Monday, May 31, 2010

Letter Writing


I wonder how many bloggers were avid letter writers in the past. I know I was.

For years, if I was home on Sunday, I wrote my weekly letter to my parents and then answered the letters that I had received that week from friends, family and acquaintances. If this didn't happen on Sunday, I pushed to get all my correspondence written and in the mail by Tuesday night.

And, I loved receiving mail. For a long time, I got far more mail without windows. Now, unfortunately most of my mail is either window mail or junk mail. And now, for some reason, I am terrible at responding to the few letters I do receive. I seem to have lost the knack.


Sunday, May 30, 2010

Unknown Great Canadians

This man, at the ripe old age of eighty-five years, held the following jobs all at the same time, in Canada, in 1905:

- Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
- President of the Bank of Montreal
- Director and Executive Committee Member of the CPR
- President of Royal Trust
- Canada's High Commissioner to Britain
- Chairman of Burmah Oil and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company

He ran the HBC, a railway, a bank and a trust company, and a couple of oil companies all while holding a high position in government.

This was Sir Donald Alexander Smith who was born in 1820 in Scotland, arrived in Canada 1838, and died in 1914 at the age of 94 in London, England. Most people remember him for driving the last spike at Craigellachie.

I have just started reading Peter C. Neuman's Merchant Princes and have discovered this intriguing character from our past and will tell you some more about him in the next few days.

It has me thinking again about retirement and the work ethic. Here is a role model to consider.

Decisions, Decisions

Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win.
By fearing to attempt.
William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure", Act 1 scene 4 ...

On one hand, we are encouraged to trust our gut. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

On the other hand, we may be missing out on opportunities just because we have doubts - about timing, about value, about the future.

A number of decisions lately have not been black and white and my tendency is to do nothing. I used to be good at making decisions, even if some weren't the best ones. Overall, I was willing to take some chances, or at least a few leaps of faith. And, most
of the time, everything turned out o.k.

Lately, I have been trying to decide whether to look for a new car or stick with my old car; take a major vacation now when the dollar is good or in a year or so when it may be much more convenient, redecorate my condo (remove old carpet, paint, etc.) or wait awhile.
Dragging my feet on redecorating this past year means I have lost out on possible tax credits for this. Dragging my feet on my car might mean major repairs down the road.

I don't even know which should be a priority, if any.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

To move or not to move


Having moved house way too many times both from necessity and choice, I have a lot of sympathy for those long- term West End residents who have been given eviction notices. Their choices seem pretty limited.

They are victims of our mixed economy. These people are being negatively impacted by the fact that Canadians have chosen to embrace both socialism and capitalism. We feel that the government needs to provide for the least fortunate among us and at the same time we believe that entrepreneurs have the right to get the best returns on their investments. This has resulted in rent controls which means that long term residents pay increasingly less than market rates and at the same time has allowed landlords to use loopholes to evict these long-term residents so they can get market rates.

I think a lot of us still want to straddle some line between capitalism and socialism because overall it provides us with a safety net and an opportunity to become materially successful. Yet we don't want innocent people to suffer.

Since many of the people being evicted are retired and need their own capital to provide an income, I wonder if anyone has considered some form of life lease. The rent increases could be postponed in the same way that we can postpone taxes until we either die or, in this case, decide to move. This way the landlord would have his market rent, eventually, and the retiree could maintain his income and afford to stay put.




Friday, May 21, 2010

A Hundred Years

My great, great grandmother probably came out from Ireland in the 1860's to settle in Quebec on the Ottawa River. Knowing her background, she probably travelled as a steerage passenger.

The "steerage",or between-deck, often shortened to "tween-deck", was originally the deck immediately below the main deck of a sailing ship. (Norw: Mellomdekk or Mellemdekk)

In the early days of emigration the ships used to convey the emigrants were originally built for carrying cargo. In reality the passengers were placed in the cargo hold. Temporary partitions were usually erected and used for the steerage accommodation. To get down to the between-deck the passengers often had to use ladders, and the passageway down between the hatches could be both narrow and steep. The manner in which the ships were equipped could vary since there were no set standards for this. It was necessary that the furnishings could be easily removed, and not cost more than absolutely necessary. As soon as the ships had set the passengers on land, the furnishings were discarded and the ship prepared for return cargo to Europe On the picture above you can see examples on how many of the sailing ships would be equipped.


After reading the book, Voyages of Hope, which describes the terrible conditions that people endured while traveling steerage class at that time, I have begun to wonder about her. She would have been a young lady. I don't know if she married before she left Ireland or shortly after she arrived in Canada. I do know that she was Irish Catholic and like many of her countrymen, she chose to settle in French Catholic Quebec rather than English Protestant Ontario. She probably would have sailed to Quebec City and then taken a smaller boat up to the Ottawa Valley.

Her voyage would have been much shorter - closer to one month as opposed to the two months or more that it took to get to British Columbia - but conditions would not have been much better. Knowing the fastidiousness that seems to be a trait of many people on that side of the family, I can only image how she could have endured such conditions.

A hundred years later, in the 1960's, I was coming of age in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver in much different circumstances. From the perspective of 2010, fifty years later, I am wondering what the 2060's will bring.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Bride-Ships







British Columbia history can be quite fascinating. I am surprised that few Canadian historical novels have been written about our past. The four bride-ships that arrived in Victoria in the 1860's has enough material for several novels. In all, about one hundred women, mainly working class, sailed from England hoping to find a better life in British Columbia.

Victorian England was in the throes of recession. Women who became widowed, or were let go from factory jobs, or poorly educated unemployable women who had not married young faced desperate lives in workhouses or worse. There were far more women than men in Britain and even middle class women had difficulty in finding husbands. As the numbers of these poverty- stricken women grew, some churches and a few philanthropic upper class women formed the Columbia Emigration Society to both give these destitute women a new chance and to rid England of the expense of keeping them.

Meanwhile, in North America gold had been discovered on the Fraser River. The gold lured hundreds of men from the fizzled California gold fields and created towns in the Cariboo that were devoid of single, white, marriageable women. At the same time, Victoria and New Westminster were becoming thriving cities with growing families in need of domestic help.

The frontier towns here were more wild and dangerous than those in the American west. There was no law and order and only a few, mostly Anglican, missionaries were trying to create stability. Added to this mix were rigid religious and social attitudes which virtually forbade any contact with Native women. Murder, theft and drunkenness were the order of the day.

Local governments hoped that English women would marry and stabilize our wild west or alternatively provide domestic services in Victoria and New Westminster. Governments in England liked this idea because they wanted English people to populate the land north of the 49th parallel. And, they wanted to rebalance the population at home.

Between 1862 and 1870, as a result of the Columbia Emigration Society's initiatives, four steam driven sailing ships, the Tynmouth, the Robert Lowe, the Marcella and the Alpha departed England and delivered women around the horn and up the Pacific Coast to Victoria. During the voyages that could last several months, these women who were sponsored by the Columbia Emigration Society travelled steerage and experienced horrible on board conditions.

Crowded below decks into tiered bunks in groups of eight, there was little room to move. It was crowded, dark and dank with little fresh air. The sanitation was poor, movement up to the deck was limited to areas where the women often encountered smoke and soot from the coal- fired boilers. Unlike the people in cabins whose meals were prepared, people in steerage were given daily rations to prepare for themselves. Fresh water was in very short supply. There were storms and seasickness. The stench became unbearable. Then, to add to this misery, church sponsored chaperones made it their duty to make sure none of these women came into contact with any men on board ship.

Surprisingly, while there was some death and disease in their months at sea, most of the women made it to the shores of Vancouver Island. Once, landed most quickly found husbands or positions as domestics. Glimpses of their lives in Lillooet, Barkerville, Chemainus, Victoria, Vancouver and New Westminster while poorly documented, are fascinating.















Most of this information came from the book Voyages of Hope by Peter Johnson.



A New World


A high ranking Cardinal in the Catholic Church said last week that the church should move towards a morality based on virtue rather than avoidance of sin and center on happiness rather than duty. WOW! Apparently he is one of the few top ranking ecclesiastics that can actually have some influence in getting this done.

Just think what it would mean if a large chunk of the world started think about virtue and happiness rather than sin and duty. If thoughts have energy, and increasingly this is being proven, then there would be a huge shift from negative to positive energy.

In my small world, it would mean that people around me could quit acting like martyrs, could start to like themselves and take time to take care of themselves, stop criticizing everything around them, and most of all it would create a larger, better force field of positive energy.

And, I might even consider going back to church.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Bloedel Floral Conservatory is a interesting place to spend a rainy day in Vancouver except you have to keep your rain gear on as the roof leaks in several places. Rain falling from the ceiling is easy to ignore though as the exotic plants and birds and even fish command your attention.

The Parks Board had plans to close this place earlier this year as it was too expensive to repair; but, it appears that it has had a reprieve for the time being. The doors are still open and the plants and still lush and colourful and it is business as usual for the time being.








The Vancouver walking group had arranged for a walk in Queen Elizabeth Park with a side tour of the Bloedel Conservatory this morning topped off with lunch at the Seasons Restaurant. In the face of our first major rainfall in awhile, a few of us decided on the dryer route of just the conservatory and lunch.
















This is the place to go if you ever want to see what your houseplants should look like.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Buddy

For two and a half hours on Sunday, I was a teenager again. The production "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" transported me back. This is so well done! I am always amazed at the quality of actors in Vancouver.

In his short one and a half year career, Buddy Holly only released three albums but he was a major influence on 'rock 'n roll'. The Beatles were impressed by his music. When they were looking for a name for themselves, they wanted something close to the name of Buddy's group, "The Crickets".

After the plane crash, the producers were able to release many more songs by Buddy Holly because of all the tracks he had laid down in studios and home demos. Buddy's music was upgraded with studio musicians and modern technology and he remained popular for a very long time.

Stories, plays, books and music have been written about Buddy Holly - my favorite being - American Pie by Don McLean.

There were many interesting tidbits in the musical I saw yesterday; like the fact that Buddy was married and his wife was pregnant at the time of his death. Unfortunately, after a little research on the internet, I discovered that she miscarried.

If you have the time in the next month or so, I highly recommend this production. Go for the story and especially go for the music.

Here are the details:


BUDDY: THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY

By arrangement with Alan Janes for Theatre Partners

By Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson

Now playing until July 11, 2010 | Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage

10 shows sold out!

The World’s Most Successful Rock ‘n’ Roll Musical

Viewed by more than 20 million people in over 17,000 performances worldwide

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Zip Lining

I spent Mother's Day on Grouse Mountain zip-lining for the first time. It was a blast!

It was a perfectly warm May day but there is still lots of snow on Grouse. It was hard walking up hill.


















My daughter and I doing the starfish to slow ourselves down on the fastest line.


























Me, on the second line, enjoying the scenery.





















For more information see:




Sunday, May 9, 2010

Stuck on Reading

I am currently reading five books. This is a little unusual for me, although I usually have at least two on the go. They are listed below in order of 'like':


This one has taken me almost a month but I am almost finished. It is a little slow going at times but well worth the effort. There are lots of places where you need to stop and do little exercises. I am definitely going to set up his filing system. For any one that needs a little organization in their life, this is a good place to start. It is written by David Bach and this is the Canadian edition.


I have liked all of Amy Tan's books particularly The Joy Luck Club. I received Saving Fish from Drowning for Christmas and started reading it in January. It is just as good as her others but I got stuck some time back on the karma of work animals and have not been able to pick it up again. I am sure I will get back to it on a sunny afternoon by the pool where I know I will not necessarily fall asleep with terrible images in my head.


I have just started An Irish Country Christmas. (I enjoy reading books set in winter on hot summer days.) It will be prime pool/deck reading this summer. I read and enjoyed An Irish Country Doctor also by Patrick Taylor awhile back. Patrick Taylor is an Irishman who lives in Canada most of the time.




Frank McCourt, another Irishman, this one transplanted to the U.S, wrote Teacher Man about his years as a high school teacher in New York. I loved his first book Angla's Ashes but not so much his second book 'Tis. This one is more like his first, but it got lost under my bed a few weeks ago and I just retrieved it today. This is good nighttime reading as it is interesting but not so riveting that you stay up half the night reading.


I have been trying to read Voyages of Hope, The Saga of the Bride-Ships by Peter Johnson for several months now. I just seem to have something better to read each night. But I am interested in BC history, particularly the hardships women faced in the early years in British Columbia. The first hundred or so pages were quite readable. I just seem to have hit a dull part. Hopefully I can finish this one on the beach this summer as well.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Genetically Engineered Foods

I am more than a little nervous about possible negative affects of genetically engineered food. I try to eat organically with as little processed food as possible, but I am lazy at times and I have some favourite comfort foods. In today's Vancouver Sun, I just learned that I will have to eliminate two of my fast and easy comfort foods - Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix and canned Heinz Brown Sugar and Bacon Beans. The beans of course are high in calories but the pancakes were one of my 4 point weight watcher breakfasts. I will be sorry to see that one go.

Green Peace has a shopper guide to GMO foods (Click on the "click here" in the middle of a white fairly blank page):



The guide is colour coded:

green - Good

yellow - Working to Remove GMO's

red - Genetically Modified



At least now I have a reference point and can start to shop a little smarter.


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Working Out in a Green Gym


Today, I had my first circuit training session. The concept is very similar to Curves. This is a way to get and stay fit with a minimum of time and effort. There are about 15 stations and the object is to do two or three circuits spending about 30 seconds at each station. With a warm up, quick stretch and cool down, it should take less than an hour.

The best part, besides being free, is that you can work out in a park setting in the fresh air with birds singing and today, at least, the smell of new mown grass.

Green Gyms are a Canadian creation found mostly in parks back east. The town received funding through the GVRD and Participaction to install this equipment in our park. You can learn more about this company at http://www.greengym.ca/Aboutus.html

Monday, May 3, 2010

Minnekhada

My daughter calls me Mary Poppins because I take my umbrella on our Sunday afternoon walk/hikes. This week we decided to explore Minnekhada Regional Park in Coquitlam. The walks are along a marsh area and through some rock bluffs and cliffs. I need to find an umbrella that also works as a walking stick so that I can make my way up and down slippery rocks.

After about an hour of walking, when the intermittent rain seemed to be more on than off, we decided to explore the hunting lodge which gives this area its name. Acquired by the GVRD in 1981, this lodge was built in 1934 by Eric Hamber and later owned by Colonel Wallace both former Lieutenant-Governors of BC and was used for entertaining the wealthy and famous, including royalty. Today it is used mainly for weddings and conferences.

The period furniture is a little sparse but the architecture is very interesting - from the same era and in the same quality as Hycroft in Shaunessy, yet in a rustic Scottish Hunting Lodge theme. This would be a great place to have a Sunday, summer picnic. The lodge is only open to the public between 1 and 4 p.m. on Sundays.

http://www.greatervancouverparks.com/Minnekhada01.html

Another Interesting Read

It has the tone of a Malcolm Gladwell book and lots of good advice, particularly about flying. Many interesting anecdotes describe how people survived often bizarre accidents. Best of all though, when you finish this book, you are left with a sense of confidence that when you are in a life threatening situation, there are things that you can do to survive. Preparation and knowledge are key.


Even though Sherwood stresses that flying is one of the safest modes of transportation, take off and landing are the times when most accidents occur. He tells you how to be best prepared for these events.

He has a very interesting take on accidents in general.

He also points out that concentration camp survivors often go on to lead exceptionally successful lives. It may be more than just another 'whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger'.

All in all, this book gives you something to think about.