This will be the third time we’ve headed south for the winter; the third time we’ve packed up the car and turned the key on the front door for five months; the third time we’ve abandoned family, friends and hearth to take up new digs for the season.
Author Archives: L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B.
Will this never end?
Pending resolution of the US presidential election it seems at times that the entire world is in a state of suspended animation. On almost every imaginable level there is an unbearable resistance to moving forward until that event is accomplished. It isn’t even clear that the nail-biting will end on Voting Day (November 8) or whether it will only be the spark that sets the debris ablaze. Until then the election is on everyone’s lips. You can’t go anywhere or talk to anyone without the chimera of Donald J. Trump percolating. Meanwhile the anxiety about the election lingers universally, sometimes casting a shadow upon the entire globe, fuelling at the very least an examination of liberalism, isolationism and nationalism or trepidation about the decline and upset of the American Empire and the Grand Old Party.
Off we go!
Every second Thursday afternoon our housekeeper performs a cathartic purge of our residence. We make a point to get out of her way. Normally we’re gone by 1:00 pm at the latest. The bi-weekly event is an opportunity to go touring. Almost always we head to the St. Lawrence River – specifically the Ivy Lea Club, Gananoque or Kingston – because it is far enough away to keep us at bay for several hours and we usually grab a bite to eat late afternoon to avoid having to contemplate dinner upon our return.
Blustery autumn day
Last night we agreed we’d go grocery shopping today. And visit my elderly mother. Early this morning before resolving to quit the downy lair an idea struck me as a further refinement of the project. We could combine our grocery mission with breakfast at a local beanery. It had been weeks since we had exercised our summer tradition of going to the golf club for breakfast in the Village of Appleton overlooking the Mississippi River. Now that the clubhouse was closed for the season, the opportunity presented itself to re-enact the erstwhile weekend custom at a new venue.
Do what it takes
There is a sphere of experience no one wants to be the winner; namely, suffering the worst calamity. No matter to whom you speak it isn’t long before a tale of misery insinuates the conversation, whether a family death, serious medical issue, financial hardship, child-rearing problem, matrimonial battle, traffic accident, employment downturn, travel disaster, whatever! Eventually none of us escapes the perils of living and it is with the predictability of a dice roll that it happens to any one of us. Of course we’re never prepared for the eventuality, it always “comes as a shock” and “we never imagined it could happen to us”. Yet it does. Life is as certain as the outcome of the Brexit vote but the chance of misfortune just a close.
Getting closer…
Today I wrapped up matters with the accountant and we are now in readiness. Granted there remain a few details to settle before our departure but nothing critical. As is my wont I compliment ourselves on having dove-tailed the many things to address over the past seven months in anticipation of our five-month sojourn on Hilton Head Island. The sensation of accomplishment is reminiscent of how I normally felt when working and preparing to leave for a paltry week’s holiday. I suppose the template is identical. What however amazes me is the fortuity to fulfill all the prerequisites without annoying loose ends.
Entertaining
The earliest recollection I have of entertaining is a cooperative luncheon in my first year at law school shortly before classes had begun for the fall semester. I met someone who distinguished himself by knowing how to cook, a talent which until then I had succeeded to avoid by living in circumstances where meals had always been provided to me (boarding school and residential university). My new acquaintance and I collected vegetables and brown rice from the local grocery store. I remember the production being very tasty. Because he did the cooking my only contribution was the premises (the unimpressive kitchen at the law fraternity Domus Legis).
What makes a leader?
Recently I was asked by a distinguished friend of mine:
Might you offer any explanation for how you so often obtained “leadership” positions, (Don, etc.)?
The question set me back on my heels as I don’t think of myself as a leader. The enquiry prompted me to consider the matter further.
Let’s talk cars!
Not everyone gets excited about cars. Though I most certainly do. If for example I’m in a physician’s waiting room nervously drumming my fingers on my knee, my attention is instantly drawn to a magazine about cars. I go for it! Doesn’t matter that many of the specialty car magazines are about collector cars or antique cars or sports cars. Almost anything to do with cars is fine by me (including the proliferation of tire advertisements). I confess my personal preference is for late model cars but I never turn down a look at vintage sheet metal from the American automobile industry.
Surprise Day!
In anticipation of my annual physical check-up my physician told me to have some routine blood tests. It isn’t necessarily a surprise to have walked into Life Labs this morning, had my blood withdrawn, then walked out and driven back home in under an hour. But you have to admit it is pretty good; and it stands for the value of living in this small town with these social conveniences so readily accessible. We can walk to everything here, bank, baker, doctor, dentist, grocery store and hospital. It never ceases to surprise me because it reinforces how clever we are to live here, to awaken to a sunrise over a meadow, to be free of urban traffic and to have all those amenities I mentioned.