Be Inspired

This will be my first sort of guest post on my blog. On Friday my Uncle Wilfred was granted, or he excepted, I'm not sure of the exact term... Perhaps had bestowed upon him, a well earned degree. I could not get away to attend the ceremony. My cousin Jane Curtis sent me an email saying that she would take some pictures and share them out. That not being enough for me I asked her to write something. Pictures are never enough, I need to hear a story.

With Jane's kind permission, I will share what she wrote for me with you. Take this story of my Uncle Wilf and use it when you feel like your best days are behind you, when all opportunity seems missed. Use the story when you need to cut the grass and weed the garden, but just can't find the energy.

Thanks Uncle for the inspiration, and thank you Jane for taking us there.



A Day to Remember
October 30, 2009
Wilfred Gregory Tschirhart receives his
Doctor of Philosophy in Geography at he age of 88
 
Today was a rare and special day. My Uncle Wilfred Tschirhart achieved his Doctor of Philosophy in Geography and quite remarkably at the age of 88 years of age!
The Wilfred Laurier University convocation took place at the Waterloo Recreation Complex with a graduating class of approximately 500 students.
I met up with my Uncle Wilf’s son Cousin Chris, along with my sister Judy, cousins Ed and Bill and then we were joined by our cousin Mary Jane who is Wilf’s daughter. As we sat waiting for the ceremony to begin we laughed and joked as we always do when we get together. We had excellent seats right next to the stage.
The arena facility was transformed with red carpet and a very large stage and a band played music to set the tone. Later we found out that all the musicians in the band were graduates of Laurier.
When the procession started there was Uncle Wilf right near the front in his beautiful gown and cap. He looked like a true scholar. His seat was near the front and second from the aisle on the side where we sat so we had a great view. The convocation began with the Chancellor for the University making a speech about education and future goals.
The Doctorates were recognized first and Uncle Wilf was the second to go on stage. As he proceeded to the stage the speaker remarked that he had achieved all of his educational degrees after the age of 65. At that moment the entire graduating class rose to their feet for a standing ovation, the only one of the day! This moment brought a proud feeling to my heart and a tear to my eye. What a remarkable achievement, extremely inspirational.
Uncle Wilf was also given a special gift from the book store.
After the convocation we got together to take photos and then the majority of us proceeded to a restaurant called Kennedys in St. Agatha where Uncle Wilf lives. We were joined by Cousin Ed’s wife Pauline and Mary Jane’s daughter Jessica and her boyfriend Phil. Jessica and her sister Rebecca had mid term exams today or they would have been there for their Grandfather’s marvellous achievement.
We had a lovely meal and further time to talk about the day. After the meal we went to Uncle Wilf’s for some more socializing and he opened up his gift to discover a book on the brain.
He remarked that he saw us all sitting together as soon as he got near the front and that having us there made his day more special.
He is truly inspirational and I can’t even begin to imagine all of his efforts toward this day.
I will never forget this once in a lifetime event.
 
 

Ten Foot Pole

Yesterday I was painting a difficult ceiling, it was above a stairway and it had a strange curve to it .
There was no way to use a ladder and I had no scaffolding, so I took out my telescoping pole and attached my roller to it. The job was going well, but when it came time to cut into the corner where the wall met the ceiling on the curve, the work began to slow down. I had to tape my brush to the pole and slowly, carefully, with great concentration, trace the contour.

Last night as I slept, I dreamt that I had come upon an installation of performance art. A woman sat in a chair behind a low barricade. Leaning against the barricade was a long bamboo pole with one end covered in a soft fabric. I picked up the pole, and with its soft end I traced along the contour of the woman's face, down her long neck to the V shaped depression where it met her upper sternum.

When I awoke my first thought was of blogging and the Internet. It occurred to me that the writing and the reading of blogs was somehow like reaching out and touching someone with a pole.

Poke, poke.

Quintana Roo

Quintana Roo is the name of a Mexican state. It is also the name given to the daughter of the American writer Joan Didion, I knew this for some reason, I had read it somewhere I think, perhaps in the lines of a book dedication. When I first heard the pronunciation of the name it was an Anglicized version, very much the way it appears.

When I went for a vacation in Cancun I notice the state name on the licence plates. I ask our driver the Mexican pronunciation, and he replied, (Keentawnaw Row) the last syllable was clipped short like it had been barked by a dog.

Anyway to the purpose of my post: I'm giving away this book, Miami By Joan Didion It's a first edition. The book was gifted to me years ago buy my brother in law Dave, maybe for Christmas I can't remember. I think that Didion is one of Dave's favourite writers. The guy is very serious about books, even the funny ones :), He has been a bookman all his life, or if you prefer the gender neutral, but less romantic term, bookseller.

I have read this book at least three times. I am rarely a person to read a work of fiction more then once.

If you wish to have your name in the jar for the chance to win this great read, all you have to do is add a comment sharing with us a person who you think has an unusual name. You don't have to be a regular reader of this blog to participate, you can be just passing through.

Lastly I should give credit to the person that I stole the idea from, Kendalee from Dance of a Painted Lady blog. I don't know how to form a hyper link, but if you give the girl a Google I'm sure that you'll find her.

Good luck all.

What's for Supper?

Curried beef Kabobs with potato. The recipe is totally off the cuff. I'm going to put them in the oven at the minimum safe temperature and let cook slowly while we go for a hike at Rattlesnake point with our pals the Reddins. When we get home we'll dig in. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Inside the Box

When trying to solve a problem, the personal development gurus will suggest that we get creative and think, “Outside the Box”.

I'm fine with this, I think it's a great idea, but the thing that they don't tell you is that you should take a peek “in” the box first, nine times out of ten thats where the answer is.

Thats where you left your keys...