Evangelical ?

The ‘E’ in ELCA is said to stand for Evangelical. We seem to be more intent on maintaining the status quo than spreading the Gospel. Were we truly evangelical church attendance should be growing rather than shrinking as it has been across all denominations. We seem remiss in our practice of spreading the Gospel to every creature. When my group studied Word and Witness we skipped over the Witness sections of the study guide.

Nowhere is this phenomenon more apparent than in the retention rate of our own offspring as members of our congregations. Each year we ‘confirm’ the fact that our youth have suffered through 3 years of classes and then we rarely see the majority of them again until they are prompted by parents to have a church wedding to legitimize co-habitation. Next appearance occurs when the grandparents present the babies for baptism to get them ‘done’.

Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Is engendering it in future generations a matter of nature or nurture? Whether or not church attendance and support is a mark of religious conviction and what the church should be doing to make worship relevant to future generations are meat for other discussions. Without sufficient bums in the pews churches cannot continue to survive.

Heading South in 2014

The trip began in the early hours of Sunday October 26. It began with a detour to the bank to deposit an unexpected cheque. As it turned out I made this run south just ahead of some rather wintry weather. I groaned at being hit by a gusting North wind as I walked across the lot to my motorhome. The young male customs officer was polite and efficient sending me on my way with a minimum of bother. Pennsylvania Welcome Centre was open and manned when I got there, Ohio’s was open but no one present to give the welcome.

When travelling from state to state or province to province there’s an art to understanding how far after the signpost to look for the turnoff you need to make. When highway speeds are high sometimes they don’t leave enough space to slow down in time. After missing it the first time I eventually found Cross Creek Campground in the middle of nowhere. No overnight frost this time round.

Made my way through Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis for the 250 mile hop to Terre Haute. Wouldn’t you know a southerly cross wind to match yesterday’s northerly. The quiet parklike KOA there gave me warm welcome in all senses. A cicada buzzed in the trees above my head as darkness fell and the pet donkeys brayed.

Awoke to thunder, lightening and rain. After gassing up contended with ill-lit poorly marked wet streets and highways with worn out markings. I don’t like driving on wet pavement in the dark particularly when the road is not marked. The day didn’t so much dawn as the darkness lessened and the world slowly became apparent. The Dennys west of Chicago remains the only outlet to provide decent coffee. The one I stopped at this day was busy but the Wi-Fi worked. Gas prices remained high in the North.

Allow me to inveigh against idiots who leave highway construction signs up after the construction is finished or when they go home for the night or weekend. I think there should be hefty fines levied against the perpetrators. After the tenth or so such abuse no one takes them seriously. The owners of Tulsa Warrior Campground have been running it too long. I was somewhat peeved after making a supreme effort to arrive during office hours to discover they’d gone home early. At least they leave behind the code for Wi-Fi which I eventually got to work. The place has a rather casual business sense, their residential campers being their principal income. Driving 560 miles in one day may have used up my tolerance. After discovering there’d be no place to park gave up on playing tourist in Tulsa, I needed the rest anyway.

Since my acquaintances in Lubbock couldn’t be bothered to return my attempts at contact gave up on making that detour and drove down to Lewisville just north of Dallas Texas. I-35 is a horror of road construction, dust, and heavy traffic from one end to the other the section through Dallas and south to Austin being bad whatever time of day you travel. All it takes is one collision caused by drivers following too close to back it up for hours and attempting to leave sufficient breaking distance seems to require some moron to occupy it. Detest lane hoppers.

Stopped at the Texas Visitor’s Centre which was open and manned though under construction. I was not attracted to the monument to a youngish vet with rifle in hand outside. Such centres are rarely at the border in Texas. When my GPS informed me I’d reached the exit for Lewisville Lake Campground the construction signs informed me it was closed, permanently. Abandon GPS and use horse sense.

Camping at Lewisville Park is still $8/night for seniors though the list of 20 fineable offences in the handout tends to make one feel unwelcome. In spite of threatening clouds went for a walk. The improvised benches around the lake are a considerable distance from the water these days. The “no fishing” sign at the boat launch is at odds with Texas Best Bass Lake sign elsewhere. Interrupted a session of advanced petting on a rather public picnic table.

Next morning waited out rush hour traffic as a locked gate precludes an early start. To no avail due to a collision blocking 2 of 3 lanes. Didn’t make Austin until 1:30 PM. Driving anywhere in Austin is a pain.

Public Safety and Taxes

Written in response to a questionnaire sent at public expense by a Conservative Government Member:

I still dislike polls and questionnaires because I find them formulated to elicit the response the designer wished to obtain.

Of course I want safer streets but we may differ in our opinion as to the means of obtaining that end. Have you read Jane Jacobs? Our streets remain safe because neighbours use them: Children walk to school, their mothers wheel them to playgrounds, walk to the store, in cities couples walk to work, social events, theatre and use mass transit. In American cities and states where this has ceased to be so it is an offense to allow your child to walk to soccer practice. Children who are taxied everywhere grow up unable to navigate their own neighbourhoods. Parents cause unsafe traffic around school grounds not designed for the volumes that have developed and their children become overweight through lack of exercise. Our massed media are guilty of concentrating on violence and crime at a time when the demographic who commit such offences is at an all-time low along with the crime rate itself. This coverage has created a sense of apprehension that has lead police services to demand ever bigger budgets and politicians such as yourself to pass legislation that invades privacy and civil liberties in the name of protecting us from them.

Who wouldn’t want lower taxes. But remember the state of California where citizens were given that option and the state approached bankruptcy. Alas our politicians set a poor example with the likes of entitled examples such as Bev Oda and Mike Duffy, gold-plated pension plans, and patronage. Canada’s most profitable companies pay no taxes and their owners employ tax accountants to find means such as family trusts to avoid paying taxes. Their donations to political parties are directly deductible from tax paid. Someone miscalculated and tried to build a power station in these donor’s back yards. Most sensible businessmen disagree with the idea of government handouts to corporations but if their competition is capitalizing on one they have no option but to buy in as well. Remember ‘corporate welfare bums’. Meanwhile have you read the auditor general’s report lately. Do we really want to emulate the American model where the rich live in protected gated communities and send their children to private schools while public services shrink, schools deteriorate, and ordinary citizens cope with the likes of Detroit or St. Louis or entire subdivisions taken over by gangs as in Southern California?

To answer your questions I don’t believe your government’s policies are going to attain either ends.

Thoughts on the Civil War

As I travel the American South it becomes more and more apparent to me that to many the war occurred yesterday. In one fell swoop an agrarian way of life, a genteel culture, and an indolent upper class were Gone With the Wind. As the war dragged on it became apparent that the armament industry and the minerals that fed it were all located in the North and Naval Blockades prevented smuggling. What resources existed lacked efficient rail transport because the much-vaunted states rights guaranteed that every state operated on an incompatible gauge. Resistance to central command didn’t help but as the war of attrition continued the South ran out of lambs to send to the slaughter and an entire generation of their brightest and best were wiped out. Even without emancipation and the war the hand-writing was on the wall. Slave labour may have been free but it was inefficient compared to the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution and the Factory Farm. Even today Labour Laws in many Southern States would make Dickens cringe all over again. Unless you work in a White Union Shop you are not guaranteed a minimum wage, workers compensation, regular work hours, a five day week, overtime, or even payment of your wages. Breaks and drinking water in high heat conditions are not guaranteed. In most cases slaves were better treated. With the assassination of Lincoln a punitive reconstruction and system of reparations the likes of which led directly to WW#2 in Europe were instituted one manifestation of which were the despised carpet baggers.

Heading East in 2014

The tale begins with a trip to Kitchener, Ontario to get my sewer hose replaced. As I’ve written many times before I would need at least 5 lifetimes to understand dealerships. Seems I have to remind them to order the parts needed for the work I need done. They did replace my sewer line.

The trip began in earnest at 3:30 AM Tuesday June eleventh in the rain. I’d filled my gas tank the day before so I headed east on the 401 through the construction hazards that litter the top of Toronto.

Stopped in Napanee for breakfast at Dennys and visited an En Route somewhat later. Refilled my gas tank in Morrisburg just before crossing into Quebec where I stopped to pick up bumph at the Welcome Centre. Paid the $3.00 toll to cross the Saint Lawrence on the new bridge and took the newly finished HWY 30 south of Montreal to Camping Aloutte. Passing through the countryside the bucolic odour of newly spread manure permeated the air. Note to self, don’t waste good money on crummy internet service again. Had supper and went to bed.

The rain continued off and on as I drove the pot-holed roads of the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Quite a bit of truck traffic near Quebec City but it tailed off as I drove down the Saint Lawrence. It was the construction I hit just before Rivière-Du-Loup that was the coup de grace. Stopped in town for a feed of St Hubert’s Chicken and a fuel up before driving across the new finally completed bridge to Rue de L’Ancrage and Camping Du Quai. It’s pleasant to receive a warm welcome from my host if not the weatherman. After driving 650 miles in two days it was time for a rest. The weather finally cleared on Sunday making the walk out to the point a pleasant one.

Monday morning dropped by IGA Extra for a few groceries before striking out for Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick. All but the last stretch of HWY 85 in PQ is complete but that last stretch is a doozy. Drove the temporary dirt road to visit the NB Welcome Centre which was actually open this time. Followed only a brief stretch of HWY 2 in NB before turning at Grand Falls for the drive through New Denmark and Paster Rock Game Reserve. The road through the reserve was pot-holed with broken shoulders a frequent occurrence. Fortunately I met only 15 vehicles in 200 miles. Once I reached HWY 11 South hit first a traffic light and then a train at the level crossing. Didn’t take long for 20 vehicles to get backed up.

Made the park just before the camping kiosk closed. Paid a brief visit to the Interpretive Centre before registering for my site. No probs there as the park was nearly empty. A walk over to the park store found a very bored looking clerk who sits and reads a Quebecois Romance Novel from 8 to 8. Little else open. The park is broadcasting a very strong Wi-Fi Signal but was not hooked up to any ISP, frustrating. In plentiful supply were millions of mosquitoes. Loads of rain, swamps, marshes and standing water make for ideal habitat. Keeping them out of my home proved impossible. What do you do when it rains all day? Read. When it finally stopped went for a walk on the nature trail and donated blood to the winged critters. I heard a ruffed grouse drumming and heard about deer and coyotes wandering the park. A fox walked by my RV and a groundhog resides under a nearby outbuilding. Rode over one morning to see the concession stand and walked out to watch the wet-suit-clad lifeguards in training. The 50º F water did not deter the children. Next day rode the trail system down to the interpretive centre, toured the displays and watched the introductory movie. One hundred and sixty-five families had their homes and livelihoods expropriated and destroyed to create the park. The gal at the desk and the one in the gift shop were both from displaced families.

Friday Morning, June 20 Set out for Nova Scotia. I had enough gas to make it to Sackville where I filled up before crossing into NS where it’s more expensive. Visited the NB Info Centre as well. Crossed into a drizzly NS and met the piper inside the NS Welcome Centre. No Halifax Chronicles on offer there. Got the info I needed and struck out for Masstown paying the Tollway fare on the way. Maple Syrup was in good supply as was honey. Picked up a loaf of raisin bread and fresh strawberries. Drove past the road to the Joudreys in HFX County before turning unto 101 for Falmouth. There I found an extension cord awaiting my hookup. Amy and Greg made it home later with his two daughters in tow, 18 and 15, the younger one has grown considerably in the last year. Saturday morning early a load of rock dust arrived which was wheeled into the pool enclosure where an above ground pool is to be installed. The day was spent dumping and later compacting the fill. Sunday was quiet and chore-filled though quiet was necessary as Greg took an overnight shift. Oscar and Jimmy, the dachshunds exercised my ears. I caught up on E-mail and cartoons after 6 days.

Monday Morning June 22 drove across HWY 14 in NS to 103 and thence to Lunenburg where I found an empty campground. After obtaining my site drove up and spent the day with my 96-year-old Aunt Muriel. Gossip, gossip, gossip. Tuesday drove up to Midville and stopped in to visit with my cousin Charles Smith and catch up on Midville Branch. Next visited the graveyard and walked up to find Milton Williams out. Learned the neighbour beside the cemetery is in hospital in HFX. Found Dan and Fred Gilbert home at the old Mailman place. Little is recognizable. The wood ticks are rampant. After giving a tour of my domain sat and had coffee and chat with Fred. Drove out past the old homestead on the Smith Rd and finding no place to stop drove through Cookville and back to Lunenburg. Walked out to the Top Knot for the recommended bacon-wrapped scallops with fries and a Propeller Bitter. A father and his two late teen sons sat beside me. Walked back along Bluenose Lane noting the forlorn vessel moored beside the fisheries Museum. Lacked the cash to get an ice cream so I walked over and picked up Pear Eau de Vie at Ironworks and raisin bread and sauerkraut at Foodland, no turnipkraut on offer. Settled in for the evening as the fog rolled in off the back harbour and the fog horn sounded.

Drove up to Halifax Wednesday Morning avoiding the Hammond’s Plain Road which read closed in any case due to construction. Made my sister’s just in time for Lunch. Got hooked up and got caught up online. Richard was working. On the only day it rained while I was there we drove out to the valley to visit the Annapolis Historical Gardens. It rained in torrents throughout our visit though the park offered good umbrellas on loan. I didn’t risk my camera in the wet. The days melted into one another. Richard did a second job Saturday Morning and in the evening we walked down for Strawberry Social at the United Church. Marguerite stayed to help with Cleanup. Seems they made $1306 on the day charging $12 each for ham, potato salad, and strawberry shortcake, coffee. Looked through Richard’s DVD collection and watched Leo a depressing unwanted child tale I’d not heard of before and Aurora Borealis with Donald Sutherland and Joshua Jackson. Albuquerque, one of four oaters proved predictable and standard western fare. After church Sunday we drove into Dartmouth for a feed of Clams and Chips. Fisherman’s Cove was crawling with traffic so we drove back home. On Tuesday visited Bedford having no luck finding a lighting fixture for my van. Did get Richard Wolf Hall at Chapters, he loaned me Bring up the Bodies. Richard was able to replace the light switch in my bathroom fixture for which I’m eternally grateful. And I washed my van and Richard and I polished it. On Wednesday drove up to Wilson’s and filled my tank for the first time in Nova Scotia, the price came down the previous Thursday Night. Shopped for a few essentials at Sobeys across the street. Shortly after getting home learned that Stanfest was canceled due to the approach of Hurricane Arthur. Decided to drive up to Saint John Thursday Morning before the wind could pick up.

Stopped twice along the way at RV Dealers with no luck finding lighting fixtures. I did see a 40-foot fifth wheel with working fireplace. Stopped at Masstown for more syrup and a few other bits and pieces. Drove HWY2 past Dieppe and Moncton encountering some crosswinds and turned south on HWY 1 to Saint John. The sarcastic old Quebecois Gatekeeper at Rockwood Park asked again, ‘Why would you want to spend a week in Saint John?’ Tom wasn’t home when I drove past. Set up backing onto young evergreens on the side bank opposite the washrooms in Site 106 finding it a bit downhill but hooked up my landline and settled in. In the fog and rain Wi-Fi can be dodgy and the electrical wires block the signal.

Came to Saint John to visit with my friend Tom and for two weeks we shared time together. Had him over for a multi-course spread on Friday night. On Saturday around 4:30 AM got the first tendrils of rain from Arthur and torrential rain sluicing down my windows by 6:00. Around 8 the wind started picking up rocking my RV less than gently by mid afternoon. By 6:00 that evening it was all over. Elsewhere 290,000 homes and businesses lost power as far as Fredericton and throughout NS and PEI. Hart Isle Resort in Fredericton was flooded and three RV’s and a car were swallowed by a sink hole. Sunday morning I walked to church in sunshine noting the fallen leaves, twigs and a tree at one point. Ten for worship with coffee after.

Highlights of two weeks in Saint John:

Seeing my friend’s new apartment.
Eating out at Mother Natures, Subway, and Vitos
Compline at Trinity Anglican Cathedral
Worship at Loch Lomond Senior Centre
Tuesday Night Historical Walk with David Goss
Wednesday Noontime Concerts
Harbour Walking Tour to Reversing Falls
Exploring Rockwood Park and Hilly Saint John
Backyard BBQ
Britt’s Pub Theological Discussion


On Wednesday arranged to move to a site where I could access a sewage line. Filled my interior 40L water tank while I was at it and got resettled. Thursday. Didn’t feel like doing anything and took my time getting off. Didn’t feel like driving in heavy fog anyway. The fog followed me all the way to Woodstock, NB where I stopped for fuel. With a rest stop of sorts at the Quebec border drove on to IGA in the Loup. Got a few essentials and a six-pack of Sleemans Cream Ale. Local Quebec Strawberries were almost the size of the wild variety. Stopped for a feed of Saint Hubert’s Chicken after emptying my milk container to make room. Got my usual site at Camping Du Quai. The kids were on duty now that school’s out. Liked the lad but the gal signed me in. Wi-Fi remained poor but I managed and wasn’t up to much Friday as I stayed over. Didn’t stray far. A noisy crew moved in Thursday night but left Friday Morning as I lazed in bed.

Somehow I forgot to change time zones and didn’t discover my mistake until I tried to visit St Hubert’s in Lèvis at 11:35 by my time keeping. They open at 11 EDST. Oh well. Watched a very red sun rise Saturday morning in what felt like the West, I do get turned around. Driving up the Saint Lawrence is a journey to the South-West. Got off around 9:00. No fog and no wind for which I should be thankful. Just a 300 mile drive on Quebec Highways that could be better. Not so much truck traffic Saturday Morning west of Quebec but more ‘Sunday Drivers’. Podcasts relieved the monotony. Gas in Drummondville was 3¢ cheaper than the fill-up I got at the retarded pump in Lèvis. Oh well.

Camping Aloutte saw me stuck beside a 3-generational family grouping nearing 20 with a petit garçon with his belly hanging prominently over his trunks and a butt crack smiling above the band at his rear. At least the A/C covered the racket. Opera on CBC. Toward evening walked up over the hill for the first time to see the extent of this campground. Should have had my camera as I had an excellent view of the ‘mountain’ to the south of HWY 20 whose noise followed even to the nature trail-woods road I found eventually at the back of the site. The insects drove me home again. The rear section extends to 400+ sites including group camping and is mainly residential seasonal camping. I needed the exercise.

Got off slowly again Sunday Morning though this time was off by 7:30. Most of HWY 30 and in particular the bridge across the Saint Lawrence is not in my GPS so it had kittens when I crossed the water. Had just enough cash for the toll booth. Stopped at the Ontario Border to visit the new En Route/Welcome Centre. Picked up a pile of Provincial Park info. Had brunch at the Lancaster Denny’s in part to read the comix. Their Wi-Fi was still in my tablet, my server was a ditz but I wasn’t in a hurry and the food arrived eventually. Had to ask for a coffee refill and it was scalding hot, almost boiling. Gassed up in Napanee and natch found cheaper gas later. Encountered a light shower in Kingston providing an extra reason to slow down beyond their proclivities for speed traps. Stop and go trom Thickson Rd until the highway expanded to 6 lanes before the collectors. Thundershowers around HWY 400 bunched traffic somewhat but I made it home unscathed by 4:30 traffic adding an hour to the journey. Always good that my passkey still opens the door.

Kouchibouguac National Park

The first thing that will impress you about this place is its sheer size. When you finally reach the visitor’s centre realize that you are 7 miles from the campground and the shoreline. The fact that there are 40 miles of biking trails trips lightly off the tongue until you start walking them, bring a bike and realize that mosquitoes and black flies do not require that you sign a blood donor card and come prepared. There are also several miles of board walks and at least 12 miles of nature trails. There are miles upon miles of beach among the sand dunes which are also home to the endangered Piping Plover and scores of shore birds. Don’t be surprised if a bear walks past your site or you see a coyote. Watch your pets.

The organized campground has electrical hook-ups and even Wi-Fi when it’s working but it also has bike to, hike to, or even ski to winter camping. There’s a campground store, food concessions, and rental concession. New are rental cabins and even rental camping gear. In season there’s a full interpretive program in both official languages.

An evening spring hike along the nature trail revealed Bunch Berries, Clintonia, Star Flower, Sweet Clover, Purple Violet, Canada Mayflowers, Pussytoes; Bracken, Sensitive, and Fiddlehead Ferns; a drumming Ruff Grouse, Wood Thrush, a Varying Hare, several woodpeckers, and a couple gurgling brooks. Which of the 70-some species of mosquitoes were droning around my head did not particularly interest me.

The groundhog living under one of the service buildings did not seem perturbed to have me get within 10 feet of him. With woodland, riverine, meadow, grassland, wetland, and shoreline habitat this is a birder’s paradise. Sit yourself down and let the birds come to you. Or book a trip in the voyager canoe.

Lord of the Rings

The ability to use stop action and frame by frame forwarding on DVD has allowed viewers to catch many goofs and losses of continuity in motions pictures both present and past. Tech people who end up onscreen. Motor cars that appear in period pieces, broken bones that shift limbs, clothing that is alternately wet and dirty, clean and dry.

In Lord of the Rings we get to see dramatically the way in which gunpowder made castle battlements obsolete. No longer could rebel nobles hide behind their walls and defy their kings.

Two items relating to Saruman and his Wizard’s Tower Orthanc have troubled me. When Gandalf is lifted by wizardry to the platform atop the tower he appears to have been transported right through solid stone. No stairs or openings lead to it. Saruman stands there to curse the travelers on the mountain top and on other occasions. In his final scene Grima Wormtongue joins him there.

In that same scene Saruman talks of the rings of the seven kings and five wizard’s staffs. Was this a scripting error? There were 9 Nazgul. We know of only 2 wizards in the books. I’ve never quite figured out where Aragon’s Ring of Barahir fits in the scheme of things, seemingly it has no magical powers. Further the third elven ring appears to be worn by Gandalf leaving Galadriel’s husband without one. Is Elrond a wizard, don’t remember seeing him with a staff.

Gandalf seems to go through a number of wizard’s staffs. He loses the original one to Saruman in Orthanc. Has another when he appears at Rivendell. Loses another in Moria. Has his staff broken in the movie by the Witch King of Angmar in Minas Tirith but appears shortly afterward with an identical one outside the Black Gate.

Paradigm Shift

Time was when an unruly child was sent to his/her room or grounded as fitting punishment. Today a more fitting discipline would be to be deprived of all their electronic devices and sent outside to play. A child’s bedroom used to be for sleeping accompanied by teddy bears and dolls. Today it contains a flat screen TV, sophisticated game controllers and remotes; fancy sound systems, tablets, computer systems, smart phones; DVD players, MP3 players, fancy head phones, even virtual reality helmets. Hence the phenomenon of Parents texting their kids that a meal is ready as the only means of making contact with a child totally wired into their devices.

It is ironic that in a world where people are in constant online contact actual human contact is becoming an endangered species. Hanging at the mall has been replaced by online chatrooms and Facebook. In this digital arena it is possible to have thousands of online friends from all over the world that one has never met, never will meet, and of whom you have no idea what they look like or if they actually are the person they claim to be. Cyber bullying has become a new catch-phrase and can be as emotionally damaging as the physical variety.

There’s a price to be paid for all this electronic interaction. Beyond the impossibility of socially interacting with thousands of individuals the lack of physical interaction is alienating. The irony of the situation is that persons with thousands of online friends are lonely. All this electronic ‘activity’ leads to a sedentary lifestyle that results in obesity. The psychological effects of violent electronic games is still under study; what has definitely changed is the desire for instant gratification. Online gaming is instantaneous. Whereas a game of chess by mail with a pen pal could take years online it can be over in minutes.

This addiction to electronic devices has had a definite social cost. Whereas my Father preferred to get in his truck and drive to talk with his friends rather than use a phone today people who are in the same room text one another. Online service providers and cell phone networks are capitalizing on this addiction. The anonymity provided by electronics has become a goldmine for the providers of pornography of all kinds. Even prelates succumb to its dubious charms.

Bemoaning the State of Chapters Book

Recently paid a visit to Chapters Book in Oakville. Can I be forgiven
for thinking that books should be front and centre in a bookstore rather
than a pile of gift crap. I don't go to a bookstore to buy candles and
cookware. As a serious reader I arrive with a list in hand of the books
I wish to find. I do not come principally to browse book covers and the
latest best-sellers though I may glance at them in passing. I do
appreciate finding books in alphabetical order by author and I deplore
the Blockbuster Video approach to placing books they wish to highlight
in favourable positions on the shelf out of order so they show up
better. We all know what happened to Blockbuster. It would seem by the
books featured on the back wall that Young Adult books are a priority.
Most of the titles don't interest me. Didn't know what Manga is and not
sure I needed to learn that it's Japanese Graphic Novels.

The coffeeshop is long gone as are the comfortable chairs where one
could sit and get acquainted with a book. Gone too are the tables. The
computers for accessing the catalogue are new but the interface is as
slow as ever. I stopped visiting here regularly when Heather took over
and banned EYE and NOW along with the Montreal Review of Books from her
stores. I used to drop in weekly to pick them up and buy a book or two
while I was there but no longer. When she banned Mein Kampf from her
stores I decided to download and read it just to see what the fuss was
about. By this action I was introduced to Gutenberg Books.

I suppose my main complaint is the fact that the place is no longer
inviting to bibliophiles. I realize that a bookstore has to make money
to survive but I find this crass commercialism repellant rather than
welcoming and inviting. When I enter a bookstore I want to smell paper
and ink not scented candles, bath salts, and kitchen spice.

May Days Rant

Because my Mother was encouraged to use formula rather than breast feed I was probably predisposed to develop allergies. The sugar and salt unnecessarily added to baby foods sets our palettes to desire sweet and salty foods. The fact that I grew up on the East Coast with soft water means my teeth are softer and the prevalence of Gold in the rocks there also means there’s arsenic in the water. The fact that I now live in a concrete building exposes me to more background radiation and the ‘city’ I live in exposes me to more background noise and pollution.

Every time we turn around we read of another food source that is good for us or bad for us. Can anyone drink enough green tea, eat enough oatmeal, blueberries, or drink enough water to stay healthy. Sitting too long is bad for us, milk, coffee, bread, salt, and now sugar are the great no, nos. The same people who rail against frankenfoods probably drink bottled water in plastic, a major source of dioxins. They also probably complain about the price of gasoline while paying even more for that filtered tap water that has sat who knows how long in a warehouse.

Life is a fatal disease. We all die from it. Our planet is slowly or rapidly dying because there are too many of us. Worry is bad for our health just as is having a high BMI. So let’s take all things in moderation, take that morning walk though not too early if you have allergies, sit for a while and meditate, breath deeply for at least 5 minutes, and take that afternoon nap. It isn’t afternoon yet but I believe I’ll go back to bed and read the comix. Laughter is good for the soul.