The body has been aching. I have the job of taking out 80 old mattresses and replacing with new. Some are up three flights of stairs. Most are king size. My main job, I keep reminding myself, is not getting hurt.
I am about half way there. I counted 40 in the underground.
About the only thing I have to offer an employer is my strength. Of course getting old is going to limit my worth. I don’t blame them. No big defined government pension awaits to soften the blow. That’s my own fault too!
I’ll hang in there as long as I can.
In the meantime the first beer tasted good. Give me another.
***
I grew up with the sound of dogs barking and trains going by. It has been replaced with the rev of motor boats and car alarms. That does something to you.
***
People walk by with dogs on leashes. They never bark. Not the dogs, not the people. Willow hates the leash and barks plenty. I let her. I think all the silent dogs scare her.
Every season has its colours. The sky in spring is always interesting, where it can be minus twelve in the morning and plus twelve in the afternoon. That does things to the sky.
A brilliant full moon cutting through the clouds here and there. Big puffy orange clouds in the longer evenings.
This morning the moon went down later, a little more light, so I didn’t have to take the picture in the dark. The purple colour on the horizon drives me crazy with joy. Only in Spring.
Things ain’t all bad. It’s easy to forget we are lucky. Busier than a one-armed-paper-hanger-with-a-seven-year-itch. That’s what my Dad used to say.
Going to one job than another without properly sewing up the previous job. That’s how it feels. That’s when we forget things. Getting older doesn’t help.
***
The birds have been singing like they are getting serious. Moving among the trees, putting branches between them and the sky. Plenty of cold weather coming. It’s only mid Feb after all.
***
The northern lights came out last night. Green and red shooting straight up in the east. The big and little dipper, along with Polaris seemed unfazed.
***
The snow crunches when walked on. The long legged dog breaks through. The small hounds run on top. A herd, about eight, Whitetail Deer, rustled, and run. Hooves scarring the frozen earth with fresh tracks. The dogs, perk, but stay close. Thank Christ! I’m too old to chase after them.
A wonderful weekend so far. Lisa and I went to school with Scarlett to hear her read. We were proud. The kids came over for supper. Willow barked and let on. Vocal she is.
Dave came over with a $100 bottle of wine to accompany us watching the sun go down. We drank it out of mason jars. I rustled up some cheese, meat and bread. We were like a couple of high breds.
There are worse deaths than bumping your head on the sky.
Lisa and I drove the loop around Lake Windermere, spotting Eagles and Deer.
The cold sure makes the wood split easier. We used to throw the wet birch aside until a cold spell. Same as the twisted spruce.
The cold can be accompanied by a brilliant day, blue skies and defined mountains. That’s today for you. They don’t come around often. It’s best to put your face towards the sun and count your lucky stars.
Watched the moon, still a crescent, go down with Jupiter. At one time, and for most of human history, the position of the stars and phase of the moon was of great importance, allowing us to plant and find our way.
It took a lot of common knowledge to get this far. Now humankind seems to care more about how we differ.
What was once a commonality, something to steer the ship, has been washed out and polluted with our own false sense of superiority.
***
When our girls were growing up, Lisa and I emphasized that they had to keep themselves safe. We told them everything from, don’t leave your drink, to stay with groups, and always trust your gut, among other things.
We tried to do it without scaring them. But the truth is the world is a tough place, especially for women.
***
I worked with a man who hated women. Every relationship he was in ended badly. He married and had kids and physically and emotionally abused them. He could be cheerful, even charming, but it would never last. He would be put off with a perceived slight or someone unresponsive to his advances.
Our girls were teenagers at the time. I remember thinking, this man was a predator looking for an opportunity. He may never have an opportunity and always stay on the side of the law, content on making the lives of the people closest to him hell, but given the opportunity he could wreak havoc on anyone unsuspecting.
He had a big influence on what we tried to impart on our two young daughters and keeping themselves safe.
***
The world is small that way. The dangers and beauty are always both right there.
A fine week behind us. The skies finally cleared and it was nice to get to see some blue skies. Lisa and I had some nice fires in the fireplace and went on a couple nice walks. Weekends are always the highlight.
The weekdays are good, I look for anything to make me laugh. Luckily I work with people that feel the same. It passes the time and makes some of the more difficult or trying work easier.
***
Last Tuesday, on the way to work, I thought I would go through the drive through at Tim Hortons and get a coffee. Early in the morning, off season, it shouldn’t be much of a wait. There was only one car ahead of me. I was in luck, I thought. Usually the line can be out of the parking lot.
He took awhile to order. When he was done I pulled up and saw he had ordered $101.64 worth of stuff! Of course, he was even longer at the pick-up window. The line up behind me was out of the parking lot. There was only one person in the car ahead. They had BC plates. Usually it’s the red and white ones causing grief. I was late for work when I am usually 15 minutes early. Tim Horton’s staff got him through and apologized for his actions, saying, with such a big order he should go in the front. I paid my $2.15 for my dark roast, black. I envisioned a School Board Employee, someone in management, buying a round of coffee, bacon and egger sandwiches and doughnuts for the early morning meeting, thinking everyone else in the world is on their lazy ass schedule.
What can you do, but laugh.
***
A rotten tooth above the gum line of the valley bottom.
The mountains have light around them. The colours are gray with blues, days getting longer, not in the morning yet, but in the evening. In January you take what you can get.
Tomorrow is Monday, I’ll get up and do it again. And if I don’t feel like it, I’ll remember how many times I didn’t feel like it, but did it anyway.
Spent most of the day cleaning the house. Lisa did the bulk of it. She doesn’t like knick knacks or clutter so cleaning goes pretty fast. I like doing the bathrooms, vacuuming, the easy stuff.
Lisa asked me to tidy up the basement. That’s where the bulk of my stuff is. Books, books, and more books, papers, journals, negatives, pictures, knives, sports equipment and old furniture.
There is no good reason to hang onto all that stuff. It is not valuable, it’s only worth something to me by the memories it evokes.
***
We also have plenty of supplies. Mason jars on a rack. Preserves from last summer that will be eaten up plenty this Christmas.
A full freezer bursting at the seems. CBC and Chrystia Freeland keep warning Canadians the economy, climate and world order are going to hell. Grocery prices are high and going higher.
I don’t know what to do, so I buy a piece of meat and put it away for when we are starving.
The way things are going we’ll have to buy another freezer.
***
Plenty out there waiting to get us. I wonder if we would be safer if I turned off the news.
***
The bank has been calling. They want to know what to do with the small amount of money in my pension plan earned while working for the government. It comes due every year. I usually turn it over at the lowest rate of return.
They tell me the money is going to be eaten away by inflation. I know what they are saying. They tell me it may as well be stuffed in a mattress.
They look at me like the fool I am, little do they know, my freezer of meat get’s more valuable every day.
***
Can you blame the youngsters for not wanting to contribute. It seems like a lost cause.
Unlike when we grew up, they don’t want material things, that’s been drummed out of them long ago; they will never afford it, they only want stability, a promise for a future that doesn’t involve endless war and environment destruction.
The shit is coming at them like driving 90 in a snowstorm. You either get blinded or hypnotized, it takes everything you have to keep it out of the ditch.
***
Still when it is all tallied, everyone on earth has done this, it’s been an experience.
Palliser Pass 