New Kid on the Block

Three bulls heard the farmer was bringing another bull onto the farm. This caused much concern amongst the bulls who had been on the farm for a long time. They were not willing to give up any of what they considered to be rightfully theirs. As the time for the new kid on the block to arrive the three bulls had a conversation about how to deal with, the new arrival.

First Bull: "I've been here for five years. I'm not giving this new bull any of my 100 cows."

Second Bull: "I've been here three years and have earned my right to 50 cows. I'm keeping all of my cows."

Third Bull: "I've only been here a year, and so far, ...you guys have only let me have 10 cows. I may not be as big as you fellows, but I'm keeping all 10 of my cows."

Just then an 18-wheeler pulls up in the pasture carrying the biggest Brahman bull they've ever seen. At 3,600 lbs, each step he takes strains the steel ramp. The three bulls watched the trailer and then turned to each other and after a pause of about 2 minutes, the conversation continued as follows:

First Bull: "I think I can spare a few cows for our new friend."
Second Bull: "I actually have too many cows to take care of. I can spare a few. I'm certainly not looking for an argument."

They look over at the third bull and find him pawing the dirt, shaking his horns and snorting.

First Bull: "Son, don't be foolish -- let him have some of your cows and live to tell about it."

Third Bull: "He can have all my cows. I'm just making sure he knows I'm a bull."

What do you do with your day?

 As I was reading a  post by Caree Riscover called"Zoomitis", I found myself intrigued by the following sentence "When your wanderlust is unfulfilled and the conviviality of conversation with strangers is suspended, is it even possible to find the sparks that kindle excitement in daily life?"

Caree posts an interesting question about what daily life is like in this time of "new normal". This appears to be a question that a number of bloggers I read are asking and answering. In her post, Caree discusses some of the things she has done or is doing to fill her day. I can relate to some of what she described. I have digitized my old slides, started working on digitizing old picture albums, read some old books in my library, watched a lot of television, and found and listened to some great new radio stations. Another blogger I read who is not in good health, discussed her day, to quote Although this list is true, it is not meant to be overly serious. Try to see the humour. Her list is quite long and I only give a part of her day. 

Toilet
Wash face
Brush teeth

Start coffee

Coffee!!!
Check phone for overnight messages
Check overnight email
Delete at least half of it

Hot bath

Collapse in Bed

 Life in COVID or suffering from a chronic disease is not easy, nor is it boring. When my children were young, and they said they were bored, I always said boredom is an internal mindset. So, I would tell them to change their mindset. For all of you who think you are STUCK at home, change your mindset to you're SAFE at home 

If you are in a rut, try to keep your own dignity - get out of your PJs!, form a structure for the day, and be grateful for what you have - shelter, home, possessions.

Finally, read, write, or do and be as creative as you can be and push your limits and be surprised by what you can do now

Best Coaches Ever

 A few years back my brother worked on a fundraiser for his community. The idea was to build a change room that would be used by soccer teams. Because of the battle with the City bureaucracy over the years, the building took a lot longer to finish than first thought. At the beginning of the endeavour, my brother suggested that we put up a plaque in the building that spoke to the work our mom and dad did. All of us agreed and so a plaque was made but was only put up when the building opened, this October. I had forgotten about it until my brother emailed me with a picture of it.

My brother sent me a picture of the plaque as we were not able to travel to beat the opening due to COVID restrictions. I think it represents what my parents did. For those of you who don’t know, we lost our father when he was 48 and we lost my mom when she was 55. Dad died in an accident, and mom died of cancer. If you are lucky enough to have your parents still with you we hope you value and embrace them at this time of year.

When we were growing up my parents decided that playing on a team in a sports league would be a way to keep us out trouble. The problem was that we lived in a rural community and there were not sports teams or leagues in which we could play. So, my parents formed both. They started with softball and formed a team that went on to win the BC championship—that took five years. They formed a team, coached us and at the same time formed a league so that we could play against other teams. When Softball season ended, they formed a soccer team and a league where we could play. The soccer team over the years also won a number of tournaments and championships. My dad coached and my mom helped coach while she organized and ran the league. To us this was how we spend our Spring, Summer, and Fall, playing, practising sports between our duties on the hobby farm mom and dad owned.

When the opportunity to expand and move into other sports presented itself with a local teacher suggesting we could have a very powerful track team using the athletics we already had playing for us, both mom and dad helped organize and establish a track and field club, which allowed us to join another sport. One of my brothers was a sprinter, I was a long distance and middle-distance runner, and my other brother was also a long distance and middle-distance runner. He went on to win a BC championship of the 800-metre race. I never won a BC championship but had to live with being the second-best on the island winning some races and losing many others. 

When my dad died my youngest brother was 10, my other brothers and I were off at university. My mom soon had him in sports with her coaching and organizing as she had done with us when we were teenagers. Our parents believed through the strength of teamwork combined with your own individual effort you could achieve anything. Over time playing on the sports teams they organized for us, we learned to embrace these values and they became part of who were as people. We have all had success in our lives thanks to the values taught to us by the “Best Coaches Ever”. 

Looking out my front porch

 A very old one, but as we move closer to Xmas we need more humour, enjoy!

On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

And God saw it was good.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God, again saw it was good.

On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed it was good.

On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But the human said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back,
the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.

For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family.

For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.

And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information.

I'm doing it as a public service.

If you are looking for me I will be on the front porch...