Reso-revolutions

This past year has been one of the most challenging years I can recall. On the local front, the provincial scale, and of course, on the stage of world events. 

The last time the world was experiencing this many wars going on -- whether actively ongoing or in their early stages -- well, I can't recall.

As for environmental issues (even at the provincial level) -- what with Site C now being open, as well as those new transmission lines being built to supply fracking activities -- well, it's hard not be discouraged. Nation-wide, things are sounding even worse, with the tanker ban along BC's west coast being challenged, despite the hazards of shipping oil through Hecate Strait. 

Nearer to home, even our local arts council has taken a new direction, no longer offering the range of cultural events and activities it once did. 

Discouraging? To be sure. But hey, it's a new year, so all of us need to put on our shiniest set of armour and head out into the world to help bring about some of those badly-needed changes we and our planet so badly need. 

Onward!

Puzzling

Many would find it puzzling -- the fact that I enjoy assembling jigsaw puzzles. For me, they're a go-to activity for when I'm taking a holiday from normal life. 

This one, more pieces than I am generally willing to try, was an early Christmas gift. And good thing it came as early as it did, as this might be the first time (ever??) I've finished a puzzle with this many pieces -- a thousand! 

For me, that's an accomplishment, albeit a somewhat meaningless one, as the puzzle will soon be going back into pieces and into the lovely box it came in. But really, with an image of Peggy's Cove, it stirred quite a few good memories along the way. 

Despite any readers who might be puzzled by enjoying such a pastime as this, you might like to know that I'm not alone. BC author M.A.C. Farrant wrote a book called Jigsaw, a collection of personal essays on the pleasures of, as she calls it, the verb: puzzling. 

And yes, there's a small disappointment owing to the fact that a single piece appears to be missing.

No amount of searching under the table managed to turn it up. 

Oh well, who ever claimed that anything fun has to be perfect.

Longer, lighter days on the way

It's now officially winter in the Northern Hemisphere, thanks to the arrival of solstice -- 'sun stop' the actual meaning of the word. 

While the sun certainly doesn't stop, the hours of darkness now ease, and by January we'll likely be noticing a slightly later sunset (and if you're among those who get up earlier than I do, an earlier dawn). 

With all the dark times we've recently been experiencing, this Solstice seems like a day for celebration, as I for one, am looking forward to brighter times. 

Respectful

It seems to me that respectfulness is the attitude everyone needs to have when it comes to events of the last few days. Oddly, the other night we were watching (okay, re-watching) a Harry Potter film in which Voldemort had returned. 

I can't help but feel that's currently the case in our world. Maybe not precisely He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but it sure feels as though Evil is afoot. 

Yes, the not-very-presidential leader of the US offered a few official words of sympathy over the shooting murders in Australia and Rhode Island, but when it came to any kind of respect for one of our greatest modern filmmakers, Rob Reiner, there were only insults. To my mind, unforgivable. 

To refresh anyone who isn't sure of how important Rob Reiner's work was, I invite you to view the following overview of three of his most wonderful films. 

A word he and his wife earned and deserve: Respect. 

Some kind of merry?

Not exactly my style of decorating. So far, about all I've done is hang a homemade swag of cedar boughs on each of the outside doors and put up a little decoration with a few lights. 

There's something about all that plastic that leaves me feeling about as deflated as the decorations in the photo appear to be. 

It's a question I've asked before, and one I'll ask again: how is it that plastic shopping bags at the supermarket (which most of us reuse at least once for collecting wet garbage) are banned, but gigantic plastic characters are all the rage?

How long must it take for a five-foot-tall plastic snowman to degrade when it goes to the landfill?

And no, I'm not the one who poked holes in all those characters, though I'll admit, I've certainly been tempted. 

So, what would you call this item?

Looking it up, I find several choices: singlet, tank top, sleeveless undershirt. And sadly, I also still find the unacceptable 'wife-beater'. 

The term apparently came about as the result of a case of domestic violence that dates back to 1947, which means it has been around far too long. Last I heard (though I don't patronize them) Amazon was still using this ugly terminology to describe sleeveless undershirts. 

Especially today, the first day of an extended observance that seeks the Elimination of Violence Against Women seems like a day to call a singlet a singlet (or one of the other terms that don't seem to extol violence).  

We here in Canada will also be observing this theme on December 6th, the date we remember the mass murder of 14 brilliant women at the Ecole Polytechnique. 

It's not even four o'clock and it's just about dark here. Dark times indeed when women are harmed -- or even killed -- pretty much simply because they're women. 

Towards agreement??

Canada Post workers have been without a reasonable settlement to their contract for over a year now. Last December their strategy was meant to make their point by disrupting the delivery of Christmas cards and parcels. But the trouble was, that ploy didn't work. 

It caused plenty of inconvenience to people outside of Canada who wanted to send gifts and greetings to friends here, but Canadians mostly took to using alternate delivery services, like UPS or Purolator. Besides, it gave us a good excuse to quit or at least cut back on the number of cards we sent. 

Finally, it's beginning to look like some sort of arrangement, satisfactory to both sides of the bargaining table, might be in the works. It all sounds pretty tentative, but I like to think that both sides are reaching out, seeking a meaningful and lasting resolution--sort of like the way the flag in front of our local post office seems to be reaching to grab hold of the little tree out front. 

Now, if only some kind of agreement could be reached that would see the end of the terrible war in Ukraine. And not a list of demands assembled by the Russians, a plan that would see Ukrainians worse than before Russia invaded there, nearly four years ago. 

Reaching for an agreement, I'm hoping, one that will mean a lasting peace.