Why is it that...?

Since I have gone paperless with Bell Mobility, I have been late paying my bill THREE times, something which never even occurred ONCE, when I received my bill by mail.  Their "system" error and NOT forgetfullness on my part, caused this last late payment. What REALLY irks me in all this?  I will probably be dinged late charges, which I have no intention of paying. Imagine ALL the other people who are not penny conscious like I am, who will pay their late bill charges even though they never received their bill by email either.  They will just think they were forgetful, MAUDIT!

I can never find a nail file when I need one? I keep one in my night table, another in my purse, another in my TV basket, one in the bathroom, one in my study... yet they have ALL miraculously disappeared into thin air when I go looking for ONE. Where did I finally lay my hands on one? In my traveling toiletries case.  FRANCHEMENT!

Why is that it takes me MORE time to get Vimy's MUTTLUK bootees on him, to go out walking, than it does to help dress nineteen, four and five year olds to go out at recess? PATIENCE!!!

Why is it that a four year old will argue black and blue with you, insisting that he/she is NOT wearing their snowpants to go home, when they have ABSOLUTELY no chance of winning that argument? 

Why is that on blue bin recycling day, when it happens to have snowed ALL day while you were at work, that the cover doesn't fall back into place, so that when you get home, you have to SHOVEL out your blue box, and not just your driveway?

Why is it January in November?  I got locked out of my house, and had to go fetch my spare key I had hidden outside. Where was it?  B+U+R+I+E+D  under over a foot of snow, in a sea of white in my back yard.  Did December fly by me, and I TOTALLY missed it?  PAS POSSIBLE!!   

Tis the season to be JOLLY.. I know.  Bah humbug!!😉😉

PS: Thanks to mon amie LC for the great poster quote :)

Get your PRIORITIES straight!!

We all need to prioritize in life. It is a fact. If you don't, things can go awry very quickly and can even blow up in your face BIG TIME!

IT was a dark and windy night (sounds like the beginning of a novel!)...  my cousine and I had gone for a lovely, long walk down by the beach, on a walking path.  Of course Vimy had to do his usual daily deposit, which I had to scoop. I can just hear my other cousine Annie say, "Only you can blog about poop and I will read about it!"   My little flashlight on my keychain decided to die right there, but I managed to fumble around and pick up what I thought was his little bomb. I then stopped to fiddle repeatedly with the flashllight, trying to get it to light up, but it was a goner.

WELL, all the way back I kept focusing on NOT dropping Vimy's poop bag.  So much so that I only noticed twenty minutes later, that my keys WERE NOT in my pocket.  People - N*E*V*E*R focus on dog poop, to the detriment of your keys.

I was in a TOTAL panic, because I only have one key for Jiminy.   My cousine continued on alone to go get her car, while I quickly retraced our steps.  I hadn't heard them drop, so I figured they would be, HOPEFULLY, right near where Vimy had started this whole mess. Of course, it is PITCH DARK, and I can't see a thing, even with the flashlight on my phone. I keep walking up and down that path, looking for my keys, but to no avail. I meet two other dog walkers. They haven't seen any keys. How could they? It's dark and they don't have flashlights.   All the while I am thinking... HOW do I get home, HOW do I get another set of keys made for my car, HOW could I be so STUPID ... you get the idea!

The second walker tells me he walks this way every day, so if he finds them tomorrow, he will put a notice on FB. Off he goes.  I continue to search d-e-s-p-e-r-a-t-e-l-y, when I hear him yell back at me.  Lo and behold! Yo my cousine had driven up, and where she stopped to park her car, her headlights had shone right ON MY KEYS!  I was estatic, to say the least!

I was so happy, so excited and so discombobulated by the whole affair, that I thought I had lost my phone as well, when I drove away from her place. I returned to check my entire car.  I asked Yo to check her car, which she did but she A=L=S=O had the presence of mind to call my line. My phone rang, from where I had tucked it...in the lefthand corner of my dash, totally invisible in the dark. WHEW! I HAD TO REMIND MYSELF right then and there... TO BREATHE!!!

Thank you God for younger cousins who look out for their ditzy older cousins.  I will no longer be overly focused on being "Écolo!" (Green!).  LOSING a bag of dog poop is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!   LOSING my keys would be close to it!

There IS good in the world!

You may NOT think it. The world we live in now seems to be a very dark, nasty, unkind, combative, divisive, and intolerant kind of place. We have always had conflict, but that conflict seems to be spreading like wildfire.  I feel that democracy, as we know it here in our beautiful and free western world, is very much threatened.

This blog is dedicated to my only grandchild, Sophie, who is five and one half months old. She is my hope for a better world!

I have therefore decided to put a real positive spin on my blog, and talk about GOOD, not EVIL!  We all want to have hope in humanity and we want to believe in the inherent goodness of ALL our fellow human beings. Well, my faith has been restored this week, because I met one of  these "good" people.

I will call him Mr. Elf, ( M. Lutin), because he does INDEED live up to that name.

Mr. Elf lives in my city.  He has a beautiful home, and by extension a large garage, and A HUGE spread of land in his backyard.  I mean acres and acres of land: beautiful land dotted with hardwooods, cedars, pines, birches, firs and spruce trees.  He has made a wide trail that wends its way all through his property.  His wood chipper chips all his dead wood, which he puts down on the trail. In some places you trod on leaves, or moss/lichen, or pine needles, all of which makes the trails soft on knees and feet.  Fresh wood chips emit a delightful scent too. On his trail you can catch a glimpse of our beautiful Baie des Chaleurs, as well as enjoy hiking a stretch that hugs a marsh, which meanders out to to the Baie.

What does Mr. Elf do with all that land?  Other than work at improving his trails?  Well, he used to work at the hospital.  People would ask him what he had been up too lately.  When he retired, he  always replied, "Pâpital!", which is a contraction of the following words, "Pas à l'hôpital!"  His passion? He has turned his beautiful, magical forest into a hiker's haven, for ANY and ALL who care to come stroll, walk, or run through his many beautiful trails.  These five kilometre plus trails are all named, and well posted throughout Sentier Pâpital.  You need never fear getting lost.

There are thoughtful additions to the various trails, all the way throughout his little woodsy paradise.  There are feeding stations for chickadees.  He EVEN provides the seeds. You have a dog and no poop bags?  He provides those, along with a gentle reminder sign. There are benches to sit on, and at the very end, when you turn around, he has built a fabulous gazebo overlooking the river and marsh.  Everything you see, Mr. Elf has put up at his own expense.  He obviously loves the outdoors and nature.  Everything is so well maintained.

On the "Traverse des Lutins" you will come upon an enchanted forest.  There is even an "elf" house.  You know elves live there because their clothing is drying on the line.  You notice the exquisite detail of an elf's tuque, carved into the window’s shutter. Mr. Elf built the elf house at his wife's suggestion, so that children who came to hike with their parents, would find the spot magical and captivating. I know I certainly did and I am an old woman. 

MISE À JOUR: UPDATE:  Cet endroit est enchanteur, féérique et romantique au bout!!  J'ai emmené ma petite fille Sophie ici, le 16 décembre. I hope that this visit to Enchanted Forest, is the beginning of an annual Christmas tradition. 

I know many wealthy people with beautiful homes and properties, but NONE who has so SELFLESSLY welcomed anyone to come enjoy what rightfully belongs to them alone.  We need more people like Mr. Elf.  That HE will go to heaven is a given, I think.  I, for my part, am sharing so that others may know of the beauty and goodness that shines in our community.  Beauty we find not only in our surroundings but the beauty found in the hearts of people like our Mr. Elf.

  

Sentiers des Pins

Wood chipped trail

I think I will end off my Hallowe'en week...

with the following quote from a little one in Kindergarten. My latest blog was not read anywhere near as much as it usually is read.  MAYBE my readers are feeling the same way Jay did, when he said the following to me?  Let me set the scene first though!  The gym teacher was late dismissing her class, and my nineteen, five year olds were getting restless waiting in line to enter the gym. I tried to distract them by having them do a few yoga poses, which they did so well, bless them.  However, one little fellow had HAD it.  Jay looked at the me and said, "I am getting tired of what you have to say!"

Don't children have such a way of making you HUMBLE?   BONNE FIN-DE-SEMAINE à tous!!!