Renovation, renewal, restoration exist in roughly equal measure in the universe as death, decay and destruction. It just does not always seem that way.
If you think of Millennials as life-sucking slackers I put forward exhibit A. In 2018 Maggie graduated with her Business degree, moved in with David, hiked a good chunk of the Appalachian Trail and found herself a real job – which she still has at the time of writing. She will now retain that most sacred right to tell her own children, “for chrissake when I was your age I was living on my own, with a job and contributing to an RRSP…so stay out of the holodeck and get to work!”. That is a good restart into early adulthood.
The actual home renovation was a logistical challenge of moving stuff, not being home and generally getting out of the way. Luckily Carolyn has tremendous skills in this area and saved us all. We had originally planned to live on our boat at the Boulevard Club during the renovation but then we discovered our typographical error. We are not part of the 1%, we are part of the 11%, which is not twice as good. We don’t have a boat, so we lived in our basement and cooked on a hot plate.
Hannah has a renewed commitment to pursuing health sciences after her internship at the Sick Kids Hospital, Speech Language Pathology clinic. Basically, it was a dream job where she had lots of autonomy and impact helping young people struggling with stuttering. We were pleasantly surprised to see her succeed in the role, as we generally think of Millennials as life-sucking slackers.
The polar bears arrive in Churchill, Manitoba every November because that is where the pack ice starts to form on the western edge of Hudson’s Bay. They hunt seals from the ice and they arrive weak and emaciated from starving during the Summer when there is virtually nothing for them to eat.
Like me, they are at the top of the food chain, they have no natural enemies and therefore no fear. So, they can be observed just hanging out. But, at 1000 lbs and ten feet tall it takes a lot of food to sustain them. Some don’t make it and starve waiting for the ice to form. Most do make it. I know how they feel: house, cars, vacations, school, RRSP. Thankfully, we have a good ice flow here and a steady diet of seal. Carolyn explained all this to me when she got back from her Smith family arctic safari with Barb and her sisters. They loved it.
Still on the subject of wildlife, when Mr. Porter jammed himself under my front bike wheel, I knew I was headed for a little destruction. Thankfully, the doctors rebuilt that hip and I could restart life’s simple pleasures like walking. There where also many friends, family members and medical types who helped immensely over the last six months. So, what did I learn from the life-affirming cycle of trauma and recovery? That, once you get the hang of it, peeing into a plastic bottle while in bed is a fantastic innovation. It’s the “drive-thru” of bodily functions. Why get out the car to eat? Why get out your bed to whiz?
From all of us, a belated merry Christmas and very belated happy Hanukkah. We hope your start in 2019 is strong and you find the energy and commitment to bouncing back from whatever adversity fate is dealing in the new year. We are here to help.
If you think of Millennials as life-sucking slackers I put forward exhibit A. In 2018 Maggie graduated with her Business degree, moved in with David, hiked a good chunk of the Appalachian Trail and found herself a real job – which she still has at the time of writing. She will now retain that most sacred right to tell her own children, “for chrissake when I was your age I was living on my own, with a job and contributing to an RRSP…so stay out of the holodeck and get to work!”. That is a good restart into early adulthood.
The actual home renovation was a logistical challenge of moving stuff, not being home and generally getting out of the way. Luckily Carolyn has tremendous skills in this area and saved us all. We had originally planned to live on our boat at the Boulevard Club during the renovation but then we discovered our typographical error. We are not part of the 1%, we are part of the 11%, which is not twice as good. We don’t have a boat, so we lived in our basement and cooked on a hot plate.
Hannah has a renewed commitment to pursuing health sciences after her internship at the Sick Kids Hospital, Speech Language Pathology clinic. Basically, it was a dream job where she had lots of autonomy and impact helping young people struggling with stuttering. We were pleasantly surprised to see her succeed in the role, as we generally think of Millennials as life-sucking slackers.
The polar bears arrive in Churchill, Manitoba every November because that is where the pack ice starts to form on the western edge of Hudson’s Bay. They hunt seals from the ice and they arrive weak and emaciated from starving during the Summer when there is virtually nothing for them to eat.
Still on the subject of wildlife, when Mr. Porter jammed himself under my front bike wheel, I knew I was headed for a little destruction. Thankfully, the doctors rebuilt that hip and I could restart life’s simple pleasures like walking. There where also many friends, family members and medical types who helped immensely over the last six months. So, what did I learn from the life-affirming cycle of trauma and recovery? That, once you get the hang of it, peeing into a plastic bottle while in bed is a fantastic innovation. It’s the “drive-thru” of bodily functions. Why get out the car to eat? Why get out your bed to whiz?
From all of us, a belated merry Christmas and very belated happy Hanukkah. We hope your start in 2019 is strong and you find the energy and commitment to bouncing back from whatever adversity fate is dealing in the new year. We are here to help.
