Hopelessly romantic!

This past week shaped up to play out with normal flair with some supply work, some refereeing, some Wynnie snuggles, and some two-wheeled explorations, but as the second hand ticked it's way around the clock face, something pretty cool occurred. 

Carrier Pigeons from Greece ... our family has officially expanded ... well, sort of officially.

For background, our son Keaton fell head over heels for a young Jessica Lyver, an amazing young lady from Erin. Following a romance blossoming that eventually saw them do a relationship in a less traditional manner, complete with a joint home purchase in "old" Guelph, our lil' KP eventually decided she was The One! Being the helpless romantic that he has become, he popped the BIG question to the apple of his eye two years ago on a trip to Italy, Mediterranean in the backdrop, atop an epic Cinque Terre hike. Much to his relief, she tearily responded with a YES, and the planning began in earnest. What started out as a potentially private affair ... think 2026 style elopement ... has morphed into something still small but sprinkled with a more traditional flavouring. 

Back to Greece, KP + Jess booked quite the excursion to the gem of the Aegean, complete with island hops and ruins, but the highlight was the private sharing of vows they booked for the anniversary of their engagement, on the shores of the Aegean. In their eyes, it was the sacred promise to each other, "To have and to hold, till death do us part", shunning the fact that Canada would still require them to do the paperwork once back on home soil. That notion germinated into a special day this coming fall, complete with a homegrown ruin of sorts, by making it legal at Guelph's own Goldie Mill, a historic gem in the city's downtown, site of an old limestone mill built by the Goldie family in the 1800's, but sold in 1918 to the Grand River Conservation Authority, who now book it out. These days, it is the site of a host of special occasions, and their ceremony certainly qualifies. During it's time, Goldie Mill included a foundry, cooperage, distillery, piggery and tannery so the history, while definitely Canadian, is front and center, sort of like Greece.

As far as our family sees it, the Lyver's have officially hitched their cart to the Porter clan ... or we to them, if they'd prefer to see it that way ... with only the ink on the paper left to dry. I don't mind admitting that we had some misty eyes when we received the photos of the moment via i-message, and considering that Greece is 7 hours ahead, it would have been a post-celebratory late night, a favour we truly appreciated. It's pretty easy to see the joy and love in their eyes!

October in downtown Guelph, nature's paint pallet in full bloom, will be a very special day, and will almost complete our little family's development after Maddi + Chris employing similar timing in 2023. Now, all that remains is another grand child ... no pressure you two, just dreams of two wrinkled old beach bums.

Life is assuredly quite good these days.

Barrie the beautiful

My tap root is descending into the sands of Wasaga Beach, but I'll always have a piece of my heart that belongs to Barrie, my childhood home and the site of so many awesome memories, so when neat stuff happens that is flavoured with some Barrie spice, I take notice. A few pretty neat things happened recently that prompted this little piece.

Barrie is Home to the World's Strongest Man ... again!

Michell Hooper is affectionately nick named "The Moose" and he is one seriously strong dude! If you desire a more thorough background, CLICK here for the piece I wrote when Mitch won his 1st WSM. 

That's right Barrie, the World's Strongest Man lives in little ol' Barrie!

The 2026 WSM championships (CLICK for more info) were held in April and hosted in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA. Mitch totalled 56 points over 10 events, narrowly beating South Africa's Rayno Nel's 52 points. As with his first title, Mitch's secret is his otherworldly consistency across a wide assortment of lifts, meaning that while the max points for winning an event are nice to achieve, placing second or third across so many events ensures a spot atop the leaderboard. The graphic at the left is a screen shot from his Wikipedia page and is head-shakingly incredible! Qualifying for the final day by carrying boulders, pulling trucks, and squatting ridiculous weights, Mitch either placed 2nd, or shared 2nd, in each of the 5 final's events to take the crown.

What seems like a eon ago, I attended Queen's University in Kingston for my undergrad degree in PHE, now commonly referred to as Kinesiology, where I befriended a friendly giant named Todd Hooper. I've shared in past pieces that although I played for the Football version of the Gaels (Golden Gaels back then), my love was, and continues to be, basketball. Todd was not just a classmate, he was an integral part of the Gaels hardcourt during our time in Kingston, and that "bridge" led to a quality friendship. 

Fast forward a bunch of years ... 40th reunion this coming fall ... and our kids are now adults. Todd's only boy was an Uber talented, multi-sport athlete named Mitchell, and following a stellar high school career at Eastview SS, he chased first a football dream, the training for which eventually caused a lane change into powerlifting, before settling on the niche sport of Strong Man. The World's Strongest Man competitions, and their related competitions like the Arnold's, the Shaw's, and Rogue's, I term as niche only because there's a finite number of humans on this planet that possess the skeleton, discipline, and desire to compete in a wide variety of mind boggling events where moving ginormous weights in any prescribed direction is the focus.

In the event that you didn't read my first piece about Mitch, the quick-to-assume of you might shrug and write off WSM competitors as big on brawn, but not so much on brain. That would be a huge mistake! Speaking solely about Mitch, he has has a degree in human kinetics from the University of Guelph and a masters in clinical exercise physiology from the University of Sydney, but his passion is his very successful kinesiology clinic in Barrie. Truth be told, he only got into Strong Man because he wanted to understand what his clients were going through.

You read that right, good looking (like his dad), Uber smart, Uber athletic, and an all around good guy, he's a chip off the ol' brick and I'm sure Todd couldn't possibly be any more proud.

Barrie Central, alive still in the hearts of some former staff
Despite the large vacant lot at the corner of Dunlop and Bradford streets, the lone hint that anything cool existed is the obelisk-like chimney, the only remaining physical proof that Barrie Central once existed. The school, however, remains on the lips and in the minds of both alumni and former staff, memories that prompt wide smiles, hilarious stories, and fond feelings of friendship. 

Case in point, a passionate group of Central graduates has organized a reunion-like Celebration of Life to honour their alma mater's closing 10 years ago this coming June. If you're reading this, and you've a connection to ol' BCC, you can find more information about the celebration HERE.

This section is not about that, as amazing as it seems, but rather a tip o' the hat to a stalwart group of former Central teachers who meet twice a month to reminisce, remember, and re-connect over a pint ... or a sort of pint since the beverage of choice these days is a non-alcoholic version of days gone by. Hey, it's still beer, just without the annoying after effects. 

I was beckoned to join the group a few years ago when I pressed the magic button in January of 2020, and since that time, I've joined my former teachers turned colleagues turned friends on a number of occasions at some of Barrie's signature establishments. McReilly's was a longtime choice, both for it's wide assortment of offerings and the nuance of the downtown vibes, but with time catching up to many of the group, a change was made to a location that offered parking close by, a choice that even the spring chickens like me appreciate. The waterfront location of PIE is the new home for the BCC Old Farts Club.

Along the wall moving left to right, you'll find yours truly, John Irving, Ed Leach, and Rick Kalte. In the seats you'll find Jay Malandrino, John Kraft, Tom Krawczyk, Bill Huddleston, and at the very back, Don Stephen. Others who have contributed to the banter would include Bruce Rumble, Don Lillow (RIP), Bob Irwin (RIP), Doug Eves, Ron Andrews, and Brian Honey. Even Brad Chestnut and Rob McClung show up every now and then to the group's great delight.

The observant of you will immediately question the infamous JayMal ... he's not retired, you might say, so why is he sitting there smiling like a Cheshire Cat? In the spirit of inclusivity, the group welcomes any and all kindred spirits who would share their BCC experiences. Besides, JayMal's the best, and he keeps the average age stats in check! HaHa! With Central being nothing more than a group of outstanding memories, any former staff member is technically retired from there, and our group would welcome all with a warm hug and a big smile!

If you fit that bill, feel free to reach out to me or any of the group to inquire when the next meeting will take place. Even though I don't make every meeting, considering that I now live in Wasaga Beach, I treasure every one I do attend because these guys brighten my day each and every time!

Keep doing what you're doing Barrie! 

Still thinking about stuff

I've really enjoyed putting on the Thinking Cap for a couple of previous pieces (Click or Click) so I thought maybe one more time. I honestly cannot recall where I got these questions from, or what inspired them, but a quick Google effort resulted in dozens of potential choices so it literally could have been anywhere. 

I find that there is something deeply satisfying and cathartic answering these queries with heartfelt honesty, even if it creates a considerably vulnerable position by baring personal items for the Keyboard Warriors to react, however they may choose. I have decided that I now know myself pretty well after all these years, and more importantly, I am very comfortable with who I have become, so being vulnerable is not nearly as threatening as it once was. 

I'd love to have a conversation with you about what your answers might be to any of these.

What have you given up on?
We all have dreams.
Dreams are different from aspirations, at least they are to me.
Building on that, dreams and aspirations are different from goals.

To me, dreams are the stuff of "what if" or "imagine if", the thoughts that consume us when we sit quietly, watching the snowflakes swirl or raindrops drip or branches sway, as we entertain our grey matter with ideas that we anticipate might change the Life that we are surrounded by. They're the Lotto Max influence. They're fun to discuss with your special someone while commuting somewhere or basking in the glow of a fire.

Aspirations and goals are different. To me, aspirations are the long-term, often intangible vision or "the why", while a goal is the concrete, specific, measurable milestone, or "the what", needed to reach the aspiration. Goals are the actionable targets that serve the broader aspiration.

While we all have some of these, though not all of us have all three, and I would propose that it hinges on our station in Life since the circumstances of the day to day will influence our "what if", "why do", or "how can" ruminations. We are cautioned so often by influencers or "coaches" about being present or in the moment lest we dwell on issues out of our control, but if you're anything akin to me, you likely have decisions/actions that you harbour regrets about. The minuscule ones are easily dismissed, the fodder of a quiet moment of introspection, but should you have one that clings and causes revisitation, that energy can spark so much negative inner dialogue, warping the perceptions of the here and now with it's lens. 

That's where the giving up happens, the dream or aspiration tumbling like the proverbial house of cards under the weight of self-imposed lashes of the chalice as punishment for some deed left incomplete, the most extreme of which can cause alterations to our sense of self-worth or self-confidence. Our locus becomes external, fluctuating with the response/input of others, like a sail in the breeze. 

I am blessed to have enjoyed the influence of two amazing parents whose tutelage included allowing me to make mistakes, gifting the opportunity to learn how to stave off the fickle roller coaster of other's opinion by sustaining a solid foundation of belief in me, and what I'm about. It has served me well throughout my years, not only as an athlete and coach, but also as a teacher and parent, a "super power" I am incredibly grateful was harnessed early on. I have boat loads of minuscule regrets, so many that I've long forgotten their nature or circumstances, but if I'm honest, I have very few of a substantive nature, and certainly none that have caused the figurative rainclouds of pessimism. 

I guess that's a really long way to say that I haven't given up on very many things.

What do you do when other people don't like you?

It's an interesting question, if I'm honest, because the answer will have a great deal to do with your mindset. Caring about the opinion of others boils down to
(a) how much their approval means to you,
(b) how much you like yourself, or like the way you handled the thing that led to their disapproval, and
(c) how content you'd be going forward, considering their disapproval. 

The answer will also vary widely from person to person.

At this point in my ripening, if asked this, I would respond with a non-committal, unemotional, shoulder-shrugging, "Not much." Oh, there was a time where approval of others for an assortment of issues or decisions was paramount to my enjoyment of the day, but I will confess that these days, the number of people in the group that I would lend heed to has diminished to a little more than a handful.

Besides, as my brother's T-shirt states Aren't I a f#$king ray of sunshine and what's not to like? HaHa!

Seriously, it boils down to intrinsic or extrinsic valuation ... if you're happy with who you have become, you see the world and it's happenings through the lens of "I like me" and things that don't jive with what you hold dear are of little importance. On the flip side, if your lens is "I hope they like me", things that don't jive with what you hold dear can significantly impact your happiness. 

So my answer to the question hinges on being true to myself and my self-concept.

To be clear,

I like me ...

I like how I've lived and am living ...

I have a small group of people whom I hold dear ...

I have boat loads of people I call friends ...

If someone doesn't like me, Meh, but given some time, my little ray of sunshine will eventually brighten their day, and things could potentially change.

Thanks for reading!