Our visit today with Louie – the new puppy in town from a manifestly qualified breeder in London, Ontario – highlighted the enormous joy we once had with our own French bulldog.  These intelligent creatures instantly capture whatever trace of a saccharin nature that might remotely percolate within us from time to time. Knowing as we do the singular nature of the breed, and seeing the almost statuesque physique of this young male, he is assured to garner human attention throughout his lifetime. Louie’s new home is as well certain to be one in which his every need will be fulfilled.  In return it is equally predictable that Louie will constitute a primary element of domestic conviviality.

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“Since the King was bent on emancipating himself from the control of Parliament, and since, in such an enterprise, he could not hope for effectual aid at home, it followed that he must look for aid abroad. The power and wealth of the King of France might be equal to the arduous task of establishing absolute monarchy in England. Such an ally would undoubtedly expect substantial proofs of gratitude for such a service. Charles must descend to the rank of a great vassal, and must make peace and war according to the directions of the government which protected him. His relation to Lewis would closely resemble that in which the Rajah of Nagpore and the King of Oude now stand to the British Government. Those princes are bound to aid the East India Company in all hostilities, defensive and offensive, and to have no diplomatic relations but such as the East India Company shall sanction. The Company in return guarantees them against insurrection. As long as they faithfully discharge their obligations to the paramount power, they are permitted to dispose of large revenues, to fill their palaces with beautiful women, to besot themselves in the company of their favourite revellers, and to oppress with impunity any subject who may incur their displeasure. Such a life would be insupportable to a man of high spirit and of powerful understanding. But to Charles, sensual, indolent, unequal to any strong intellectual exertion, and destitute alike of all patriotism and of all sense of personal dignity, the prospect had nothing unpleasing.”

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

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The Delta variant of COVID-19 – a variant which at least one physician I know has identified as no more exotic than a typical flu virus – has succeeded to prolong what for many was the anticipated recovery from the pandemic. We’re still having to wear masks; the border remains closed for non-essential travel; and the suitability of existing vaccines is once again under analysis. Meanwhile in the more popular sphere the scrimmage continues between what politicians – depending on their bent to the right or to the left – have labelled a philippic of constitutional rights on the one hand and socialism on the other. In either case the only reasonable motive behind these extreme and outlandish postures is to capture electoral votes. The conventionalists oppose regulatory government generally; the liberals mouth the daemonic version of the pandemic while refusing (for fear of estranging the voters) to mandate public vaccination or the imposition of Vaccine Certificates for purposes of travel and public convention. Mockingly people openly travel a mari usque ad mare without a shred of concern expressed by any government. The coin toss has descended to a controversy between (reckless) free market or (anarchist) social imperatives.  It appears that nothing short of removal of the politicians from the arena will enable a more pragmatic and evidentiary progress. The crux of the removal is the expiry of election campaigning; that is, the upcoming US presidential primary elections and caucuses or the federal and provincial elections in Canada. How the bulk of society chooses to assess its leaders – as either restrictive or freewheeling  – will determine the code of conduct to be adopted or imposed. Until then North American society will have to develop its own assessment of infection and the scheme for return to normal.

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Though I doubt there are parents or grandparents who would knowingly crave it, the unwitting blessing of the perfect child or grandchild is I suspect par excellence. What little I know of propagating the species leads me to understand that while there is commonly unqualified endearment from the procreators and their forebears for the offspring, it’s an added advantage to have a patently zealous and enthralling sprog. The communication of the perfect child is as artless and as magnificent as a carat diamond in the brilliant afternoon sunshine; the penetrating eyes are inescapable and as madly beguiling,

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There is one thing for sure that is not new and that is death. There! We’ve discussed that! Now we can move on to more enlivening conversation about what’s really new. Seriously though, how much needs to be said about death? How often must we be reminded of its inevitability, the impending precipice before which – as some would have it – we’re about to fall up or down. Certain of the commentary is at least tolerable, even comic; viz., one attributed to flamboyant Louisiana Governor (D) Edwin Washington Edwards several days before he died at age 93, “We each know that all this fun has to end at some point!” Not every allusion to death is quite so fervent. The utterances of the organized spiritualists for example abound in daemonic metaphor. At times death is personified in the most dreadful manner such as serpents, witches or horn-headed devils. Really!  I hardly see the necessity to make death more gruesome than it already is. The articulation becomes at times sadistic when some virtuously observe, “You’d think there’s no tomorrow!” as though until then the brakes should be applied. Or that living life wholeheartedly is somehow an abuse.

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Knowing that certain literary and musical compositions are beyond copyright is a serendipitous occasion to reap the benefits of a random and casual acquaintance with what are among the finest artistic expressions. On the other hand getting a buzz from a sailing yacht is not normally so readily attainable without either owning one or knowing someone who does. The Ivy Lea Club, 61 Shipman’s Lane, Lansdowne, ON K0E 1L0 affords another solution; namely, a vicarious conversancy. Today we lunched on the patio overlooking the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands. In our immediate vista were moored a collection of yachts and smaller watercraft such as seadoos. Many of the sailors were among those close by on the patio, primarily families enjoying the spectacular day of yellow sunshine, balmy wind and high temperatures.

The Ivy Lea Club

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Late afternoon sequestration in the garden has the aspect of subdued quietude appropriate to those of advanced age, declining zeal and settled enterprise. Indeed it is so. And I say this without immodesty or temporizing. It as an unsurpassable mien as natural as the balmy summer air, as uncalculated as a soothing sense of accommodation and accomplishment. Once having molded one’s carcass into the lounge chair, facing directly into the disinfecting western sky, projecting the limbs to unfurl the deteriorating spine, removing the spectacles and quelling one’s overall demeanour, the anodyne produces a state of indisputable serenity and lubricates unrestrained imagination. From this heady atmosphere flourishes a curious and barely perceptible descent to fundamentals.

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Contractual arrangements are normally not subject to the weighty chains of restrictions and government advisories such as we’ve lately had to endure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. For some businesses the repercussions have been blunt and damning; viz., the collapse of general stores along the Canada/USA international border closed for non-essential travel. Further abroad the limitations have also stifled tourism between the two countries.  What once were cheerful preparations have been shrouded beneath the veil of uncertainty and emotional distress.

COVID-19 is an acute disease in humans caused by a coronavirus, which is characterized mainly by fever and cough and is capable of progressing to severe symptoms and in some cases death, especially in older people and those with underlying health conditions. It was originally identified in China in 2019 and became pandemic in 2020.

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Stretching into a disputed area between India and China, the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway is just a small part of China’s rapidly-expanding high-speed network.

Close to 40,000 kilometers of lines crisscross the country, linking all of China’s major mega-city clusters. The network is expected to expand to 70,000 kilometers by 2035

Much like Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains in the 1960s, the Beijing government views its high-speed railway as symbolic of the country’s economic power and increasing prosperity.

For China’s ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping, high-speed rail is also a powerful tool for social cohesion, political influence and the integration of disparate regions with distinct cultures into the mainstream.

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Life has so many complications that one hesitates to attach oneself too gleefully to any particular scheme or adage to guarantee happiness. Yet in spite of this caution it is generally accepted that there is substance to the maxim, “Know thyself“.

The Ancient Greek aphorism “know thyself” is one of the Delphic maxims and was the first of three maxims inscribed in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to the Greek writer Pausanias (10.24.1). The two maxims that followed “know thyself” were “nothing to excess” and “surety brings ruin”. In Latin the phrase, “know thyself”, is given as nosce te ipsum or temet nosce.

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