As gung-ho as one may be to see the world and to witness all that there is upon the broad face of this intriguing planet, in the end we see it through a porthole.
Author Archives: L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.
Getting back to business!
Like an old dog I am comfortable with old habits, among them getting back to business. Thirteen years of school, eight years of university and forty years of working didn’t exactly prepare me for a life of indolence. I prefer putting things in order, taking care of what needs to be done. It’s time to put away the empty-headed holiday mindset for another year. Frankly it is a bromide for the hysteria of Christmas and the New Year. Though we can hardly be said to have drowned in the seasonal ambitions, the contamination howsoever slight is impossible to avoid. Re-engaging with the routine and comparatively tedious mechanics of life has both a practical and stabilizing effect. Instead of dreamily planning social engagements, dinner parties, family rendezvous, gifts, decorations or what to wear, the substantive agenda of groceries, diet, exercise, personal and property maintenance and generally putting one’s affairs in order can at last be reclaimed. Even if it is nothing more than a purgatory it is a necessary and welcome transition, a dusting-off.
New Year’s Socializing
About a week ago we arranged with our friends here to convene for breakfast at Low Country Produce & Café at 9:00 o’clock this morning. The reason I am fairly certain about when the plan was made is that unusually the gathering was proposed and confirmed almost immediately on the heels of our having had dinner together. Not only is one’s appetite for breakfast normally diminished – if not in fact dissuaded – by dinner but also most social commitments customarily have far more breathing space. In this instance however – being seasonal interlopers on Hilton Head Island – our time together is limited and neither we nor our friends have any local competition for similar get-togethers. More important I suppose is that we enjoy one another’s company, a fact which trumps the sometimes diaphanous feature of blunt society. We have what I call a pleasantly languid alliance which contributes to a laid-back idiom.
New Year’s Day (2017)
Perhaps prophetically I am staring at the soothing late afternoon sunset overlooking Calibogue Cay on the first day of January, 2017. Though there are clouds and slender grey streaks, the predominance is a soft orange light evaporating into the blue and pink ether. The alluring sunset has transfixed silhouettes of people along the sandy white shore. They stare into the mauve distance. A restfulness has descended as the year 2017 approaches the conclusion of its first day.
Down with a cold
It is a common mockery of older people that they lose track of the day of the week. Understandably when one no longer has a schedule to conform to nor an agenda to observe, the confusion is rife. There is however one barometer by which I can be assured to judge my present circumstances – my inclination to write. There is almost nothing other than physical impossibility which impedes my yearning to write. When however that impulse lapses – as it recently has – it is equally certain that I am ill.
Dinner with the Andersons
Five years ago we met the Andersons on the beach near Coligny Park. The very plausible causal connection was their French bulldog Max who was reminiscent of our former Frenchie named Monroe. As chance would have it the Andersons hail from Ottawa. The serendipity of our meeting was repeated the subsequent year when we encountered the Andersons once again walking their little dog on the paths in Sea Pines. In the third year of our acquaintance they invited us to join them for Christmas Day dinner on Hilton Head Island.
Boxing Day (2016)
As I suspect is the case with most acquaintances, there are but few singular features which survive the currency of the relationship. That at least is my recollection of the late Louis de la Chesnaye Audette, QC, OC who died over 20 years ago. Louis, apart from having been a distinguished warship Commander, lawyer and civil servant (not to mention the grandson of Sir Andrew Stuart, Seigneur and Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec), distinguished himself in my mind by his command of language (both English and French) and his unrepentant dedication to himself. He once remarked for example that he especially enjoyed dining at his club by himself because he was assured to have the best company possible! While there was always an element of mirth to whatever he said, it was nonetheless apparent to me that there was an equal degree of sincerity which insinuated his flippancy. Another case in point was his reply to my question what advice he would give a young man. His answer: “I have three words of advice – read, read and read!”
Christmas Day on Hilton Head Island (2016)
It’s Christmas morning. When I emerged from my bedroom, showered and dressed (that is, insofar as one dresses in this seaside context), I was greeted by the smell of fresh-perked coffee. As always my first project was to peel two Mardarin oranges and separate them and deposit the segments into a bowl to which I added prunes and Golden berries. My bowl of fruit and cup of coffee were then placed onto the dining table at which I perched to gaze at the seashore and then fired up my computer to commence another day of electronic communications and meditative ramblings.
Christmas Eve
As irreligious as I may profess to be, I can’t imagine a more spiritual day of the year than Christmas Eve. It is very early in the morning but already an undeniable placidity has descended upon the day. The day is pregnant with anticipation yet there is an overwhelming tranquillity. It is an odd mixture of mystical and childish glee. The delight is stoked by the imagery of the season which has hit a feverish pitch. All the decorations which have been assembled days and weeks in advance are directed to this one day in particular. It isn’t Christmas Day but Christmas Eve which stirs the mind to hope and provokes imagination.
Religion (the voyage out)
Dear Board,
I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.
Sincerely yours,
Groucho Marx.
Among the two social groups to which I belong – friends and acquaintances – I seldom have any reservation expressing my estimate of religion. I will however admit that the topic is generally not widely circulated and that in some circles of either group I wouldn’t dare say what I think. Religion can be a touchy issue.