day. What I had not anticipated was the tremendous sense of contentment that I felt, as we journeyed home. For that time, I was perfectly happy, all because of sharing precious family time together after a long absence. That long day was a gift, our best day in a long time.

In the week after that visit we had a heat wave. Time at last to take the flannelette sheets off the guest beds that have not been slept in for so long. I put on the lighter, summer sheets, in anticipation of a visit that cannot come too soon.

Infill Housing # 22

As you will see, this was actually written a long time ago. Since that time the construction projects have all progressed, accompanied by an ever-changing variety of noises, all annoying in their own way.

Noise!

I can't believe it's June the 11th  already. In spite of these strange, at home-times, the weeks are going fast for us. Here on Kenora, we are surrounded by six active construction sites. It's the noise that we mind the most. It wakes us up every day at 7 am sharp. (Some days earlier!) My first question of the day is usually, "Which site is that noise coming from? Who is first off the mark today? " Is it the huge project at Elmdale School or some of the residential re-builds? It could be the rumble of heavy machinery, the buzz of a saw, hammering, the rat-a-tat-tat of an air hammer, the hiss of a truck's air brakes,  workers yelling to each other, the hum of a generator or the high-pitched beep beep of a truck backing up. The variety of sounds is endless. So, once you are awakened, you lie there and they all gradually start and there you are, right in the middle of a symphony of construction noise. It goes on all day long.

Cement being poured in the footings at 77 Kenora

More cement being poured at 65 Kenora

While it's hard to say which noise is the worst, this particular monster is at the top of my list. The steel pole here, bangs the cement relentlessly, breaking it up into pieces. This photo was taken the day after the house demolition, as they worked to take out the basement and foundation walls.

77 Kenora

Even louder that the pounding on the concrete were the enormous thuds, as the concrete chunks were deposited into dump trucks.

You might think that a holiday like Canada Day might guarantee you some peace and quiet but no. A huge load of gravel was dumped in front of 77 that day and a bobcat was busy all day long, bringing the gravel to the back of the site. Nothing says Happy Canada Day like the beep beep of that machine, all day long. We called the city but were informed that construction sites are allowed to work on statuary holidays starting at 7 am, which they did!

A Gift Year at School ?

Ah, summer holidays…Although we are now officially into summer, parents are extremely concerned about their children's upcoming school year.  In spite of these unusual times, teachers had to come up with end-of-year report cards. Was the option of repeating a grade suggested for any of Ontario’s students? Probably not.

In May, Monika Ferenczy has a piece in the Ottawa Citizen, questioning Ontario's policy of relentlessly pushing students along, year after year. To read Should some students repeat this school year,  click here. 

I wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Ferenczy, who questions Ontario’s education policy of social promotion  - that is,  “ placing children in grades according to their birth year”. I have long thought that parents should have a greater say about their child’s grade level.

 As Ferency stated, various provinces have differing cut-off dates for grade placement. If you live in Quebec and your 6th birthday is in October, you will be placed in Kindergarten. If you live in Ontario and your 6th birthday is even later, on December 31st, you are in grade 1. 

I am not advocating that we “fail” students. What I suggest is that some students would benefit from an extra year in the primary division (Kindergarten to Grade Three). As Malcolm Gladwell  pointed out in The Outliers, kids born in the latter part of the year. “through no fault of their own - have been dealt a big disadvantage by the educational system.”

 As a parent and grandparent, I am grateful that two of my family members were given the opportunity for an extra year in the primary division.  I do not look upon this as a failure. Rather, it is the gift of time. These children were given an extra year, a gift year. 

As a special education teacher, (now retired) I often had students with late fall birthdays, who were struggling to keep up with their peers. When they turn 7, at the end of December, they are in a class with other students who will turn 8 in January. It’s hard to keep up with classmates who are almost an entire year older than you. 

 When you choose to have your child repeat a year, you take the student from being the youngest in the class to being the oldest. You give them the tremendous advantages of time, maturity and increased confidence.

 One in ten students has a learning disability. They learn differently, they need more individual instruction and they require extra time to master skills. A learning disability, coupled with a late fall birthday, presents a tremendous challenge. Giving LD students an extra year in the primary division will not take away their learning disability, but it will take some pressure off and give them more confidence as they work alongside peers closer to their age. 

 I'm reminded of a tiny, timid grade 7 student of mine, who was struggling with all aspects of the curriculum. His parents had begged his elementary school to allow him to repeat grade one but were refused. What a shame he was not allowed the gift of that extra year.

 ESL (English as a Second Language) students are another group who could benefit from an extra year. Canadian schools are so driven by this age appropriate placement policy, when a little common sense suggests that ESL students could really use an extra year to learn English.

  This fall, if some parents feel that their primary grade children could use an extra year, their recommendations should be given serious consideration. A caring, involved parent knows their child better than any teacher or principal ever will, especially this year. If ever there was a time to listen to parents, this is it.  

Corona Times

Why have I not written here in the past two months? I have no exciting excuses, just the mundane.  In spite of these unusual circumstances we have been busy, with family commitments, whether that is helping to care for my mother, having ongoing zoom meetings with our out-of- town grandchildren and now, as our bubble has expanded, spending more time with our in-town granddaughter, Lauren. How lucky we are, to have the wonderful distraction of grandchildren.

Like everyone else, I am weary of this pandemic. It casts a cloud over everything and creates stress and complications. And yet we are getting used to it. We have now been un-invited to the four weddings we had planned on attending this summer and fall. In all cases the happy couples are going ahead with more intimate celebrations and we wish them well....what a memorable way to start off a marriage!

And of course there is the construction. We are literally living in the midst of a construction zone, with six active sites around us. That of course, casts another layer of gloom. Thank goodness we finally got AC last year. On a hot week like this one, we can block out not only the heat, but the dust and some of the noise.

Currently I'm reading Remembering the Bones by Frances Itani. In it she wrote that..."even after horrible events....we are sometimes blessed with a moment of unexpected joy. We learn to grasp, to hold tightly to these moments for the short time they exist."

She's right. In spite of everything, we too have experienced moments of joy and we are very grateful for them. Here's one of them...a four generation visit with my mother, Aaron and Lauren.

And now a challenge to myself  - to post something here, every day for the next week!

Infill Housing #21

Of course # 77 Kenora has departed from its life on Kenora St. The bricks, wood, stairs, plaster, stone, windows...all of it was carted away to landfill, after it was demolished on May 4th. As I stood there, taking photos of it's destruction, I asked myself why. Why was I torturing myself by watching this dreaded act? A very old-fashioned phrase popped into my head. I simply felt I was bearing witness to the loss of yet another of Ottawa's heritage homes.

So here, for the record, is how you demolish a house.

7:38 AM

This pumper truck was a welcome addition to the usual house destruction process. It prevented the clouds of dust  that usually result. 

When I saw the staircase I thought of the kids who grew up here and all the times they must have run up and down those stairs.

Note the way the front door arch is echoed in the archway between the living room and dining room.

9:44 AM

By 11:35 it was pretty well gone. 

And so, at the end of the day, with it's mission accomplished, the monster bowed it's head.

Infill Housing #20

It's all over but the crying

Well, this has been like a long drawn-out death, but we're almost at the finish line. Over the last couple of weeks some preliminary water work was done in front of #77. This involved a lot of commotion and non-stop noise. Even with doors and windows closed, the relentless pounding was enough to drive you crazy.

It was a relief to have that work finished. This past week was quiet, until the dreaded excavator was dropped off yesterday. A few of us old-timers went out when it arrived. We all agreed that of the five houses that we've lost on our block so far, this house is the prettiest. It will be destroyed on Monday.

#77, Facing the gallows

I must admit that I was impressed to learn that the new owners have saved a few items from the house. They gave away a claw foot tub, the furnace, and some lovely French doors. I'm glad to know that not everything will end up in landfill. They will be re-using some of the leaded windows themselves and offered the remainder to neighbours. We'll hang ours,  as a remembrance of a time when houses were built  with high quality materials, integrity,  style and craftsmanship.