Month: June 2015

Hot Fun

June 25: I have an abiding memory of my Mum hanging laundry in the yard at our home on Inglewood Drive. It was a sunny day in June and I had come crunching up the gravel drive after school to find her draping sheets in the breeze. I’m sure there is a deep-seated psychological reason that I remember the day: its association with the happiness and security of our home, the love I feel for my Mother – that sort of thing.

But I think the real reason I remember it so well is that it was the last day of school, and by extension, it was the first day of summer vacation. I had the whole summer to do exactly what I wanted. Time was infinite and the promise of the summer unlimited.

Today I was reminded that we have now passed the longest day of the year. The trees that were in bud not long ago now have leaves, and the blossoms on the chestnut tree have been replaced with miniature spiky nuts. The tomato plants that were seedlings 3 weeks ago are now waist-high. The birds that were staking territory not so long ago are now in a furious race to raise their young and get ready for migration.

Sly Stone had it right in his song Hot Fun in the Summertime. In 7 short verses and about 3 minutes flat, summer comes and goes:

End of the spring and here she comes back
Hi, hi, hi, hi there
Them summer days, those summer days

That’s when I had most of my fun back
High, high, high, high there
Them summer days, those summer days

I ‘Cloud nine’ when I want to
Out of school, yeah
County fair in the country sun
And everything, it’s true, ooh, yeah, yeah

Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime

First of the fall and then she goes back
Bye, bye, bye, bye there
Them summer days, those summer days

‘Boop-boop-ba-boop-boop’ when I want to
Out of school
County fair in the country sun
And everything, it’s cool, ooh, yeah

Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime

Youtube version here.

Summer is still the best time of the year for me, but it does go by in a flash. It already feels half-over even if it just “officially” started last week. The kids are now out of school, and this year especially, I’m going to try to find that time in my childhood when school ended and summer was a time of unlimited possibilities, a time for fun and excitement and wonder. You remember that time too, don’t you ?

Father’s Day

June 21: When I was growing up, Father’s Day was always a bit difficult. My Dad was an Accountant and a passionate golfer – that much was obvious. But he kept his passions, if there were any, pretty much to himself. Trying to find “the right thing” for him on Father’s Day proved problematic. I remember a bunch of awkward cards and repetitive gifts. There are only so many times you can buy golf balls. And I’m sure my daughter Marisa would say the same about me.

But this year was different. In addition to it being Father’s Day, and the longest day of the year, Marisa and Joel chose today to get married.

Several times during the day I found myself staring and admiring her; a beautiful woman, so fully comfortable in the moment and just being herself. And it struck me, forcefully, that she is no longer my child. She will always be my daughter, but she is now setting out on a new life with Joel, and she will soon have children of her own. We have turned a page and our relationship will never be quite the same again. And that will be hard to top on Father’s Day next year.

Neighbours

June 18: Much of the enjoyment we take from where we live depends on our neighbours. I had the great privilege of living in a house for more than 25 years and was blessed by having (mostly) wonderful neighbours. I’ll admit that I was a bit concerned about moving into an environment where neighbours were certainly closer, and potentially much more disruptive. We all know stories about “the neighbour from hell” that caused people to move. And, in fact, there was a time in my life when I may have been that neighbour. I shared a cottage with my cousin. We were young and the cottage was, more often than not, a bit of a weekend party place. Noise travels across the water and although nobody ever complained, we probably intruded on someone’s tranquil weekend.

This post started as a bit of a rant about a neighbour across the street who seems to have an addiction to power tools. The weapon of choice seems to be a leaf blower deployed against snow in the winter, maple keys in the spring, and now the occasional leaf that trespasses on his lawn. Then there’s the electric mower which always seems to swing into action just as I sit down to dinner outside. But the crowning achievement came last week when the power washer was brought out. It was going for about an hour washing up a pair of plastic lawn chairs and a chaise longue. Then he put them at the curb for the garbage guys to pick up. Surely washing ones’ garbage should win some sort of environmental stewardship award.

Fortunately he seems to be the aberration. The immediate neighbours are quietly friendly and respectful. Some may become friends in time. The apartment complex feels like a community – a home, and spring has brought tangible proof IMG_0170of how people feel about living here. In spite of clauses in the lease prohibiting plants on balconies, many (including mine) are festooned with all manner of pots and vines and bird feeders. Some of the gardens that are part of the courtyards have been taken over, planted and are being tended by the tenant. One small lawn is a tomato patch, and I’m told that the tomatoes get shared around at the end of the season. The amateur sociologist in me says that people are “owning” their space and making it their home.

And then there are the rabbits. At first a large mature adult, and now smaller bunnies munching on the lawns first thing in the morning. The superintendent is aware of them and many of their dens, but prefers to leave them alone. So hopefully, they too have a place to call home. And the presence of fuzzy little bunnies can go a long way to offsetting the occasional noisy neighbour.

Men and Machines

June 11: I have taken steps to admit that I am powerless over my addiction to machines.  I spend a good deal of time and money and effort on them. I find them emotionally involving and fascinating . That said, over the last 3 weeks I’ve sold both the Moto Guzzi and my beautiful BMW convertible. The Guzzi was bought by a motorcycle mechanic from Port Carling. He has 7 other bikes, so she is going to a good home and will be run regularly – something I could never seem to manage. And I did a deal with  a car shop to sell the BMW, get a 2011 Mazda2, and put cash in the bank for the trip. Although I dearly loved both of them in many ways, the dour Scotsman inside me realized that they were both fundamentally impractical and unsuited to the way I have been using them. So I am taking steps to wean myself from this sort of indulgence.

With that in mind, I have to say that I find it absolutely absurd that City Council voted yesterday to retain and rebuild the eastern portion of the Gardiner Expressway. Even I (the hopeless car addict) don’t understand the rationale. Why do we continue to believe that “the car is king” and preserve what will soon be a failing empire?

So a few people are inconvenienced. In my experience, if the inconvenience is dire enough, they will find another route, or change modes and take transit. And there’s the part I truly don’t understand at all: It will cost us almost a Billion dollars to reconstruct the Gardiner, and about half that to remove it and build a new boulevard. Leaving aside all of the financial benefits to the City in liberating land for development, the removal option is fully $500 Million cheaper. Put differently, if we really do want to spend a Billion dollars, we could spend $500 Million to remove the Gardiner, and have $500 Million for transit improvements, something many of us believe to be badly overdue.

How I wish our politicians would take steps to wean themselves off their addiction to cars….