Radishes & Gooseberries
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October 30, 2002 I started writing the following incomplete poem yesterday (to use as an excuse for an entry, no doubt) but hit a huge wall after the third stanza when I realized I hadn't a clue where I was going with it. That's been the story of this journal of late; pick up the virtual pen to write, only to get bogged down in the muck of writer's block. I have to say that I'm not enamoured with this. There was quite the stretch earlier this year where I was putting out semi-regular entries that were consistently decent. Those folks who do daily entries; I wish I knew where they get the oomph to do that and stay relatively fresh. Anyway, here's the incomplete glurg. Through autumn leaves we used
to walk You were the star of my county
fair Those leaves are gone, the branches
bare This past weekend we were in St. Catharines for Lisa's grandfather's 80th birthday. We (the family) threw him a semi-suprise party/open house at the local Knights Of Columbus hall. It was an overwhelming success. There had to be well over 100 visitors through the course of the afternoon. The local MPP (Member Of Provincial Parliament) made an appearance for a short time as well, delivering platitudes from the Mayor and the Ontario government. During the time he was there, one old fellow came up to me and said "You're so-and-so, aren't you? You came with the MPP?" He thought I was the other MPP from the area and that I had accompanied the other fellow to the party. When I told this story later that night back at the family homestead, Lisa's cousin said "Well, you could be an MPP. You have politician hair," to which everyone else readily agreed. (Years later, Ron is reflecting on his lengthy career in politics to a journalist. "What made you decide to enter politics, Ron? Was it the environment? Balancing the budget? A fair deal for all? You wanted to make a difference?" "Um, I had a really cool haircut ...") I tell you though. I don't remember the last time I moved so many chairs and huge folding tables around, like I did on Saturday. It wasn't just during the setup and tear-down either. When we saw how large the crowd was getting, we scrambled to set up three extra long tables and 24 seats. We were shuffling chairs around to different tables as more and more folks cliqued together. We'd keep moving to make sure folks had their drinks filled, and cleaned up the tables as needed. It was all worth it, though. The smile on his face never shrunk once and lasted the whole day through. "Tickled pink" is an apt description. I ached profusely on Sunday. My co-worker spent most of the other week bed-ridden with whatever ailment is circulating through the school. One of the French teachers was off earlier this week with the same thing. The first symptom reported by them is a sore throat. I'll give you three guesses what I started feeling last night. Joy. I'm taking my echinacea, vitamin c, and cold & sinus Advil in hopes I can ward this bug off. Knock on wood, this is as bad as it gets. Apart from a sore throat a few weeks ago (cue kiss of death) I have had a rather remarkable run of being healthy. Granted, a few days off work are nice now and again, but not when one is bed-ridden with the plague. Away, evile germs! In other health news concerning me, I'm starting to follow Lisa's "everything in moderation and balance" diet plan that has seen her lose 50 lbs over the last 14 months. (Yay her!) At the time of the 3WA 401 picnic at the end of August, I weighed 222 lbs. Prior to this past weekend, I was down to 215. The weekend was anything but one of moderation, so I gained a little, but I'm back on track. I don't have lofty goals; just get down to 200 or slightly below in time for my 39th birthday in March. Anything beyond that will be gravy, so 180 by next Christmas should be easily attainable. (If I do in fact have the plague or scurvy or whatever bug is going around the office, these goals will be even easier to attain!) Ok, time to re-focus this brain on work-type stuff. Happy Halloween, if I don't update tomorrow. |
