Author: edebock

More pieces of the past

/ edebock / 7 Comments

The Alberta prairie is crisscrossed with roads, many of them only a couple of miles apart. After living here for almost 36 years, there are many of them that we’ve never traversed but over the past few days searching for geocaches has taken us down several new ones. We found three more caches yesterday but it’s the pieces of the past that we keep finding that intrigue me even more.

We explored two more old abandoned houses yesterday, neither as majestic as the house on the hill but interesting nonetheless. The first was a very simple structure. Little more than a two storey wooden box with a very steep roof, its main floor was made up of just two rooms. We could see where a very steep staircase once led to the upper floor but it was no longer there; possibly removed to keep intruders like ourselves from falling through the decaying floorboards. Once again, there was nothing left in or around the house to tell the story of the people who once called it home.

The second house finally yielded what I was looking for; signs of human habitation. It was the windmill that first captured our attention. Connected to a pump behind the house, it would have provided water for the family as well as any animals they might have had.

The sign on the fence might have read “No Trespassing” but since we didn’t tear it off (I promise!) and it could just as easily have said “No Hunting”, we climbed the fence and went exploring!

The open door was so inviting. I just had to go inside! Treading carefully to avoid falling into the root cellar below, I made my way from room to room.

Who sat in the old armchair I wondered. It might have been quite comfortable before the mice did away with all the upholstery and stuffing!

Another skeleton sat in the centre of a different room. Clearly a baby once lived here!

I was surprised to see the old wood stove still there. I would think that an antique collector would like to get their hands on this beauty.

There was also an oil heater to keep the cold Alberta winters at bay.

Where there are children, schools are also needed and before the day of school buses the Canadian prairie was dotted with one room schoolhouses. Though many of them are gone, in our area historical markers show where they once stood. We passed a couple of them yesterday and as retired teachers, it was easy to imagine the voices of children from the past playing where farmers now cultivate the land.

The house on the hill

/ edebock / 10 Comments

With the exception of the natives, we don’t have a long history here in western Canada. The first settlers arrived in our part of Alberta little more than a century ago. Nevertheless, the prairie is dotted with abandoned buildings. I love all the old weather beaten structures but it’s the houses that intrigue me most; the places where babies were born, people laughed and cried, and memories were made.

The second cache that we found yesterday overlooked the highway but rather than returning home that way, we decided to explore a few back roads. I’m so glad we did! As we rounded a curve not far from the cache site, we saw what we initially thought was an old barn standing like a sentinal against the skyline. We have to get closer, I told Richard. As we did, we realized that it wasn’t a barn at all. It was a big old house, one that would have been quite a mansion in its day.

With not a tree or a bush around, it stands like a lonely beacon on the hilltop commanding a view in every direction. I was delighted that we were able to walk right up and explore all around it.

The floor had caved in in several places so I didn’t venture far inside but its many windows offered me views of the interior. There was nothing left that would tell the story of the people who once called it home. Who were they, I wondered.

If only those walls could talk!

Who slept in those upstairs bedrooms?

Though it’s partially boarded up now, I loved the view from the bay window.

I wonder what other treasures we will find as we head out geocaching again. I can hardly wait!

Found it!

/ edebock / 16 Comments

We have a new toy and a new hobby! The toy is a Garmin Etrex Legend HCx handheld GPS receiver which we are still learning how to use and the hobby is geocaching.

Geocaching is basically a grown up, high-tech game of hide and seek. Participants use GPS units to hide and find containers called geocaches or simply caches and then log their activity online. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the finder records the date they found it as well as their geocaching username. It may also contain small items for trading or a trackable item such as a travel bug or a geocoin that is moved from cache to cache. Each trackable has its own unique tracking number stamped on it and its own online diary that follows its movements. To watch a 2 minute video that explains geocaching in a nutshell, click here.

There are currently more than 1.6 million geocaches hidden in over 100 countries around the world. They can be found on every continent including Antarctica and there are over 5 million registered geocachers out there looking for them! Today we joined their ranks.

Though we look forward to finding caches in many interesting and faraway places, there are lots to be found close to home. This afternoon, we set off in the sunshine in search of two of them. We had a little trouble finding the first one, not because it was so difficult but because we were still trying to figure out how to use the GPS! We’re not the most technologically savvy pair on the planet! Once we figured out how to enter the coordinates and follow the directions, the GPS led us right to what we were looking for. Our first find was an ammo box hidden within sight of the school I used to teach at.

Can you see it?

The second one, which we found much more easily, was a little further from home. It was a camouflaged peanut butter jar hidden in the edge of a farmer’s field.

After just two finds, we’re definitely hooked! Geocaching is a perfect activity for retired folk like us with plenty of time on our hands and a love of the great outdoors.

One aspect of geocaching that we are very pleased to participate in is known as Cache In Trash Out. Geocachers around the world are dedicated to preserving the natural beauty of parks and other cache-friendly locations by picking up trash as we go. It’s easy and it enhances the beauty of our surroundings.

On the way home after finding our second cache this afternoon, we wandered some back roads and found something else that we weren’t looking for but it will be the topic of my next post!

Performing a stuffectomy

/ edebock / 4 Comments

The same creative gal who originated Awesomeday introduced me to a new word this week: stuffectomy. In English, the suffix ectomy means to remove. A tonsillectomy is the surgical removal of the tonsils, a lumpectomy is the removal of a lump, and so on. A stuffectomy is, therefore, the removal of stuff!

For the past while, I’ve been performing a major stuffectomy. I started about a month ago by cleaning, reorganizing and getting rid of stuff from our basement storage room. The last time I performed such an extensive cutting out of stuff was four years ago when we were preparing to move to Japan for a year. In the three years since we’ve been back, clutter had once again taken over and the problem had spread to other parts of the basement. I’m currently working on the little room that was my office when I was still teaching school. It’s going to be a playroom for the grandchildren when I’m finished but I’m afraid that this phase of the stuffectomy operation is going slowly. Almost everything that was stored in that room has to come out and I have to find another place for anything that I decide to keep. Like a doctor cutting out cancerous tissue, I need to be aggressive!

I love getting rid of stuff but I hate to see anything go to waste. The question is always what should I do with it? I don’t want to clutter up my kid’s homes with my cast off stuff but several items did find their way to my daughter’s house this past weekend. Her children really don’t need more toys but they were delighted with the box full of stuffed animals that were Mommy’s when she was a little girl!

One of our three weight benches was dropped off at our youngest son’s place on Wednesday. We haven’t stopped lifting weights but we’ve had to adapt our exercise program to accommodate our aging knees and no longer need the third bench. It will be put to better use by Nathan and his roommates.

Lots of things have gone to the Good As New shop, the thrift store run by four local churches. The big challenge has been not buying more stuff while I’m there dropping things off!

I’ve even managed to sell a few items. I belong to a local Buy and Sell group on Facebook that has more than 1000 members and so far, everything I’ve posted has sold! It’s kind of like an ongoing multi-family garage sale but so much easier. I won’t get rich on the proceeds but a few extra dollars never hurt anyone!

As much as possible, things that can’t be reused have been recycled. We dropped an old computer, a couple of outdated monitors and a broken printer off at Centra Cam’s recycling centre in Camrose earlier this week. Centra Cam is a non-profit organization that assists people with developmental disabilities by providing them with training and skill development enabling them to reach their full potential and enjoy increased independence. It’s a pretty neat feeling knowing that my cast off stuff can play a bit part in something like that!

Alas, while I sit here writing this post nothing is happening in the basement so I’d better sign off and get back to performing the stuffectomy!

First stage finished - the storage room has seldom looked this good!

One word

/ edebock / 12 Comments

In the latest issue of Chatelaine, one of Canada’s favourite women’s magazines, editor Jane Francisco challenged her readers to choose one word that sums up who they are and submit it to the magazine’s website to qualify for a prize. It could be an adjective, a verb or a noun. She chose evolving as her word.

I am a lover of words but that’s a tough assignment! How can I possibly sum up who I am in just one word? As I’ve pondered this question over the past couple of days, many possibilities have come to mind.

In my younger days, shy or introverted might have described me best but I’ve worked hard to overcome that. People are often surprised when I tell them what a timid child I was.

I readily admit to being stubborn though I much prefer to think of myself as  determined . On a similar vein, as I worked away on the physiotherapy exercises that have recently brought renewed strength to my left knee, my husband often commented on my tenacity so perhaps tenacious is the word I’m looking for.

There are many words that I hope describe me. As a Christian striving to live a life of integrity, honest and  faithful definitely come to mind. This afternoon we attended a funeral celebrating the life of a man who lived for almost 91 years. As his children, grandchildren and pastor paid tribute to him, one word came up over and over again. Fred was a godly man. How I would love to be described that way!

A few years ago, as I said good bye to someone I’d known for only a short while who lives a long distance away we hugged and he said, “You’re phenomenal! ” Wow! Though time has passed, that moment etched itself in my memory. The idea that someone could think that highly of me was quite overwhelming. It touched me so deeply that I still remember the roughness of his stubble against my cheek as we embraced.

Though I’ve retired from the profession, teacher is a word that still describes me. I also consider myself a learner, ever changing and growing but none of these words captures the entire essence of who I am.

Perhaps authentic or genuine come close. That’s one of the advantages that come with age. The older I get, the less I worry about what other people think of me. I’m free to be a little bit eccentric or even audacious.

The Bible tells me that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14); that before I was born God knew me and set me apart (Jeremiah 1:5). After thinking and pondering over many different words, there’s my answer! It was staring me in the face all along. Like an individual snowflake, I am UNIQUE!

What would your one word be?

A penny for your thoughts

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I don’t really like the government messing with my money and this time I’m not even talking about taxes. Worse than that, I don’t want them messing with my language! The budget announced by the Canadian government yesterday is going to cost us a pretty penny. See what I mean? That saying and many others will likely fade into antiquity now that the decision has been made to stop making our lowly one cent piece!

Benjamin Franklin told us that a penny saved is a penny earned but soon even the penny pinchers  won’t have two pennies to rub together!

English is full of idioms, meaningful expressions that can’t be taken literally, and a surprising number of them involve the penny. A bad penny is a person with a bad reputation, to turn up like a bad penny  is to arrive at a time or place you are not wanted, penny ante is something of little value or importance and when the penny drops you finally understand something.

Yes, I will miss the humble penny but perhaps it’s outlived its usefulness. After all, it has long outlived penny candy. I vaguely remember the days when a child clutching a few small pennies could choose from a vast array of bulk candies that sold one, two or three for a cent.

 

It also outlived our one-dollar and two-dollar bills. The gold coloured one-dollar coin, commonly called a loonie because of the common loon that appears on the back, was introduced in 1987. It was followed by the bi-coloured toonie in 1996. Like many Canadians, I didn’t like those changes either because of the weight that carrying coins instead of paper money added to our wallets. I suppose that saying good-bye to the penny will have the opposite effect. My purse was seldom weighed down by many pennies though. Most of them went into the little Alabaster box that sits on top of the fridge.

We’ve all heard of pennies from heaven, money acquired without any effort, but in a sense these Alabaster pennies have been going in the other direction. Alabaster is a program of the international Church of the Nazarene. Taken twice a year, this special offering goes toward the purchase of land and the construction of churches, schools, medical facilities, and homes for missionaries and national workers around the world. Since the first offering was given in 1949, the coins that we’ve collected in our little boxes have added up to approximately $95 million! By the end of 2010, 3983 churches, 398 Bible schools and other school buildings, 537 mission and district centers, 37 hospitals and clinics, 1490 homes and 627 other buildings had been constructed! Perhaps our lowly pennies aren’t so insignificant after all!

See a penny, pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck.

The “right” way

/ edebock / 12 Comments

Richard and I have been married for over 35 years. Before the wedding, he told me that our marriage was sure to be a good one because he knew everything there was to know about marriage! I laughed and married him anyway. I knew he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. After all, I’d been married before and he hadn’t and I still had very little idea what made a good relationship work.

Apparently, he also knew everything there was to know about folding socks. The first time he saw me do the laundry, he told me that I was folding them the wrong way and proceeded to show me how I ought to do it! I’ve confessed to being a stubborn woman before but if anyone needs proof of that, here it is:

My sock drawer

and his!

Over 35 years later, I still stubbornly fold my socks my way and his the “right” way!  (even though his way might actually be better)  Oops! You didn’t hear me say that, did you?

Richard’s way of folding socks (or having me fold his socks) does make a nice tidy package that fits neatly into a drawer or a suitcase. I’m sure that you probably fold your socks my way but just in case you want to give his a try, here’s a simple tutorial:

Simply tuck the toes of both socks into the opening of the the top one.

Hmm… I think there could be a lesson in here somewhere. Maybe that’s what it takes to make a relationship work: a little bit of stubbornness, plenty of respect for one another’s differences and a healthy dose of compromise! It’s been working for us for over 35 years!

Who makes the rules?

/ edebock / 9 Comments

Apparently when women reach the advanced age of 40 we must lose the ability to think rationally. The internet is full of lists of rules to help us avoid making complete fools of ourselves.

A good example is the list of “10 things a woman over 40 shouldn’t wear” that’s plastered all over the net. What things, you ask?

  • black leather pants or jackets
  • jackets that are mid-thigh length
  • pleated pants
  • fluorescent colours
  • capri pants
  • low rise jeans
  • plunging V necklines
  • mini skirts
  • bikinis
  • sleeveless clothes of any kind

Says who? And what was I supposed to wear on the zip line; a frumpy housedress? Oh right, zip lining is probably on someone’s list of things a woman my age shouldn’t do!

According to a slightly different list horizontal stripes and double breasted blazers are also out. Still others will tell you that women over 40 shouldn’t wear long hair and there are even those who say that jeans are out for those of us who’ve passed our 40th birthday! I guess I’m just a rule breaker! After all, I’m wearing horizontal stripes as I write this and I practically live in jeans all winter long! The right pair of jeans can be very flattering and they can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. Why, I’ll probably be buried in my blue jeans! I’m just that kind of girl.

As far as I’m concerned, as long as something is comfortable, fits well, makes you feel confident and isn’t beyond the bounds of decency, I say wear it with pride regardless of what age you are! There are 20 somethings who look ghastly in mini skirts and older women who look downright classy in low rise jeans and black leather.

A much more useful list is More magazine’s “8 warning signs women over 40 shouldn’t ignore” which includes

  • flu-like feelings including fatigue, nausea, sweating and chills
  • not feeling rested regardless of how much sleep you get
  • pain and swelling in your calf
  • a new mole
  • trouble finding the right words
  • bloating and pelvic pain
  • burning, tingling or numbness in your feet
  • a persistent cough

After all, regardless of how we dress them up, our bodies are wearing out and if we want them to continue looking good into our 60s, 70s and 80s we need to take good care of them.

p.s. Thank you to Jeannie at gracefully50 for inspiring this post. If you enjoyed it, you might want to check out her post Am I wrong?

Springtime in Alberta

/ edebock / 15 Comments

I’m suffering from severe envy. The day before yesterday was, of course, officially the first day of spring. Over the past few days, I’ve read several blogs celebrating the joys of the season each one complete with gorgeous pictures of flowers and trees in bloom.

Though I’ve never been to the Netherlands, I immediately think of tulips when I think of that country so it was no surprise to me when many of Malou’s colourful blooms were of that variety. She’s the writer of Going Dutch and a fabulous photographer. Caroline writes From a Tuscan Villa but her beautiful pictures of plum trees and magnolias in bloom reminded me of springtime in Japan. Even Maggie in Ontario has been posting gorgeous pictures of spring flowers on her blog, Living Life in Glorious Colour.

Why am I so jealous? Well, see for yourself. Here’s springtime in Alberta… our second snowstorm this week!

Very little colour here! This isn’t unusual for March in Alberta but is it any wonder that I’m dreaming of flowers and envying those who are already enjoying them?

Unlike the dry, powdery snow of winter, this time of year brings wet, sloppy snow heavy with much needed moisture. After a winter with very little snow, the farmers are happy to see it but I’d much rather it came as rain. Bring on those April showers please! And with them, a few flowers would be nice!

A question to wrestle with

/ edebock / 6 Comments

In thousands of homes across Canada, tiny Gideon Bibles gather dust on shelves or are hidden away in boxes and drawers. Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing free copies of the Bible in over 94 languages and 194 countries of the world. Gideon Bibles can be found in hotel rooms, hospitals, nursing homes and prisons around the world. In addition, they are given to members of the military of various countries and in some places they are distributed to college and university students, health care workers, fire fighters, and police officers.

In 1946, Canadian Gideons began presenting New Testaments to all grade 5 students in Canada whose parents consented. The little Bibles that the children receive also include the Old Testament Hebrew books of Psalms and Proverbs. Why have so many people kept these little testaments? What is it about them that has caused people who never read the Bible or attend church to keep theirs and to still have it decades after they’ve grown up? Is it because it was received as a free gift, is it simply because it’s a souvenir of childhood or do they somehow sense that there is power in the Word of God? Like so many others, I still have mine. I received it on April 10, 1963. Even during my most rebellious years when I turned my back on God and the church, I kept my little maroon Bible.

In recent years, the practice of distributing Gideon Bibles in schools has stirred up quite a tempest with critics saying that it isn’t appropriate for public schools in a multicultural society to distribute religious material. At this point, the decision whether or not to allow the practice to continue has been left up to individual school boards. Yesterday, two representatives of the nearest Gideons chapter visited our church to share about their ministry and to update us on what’s happening in our jurisdiction. For the first time since 1946, the Gideons have not been allowed to hand out Bibles in our schools this year and a final decision regarding the future is in the hands of the superintendent of schools. We were urged to pray that they be allowed to resume distribution and to write letters to the superintendent urging him to decide in their favour. Many, including my husband, are praying to that end but I’m not ready to jump on that bandwagon without considering all the implications. I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that it is useful for teaching, correcting and equipping us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17) but I’ve been wrestling with whether or not it should be distributed in our schools.

When I posed the question on Facebook yesterday, one acquaintance responded that the practice should be allowed to continue because it’s been a long-standing tradition in our schools. For me, that’s not good enough. Just because we’ve always done something isn’t enough reason to continue doing it. As a teacher, I welcomed the Gideons into my classroom and witnessed first hand the excitement of the children as they received their Bibles but I also know that the door that allowed the Gideons in was also open to every other religious organization. Just because they haven’t taken advantage of that opportunity yet doesn’t mean that they won’t. It may not be politically correct to say so, but I don’t want the Koran or the Hindu, Bahai or Wiccan sacred texts being distributed in our schools.

Canada was built on Christian principles but the cultural and religious fabric of our nation has changed. We’ve opened our hearts and our borders to the world but in our haste to embrace tolerance, we’ve allowed changes that we might not have anticipated. We have polygamous marriages and honour killings now. I know they’re not endorsed by law but we ought not to close our eyes and pretend that they aren’t here. Muslim girls can wear the hijab in Canadian schools and the right of a young Sikh student to wear his kirpan, the ceremonial dagger of his faith, at school went to the Supreme Court of Canada. After years of wrangling, in March of 2006 the court ruled 8-0 that a total ban of the kirpan in schools violated the Charter of Rights because it would infringe on the Charter’s guarantee of religious freedom. So, is it really a stretch to think that other religions might want to introduce their writings to our students? I don’t think so.

On the other hand, the latest figures from Statistics Canada show that 77% of the population still claims to be Christian. These numbers are down significantly from 1951 when 96% of Canadians identified themselves as either Catholic or Protestant but 77% is still a clear majority and ours is still a democratic country. Perhaps we shouldn’t be allowing the other 23% to silence us.

What do you think?