SADNESS

         I have one memory of my son's sadness that remains with me.

        Me !  of all people went to cub camp. There were about 50 kids and we were at a permanent scout facility 

. We were tenting and I was with my son and two of his friends. The tent and tenting was chaotic. They had a hard time getting ready for tent inspection. Many good  activities were organized for the kids. 

      One activity was archery. Supervisors took a few kids and showed  them how to shoot with a bow and arrow. the kids plunked away at some targets and had a good time except for one kid. MINE!

      When the activity was over and the equipment was being put away, I found my son in great distress. He did not have any success in archery. I could always tell when my son was in distress. There were sobs and tears. I suggested to him that we get the archery equipment and go by ourselves and try archery.

     Brian is a lefty. Right handers were teaching the kids to use the archery equipment. He could not function from the right. It was hard for me to show him how to shoot right. Somehow we got the proper procedure. You guessed it. He nailed some targets and immediately he was happy with his success. 

     I will never forget how absolutely crushed he was by not being able to use  archery equipment.

MUSIC

              In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am.

                                                                     Charles Mingus

              This is a very deep thought of an artist. Charles Mingus was an American Jazz artist.

MEMORIES

           Our children give us  some fantastic memories over  the time we have them. Well, I still have my children. They just don't live with me.       

         Both of my children have given me one striking memory.  I will describe these memories in separate posts.

         One pleasant summer evening I took my daughter on a bike ride. I think she was only seven or eight and we rode 18 miles. I don't know what I was thinking by taking her an such a long ride. We had just finished a major city park development plan. One of the parts of this plan was a major trail system. There were several areas where the trails went through old gravel pits. On my own I would often stop in various areas for a look.

      So I stopped with my daughter in a quarry. All of a sudden I saw two very young fawns lying in some sand. They never moved. I nudged Michelle very quietly and told her to look. When she saw the new fawns her body froze. We watched the fawns for several minutes. They never moved. We moved on.

     I will never forget the instant freezing of her body when she saw the fawns. She knew that it was an important sighting and was something many people do not ever see.

WRITING

                   I like to write when I feel spiteful, it's like having a good sneeze.

                                                         D.H. Lawrence

                Well I can write easier when I'm not spiteful.

LIFE

        What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?

                                                               George Eliot

        Excellent suggestion,

EAR BUD BLUES

            I listen to a lot of music. I discovered earbuds a few years ago. Well, I really didn't discover them. I won them in a draw at the casino. I started using them and liked them. I listen to music on you tube and play a few games. I don't have a phone so I don't use them outside.

          They were a bit temperamental or maybe it was my lack of experience with them. I found that they would stop working and needed to be paired and "hooked" up again.

         I'd gotten to the point where I had them working for a long period of time. Then last week they stopped working , first one and then the other. Since I don't really understand their system I just try things and it usually works. 

       This time I tried a few things and I couldn't get them back. I asked my son for advice but it's difficult for him when he's not here to give advice. So I tried things. I think I tried the right thing at the wrong time and the wrong thing at the right time. I managed to get my earbud completely confused.

      So one afternoon I said , there must be a logical solution here. I went through the instructions again and again. The left earbud was on but the right one was not on. I knew they had to be paired again. but I couldn't get them to Pair. Somehow I had them side by side in my hand and the led came on. Hey!  They were pairing. 

     All I had to do was go to you tube and connect them. 

    So I'm in business again and listening to music.

    At this time I listen to Austrian folk music and South African folk music. Austrian folk music has lots of vocal and brass. The South African has no vocals and the main instrument is the concertina.

    So What will I find next? What do you listen to?

SNOW

     Into every life a little snow must fall. 

   Well, I guess this would be impossible for the tropics and many other parts of the world.

   Well, I'm just trying to tell you that we had  a little snow last  night. It's common to get snow at this time of year. Most of it has already  melted.

      For all Canadians, have a great Thanksgiving.