Thursday, or Thereabouts - June 30, 2016

School's Out!

Today, 7am was silent.
Today, no windows resonated with the rumble of school buses.
Today the 3pm 'rush hour' convoy of those same buses will be absent.

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks!”

Oh how I remember chanting that rhyme. The vast expanse of uninterrupted playtime stretched out before me - Summertime!

Getting up when I wanted, sometimes to just see the sunrise from the lounge chair on the back porch. 

Riding my bike all over the neighbourhood, sometimes taking longer treks, farther from home just to see how far and how fast I could go (if only mother knew...probably a good thing she didn't!). 

And long afternoons spent in our backyard pool, until with fingers puckered like prunes, I'd drip over to the towels laid out on the grass, to be baked dry by the sun. Then dash back in the pool again!

Life was good!

July 1972

Fast forward some 45+ years (FORTY-FIVE?? Are you serious? It can't be... ) to 2016 and "School's Out!" doesn't quite have the same kind of celebratory exuberance. Now, I can get up whenever I want every day. I don't bike all over the neighbourhood - 150m in one directions gets me to highway where the gravel trucks roam; 150m in the other gets me to the bottom of a quad busting, knee popping hill!  And we don't have a pool in the backyard.

Still, all is not so very ho-hum humdrum in my life this day.
The strawberries are ripe for the picking...

and Canada Day sits on the doorstep.

I am so privileged to have been born where and when I was.
I am blessed to call Canada my home and native land.

"I am a Canadian!
Free to speak without fear,
Free to worship in my own way,
Free to stand for what I think right,
Free to oppose what I believe wrong,
Free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and mankind."

John Diefenbaker, Canada's 13th Prime Minister,  July 1, 1960. 

Life is still good, very good!

Happy Canada Day, eh?

©2016 April Hoeller

Monday NO Moanings - June 29, 2015

Canada Day WEEK, 2015

The rain has stopped. The sun is shining, The strawberries are ripe for the picking!

AND 

Wednesday is Canada Day!

There's been some moaning about this mid-week holiday; not about the day off, nor the occasion, but rather about the timing - smack dab in the middle of the work week with no weekend within a day's reach. Well I realize it seems inconvenient and even strange to not have a Canada Day long weekend, but how about going for a Canada Day Week? I know it's not the same. Many have to go to work, but still you can get the flag out in the workplace as well as at home, EH?

Let's shake off the scales of cynicism and complaint and enjoy the privilege of living in this great land.

There are four wonderful seasons, each one offering its share of glorious days along with a few clunkers;

there are awesome landscapes of mountains, lakes, forests and prairies;

there's architecture in cityscapes that incorporate the old and the new along with green space too;

and so many diverse cultures to enrich and inspire each one of us to be who we were born to be.

I'm thrilled and proud to be a part of the colourful mosaic that is my home and native land. We're not perfect, not by a long shot; we're not without problems; we've got critical issues and controversies that need tending, but not right now. Let the problems and politics, failures and controversies take a back seat this week.

On July 1, 1960 John Diefenbaker, Canada's 13th Prime Minister, introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights in Parliament with these words:

"I am a Canadian!
Free to speak without fear,
Free to worship in my own way,
Free to stand for what I think right,
Free to oppose what I believe wrong,
Free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and mankind."


Be safe. Be happy. Be proud.

fotolia.com

Happy Canada Day, all week!

©2015 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - June 30, 2014

Where is everybody?

Is this really Monday, the top of a new week? That's what I'm wondering.

There's something quite odd about today. As I drove into town this morning I passed the GO train commuter parking lot. The twenty or so cars looked awfully lonely amidst such vast open space. Had  normal Monday moanings and groanings blossomed into a flu bug of epidemic proportions? Further along my route several signs blinked out warnings of delays due to roadwork. "Be prepared to STOP." was also prominent. I eased my foot back on the accelerator as the car crested a hill. Not a bulldozer or grader in sight, no flag gals or guys, not a single worker. All MIA!

Had my aging brain farted, blowing me into Monday when it really was still only Sunday? The traffic volume supported that theory and for a moment or three I wondered just how successful, or embarrassing, this trip into town was going to be. Undaunted I moved ahead (actually what really happened was that there was no convenient place to turn around, so I kept on going). I was rewarded for my perseverance - all the stores were open and not only was parking easy, shopping and checkout were a breeze. No bumping into other carts, no jockeying for position at the checkout and no waiting! I was into town and back home in record time, little more than an hour.

But, where is everybody? Wimbledon playing tennis with the best? Brazil for the World Cup? The cottage, having snagged a four day weekend from a generous employer? Or taking day to prepare for Canada Day celebrations tomorrow? Count me in for that one!

The trip into town behind me, I can say that I've got a couple of nice thick Alberta Beef steaks for the BBQ, Ontario corn on the cob and potatoes from Prince Edward Island. There's fresh pastry made with Saskatchewan wheat and butter from Quebec in the fridge. Tomorrow that pastry will encase rhubarb from my garden combined with local Ontario strawberries for a grand pie to be topped with whipped cream. There will be Creemore Pilsner and Ontario wine in Canada colours - 2 red: Kew Vineyards 2011 Pinot Noir & Vineland Estates 2010 Cabernet Franc, 1 white: Tawse Winery 2010 Riesling.



Canada - 147 years young tomorrow. My Canada is my home with four wonderful seasons, each one offering its share of glorious days along with a few clunkers;

with awesome landscapes of mountains, lakes, forests and prairies;

with architecture in cityscapes that incorporate the old and the new along with green space too;

with so many diverse cultures to enrich and inspire each one of us to be who we were born to be.

But don't just take my word for it, have a look at how other Canadians describe this land: Canada Day 2014: My Canada is...

Happy Birthday Canada!

fotolia.com

©2014 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - June 26, 2014

Tomorrow, 7am will be silent.
Tomorrow, no windows will resonate with the rumble of school buses.
Tomorrow the 3pm 'rush hour' convoy of those same buses returning their precious cargo home, will be absent.

wallpaperscastle.com

The rhythm of my day will be a little disturbed tomorrow, and even more so come Monday, without these time pieces; like the bell and drum towers of ancient China, they signal the opening and closing of day. I'll get over it of course, the sun streaming in my bedroom window will see to that, and come September I'll be disturbed again, this time by the return of the yellow rumblers to my street. Ah, but all this is in the future, tomorrow and beyond.

Today is the Last Day of School!! WOO HOO!
Oh remember the joy of it all?

fotolia.com

Ripping the paper off text books, coverings that had been so carefully cut, folded, applied and decorated ten months earlier; triumphantly handing the naked books back to the teacher; clearing out my desk only to discover that crumpled up test stuffed way in the back corner, the one with the big red "D" on it, then tossing the offensive paper in garbage can - no way that was ever coming home; gathering up the standard issue pink workbooks (Pink? What were they thinking??), some of my art work (only some because art was never my forte), a few remaining coloured pencils (a full set of twelve never survived ten months of gruelling work), and last by no means least, my prized possession, a wooden pencil box with a lid that slid open to reveal four bright yellow HB pencils and one slender white pen with blue lettering, "Etobicoke Board of Education". All got stuffed into a bag for homecoming, with one addition - a white envelope containing The Report Card.

I recall that one year, the teacher called each one of us to her desk to receive the envelope. She whispered a comment and the room number for next year's class. I was told, "Well done April. Room eleven." It was a mixed message. I was already in Room 11, in fact I spent grades 4, 5 and 6 in Room 11 - the annual shuffling of rooms and teachers didn't get me anywhere it seemed.

fotolia.com

No matter, the last thing on my mind as I dashed out the school doors that day was next year's class. A vast expanse of uninterrupted playtime stretched out before me and September was nowhere to be seen on my radar. Getting up when I wanted, sometimes to just see the sunrise from the lounge chair on the back porch. Riding my bike all over the neighbourhood, sometimes taking longer treks, farther from home just to see how far and how fast I could go. And long afternoons spent in our backyard pool, until with fingers puckered like prunes, I'd drip over to the towels to bake dry out in the sun. Then back in the pool again!

Life was good!

Yep that's me diving in, ca 1969. Mom in the background. How did the ball end up in the air?

Fast forward some 45 years or so, and the last day of school doesn't have quite the same kind of energy.

There is no desk for me to clear out, no text books to return, no wooden pencil case and thankfully no report card! And we don't have a pool in the backyard.

But the strawberries are ripe for the picking and the Canada Day long weekend sits on the doorstep ready to kick off summer with a celebration of all things Canadian. It's not just a single day anymore but three or four days of festivities and fireworks across the country. I am so very fortunate to have the privilege of living in this great land and I am thrilled to be a part of the colourful mosaic that is Canada.

Life IS good!

©2014 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - July 1, 2013

NO Moaning allowed today!

It's Canada Day

and

I am Canadian!

Today is for fun, food and family. 

On the menu today:

crostini with garlic scape pesto

Canadian Cheddar & Oka cheeses

balsamic glazed steak with rosemary, grilled to perfection on the bbq

potatoes with oregano butter

grilled zucchini, asparagus, peppers and mushrooms

Ontario Strawberries served over vanilla ice cream on grilled pound cake (homemade of course!) and topped with whipped cream.

And the wines: Peninsula Ridge 2011 Beal Vineyards Cabernet Rose & Thirty Bench 2009 Small Lot Pinot Noir

Today is for leisure, laughter and love.

All will be surrounded with pride and gratitude.

Thank you Canada!

Happy 146th Birthday!

© photowings - Fotolia.com

Thursday, or Thereabouts - June 27, 2013

The Last Day of School

© leo tomić - fotolia.com 

Woo Hoo! Remember the thrill? I sure do. Oh the joy of it all: ripping the paper off text books, coverings that had been so carefully cut, folded, applied and decorated ten months earlier; triumphantly handing the naked books back to the teacher; clearing out my desk only to discover that crumpled up test stuffed way in the back corner, the one with the big red "D" on it, then tossing the offensive paper in garbage can - no way that was ever coming home; gathering up the standard issue pink workbooks (Pink? What were they thinking??), some of my art work (only some because art was never my forte), a few remaining coloured pencils (a full set of twelve never survived ten months of gruelling work), and last by no means least, my prized possession, a wooden pencil box with a lid that slid open to reveal four bright yellow HB pencils and one slender white pen with blue lettering, "Etobicoke Board of Education". All got stuffed into a bag for homecoming, with one addition - a white envelope containing The Report Card.

I recall that one year, the teacher called each one of us to her desk to receive the envelope. She whispered a comment and the room number for next year's class, "Well done April. Room eleven." It was a mixed message. I was already in Room 11, in fact I spent grades 4, 5 and 6 in Room 11 - the annual shuffling of rooms and teachers didn't get me anywhere it seemed. No matter, the last thing on my mind as I dashed out the school doors that day was next year's class. A vast expanse of uninterrupted playtime stretched out before me and September was nowhere to be seen on my radar.

I'll tell you what else was not on my radar way back when, Canada Day, or as it was then known, Dominion Day. Seems more attention was paid to Victoria Day, the long weekend in May. "The twenty-fourth of May is firecracker day," was the schoolyard chant. But all that began to change with 1967 and the celebration of our 100th birthday as a nation. From the lighting of the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill to Expo 67 to Bobby Gimby's "Ca-na-da", we all sang and celebrated.


Fast forward a few years, like over 40 of them, to today, and it's once again the last day of school. There is no desk for me to clear out, no text books to return, no wooden pencil case and thankfully no report card! But the strawberries are ripe for the picking and the Canada Day long weekend sits on the doorstep ready to kick off summer with a celebration of all things Canadian. It's not just a single day anymore but three days (and more in some locations) of festivities and fireworks across the country. It's a time for me to shake off the scales of cynicism and complaint and enjoy the privilege of living in this great land.


We're not perfect; we're not without problems; we've got critical issues and controversies that need tending, but not on this long weekend. This last day of school, this long weekend, I'm thrilled to be a part of the colourful mosaic that is Canada.

Be safe. Be happy. Be grateful.

(all photos unless otherwise noted: © April Hoeller)