Category Archives: General

Now let me see…

Getting things settled seems to be an interminable preoccupation.  I suspect the enterprise is characteristic not only of my own mundane lifestyle but common to us all.  Each day something new arises, something to disturb the former placidity, something to corrupt or enlarge whatever we had before determined as sufficient and workable.

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In case you didn’t already know…

There’s no telling what may erupt from a casual luncheon of fried smelts, calamari, pasta and affogato al caffè. The ages of our triumvirate at table today were 75, 72 and 70. Each of us had a tale of woe concerning our health. Naturally a good deal of the conversation centred about recent medical history of ourselves and loved ones. But what I hadn’t anticipated is the intelligence from the middle member of our troop that there is the possibility of medical assistance through Canadian Cannabis Clinics.

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Lady Jane

My earliest introduction to Lady Jane was the song “My Sweet Lady Jane” recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, written by the group’s songwriting duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  The song was initially included on the band’s 1966 album Aftermath.

My sweet Lady Jane
When I see you again
Your servant am I
And will humbly remain
Just heed this plea, my love
On bended knees my love
I pledge myself to Lady Jane

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A very disconcerting day

May I ask, dear Reader, that you afford me the small privilege of literary licence. I wish to varnish what follows with an arithmetic extension of the meaning of “day” to include for purposes of this manoeuvre the past twenty-four hours.  Not that any one incident is by virtue of its substance connected to another except by the ignominy of having been disconcerting.

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Getting ready to die

It has memorably been moralized that death is a dreadful subject.  And indeed it is. Decidely not for the pusillanimous. Nor does it constitute, except for the blatantly curious or the morbidly inclined, an especially vivid literary turn. Nonetheless I find lately that the inescapable eventuality has preoccupied me more than I care to accede. Yet strangely, without endorsing the peril, it invokes a hitherto uncommon liberality, strangely freeing me from former prejudices surrounding the grim theme.

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Saturday shopping

Readers who take an interest in the progress of civilisation and of the useful arts will be grateful to the humble topographer who has recorded these facts, and will perhaps wish that historians of far higher pretensions had sometimes spared a few pages from military evolutions and political intrigues, for the purpose of letting us know how the parlours and bedchambers of our ancestors looked.

Excerpt From
Thomas Babington Macaulay
“The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 1”

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Things I regret

Happily there are few things I unreservedly regret. There were of course events which at the time I would rather have avoided. Yet in retrospect even those trying moments afforded me a profit, the complete beneficence of which it wasn’t until much later in life I fully appreciated. I speak of those ticks of universal application which at the time we consider either trifling or unbearable but which later prove altogether the opposite. Not the least of those fortuitous happenstances is the very reason I am sitting at this desk peering at the river beyond the meadow.

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Modern Shopping

Gone are the days of depending upon finding what you want by visiting one store afer another. The modern shopping mode is far less contingent upon either travel or luck and more dependent upon on-line research.  And in my limited experience with this new mode of shopping the results are not only impressive but in most instances preferable.  I have for example been able to locate clothing of the precise style and measurements required.  We have also found a modest storage case (which required assembly) that fit the bill perfectly (and it was assembled at the store and subsequently delivered to the front door of our residence). We’ve also ordered hardware, pharmaceuticals and cofffee on-line. Each of the orders arrived promptly. The latest delivery is a rebounder (mini trampoline) made in USA. It is a product which hasn’t any local agent so its discovery would otherwise have been impossible.

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Sexuality

Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied with historical contexts over time, it lacks a precise definition. The biological and physical aspects of sexuality largely concern the human reproductive functions, including the human sexual response cycle.

Someone’s sexual orientation is their pattern of sexual interest in the opposite and/or same sex. Physical and emotional aspects of sexuality include bonds between individuals that are expressed through profound feelings or physical manifestations of love, trust, and care. Social aspects deal with the effects of human society on one’s sexuality, while spirituality concerns an individual’s spiritual connection with others. Sexuality also affects and is affected by cultural, political, legal, philosophical, moral, ethical, and religious aspects of life.

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Lunch at Neat Coffee Shop

Though we ventured to the city first thing this morning to explore Lee Valley Tools in search of its celebrated garlic press; and afterwards stopped by the Canadian Co-Operative Wool Growers Limited, Carleton Place for two of its similarly renowned real woollen socks, the balance of the day (apart from a brief interlude for the collection of fancy meat products from the Almonte Butcher) was spent primarily (that is, nearly but not quite) off-the-grid. Which is to say the remainder of the day was steadfast to the country, specifically Renfew County along the glittering Madawaska River. Our objective was two-fold; namely, Neat Coffee Shop in the hamlet of Burnstown for lunch and MacLaren Orchards further northerly along the Burnstown Road for Empire apples.

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