We place almost as much if indeed a particle more attention to what another says compared to what is written; yet so often we misinterpret as a result of either communication.  Getting it right from another is never as easy as predicted. Clarity is a multi-pronged device. One would think that the written word is easy to follow but we need only recall the myriad of cases taken to the highest courts of the land by the most adept legal practitioners to interpret even one word of legislation. As for the spoken word, there’s deafness and – once again – broad misinterpretation. Curiously it frequently comes as a shock to another to learn that his or her intention in saying what he or she said was completely misconstrued. Small wonder the psychopathologists have made a profession of interpretation! The elucidation is often equated as much with the time spent listening by the psychiatrist as anything else. Listening is an art.

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Hop-picking may not be my particular catharsis but getting the first COVID vaccination today is close! Already the Ministry of Health has – with what I can only describe as unpredicted nimbleness – confirmed by email the particulars of my inoculation this morning. I have the bandage on my right deltoid to prove it; viz., Pfizer-Biontech COVID-19 mRNA PB, 0.3ml dose of PFIZER Diluent 0.9% Sodium Chloride by Renfrew County and District Health Unit, Andrea M. Registered Nurse. The expertness and civility of the on-site delivery at the Canadian Legion in Barry’s Bay was nonpareil from beginning to end – the check in, the screening, the injection and the certification.

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You wouldn’t think it to look at it but even the best of things comes with inherent provisoes. I speak of my aeronautical device the Lincoln Aviator. The windshield has a smudge. It’s a mostly invisible tiny blur right in my line of vision. Indeed not to put too fine a point on it the smudge excels in the mercurial quality of visibility. The mad particular about it is that, after having identified the ghost of an imprint, I have expended every possible treatment from Windex to windshield wiper fluid to lighter fluid to “Goo Gone” (removes sticky, gummy, gooey messes) but all without success.

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Quite alarmingly every day as the late afternoon draws to a close and the florid remains of the evening sun enrich the western sky I marvel at what a busy day I’ve had without being busy at all. I should put it down to regimen – you know, the boring but time consuming repetition of events day after day.  I’m a prime candidate for that. I thrive upon routine! Today for example (or just about any day really): out of bed (plus making the bed) and bicycling on la route précise before the clock has struck 9:00 am; followed by the vital shower and accompanying ablutions (including naturally the rinsing of the spectacles, iPhone and Apple Watch); then the standard breakfast of sliced green apples, baguette bagel with Champfleury cheese and steel cut oats; and finally rounded out with a unhurried automobile drive in the country. I mean to say, there goes the day!

• Creamy and unctuous, with a white rind that becomes orange with time and an irresistible fruity taste, Champfleury is the undisputed king of soft cheeses. Champfleury is the creamiest of our soft cheeses. Made in Canada and inspired by the greatest French cheeses, it is made of pasteurized milk and cream.

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Louis XIV was known as the Sun King for a reason. He and his court were frequently sought for influence.  It may however surprise one to learn that Louis XIV pursued others as well.

The King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures, such as Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, the Grand Condé, Turenne, Vauban, Boulle, Molière, Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, Lully, Charpentier, Marais, Le Brun, Rigaud, Bossuet, Le Vau, Mansart, Charles Perrault, Claude Perrault, and Le Nôtre.

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Though looking at both the present and the future is no more than an obscure assessment of what is already before us, our sinews are nonetheless agitated by the thought of the future as though it were some aspirational goal as opposed to a synthesis of currency. Often I find that projection about the future belies a considerable satisfaction with the present. It is rather like pecan pie – one piece and you want more! Maybe even with whipped cream the second time!

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Upon leaving the garage and cycling up the ramp early this morning it required no accommodation of the fresh air. It was like having one’s face stroked with rose petals, soothing and fragrant to a fault! This pleasing start to the day’s constitutional bode well for what followed. Along the route (“la Route Précise” as we jokingly call it) I passed a tiny field of crocuses rearing their purple heads through the leafy bed into the sunshine. It said all there was to be said about springtime. Seeing it inspired me to notice the burgeoning leaves on the trees as well. Spring had arrived!

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As a former practicing lawyer – and one who distinguished himself both in study and practice in constitutional law – I am shamefully unable exactly to define the role of royalty in all matters Canadian. Nonetheless the words ringing in my ears are, “Her Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows“. A clarified reading of that stock preamble to every statute law of Ontario might be, “The Queen, based upon the elected representatives of the people, enacts as follows“. The Statute of Westminster put the matter to rest. Essentially it turned everything about, shifting the power of the Queen back to the representatives of the people.

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Burnt toast, not unlike many things, is best when eaten freshly made – right out of the toaster. The preference for burnt toast attracts only few, in my experience usually the minority in number. It is an oddity frequently associated with those who have other peculiarities – or, should I say, differences. Pointedly the burnt element of the toast does not imply an excessive behaviour.  The goal is not to exceed the gentle browning alternative.  That is, it isn’t so much a cosmetic thing as a factor of taste and health.  From some reports the putatively carcinogenic nature of the burnt toast (charcoal) absorbs toxins helping to relieve an upset stomach. While some blend the flavour of burnt toast with butter, jam, honey or peanut butter, others specifically cherish the toasted flavour.

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Sometimes things just go right! I’m having one of those boundless sunny mornings where seemingly nothing can go wrong.  I removed myself from the virginal lair without a struggle – at least none surpassing the groaning gymnastic that represents my twisted departure from the high mattress to rest my aching neuropathic feet upon the precious Persian below. The bicycle ride – though as much as I could willingly tolerate this fine morning – was accomplished in good order well before 9:30 am. Perhaps afterwards it was the restoring ablutions; or maybe the divine quality of the baguette bagel with the Champfleury ripened cheese!  Or that my pants fit.  All told it’s a booms-a-daisy mood I’m in, pleased I know not why, spirited by an unqualified gusto for life.

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