The Candy Canes

There were many things my Dad left behind when he died which I hung on to. Over the years, I have let go of many of these things, keeping only those that I cherish or that could be passed down to his grand-children. Some of the things I cherish are of little value, but they mean the world to me. One of these things are two wooden candy canes he made and used for Christmas decorating. For the first few years after Dad died, I used them to decorate our yard, but for the past fifteen years or so, they have sat in our garage. I had kept other decorations he had made, including a star and a wooden “Merry Christmas” sign. I was able to let go of those decorations, but those candy canes were special! I always loved them as a child, their beautiful red lights shining brightly at night. In the daytime, they were stunning with their shiny red and white stripes. Those candy canes meant Christmas to me. The candy canes are one of the few things I brought with me when I moved to the city four years ago, and again they sat in our garage. The paint had faded and even chipped off in some spots, and the candy canes looked very worn out, but still I could not part with them. Every year, I told my husband that I would paint them and use them this year. Well, the other day I finally went to the paint store and bought red and white paint. Last night, I dug out the candy canes from behind some lumber, sanded them down and began to paint the red stripes. As I painted, memories came rushing back, memories I didn’t even know I still had. I remembered my Dad coming back from Saskatoon where he had seen “Candy Cane Lane”. I remember his excitement as he talked about how he wanted to decorate our yard and how he wanted to make his own candy canes, just like the ones he had seen in Saskatoon. Our kitchen was a hub of activities, as he enlisted his friends to help him. I especially remember Mrs. Richard sitting at the kitchen table, cutting out a pattern to use for the candy canes. She had been brought in by my dad because of her artistic abilities. Saws, drills and paint were brought into our kitchen, much to my mother’s dismay. Dad even drilled a hole in the side of our kitchen table when he was drilling holes into his decorations. We used that table for years, with the hole in it. As I re-painted those candy canes last night, I could once again feel the excitement as we children watched. Re-painting the strips my Dad and Mrs. Richard had so lovingly painted decades ago and reliving those memories, I felt a strong connection with him. I realize now that is why those candy canes are so special to me, not only because I thought they were so beautiful, but because they were special to him. I think this is the same connection Natalie Cole or Lisa Presley felt when they recorded a song with the fathers decades after their fathers had died. Sharing something with your father that was special to him, years after his death is an incredible experience. This year, when I display my freshly-painted candy canes, they will be even more special to me than ever before. Loving a gift from your father years after his death. . . . it’s a good thing!

Home Routes

For the past three years, I have been enjoying concerts through the "Home Routes" program. World-class musicians, known and unknown, entertain in private homes. The shows are intimate, personal and the audience really connects with the artists. The singers and musicians travel a specific route set up by the Home Routes organizers, abd go into mostly smaller centres. There are usually around 15 shows a year. Each center has a host home. The host provides a place to sleep and food to the musician. The host invites as many friends as their home will hold, usually about 25 - 40, who attend the performance. There is a small fee at the door, all of which goes to the performer. I have enjoyed almost every performance I have seen. The artists come from every part of Canada. Last night, I saw Suzie Vinneck. Suzie Vinneck is an up-and-coming artist currently living in Toronto, but originally from Saskatoon. (The next time you see the Special K commercial wherein the actress is fighting temptation, begins to look through her cupboards for something to eat, finds little messages on containers in her cupboards, then finally finds the Special K - pay special attention to the song being sung in the background. It is being sung by Suzie Vinneck!). She is also the voice of "Always fresh - always Tim Horton's"! She gave a wonderful performance last night. I think we will be hearing a lot more about this talented singer in the future. Whoever came up with the idea of bringing musician and singers into private homes and having them perform to smaller audiences is a genius! Enjoying the intimacy of the performance and the huge talent of the performers at Home Routes concerts. . . it's a good thing!

Removing An Eyelash

Yesterday, I fought with an eyelash in my eye all day! I don't think there is anything more frustrating that your eye being irritated and you can't seem to do anything about it! Every time I went to the mirror to have a look at it, I couldn't see the lash. Yet I could still feel it. Or, other times, I thought I had it removed, blinked a time or two, everything felt fine and I sighed a sigh of relief. As I started back to my desk, I would blink again and - aarrggghhh - it was still there!

Through out the day, I tried removing it with my finger, flushing my eye with water, and blinking very fast - nothing worked. This morning when I was washing my face, I looked into the mirror and there it was - the eye lash was lying on the bottom part of my eye. I placed my finger on it and Hallelujah the lash stuck to my finger and it was gone. My eye felt so much better. Sometimes, it really is the little things that make life worth living! Finally removing the eyelash from your eye . . . it's a good thing!

Eating for A Better Education!

One of the local post-secondary schools in our community offers a class to students who are going into the food service industry. The school has renovated and created a dining room which can seat sixty people. The dining room is open to the public from 6 – 9 for three nights at week for about two months a year. As part of their training, the students wait on tables and serve customers. The dining room is made up to look like a top-notch restaurant. The students/servers wear white shirts and black pants. The meals are cooked by an award-winning chef who has his own restaurant in our city. The food is wonderful! You truly feel like you are in an expensive restaurant – until you get your bill! Because the servers are in training and the school is actually using the public to help train the students, the meals are all $19.95! Cocktails are only $2.50! Word is slowly spreading throughout our city and every night more and more customers are showing up. Last night, they were filled – all sixty seats were taken. The students, though they are nervous, are eager to please and do a good job. The food is delicious and the cocktails are wonderful. Way to go, SIAST! What a great idea. Eating good food, enjoying great cocktails and helping students learn . . . it’s a good thing!

Visiting Ireland

I've previously blogged about my niece and her husband moving to Ireland for a year. We, her family miss her but are happy that she is experiencing another part of the world. She has begun to post pictures on facebook of sights she is visiting. I have never been to Ireland, but always imagined that it truly is the "Emerald Isle" and that the green is greener than anywhere else. That is what is so striking about the pictures Amber is posting - how very green Ireland really is! I'm happy that we live in an age in which we can post pictures which are immediately seen halfway around the world. Each time Amber goes on a day trip and posts pictures, I feel I have gone on the tour with her. For the time being, that is how I visit Ireland. It is truly a beautiful country with a proud history. Visiting another country through the eyes - and pictures - of someone else . . . it's a good thing!

Ride 'em Cowboy

Someone asked me recently if I had a favorite toy in my childhood. I listed off a couple things, and it was only a couple days later that I remembered how much I loved my "jumping horse". My brother and I each got one for Christmas one year. How I loved riding that horse! I was a rather "busy" child and riding on this horse was a great way to use up energy. And that I did! I would jump on it so hard that it would move and I would "ride" my horse all over the house. I remember spending hours on it. I would give my baby sister rides. I had only had one disappointment involving that horse: I had overheard my mother tell one of my older brothers that there was "some of grandpa's money in the horse". Of course, I thought she meant that literally. I didn't know that she meant he had put some money toward buying it. When I finally rode the horse so hard that I made a hole in it, I was so disappointed when I couldn't find any money in it! When my own children were born, I bought them a horse too, thinking they would love it as much as I had. But they were already of the video game generation and they just didn't get the same enjoyment out of it. Remembering a much-loved toy . . . it's a good thing!

Pigeon Problems

I was so happy when I finally got my bird feeders up after we had moved into this house. I loved to watch the birds feeding and flying around in my back yard. One day, last summer, I heard a "cooing noise" coming through my kitchen window. I looked out my window and couldn't believe what I was seeing: pigeons! Pigeons were on the lawn under the bird feeders, eating spilled bird seed. I don't like pigeons! I didn't set up bird feeders or spend money on bird seed to feed pigeons! I wondered if this meant that I would have to quit feeding birds in my back yard. "Of course not," my step-dad declared "Get an owl statue, set it up by the bird feeders and your pigeons will be gone". Several other self-declared experts told me this would work. So, I got not one, but two owls. I set one up at the top of the post to which my bird feeders are attached, and the other on the ground. I filled the feeders with seed and began to observe from my kitchen window. Two days later, I said to my husband "This really works. It's been two days and I haven't seen one pigeon". Well, obviously, the pigeons were doing some observing of their own, and what they observed is that the owls had not moved in two days. Soon, I was hearing cooing in my back yard again. They were back. I decided pigeons need to eat too, and maybe this was God's way of telling me to feed his pigeons. Welcoming all birds to my bird feeders, even the pigeons . . . it's a good thing!