Bad Dodging

My parents have moved into a retirement home.  The decision was carefully thought out and the place chosen should work very well for them.  How everything came together was amazingly quick.

The place they have moved to usually has a waiting list, some people have waited over a year but they got in the week they applied.

They decided to sell their house and a friend of a neighbour approached about buying before it was even listed, it took less than 30 minutes to agree on a price.

Everything was set, the movers hired and they started to figure out what to downsize.

Then mom fell on a patch of ice and broke her leg.

It could have been the start of a series of bad things happening, but in reality it was a minor bump.  Friends and relatives have lined up to help and things have worked out fine.

I flew back to Canada from Guatemala, and the temperature was a mild -10c.  Very mild for the middle of the night in Februrary.  The bus trip to the small town mom and dad lived in was uneventful, and helping them pack was okay.

The day of the move, I got smacked in the face with the reason I do not like Saskatchewan in the winter, -35c without wind chill.  I really did not need that reminder of why I left.

The weather since has been much milder, at times even getting above freezing.

But I figured the least I can do is post a picture as a reminder of what a mild winter in Saskatoon can look like.

I'll end with a Canadian winter saying;
Keep your Stick on the Ice.

Cutting it short

Just a quick post.  Many things have been happening in a short period of time.

I have been meeting new people and connecting with old friends.  Enjoying my time in a tropical climate.  San Pedro in Guatemala is a great place to dodge a Canadian winter, and Caye Caulker in Belize is even warmer.

My avoiding cold weather is not going to be successful this time around though because my parents have run into a bit of trouble.  They are moving from their own home into a retirement home, and Mom fell and is injured.  My brothers can help them a little, but I have far more spare time than they so, so off I go to Saskatchewan to help.

A am very glad that I have the available time to help them, but I am not looking forward to arriving in Saskatoon in February without any winter clothing.

My last few days spent in Guatemala were a lot of fun, and it was a great way to finish that chapter. 

The more I travel, the farther spread out my circle of friends and family get.  Sometimes it feels like they are all only a step away, but far too frequently I am many, many miles away from the people I want to interact with.

Be well My friends and watch your step on the ice.

Ken 

Aging

We all age.  Some gracefully, some fighting against the eroding process, and some speeding up the process through life style choices.

My parents have set a fine example for me, making clear choices and detailing those choices to their family.  I applaud their look at life.  They have now chosen to move into a place which will allow them to ease into assisted living as they need it.

My mom worked as a psych nurse, and dealt with many geriatric patients during her years of work, and that gave her a ground level perspective on that part of life that many in her generation missed.  She witnessed first hand many battles between children and their parents as the parents fought against moving into assisted care, and how many times that care would have made so many lives easier.  I am sure that long ago she decided that she would not fight against the tide that way, and somewhere along the way dad joined her sensible approach to acknowledging the impositions and limitations that time makes.

My maternal Grandmother fought against going into care, and because mom had seen the way things could drag on, was quick to act once it was inevitable. Grandma's struggle I believe re-affirmed to mom that that was not the way to go, and many of her own friends have stated that moving into assisted care was something that freed up a lot of their energies and time as well as taking a lot of stress off their children/heirs.

The reason they chose now, is the one that leaves so many of the world helpless in the march of time.  My father is experiencing degrading in his short term memory, and while he is doing all he can to fight against it, and he is still doing okay, the day will come when he will need more help than mom can provide, and they have chosen the path that I hope will prove best for them, and so easy for me and my brothers.

The last two summers I have spent a fair amount of time with my parents and have been very glad about the experience.  I watched from the sidelines as they got on with their day to day existence and how all of their friends moved in the circles around them.  They have built a life that connected them to friends of all ages and have shown me how to effortlessly give love and care into a community of friends and family.

Traveling into other countries can give you a glimpse on how other cultures deal with aging, but it is something I have so far turned a blind eye to.

I am sure that Guatemala is missing the infrastructure to provide the level of care that mom and dad will get, but that does not mean that the elderly are not loved or cared for, merely that the level of assistance available is sadly lacking here.

The third world puts a great deal of effort into giving their children all the help and education they can afford, and that is a grand effort done not just by parents, but by local and federal governments.  I have avoided looking at how the elderly are supported here, and it is perhaps a failing on my part, but it is also a reluctance to look at how I am going to fare when my time to need help comes.

It is a ways off, and I plan on being a wandering soul for many years yet, but somewhere in the back of my mind I know that aging will catch up with me too.  I have no idea where I will end laying down tracks, but I do hope that I can follow my parents trail and do it with grace and dignity.

Global Warming / Going Green

This post is not really about Global Warming.  What it is really about is reasons other than Global Warming to go Green.

Number one on the list of going Green from my perspective has little to do with Warming and everything to do with pollution.  Even if there is no potential in causing our climate to warm up, there is still massive damage from the pollution involved in our petroleum based power consumption.  Passing a poorly tuned diesel chugging up hill and breathing in the vapours will make you a believer that burning that stuff cannot be good for anyone.

The sheer amount of hydrocarbons spewed into the air every day and the fact that those vapours and particulates are going into the lungs of every living thing should give you pause.  It is a poison, and it is spewed everywhere.  True, the concentration is diluted unless you are inches from the exhaust pipe, but the effects of this as a poison are rarely discussed or researched.  The acidification of the oceans is a direct result of our use of petroleum, and that alone is reason enough to try and curb our dependence on it.

Coal is worse.

The cost of mining coal on the environment is harsh.  The cost of burning it is harsh, and the ash left behind is radioactive waste that is treated way more casually than it should be.

There is an environmental cost involved in most green power supplies, and that involves batteries.  The manufacturing of virtually all economical batteries involves hazardous chemicals and waste.  The waste is easier to contain and limit that that from petroleum, but there is still waste that needs careful containment.

From where I sit, way up in the cheap seats and lobbing opinions with not enough research, given the choice between any petrol based power generation and nuclear, nuclear wins. It has a smaller footprint and less damage done to the planet as a whole than anything done with hydrocarbons.  The next generation of nuclear power looks to be even better at limiting the amount of waste, which is the number one detractor, even though the current amount of radioactive waste is better than that from coal.

From what I can read, the best alternative energy right now is geothermal, followed by wind, then solar, then wave/tidal, then hydroelectric, then nuclear, then the various means of power from petrol/hydrocarbons. 

And now, we have reached a time when the Greener alternatives are getting cheaper, and the reasons oil is better are fading.  With a little luck the world's dependence on oil is about to take a dive, and I can hardly wait.

Being Hopeful

I am over 3,000 KM from Canada.  From here in Guatemala I am very hopeful for what the new government is doing.

There is a lot going on back home that I am proud of. 

Many Canadians are standing up to help the refugees from Syria.

We are re-entering the global scene on dealing with climate change.

We have unmuzzled our government funded scientists.

We have re-instituted the long form census.

We seem to be on the road toward making things better for our aboriginal people.

We have a federal government which appears to be willing to listen to our diverse population and try to move us into a more open and progressive society by consensus.

But from down here in Central America, I am hopeful for a few other things as well.

I am hoping that we return to being the world's leader in peacekeeping forces.

That we return to being one of the best places in the world to raise children.

That we stop allowing Canadian companies to despoil other nations for the sake of profit.

That we strive to remove corruption from all our international dealings, NGOs, grants, aid and corporate.

We cannot fix everything at once, and even the items on this list will be only a start, but we do need to start.

The cynic in me says that soon we will go back to politics as usual, and there will be little substantive change.

But somewhere down deep inside, I am so very very hopeful.

A view from the top

Three photos that together make about a 190 degree view of Lake Atitlan taken from the roof of Hostel Pinocchio.

The weather here has been odd, a little wetter than usual for this time of year, but it has made for wonderfully languid afternoons, and the rain has made time for great conversations.

The photos start from the right with the San Pedro Volcano's peak hidden by cloud and show a hint of the expanse of the lake and the shore line.  Most of the area around the lake is too steep for anything, though there are a lot of places where there are fields on very steep slopes.

My struggle.

There are times I really struggle with communication.

How do you talk to people who think that the only way to communicate to the world is through terrorism?

That violence shows you are right?

That might is right?

There is such a disconnect in my mind about this.

I do remember being a teenage kid, wanting to use force to get my way and knowing that I would be beaten up for my trouble.  We rage against the walls that law, church and family put around us to want the world to just be the way that we believe it should be.  That point when the world needs to revolve around our own wants only.  And I also knew deep down that I was being unfair to the rest of the world.

It has been a long time since I talked directly with anyone who felt that using violence strengthened their political/religious place in the world.

I would love to be able to hold a mirror up to them, and ask what it is that they see?

If you would rather die than change, and would rather kill than lead, what are you trying to do?

If no force in the world can change your mind and attitude, why do you think that others should join your side?

My attitude is this, if your way is truly superior, if your way leads to a better life and prosperity, then all you have to do is live it and you will win.  Forcing anyone to your way shows that it is inferior.  Showing them how happy you and your friends and family are, how grand life can be, is the ultimate way to 'win'.

I have long held the personal belief that in politics, religion, and lifestyle, whoever initiates violence has lost, no matter the words spoken or who is left standing.

There are many other thoughts tangled up in my mind, wanting to shout and yell and scream.  And cry.  We can be better.

We desperately need to be better.