Saturday, July 25, 2020

A brief reflection on ageing

You know you're past your "best before" date when:
It used to be, when I went into a store in Campbell River, often someone who recognized me from school would greet me: "Hello, Mr Havelaar! Remember me?" And sometimes I did, though often he or she would have to remind me, and then I would know all sorts of by-now irrelevant details about the person. But that hasn't happened for some time.
Today the bike I hardly ever ride lost its front brake. It's a disc brake, and Jay, who is our bike expert, pronounced its repair beyond his ability. So I rode it to "Pedal Your World", our local bike shop. "What can we do for you?" asks one of their bike-mechanic youths. "The front brake doesn't work, and my son says he can't fix it". "That's Jay's dad!" says Garrett, who sometimes works there and who grew up in the house across our street.
And now everyone in the store suddenly knows exactly how I fit in.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Terry

I met "TMoist" in September, 1973, when we both started at Carihi, having missed meeting him in Esquimalt, the RCNR (where we both became commissioned, if very junior, officers), and in Quesnel, where he worked one summer for an environmental organization of which Sandy and I were active members.
We have been friends ever since, and our paths have crossed and re-crossed regularly, so it's curious that the only photo I could find of him was from the summer of 1976, when he invited me to go sailing with him.
In the last few years we talked about another, but to my regret never managed it.
At my age one gets a bit numbed by the number of deaths among people we know, but this one is different: closer, and more personal: I'm really going to miss him.
--"Havelaar"

Friday, July 10, 2020

letter to the Globe

Re Province To Stop Streaming Students Into Academic, Applied Tracks