After giving us menus and a few minutes to decide on our order, a waiter arrived at our table of mature women asking “Are we ready to order?” What? I didn’t remember inviting him to dine with us. Oh. I get it. He spoke the royal “we.” Mistake number one. Then he addressed me, “What […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: EVENTS
Ever wonder when major events started in Canada and the U.S.? Following is a list, organized chronologically, giving the origin of several special events that continue to this day. 1762 The first – and still the largest in the world — recorded St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held not in Ireland but in New York City. […]
THE RIGHT LOCATION
We realize being grateful for ordinary things and events in life contributes in a profound way to happiness. And I try regularly to feel — and express — gratitude. At this time of year, it’s easy for Glen and me to feel grateful for our second home in Arizona. Just when grey skies and near […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: WOMEN
This Friday post features some random facts arranged chronologically about the progress of women, primarily Canadian and American, through the years. 1839 Mississippi was the first state to let a woman buy land in her own name. 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to achieve a medical degree in the United States, graduating from Geneva […]
VOUCHING FOR VOLUNTEERING
Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” When I retired in 2014, the prospect of limitless leisure did not appeal to me. I knew I would need to add something new to my life to gain pleasure, purpose and pride. Volunteering came to mind. While browsing a website for volunteers, I […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: ARIZONA
Located in Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and the only wonder located within the United States. As I spend five months a year in Scottsdale AZ, I discovered a dozen other facts about this state. The Castilian and Burgundian flags of Spain, the Mexican flag, the Confederate […]
PET PROJECT
A dog has occupied a prime position in Glen’s and my life together ever since we met decades ago. In the early years a border collie mix named Jude gave us pleasure and occasionally distress when he disappeared following the scent of another dog, likely a female in heat. Thankfully his strong instincts also brought […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: CANADIAN INVENTIONS
About Canadian inventors, we may know Dr. James Naismith introduced basketball in 1891 and John McLaughlin achieved the perfect formula for Canada Dry ginger ale in 1904. In 1921 a team at the University of Toronto, led by Dr. Frederick Banting, tested a new approach to preventing diabetes and regulating metabolism. Their work led to […]
WISDOM WASTED?
If youth is wasted on the young — an observation widely attributed to George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) — then wisdom is wasted on the old. During our lives we experience innumerable events, good and bad, listen to or witness the trials and achievements of family and friends, read hundreds (thousands) of books and newspapers, watch […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: VANCOUVER
In 1885 William Cornelius Van Horne, head of the Canadian Pacific Railway, chose the township of Granville — not Port Moody as expected — to be the Western terminus of the new transcontinental railway. At the time Granville, or Gastown as locals called it, consisted of about 600 people, mostly men, living in a rough […]