Erin's Journals

Just a thought… You learn more when things go wrong. [David E. Kelley]

Well, since there’s absolutely nothing of importance going on in the news today, I thought I’d tell you about the good, the bad and the ugly of the last three days in our lives. (And if you didn’t get that the preceding line was sarcasm, I’d urge you to get to know me a bit better.)

The Good:

Hallowe’en. If you visit my Facebook page, erindawndavis on Instagram or @erindavis on Twitter, you know Rob and I donned our banana costumes and accompanied a sweet little firefighter, his sister and parents through their new neighbourhood.

Little sis Jane was an avocado and an angel in her stroller, and under clear blue-moonlit skies with no wind and about 4C, we had a perfect night.

More Good:

My trip to Kelowna to pick up our puppy – whose name we’ll share later in the week – was a complete success. She whimpered in the car on the way to the airport, where this photo was taken, but she was an absolute doll for the entire ordeal.

Even More Good:  

I had an all-too-brief but lovely visit with my dad and sisters Heather and Leslie over breakfast. Dad’s well and although it wasn’t the same laughter- and tear-filled kind of visit we had in June, it was a gift just to spend some time with them and get caught up. Dad’s still feeling the sting of confinement and longing just a bit for the freedom of his car, while also recognizing that both are for the greater good. Okay, and now for…

The Bad:

Did I use the word “ordeal” above? Yes. Yes, I did. The pup and I checked in at Kelowna International Airport at 4 pm for a 5:40 pm flight. We found a quiet corner where I could let her out of her travel bag and I laid out a blanket and a pee pad. She slept almost the entire wait. So that sounds like it should be good, too, yes? Except that the wait was extended again and again.

Apparently (and this is a rumour) a small plane missed the runway and there was debris all over. I heard from a fellow traveller that the pilot was uninjured so the worst that happened was a cleanup and delays. Many fliers on bigger airlines missed connections; all the baby and I had to do was sit and bide our time, which was about two hours extra.

We finally took off around 7:30. Some of that time waiting was spent with me walking through an increasingly crowded departure lounge, pee pad under one arm, purse over the other and holding the pup in the crook of my arm. Every time I put down the pad – whether in a closed off area or the washroom – she just lay down on it. But she held her pees until we got home. All good…also until we got home.

More Bad – and Really Ugly

Rob took advantage of a rare day without me to tidy the garage. Top of the list: moving firewood and cutting kindling to make more room to manouevre around the parked cars.

I won’t go into too many details (you may just be waking up) but here goes:

– He ran his gloved left hand into the uncovered spinning blade of a table saw.

– He drove himself to the hospital (because…Rob).

– He received the good news that he wasn’t going to lose his ring finger.

– They didn’t have to cut the ring off to save the finger.

– He injured (less severely) two other fingers.

– He’s expected to be okay but his thrice-weekly hockey is on hold and I don’t know that he’ll be playing guitar for family at Christmas.

Yesterday he had a consult with a plastic surgeon to talk about damage to a ligament in the finger. They decided to do nothing for now and will reassess in a couple of weeks. If all goes well, he won’t be asking for 10% off a manicure (as if he ever gets one) and, except for kicking his own backside for his carelessness in reaching across the raised, whirling blade to grab an errant branch, he’s doing all right. My poor Robbie.

Here he is meeting the pup when my friends brought me home from the airport Sunday night while he recovered at home. That big white thing was a splint put on by the emergency room staff.

We’re all doing fine today; I’ve been sleeping with the pup in a separate room so only one of us is kept awake by the whimpers (hers, not Rob’s).

A perfect Hallowe’en, a wonderful puppy and a table saw accident. 2020 just has to remind us it’s 2020, doesn’t it?

I’ll be back with you here Thursday, or tomorrow if I am losing my mind over tonight’s results. I’m scared, excited, more scared and trying to focus on the “wisdom to know the difference” part of the Serenity Prayer, about changing what we can.

Stay safe, stay sane and stay hopeful. Also, “stay away from table saws if you don’t keep the safety on.” That last part is a public service announcement from Rob.

Just a thought… The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. [Abraham Lincoln]

Welcome to Monday and I’ll have to ask for your patience. All went well with our puppy pickup yesterday, but delays and a situation arose that I’ll fill you in on tomorrow. Both have meant I can’t fulfil my promise to have a journal today.

Please come back tomorrow and have a gentle day!

Just a thought… Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love and loyalty. They depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog; it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs your heart is very big. [Erica Jong]

Hello! I should wait until Monday to tell you this news, but I’m going to do it today because I can think of few things other than the US election Tuesday and we can probably all use a diversion and a whole lot of cuteness.

If everything goes according to plan, this Sunday I’m getting on a little plane like this one (the same airline I took back in June to visit family on the mainland) and coming home the same day with a new family member.

My sister Leslie is one of two I have in Kelowna; my dad is also there. I enlisted Les’s help in finding us the right puppy, as I had struck out here on Vancouver Island. Basically my criteria were few but specific and Les found one that ticked all of the boxes. Leslie met our fur baby yesterday and we are going to pick her up the day after her vet appointment on Saturday. I cannot wait.

It’s been a long, long time since we’ve had a puppy in the house. Our last one was Molly, to whom we said good-bye on what will be two months to the day, Sunday. This time we’re going to do obedience classes with her (COVID permitting) and make sure our little girl knows her manners. Pepper and Molly were wonderful dogs, to be sure, but they didn’t exactly do as they were told (like, ever) and that was 100% our fault.

So here she is (name to be decided later):

She reminds us a bit of a miniature version of the Obamas’ dog Bo, but she’s sure not a Portuguese Water Dog; this one is a Shih Tzu/Pomeranian mix – a Shih Pom or Shiranian. They’re said to be clever, great with kids, get very attached to their people and are not yappy. (Aside from that last trait, I’m about the same, wouldn’t you say?) She’ll grow to about 7 lbs or half of Molly’s weight and I think we’ll be building a set of steps for her to get up to the bed.

And a happy side note: I will be getting a visit in with Dad on Sunday as well. Bonus!

In the meantime, I want to wish you a Happy Hallowe’en – one that comes with plenty of social distancing, a full (blue) moon and even an extra hour’s sleep at the end of it. Yes, it’s your friendly reminder that the clocks go back at 2 am on Sunday.

Huh. That will be the same day we step even further into this new life and with so much gratitude. I’ll take an extra hour of joy this year, thank you very much.

Just a thought… Conscience is the dog that can’t bite, but never stops barking. [Proverb]

First of all, thanks for your supportive comments about the new Elder Wisdom podcast we’re embarking on. This could be one of several different projects Rob and I are being considered for and, really, what an unexpected turn of events this is! Like an interviewer for hire, I’m getting the opportunity to talk with different people whose stories inspire me, and hopefully you.

But enough about that. I don’t want to use this journal just to promote things; I’m here to share moments from our lives – yours and mine – and to stay connected. If there’s something ahead that we’re working on that I think will interest you, I’ll be sure to let you know. Deal?

We had an election in BC on Saturday (a day of the week on which I think all elections should be held, so that voters who work Mondays through Fridays are able to go to the polls that day if they so choose).

Watching the seemingly interminable lines in so many towns and cities as citizens hope to vote in the current American election makes me grateful that we have the system we do, even with its imperfections. We have mercifully short election periods and no (obvious) attempts at voter interference, gerrymandering, mail interruption and the like.

While we were miffed at Premier John Horgan’s overtly opportunistic move of calling an election during a pandemic, like his peer in New Brunswick, his gambit paid off handsomely and his NDP got the majority he sought. People who were teed off, as we were, seemingly didn’t take it out on him or his provincial representatives at the polls. Score a big one for Dr. Bonnie Henry, too, there, Mr. Horgan.

Rob and I stood in line for zero minutes to vote in advance, one evening last week. Saturday, our son-in-law worked for BC Elections at our polling station and said turnout was steady but not heavy. While the total number of votes has yet to be counted (mail-in), a million of us had our voices heard before election day. Works for us; now, as long as our government follows suit….

I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t a ball of nerves about next Tuesday’s presidential election; many of my fears and questions have probably already crossed your mind, too. We’ve another eight days and maybe this awful chapter in American history will be over. The ripple effects and aftermath will take much longer from which to recover, if ever, but we can hope, for the sake of our neighbours, that the healing starts in 2021 – literally and figuratively.

The other day Rob asked me, “Have you thought about how you’re going to handle it if he isn’t defeated?” and I have no idea. I’ll take my cue from people like John Pavlovitz whom I follow on Twitter @johnpavlovitz and with whose thought-provoking pieces I always find myself nodding along. He’s a spiritual man with a strong moral compass, whose opinions I find in complete harmony with my own.

Like John, I will never understand how people who call themselves God-fearing could support such a deeply immoral, unethical and downright horrible man. All for the sake of their retirement funds? For a court that will support their views on abortion or gun control? Because their daddy and their daddy’s daddy all voted Republican and they will too? It’s just foreign to me.

I’ve voted almost every party that’s run for federal or provincial politics; to grow is to change, to age is to mature and to be a useful part of society is to look at the greater good instead of “what’s in it for me.” Maybe that’s socialism – and that’s okay, too.

I know that I have likely voted for the wrong person in the past and for the wrong reasons. But I always gave my responsibility to vote (and the fight that so many women before me had to wage so that I could mark that ballot) a lot of thought. I never just ticked a box because of race or gender or religion or ’cause it was just what my daddy did. (I’m not sure my father and I have ever voted alike; I know my mom and I have!)

Our government is far from perfect. Don’t get me started on how flawed our health care system is – while superior in many ways – when we can’t even beg to get a family doctor for a young foursome that has just moved here. It’s beyond frustrating: it’s frightening.

We have a lot of improvements to make in a great many areas of how our country and its provinces and territories operate and how they take care of the most vulnerable among us. But I will take our voting system every single time over that of a country whose prime modus operandi seems to be making sure that those whose voices need to be heard are kept quiet and the status quo continues. When someone like Senator Mitch McConnell can continue to hold immense amounts of power and line his fetid pockets for 36 years when his state of Kentucky is ranked fifth poorest in the United States, what does that tell you about the system?

Will that change November 3rd? Not on one day, and probably not in one year. But a “blue wave” could wash clean a lot of the stains of the past and hopefully make for a fresh start. I wouldn’t be in Joe Biden’s shoes (or Kamala Harris’s Converse sneakers) for anything – taking on the problems that have built up, the civility that has further deteriorated for the past four years. All we can do is hope that this time there is no interference from outside forces, the people are heard for a change and the country that is our closest neighbour begins to heal.

In Good We Trust.

Just a thought… The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. [Andy Rooney]

“Tell me a story.”

Those four words, whether I said them to Rob at night long after he was ready to go to sleep (in the years when he could hear me) or were in my mind as I searched documentaries and biographies late into the night, have steered my soul. It’s why the Calm app and a tiny pillow speaker usher me into sleep nightly with a fairy tale, a train trip through foreign lands or a view of the stars as described by an astronaut. They soothe my soul and spark my spirit.

One of my favourite times is talking weekly with my dad on the phone. As I sit, coffee in hand and iPhone on speaker, during our half-hour talks we cover an entire 24-hour news channel’s topics: latest headlines, weather, sports and, of course, human interest. But I love dad’s own stories most.

When the opportunity arose for me to interview seniors who are in the same COVID-locked-down boat as my dad, my interest was piqued. I was approached by a production company to audition as host/interviewer for Elder Wisdom | Stories from the Green Bench, a podcast for and about seniors.

The guests come from seniors’ residences in Southwestern Ontario; they’re pre-interviewed and then, at an agreed-upon time, they sit with a producer, laptop and microphone in front of them, and from my home studio also with a producer (Rob), laptop and microphone, I get to talk to these men and women.

So far I’ve chatted with a man and woman in their eighties and another gentleman who’s 95. Their stories range from travels and tragedies to inspiration and encouragement. All have the underlying thread of wisdom and advice. There have been a few tears, yes, but the messages are positive – every one of them.

What’s in it for me? Besides having the opportunity to work closely as host/producer with Rob, it’s so much more than a job: it’s a chance to hear stories of people so much like my dad but with widely varying experiences. And I love to ask questions that these people haven’t been asked and hear stories that those close to them have already heard (or perhaps a few will be revelations to their own family members). But it’s just a great joy to connect with the storytellers of our parents’ generation.

What’s in it for you? Ah, THAT is the most important question, as it always was in my radio life, to which this bears a few lovely resemblances: what’s in it for the listener?

I’d love to think you’ll feel you’ve had a chance to sidle up next to our guests as they sit on the virtual Green Bench which is, in reality, an actual place in the Schlegel Villages retirement communities, where someone can sit to let others know they just want to visit, have a talk, or they desire company. A Speaker’s Corner, if you will. Of course, the physical contact is at a bare minimum now, but here – via this podcast – we are bringing these people, their families and even strangers, like you, together.

Our first podcast has launched and and it’s free to listen to; you can find it here. Rob put the music and clips together, edited the interviews and made this half-hour with Doug, a hospitality worker who tells some great stories (including his chat with the Queen Mum) but also gets real about the heartache of his wife of over 50 years being in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I even have a co-host! Lloyd Hetherington is 85 years old and has lived a fascinating life of teaching, travel and ministry through the Salvation Army. He asks some beautiful questions and has a perspective and wisdom that only he can bring to this show.

There will be more podcasts; we’ve done three interviews so far, with three more on the way. I’d love for you to subscribe, listen, share and rate this podcast – Elder Wisdom | Stories from the Green Bench. I think that we can all use a little bit of green bench in our lives these days. And we’ll save you a seat. Thank you!