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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On a magnificent day such as this it is quite impossible to resist the nescient swell of buoyancy and well-being!  Even the sweeping fluffy white clouds that occasionally block the sun and momentarily darken the earth are marvellous! In addition the air is dry, the wind is mild and the tingling sunshine is golden. The burgeoning emerald corn stalks provide a luxurious labyrinth adjoining the swaying yellow wheat fields. The cornered agricultural landholdings across the flat horizon are like rising walls from beneath the sea showcasing the now archaic demarcations of the earliest settlers and land surveyors. Everything – past, present and future – is exceptionally clear!

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Having endured the often diaphanous though always limiting consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the past 1½ years I am not disposed to describe the sufferance as anything approaching either ideal or perfect. Indeed the travesty came upon us mid-March, 2020 rather precipitously. We were as a result unprepared for what followed. It has proven to be a steady though almost imperceptible declension, one which for me at least has succeeded to erode my erstwhile hospitable view of the future; that is, until now. Though I am reluctant to proclaim complete removal from the gnawing inhospitable circumstances, I have seemingly graduated to a more comfortable stance.  For one thing – and perhaps the most critical – my overall health has improved. This dramatic anomaly is as much a peculiarity to me as it may be to anyone else.

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What it is precisely that changes the flow of things is not always identifiable. Sometimes it’s an action. Other times it’s a reaction. And at other times it seems no more than the change of the weather. Whatever the cause it is assured that things will change one way or the other for reasons sometimes no more relatable than chance or fortune. Depending upon the consequence of change, the overall outcome may or may not be sustainable or pleasant. One presumes that the backdrop to change is the alteration of events.  It may on the other hand amount to something just as significant though no more visible than a change of mood. The governance of one’s internal rumination and one’s external behaviour, while inextricably entwined, is just as volatile and unpredictable as trying to control the weather.

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