Eight Months Later

 Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Things have happened in the world since I last posted to this record of the COVID-19 attack on humanity. Starting close to home - the municipal election happened here on October 17 and we have a newish group in the hot seats at the county council (or rather on either Zoom or in a hall down in Cornwallis Park). Then we watched breathlessly as the folks to the south finally gave what that wretch had coming to him. I wore my RBG pearls to watch the results come in.

He can bluster all he wants but I'm sure Melania has her bags packed. Our Atlantic Bubble seems to have held until this past few days as a few more cases have appeared in this province.

I got my flu shot.

I actually got to see a few people in the "real"! Few being the operative word though. I have seen 1, 5, 1, 1, 2, 4 and a fleeting glimpse of 20-odd at our hall's Chili Takeout Lunch. I'm sure I greeted them all much more warmly than they expected! Masked and gloved I was. Money can have germs on it. Thanks to all who came.

I lost a good friend and neighbour this past month. Nancy was a warm, funny, caring person who was talented in the graphic arts area. She was generous beyond. I will miss her very much.

I had a lovely surprise from my librarian friend Danielle in Toronto (who cares for my parents' WWII story memorabilia at the University of Toronto) this past month. There's to be an article in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library's December edition of The Halcyon about my Mom and Dad. I am delighted!

And last but not least - I have a new gig! Who knew that someone would be interested enough to ask me to do a column (on anything I want) for our local weekly newspaper Annapolis Valley Register! 

Onwards!

Thanksgiving 2020 + One

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

My mother Elizabeth Ann (Rannie) Tripe would have been 100 today. She was a fan of L.M. Montgomery and named me for Anne of Green Gables – Anne with an “e”. I did have auburn hair when I was younger but not red hair like Anne.

My Mom was a woman of her time. She kind of spanned two generations of those women who worked outside the home and those who stayed home to look after the household. I remember her telling me once that she was very lucky not to have to go to work. She was smart. She read. She decided she would go to university when she was in her 60s and get a B.A. in English in North Bay.

She raised 5 children starting in England, a few more in Canada and the last one on a U.S. Air Force base in Germany. We all turned out pretty good! Some of us were a tad more difficult than the others but we made it in the end.

She had a good sense of fun. She was game for anything. She came to visit us in Rankin Inlet and rode on our three-wheel ATV around town with her purse on the handlebars. She met people easily. She went to a service at the Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church just behind us and had a great time.

She came to visit us in Inuvik and we flew to Tuktoyaktuk in a float plane. Here we are at the cemetery with the Beaufort Sea in the background. On the trip up we kept saying things like "Can you see that caribou down there?" And would answer "Oh Yes!" First of all it might have been a reindeer and second, she told us later that she was going to be having cataract surgery when she got back home!

She came to visit us at our “ranch” in southern Alberta when our house wasn’t quite finished and she spent Christmas with us one year.

She loved dogs and was a great friend to her own dog and our dog.

She would have loved coming to visit us here in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. She would have loved the history and the stories.

I am here and am able to tell her story and that counts for a lot.

Thankfully.

Onwards!

And on Top of COVID-19....

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Like many people in the world, I watched the TV last night for the first US Presidential Debate between President Trump and former Vice-President Joe Biden. Like many people in the world, I was embarrassed by what I saw. I was embarrassed for the United States of America. This country had been a huge player on the world stage. It was rich, it was where people from all over the world went for refuge, for help, for a new lease on life and to be part of something quite new and special on the world stage. It was the home of Coca Cola and blue jeans, it was the popular music country, it was the movies, it was the TV shows, it was youthful and fun to watch.

I know some Americans. I have a friend who immigrated to the States, I have relatives who became US citizens because their work took them there, I have friends and relatives who used to go to the southern States in the winter and I have always paid attention to US politics because we are small Up Here and have to get along with whatever happens Down There.

My take-aways from last night’s debacle:

1. Can you imagine what it would be like to work for Trump? If he doesn’t respect the former Vice-President and calls him names, can you imagine how he treats generals and assistants and the file clerks in the White House?

2. I can see Putin this morning laughing and laughing and laughing over his coffee and as he watches the chaos descending on this sad country across the ocean.

3. There is no “moderator” in the world who could have controlled that disaster last night. I might have considered picking up my papers and walking out.

4. I learned that the President will ally himself with whatever and whoever he thinks can get him a win. He doesn’t care if those allies are racist, lowbrow, misogynistic, violent, gun bearing people. As long as they can help him win.

5. Joe Biden is a decent human being. I am surprised he didn’t just go over and punch that man in the nose. I am surprised that he didn’t just walk off that stage, pick up the moderator on the way by, hug his wife and go home.

6. The outrage expressed by the CNN commentators after “it” was over were restrained. But the rage was there. They were outraged on behalf of their country.

7. I was left speechless and breathless and very afraid for what will happen to our world and my country in November.

8. This terrible man has unleashed hatred and drips vitriol over his amazing country and I just hope for all our sakes that the voters see him for what he is and get him out of that White House.

9. I also hope that the Republican Party realizes the mistake it made and remakes itself into a reasonable political party after all this dreadfulness is over.

10. I also hope there won’t be any more presidential debates. I think we’ve seen enough and I think we know it would just be more of the same awfulness.

To all my relatives and friends out there – Remember the words from the CBC Radio program The Dead Dog Café 20 years ago - "Stay calm! Be brave! Wait for the signs!".

Onwards!

Half a Year Gone By!

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Here we are 6 months in! While I have been out of the house occasionally with my snazzy Dawn Oman artsy mask, it is still kind of odd to go out among real people other than my husband and our dog. I’ve been keeping in touch with relatives and friends via email, Facebook and now Zoom.

I have also been paying close attention to our municipal election slated for October 17. I will be the Deputy Returning Officer for 2 days of the Advance Poll and the Deputy Returning Officer on Election Day in one of the Districts. [I had to decline as my health made me unreliable.] This will be a new experience for us all here in Annapolis County. We’ll be voting electronically – phone or online. If you don’t know how to vote online, you can go to the poll in your district and there are people to help you out. No paper. No staying late to count ballots! I’ve done that a few times over time.

I had call from my sister to ask me (as the keeper of the family history and Matriarch now) for ancestor information for her grandchildren for a school project. I spent a lot of time filling in the Family Tree  and it sure is handy to have. I haven’t looked at it for a while and was surprised to see over 2,700 people on it. I may have gone a little overboard but it is for me and 2 husbands so that makes it interesting.

I belong to a small group called the Parker Mountain Wind Turbine Society. Once a year, the owners of the Parker Mountain turbine gives 1% of their annual earnings from the turbine back to the community. We were formed to disburse those funds. After 3 years, we have given out almost $40,000 to small non-profit groups in our area. This year, we delayed the disbursement because of the pandemic and finally were able to get together and make our decisions. It is hard because all are hurting and finding it difficult to do their regular fund-raising events. We had many applications but only so much to give out.

In this Time of COVID-19, I came across a piece in an interesting book I’m reading – PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE: Scribes from Babylon to Silicon by Joan Francuz (2018). Ms. Francuz lives in Annapolis Royal and has written a most engaging account of “the history of our digital age through the words of the people who described things – the scribes and technical writers of their time.” Here is what struck me this morning –

“The people living during the period that we call the Renaissance didn’t use that word to describe their age. It wasn’t until the 1830s that the word Renaissance was even used. Their story begins in the aftermath of a plague, and covers a few hundred years when the very idea of the individual was born, and maps of the known world were expanded to include whole new continents.

“Ironically, it was death that made this change possible. During the Middle Ages, everyone was part of a community, and any individual yearnings a person might have were trumped by the goal of helping their community survive.”

I could go on quoting this delightful book kindly loaned to us by good friend Bob Maher.

I am keeping busy.

Onwards!

Five Months - Really?

 Monday, August 17, 2020

As I looked at today’s date, I realized it seemed familiar – vaguely. And then it struck me, March 17 was the first blog entry I did in this time of COVID-19. St. Patrick’s Day thought of in another time but not this year. Five months of being concerned that someone in my family or beloved circle of friends might be hit by this virus and taking all the precautions I can think of for this household – is a long time in the same mode.

Mom and me in Chester

And then I thought of what it must have been like for my mother during WWII in England with people she had never met before, with a baby and a husband off fighting the good fight. She did make some friends but I’m sure she was lonely there in Chester and she was there from May 1940 until June 1945. She went over with her father and came home with me.

So as I contemplate my 5 months of worry, I am now putting that up against my mother’s 5 years of dread. I can do this, She did it. I come from strong stock which I realize now after all these years.

While I’m not sure if it’s the virus outbreak or my age, I do find myself remembering the past and family stories and my own story much more. Maybe it’s a combination of the two.

On another topic, not quite as introspective, I am paying pretty close attention to the goings-on in the poor old US these days. It is easy to snipe and call folks bad names and although, it’s beyond me, be violent when the rage has boiled over. I fear for them. I don’t pretend to understand everything. I do know that a big change is needed. My biggest fear is that there will be civil war – not the same way, perhaps as the Civil War of April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865 – but a war just the same. I watched part of a program on CNN last evening about the Electoral College. I will watch the whole thing today if I can. While I am not a constitutional expect, it seems to me that this part of the American government is well past its best-before-date. And my other small profundity for today is “Damn that Tea Party Bunch”!

Onwards!

29,211 Days!

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

The 80-candle birthday cake!

I have been on this Good Earth that many Days! Imagine! I have seen many places, I have lived in over 45 homes, I have met hundreds of people, I have made oodles of friends, I have some really excellent bosom buddies, I have loved and unloved (very few), and all-in-all I believe I have been very fortunate in my life.

I have a great family and great friends. I have a nice home in a beautiful part of the world. My children like me, as do my grandchildren and my great grandchildren. My husband loves me and puts up with me. Our dog seems to be fond of me.

There have been ups and downs, for sure. There have been worries and tears. But there have been hugs and and kisses and fantastic memories too.

Mom & Dad & me in
Chester, England in 1940

It is a time to take stock when one turns a number ending in Zero. I never, ever expected to be around this long. I am really amazed actually. And I'm really smiling as I write this.

I can still raise Cain, be critical, pay attention to worldly goings-on, get angry at stupidity, and be upset at governments.

I can still give advice at the drop of a hat even if it wasn't asked for.

But I can also laugh and chuckle and smile at my own foibles and mistakes. And I have made some mistakes.

In the Here and Now

So, to all the folks I have known over time, I thank you for giving me a glimpse into your life. I thank you for listening to me. Know that you made me laugh and made me care. 

Enough!

Onwards!

Day 70ty--Hundred

Monday, July 20, 2020

We drove to Annapolis Royal on Saturday. Although there was a purpose - taking a memory stick with over 6,800 files on it to a dear friend - it was mainly an outing for me. I really have to force myself to get out these days. It seems as if my life is in the ether with emails and Facebook and TV and the phone. This is not necessarily a good thing but it isn't horrible. I am retired, I don't have to work, I have enough money to meet my expenses which have greatly diminished as I've grown older for which I am very grateful. It's kind of an odd place to be in, I must say. I am doing "memory" things - checking on photos, seeing where old friends are these days, wishing friends Happy Birthday on Facebook, and reading the obits in the daily paper just in case there's someone I know gone.

I keep up with the news - here and abroad. I rage about Trump and how he has done such damage to the US reputation globally. I watch our own federal, provincial and municipal governments as well. Some are doing OK, some not so much.

And I keep in touch with my far-flung family. I have great in-laws. My own family is in Ontario, Manitoba, Maine, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. This part pains me the most. I can't travel now without causing major disruption on the other end what with quarantining. They can't travel here without the self-isolation business. And so here we are in our solitudes across the country. There are friends in other countries I would like to have seen and hugged. They are only in touch via the internet or by phone.

These are the things that were going through my mind as we went to Annapolis Royal on Saturday. I remarked on a house that had sat empty for a long time - once occupied by a remarkable woman who was extremely well educated - and how it is all spruced up now and looks fantastic; the trees are GREEN; the "ditch" lilies are blooming away; folks' gardens are beautiful; the market is going gangbusters - with limitations; the Historic Gardens are open; there have been concerts at the amphitheatre on the waterfront; King's Theatre is doing neat things; the pool is open; "my" Anne magnolia beside St. Luke's Church is looking very handsome; Queen Anne's Lace is open now; and overall - it is SUMMER. And we saw the Neowise comet on Saturday night. Pretty cool! And we are getting our house painted outside. It will look terrific up here on the hill.

And it's July and time for me to celebrate my 80th birthday. We are going to Founders House for dinner again this year. They had their opening on my birthday 2 years ago and we had a lovely time with Deborah and Philip. There was to have been a big party here this year but that had to be cancelled because of you-know-what. Maybe next year - one never knows.

A bit rambly here today but it's been a while and I am living in my mind a lot these days and thought it might be good to put it on the record.

Onwards!