February 17: Seriously ?
![IMG_2082[1]](http://www.david-mckillop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_20821.jpg)
PS: March 7: A murder avoided: apparently my standing in the window and sending evil thoughts toward my friend with the leaf-blower has worked. The house went up for sale and was sold over the weekend with an asking price of $1,500,000. I wonder if the leaf-blower is one of the chattels ?
February 14: Today I got word that my ex-Father-in-Law had passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer and dementia. This had been expected for some time and, as Marisa said: “Typical Jeffery. Stubborn to the end.”
Jeff emigrated from South Africa to Canada in the late 60’s. While the family seemed to have lived a comfortable life on a farm near Durban, selling it all and moving here meant starting over. He worked in construction, determined to provide a good life for his wife Margaret and three children: Melinda, Veronica and Rolland.
He was a hunter and a fisherman. After Melinda and I got married, I mentioned a passing interest in fly-fishing, more as a way of passing time in what seemed to be a tranquil and reflective place than actually catching anything. Within a few weeks, he had given me a couple of rods, some tackle, and some lessons on how to cast. He was obviously reaching out for some connection with his new son-in-law who saw no fun in shooting or catching and killing any of God’s creatures. (I’ve been known to catch spiders and take them outside rather than kill them…)
While he could be kind, helpful, supportive and thoughtful, he could be very stubborn. He never really shied away from telling you what was on his mind. His outspokenness about religion and race had alienated many of his friends and he was living what must have been a very lonely existence near Orillia. That was his choice; he was determined to do it his way whether or not other people agreed with him. Undoubtedly this made it extremely difficult for his family – particularly Veronica – to manage things as he aged and his physical and mental abilities declined.
In the end, it’s easy to see only the crusty old geezer living alone and cursing the world around him. I may get there myself some day. And while some of his views are no longer socially acceptable, with the great benefit of distance from his situation, I remember the determined, thoughtful man who brought his family to Canada and gave them the foundation for a good life here. They got a good start, and more, because of him. As he aged and got more out-of-step with those around him, he was doing what he thought was right for him, in the context of what he had learned in his life experience. I’d prefer to remember him that way.
February 6: Since returning from Europe, I have been considering taking some time off drinking alcohol. There was no particular reason for this, other than the vague feeling that drinking had become a bit of a hobby or something I turned to out of boredom. I had already been trying to drink less over the holiday season – quality over quantity – but there was always the temptation to over-indulge while celebrating the season. “It’s only once a year.”
So January seemed to be the perfect time to go sober. After New Years, which I spent at home with a really good bottle of Cote du Rhone, there was nothing on my social calendar. Because so much of our social interaction is based on booze, not having a bunch of get-togethers meant that I could avoid the peer pressure to have “just one”. I made it to January 29 and then had a couple of drinks for my friend Murphy who passed away a year ago that date. I think he would have approved.
Over the course of the month I dropped almost a kilo of weight and lost the reflexive reach for a glass of wine while cooking, while eating, while tidying up. I did notice that I missed wine; after dinner there was an urge for something sweet or fruity and I realized that it was a time when I would normally reach for a glass of wine for “dessert”. Many people off booze say they sleep better and I found that to be true as well.
Overall, I didn’t find it all that difficult after the first week or so. Once over the “habit” of reaching for wine, it was quite easy to be dry. There are obvious psychological and health reasons for going sober and having achieved it once, it’s definitely something to consider for next year too.
Here’s a link to an interesting TED Talk that deals with addictions in a different light. There are a number of themes that I find interesting and hope you will too.
February 1: A friend texted this morning to say that we would have to change dinner plans because she was not feeling well, and my little demented mind went immediately to an episode of the Goon Show titled Lurgi Strikes Britain. The Goons were three guys: Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, and some guy named Peter Sellers. They were on BBC radio during the 50’s and early 60’s and laid the foundations for later comedians, notably Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
That connection was perhaps front-of-mind because I’m reading a great book by John Cleese wherein he says: “(The Goon Show) made the best use of radio that has ever been achieved in comedy, mixing a huge variety of wonderfully silly voices and astonishingly creative sound effects to tell ridiculous stories with humour that was witty, insane, insanely logical, breathtakingly stupid and thoroughly subversive…”
The Dreaded Lurgi which strikes Britain causes the afflicted to cry out “Eeee Yakka Booo” for no apparent reason. It turns out to have only one cure – the ability to play a musical instrument. In short order, with much anarchy and diversion, an air-drop of millions of brass musical instruments is organized and the country is saved.
The Lurgi has entered the lexicon in some quarters as a descriptor for an unspecified illness. I use it from time-to-time and I’m usually greeted by quizzical looks. In any event, I hope my friend overcomes her bout of Lurgi – without having to learn the Sousaphone…..
http://www.thegoonshow.net/index.asp