Mississauga is really upping their game!

There is something very satisfying about seeing your tax dollars at work. The city I live in has really improved their snow-clearing practices this year. A small plow now clears and salts our sidewalks, and the big plow that clears the road has a handy scoop on it that clears the end of our driveway as it goes by. I find the whole thing very thoughtful. No more chipping away at the beaver dam of ice and snow at the end of the driveway! No more slogging to clear the two long sidewalks of our corner lot! Almost makes me think I didn't need to buy a snowblower after all.

This almost-senior with a bad back thanks you.

Five Things

Someone on Facebook asked what five things, placed in a pentagram, would summon you. For me it would be an oil lamp, a new Jenny Colgan novel, handknitted socks, a Milka chocolate bar, and a gold retriever puppy. That's the ultimate hygge combination for me.

I'm close to that today, in fact. Sitting on the couch with Brio, reading Jodi Picoult, wearing fuzzy socks, eating chocolate chips/peanuts/raisins from a bowl, beside a regular lamp, with the Fireplace Channel turned on. It's snowing outside, a lazy drifting of large, soft flakes (occasionally falling horizontally when the wind gusts). I can hear occasional laughter from the boys downstairs. Supper is already made and in the fridge. There's nowhere I have to be tonight. Does it get any better than this?

Multicultural Christmas Party

Had a blast at a church party yesterday evening, and for little introverted me, that's saying something. Usually volunteers from the congregation cook the turkey and ham, but this year they decided to avoid salmonella all together and had the event catered. We all just brought the desserts (soooo many desserts, that ranged from chocolate cake and pumpkin pie to pineapple and spring rolls).

Our church congregation represents people from all over the world. At my table, we had people from Poland, Lithuania, India, and the U.S. and Canada. The next table over was a Chinese family with darling daughters all dressed in festive red dresses with white faux fur trim, looking like mini members of the Supreme Court. (For non-Canadian readers, here's a photo from the SCC website to illustrate what I mean:) 

After dinner there was a short program of various singers, ranging from a small child singing beautifully in French to a Chinese gentleman singing Mary, Did You Know in a wonderful bass. There were sing-alongs and flute/piano duets. At the end of the program, we all sang Feliz Navidad, and to my surprise, the room erupted in people dancing and eventually forming a sort of loose conga line weaving around the tables -- Jamaicans, Chinese, Africans, Europeans -- though I noticed the actual Spanish-speakers of the room sat grinning at a table in the corner and didn't join the dance. Hilarious! 

Anyway, it was a surprisingly enjoyable evening, and I had a nice conversation with the Polish lady to my left whom I had never met before. Each Sunday in December, before the service, we invite anyone who wants to to come up to sing Christmas carols around the piano. She told me she didn't think she could sing, but she did a fine job with the sing-alongs, so I'd love to have her join us for the carols tomorrow and hope she comes. Everyone needs song in their lives, whether they think they're good at singing or not.

And then, in true Church fashion, it was all cleared away and cleaned up in about five minutes afterward. Came home and snarfed a few of my leftover toffee cookies and went to bed feeling very pleased with myself. I socialized! And lived to tell about it.

Do you agree with this statement?

I was watching a YouTube video this morning where the young man being interviewed stated that, essentially, you only care about other people once your own needs are met.

It took me aback. I immediately thought of lots of examples where a person will go without in order to provide someone else with what they need. The mother who goes hungry in order to feed her child. The man who gives up years of his life and any hope of marriage in order to care for an invalid parent. But those are family situations, and maybe the call of your own personal tribe is an exception to the rule. However, when you delve deeper, perhaps the person doing the sacrificing actually gains something greater (in emotional terms) than the thing they sacrificed. So...maybe there's some truth to it? I don't want to think so, but...maybe?

It would also help explain why so many people right now don't seem to care about the suffering of their neighbours. Can turn a blind eye to injustice. Can be apathetic---or at least unsympathetic---when someone around them is going through fear or pain. In these tough times, if the majority of people feel their needs aren't being met---either financially, physically, socially, spiritually, whatever---then maybe they truly can't focus on anything but their own unfilled needs. So we let others fend for themselves, sink or swim, or aren't even aware of others' trauma, because we're so caught up in our own. We don't see our neighbours as part of our family unit. We only care about something when it affects us directly.

I also recently heard an interview with a woman who said she'd never found religion to live up to its hype. That there wasn't such a thing as true community looking out for each other, as organized religions claim. I was saddened by this, and I'm aware of how extremely lucky I am to belong to a religious community that truly does help and love and care for each other. I feel confident I could put out a call for help and others would cheerfully answer, not because it's expected, but because they really do care and want to help. I see people befriending each other at church and know from experience that it's (in the majority of instances) genuine. Is it perfect? Of course not. But maybe some of that success and comfort comes from knowing that we're all trying to meet our own and each other's needs together, as a joint effort. That we see each other as literal brothers and sisters. 

The woman also made the argument that those who perform acts of charity or fellowship see themselves as "earning" points in heaven, hoping for a spiritual reward for their behaviour, and therefore it isn't selfless, it's selfish. The only true sacrifice would be if one thought one was giving up one's only hope for happiness or salvation in order to rescue another. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think most people who see someone in need and reach out to help aren't thinking first of "Oh, I'll get brownie points for doing that" or "What's in it for me?" That is a very cynical view. But, granted, they do know themselves to be a certain type of caring person, and they want to continue to be that kind of person and not have to come to terms with a different view of themselves. So...maybe? What do you think? Is it just part of our make-up as humans, or can we transcend it?

Burlington Welsh Ladies Chorus - the antidote to the winter blahs

A few weeks ago my friend and I joined a women's choir in Burlington that sings in both English and Welsh. I studied Welsh in university and did a summer WLPAN course in Wales many years ago, and since then I've looked for opportunities to use this beautiful language. So when I saw "Welsh" in the choir's name, I jumped at the opportunity.

It's a fun group of friendly, talented women, most of them my age or older, and they sing "off book," which means everything must be memorized. They have a concert tonight, but I don't have everything memorized to my satisfaction yet, so I'll hold off and perform in their smaller-venue concert on Monday instead. I'm enjoying singing Annwyl Faria and Suo Gan, among other songs -- I love the sound of Welsh in my ears again! Suo Gan is a tender lullaby, and having just celebrated the birth of our little granddaughter, it moves me to tears sometimes when I sing it.

In addition to the whole Welsh aspect, though, there's also the boost that little bit of weekly socialization gives me. It's just the right amount -- no small talk really required, we're all focused on the music -- but having a common project and aim is invigorating, the women are lovely and welcoming, and I think participation will help stave off the Seasonal Affective Disorder to some degree.

New Baby!

Our new granddaughter entered the world yesterday! She's this son's first child and our third grandchild. Once the dust has settled and they've recovered a bit, we'll head north for a visit, maybe on Monday. Joy, excitement, maybe a bit of trepidation, great hopes, absolute love. My daughter in law is a trooper, my son's going to be the best, most gentle and loving father, and I'm just so pleased with everything right now.

And...Boom! winter is over.

Well, maybe not COMPLETELY over, but certainly on hiatus. Within a couple of days, the temperature has shot back up to 11 and the snow is gone. I wore just a sweatshirt to walk the dog, and we saw roses blooming beautifully. Went out and raked leaves. Thinking about giving the lawn one last mow. This is crazy.