I haven't taken the time to tame my wild thoughts over the past couple of weeks, so I compartmentalized them, much like a mental menagerie. To those that have offered appreciation for my sharing those thoughts once tamed, I offer my apologies for that. For one, there were a limited number of new-to-me things that were happening, but more importantly, I was choosing the "Honey Do" list for the new condo over spending time in front of my laptop. Considering how much I enjoy my authoring escapades, it's curious that I allowed myself to put it on the back burner. As the famous movie quote goes, "I'm baaaack!" Reminiscing over the last couple of weeks, I realize that our life has been punctuated by some things Blog-worthy, so here all y'all go ...
The most profoundly impactful of the events was the news that my brother Rob is going through a bit of a health scare. For anyone that hasn't had the pleasure of meeting him, this little story is more understandable with the knowledge that he has been a proud "Duck Dynasty" alternate for a number of years. His beard was something glorious to behold, making him easily indentified in the photo on the right, taken at his 50th. I used the past tense on purpose because he recently decided to go from full beard to goatee, albeit a massive version, and the trim revealed a worrisome lump on the side of his neck. Multiple tests, biopsies, and a recent surgery to remove a tonsil affected by something that didn't belong, he is now waiting to hear what the medical community has up their sleeve for treatment as a result of the tissues removed.
It's the waiting that is the toughest part.
When you're not even sure of the questions that need to be asked because you don't have the information you need to formulate those questions around, you find yourself going down some rabbit holes that are pretty dark, and that doesn't do anyone any good. In the grand scheme of things, the wait time has been relatively short, and he's still trying to turn a corner with healing from the surgery, but follow up tests this week should bring some much desired information. I've tried to stay in regular contact with him but I have to temper my desire to help with paranoia of making a nuisance of myself.
He and his immediate family have enough to worry about right now.
Lightening the mood a bit, Joyce and I were able to make the much overdue trip up to Haliburton for a visit/check-in with my MIL Pearl. It's a difficult situation, if I'm being honest, because she lives by herself since my FIL Jim passed ... his 4-year "passing-versary" is the 25th of this coming week ... and she lives about midway between us and Joyce's brother Gary who lives in the hamlet of Cobden, near Pembroke. While you should know that she's a warrior, belying her almost 93 years by living on her own without a car and still sharp as the proverbial tack, it does create some worry for Joyce and I. On this particular trip, we had to take care of some financial issues that were looming so we proctored an appointment with her bank and came away extremely pleased with the service we received from the manager there, a lady named Jacquline I think. As a celebration of our good fortune, we enjoyed a most delicious lunch and chat, leaving the three of us full of good spirits and smiles. I forgot to take an updated photo while we were there ... the one above left is her 91st birthday.
Never shy about counting our blessings, we decided that we could attempt to combine the trip to Haliburton with a visit to Joyce's bestie, Cassandra, who after a number of years in Barrie, had relocated with her hubby, Robert, to Huntsville. Changing primary homes meant doing some significant upgrades to their summer home on Fairy Lake, so Joyce reached out to see if they would be up for a visit from us so that we could see for ourselves the outcome of the changes. While still a "work in progress" thanks to the cottage country tradesman mentality, we came away quite impressed with how the reno's were shaping up! Having stayed with Pearl until the late afternoon, we made the relatively short trek up highway 35, and arrived "fashionably late" for dinner.
We enjoyed yet another fantastic meal and chat, catching each other up on the nitty gritty of our families, capped it off with a pleasant walk around their little community, eventually surrendering to the "Sandman" in true retired fashion. The rising sun the next day brought with it both glorious temperatures and story book skyline as white puffy clouds and azure blue sky greeted us, the icing on the cake for enjoying a Friday in Muskoka. Robert is the only one of our foursome still "punching the clock" regularly, but at least he has been granted the welcomed privilege of doing so from the comfort of all that Huntsville offers. Joyce and Cassandra were itching for a kayak exploration of Fairy Lake ... well, Joyce was itching at least ... so I readied myself for quick rip around the cottage roads so that we could limit the disruption of Robert's work day.
I had never experienced Huntsville's rolling hills ... Holy Cow!
I had mapped out a route that was moderate, at least by my standards, but I soon found that while the distance "as the crow flies" was moderate, the elevation fluctuations inflicted on my thighs were extreme! Somewhat like the rolling hills of the Guelph area, Huntsville features double or even triple the elevation, making my old ticker scream for mercy on some of the ascents. While the inevitable downside of the hill was a welcomed respite, the speeds realized on cottage roads begged for caution, to say the least. As you might expect, cottage roads are sometimes asphalt, sometimes pock marked with potholes, and sometimes rutted, rock-infested ridiculousness. The worst of the last type came on the southern shores of Fairy Lake on the route home, featuring a daunting 17% grade (thanks to my Garmin for the data) that became the only hill on the day that forced the abandonment of my ascent as the need to stand out of the saddle didn't work well with the loose rocks and deep, rain-etched ruts, leaving my tires spinning unchecked. In the end, it was a very average 47 kms horizontally, but definitely one of the harder 47 I've experienced thus far in my cycling escapades.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Cassandra + Robert for sharing so generously!
To round out my list of smile-inducers, there have been a few smaller events that shone happiness on our lives over the past few weeks:
Thanks to a recent IKEA purchase that we had delivered to a depot in Barrie, I was reacquainted with a former student from my days at Central. Finding the depot was an adventure in itself, but entering the large warehouse area, I called out, "Hello! Anyone home?" only to be surprised with the reply, "I know that booming voice!" Turning the corner from behind a skid of boxes came Jeff, a student who was in my Barrie Central HPE classes on a couple of occasions. We had a great, albeit short, catch-up.
Like most teachers, I find reconnecting with former students AWESOME!
The guy that is responsible for my introduction to cycling is Kevin Simms, a now retired former colleague at Barrie North. Not one to sit still for very long, Kevin is the head coach for the youth cycling team called the Toronto Hustle. He and his charges are jetting off to Belgium and the Netherlands for a summer cycling camp pretty soon so I reached out to Simmer plus some of my other Simcoe cyclists to see if anyone wished to do a ride from Wasaga to Meaford and back with me. Unfortunately, most weren't able to fit that into their summer calendar but Jay Rothenberg quickly replied, a date was set, and the two of us enjoyed the pleasurable surroundings of western Clearview township on route to a scrumptious lunch at The Leeky Canoe in Meaford before heading back to our new condo for a well-earned beer.
Jay is such a nice person and has become a great friend! And best of luck to Simmer and the Hustle!
I'm not sure how everyone else handles a new-to-them piece of real estate but we feel strongly about getting a professional in to check the state of our various appliances. In that vein, I reached out to a former player from my GC State days, Jayden Norcross, to come check out and possibly service our furnace/AC. It always feels fantastic to catch-up with former players and at the same time, support them in their adult endeavours. Jayden's company, Greenleaf Mechanical, is co-owned with his dad and he was just what was needed. Plus we were gifted the opportunity to have a catch-up visit!
So proud to see my former players doing so well in life!
On a last note, I'll confess that this one is a bit self-promoting, but since selling our longtime home in Barrie, my Wall of Fame has been stored away in totes until we found ourselves in a situation that permitted putting a boat load of nail holes in the wall. The bedrooms in our new condo are on the smaller side, the extra one in particular, so the WOF is decidedly closer to the eyes than in our old home, striking an impressive presence thanks to the sheer volume. I don't mind admitting that my smile becomes a little brighter and wider when I take in those so familiar faces, partly with pride for a job well done, partly for the tremendous memories that come flooding out of their storage compartments in my brain, but also because so many of those faces have become dear friends.
I've unabashedly stated that a HUGE part of the decision to teach emanated from the reality that it is one of the few ways to coach and get paid in Canada. My WOF reminds me daily that I made a great decision, and while I had loads of great moments in the classroom, it was the moments on the pitch, court, or pool that are crystal clear. I unequivocally believe that blessings in sport shaped me in ways that classrooms could never match and passionately paying that forward is vital to who I am.
Special Note: To the 12 amazing ladies of my 2011 OFSAA Silver winning Sr Girls' Basketball team, I admit that there's something missing from the WOF that is priority #1 to take care of in the very near future. My humblest apologies that it has taken so long to enshrine that amazing season.
Humph, who'd have guessed I'd have some much to say?
Okay, everyone put their hands down.
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