No…really!

Just a quickie tonight, I watched the Oscars and I am exhausted. I’m exhausted from being critical in my mind and beating myself about the head for not seeing any of those great looking movies. Now I have to wait for them to come out on video and that will take longer because they now have a new life in the theatres. Oh well, life goes on…

When Louise and I first moved to Calgary back in 1976, it was a much different kind of place than we were used to. It was a very small city compared to Toronto and the people had that small town attitude. When you walked down the street, strangers would smile and say “howdy” or “hi”, which made me smile and say “hi” back. It was kind of a nice feeling, of being a part of something.

Of course other things stood out as well. There was no rush hour as we had come to know it, there would be 45 or 50 minutes when the traffic got a little busier, but it was very doable. There was no problem in finding a job, the problem came trying to find a place to live. The rental vacancy rate was something like .01%, you would call the minute the paper came out and the place would be taken. We met a couple in the motel we were staying at that had run out of money and were forced to work at the motel to pay for their room. We nearly despaired! Lucky for us someone took pity on us and thought that we were a nice young couple.

Back in those days, I would have seen most of the movies that were being honoured by the Academy, because we didn’t have kids and movies were a cheap form of entertainment. Strangely enough, when the late movie ended at ten o’clock, all of the restaurants and coffee shops were closed. It really was a small town!

One of the things that we absolutely loved was that unlike back in Toronto, Calgarians would embrace the winter. Everyone looked forward to the first snowfall because that meant the ski hills would soon be open and there is nothing like skiing in the Rockies! The radio announcers would get excited and so too would almost everyone you met. Part of the excitement of course is that everyone was employed and the industry that drove the town forward would only continue to grow. It was very exciting to be here.

I’m not as excited about the onset of winter anymore, but I suspect that is my problem more than the cities. The first snowfall still indicates the hills will soon open and even -20°C with sun and no wind is pretty nice. The past couple of years I have gotten older I suppose and winter has become a time to stay inside and watch the world pass by. That is really and truly my problem.

I have fewer years ahead of me than behind me and I had best make the best of them. I promise myself that I will look forward to winter next year and in between I will make the days, weeks and months matter. Yes, I will still complain when it is -33°C and feels like -57°C, but only on behalf of other people.

No…really!