IN MEMORY OFF ALL THOSE WHO SERVED OUR COUNTRY AND NEVER RETURNED.WITH DEEPEST RESPECT TO THOSE CURRENTLY SERVING IN OUR MILITARY,AND THEIR FAMLIES HERE AT HOME WHO SHARE IN THEIR SACRIFICE SO THAT OUR COUNTRY MIGHT REMAIN FREE.LEST WE FORGET!
Friday 9 November 2012
BLOOD BOUGHT MY FREEDOM!
IN MEMORY OFF ALL THOSE WHO SERVED OUR COUNTRY AND NEVER RETURNED.WITH DEEPEST RESPECT TO THOSE CURRENTLY SERVING IN OUR MILITARY,AND THEIR FAMLIES HERE AT HOME WHO SHARE IN THEIR SACRIFICE SO THAT OUR COUNTRY MIGHT REMAIN FREE.LEST WE FORGET!
op/ed-not an ordinary theft.
Some things never seem to change much.Before I spent three years living in the east,there were a disturbing series of thefts here in the Calgary area.It seems someone,or perhaps more than one someone,as disturbing as that is to believe,is targeting poppy boxes and the seemingly small amount of change that they collect on the behalf of needy war veterans.This is my first Rememberance Day back in this fine city,and,guess who else is back.Right,the poppy thief.
Sometimes I think Calgary is the meanest city on earth.Lets see if I've got this righgt.Three years ago there was a theft of cash from a poppy box at a certain North Hill restaurant.A waiter chases the thief down,but what do you know,he turns out to be a down on his luck,destitute street person.So of course,the restaurant manager does the right thing and simply allows that individual to keep the stolen money.Makes perfect sense to me.If you want the wolves at the door,just keep putting meat on your front lawn.No wonder the thief is back this year,to the very same restaurant.However well intentioned this restaurants manager may have been,he is simply misguided in a very simple way.A homeless,destitute person?Excuse me!It seems that certain other people don't get it,so let me explain.This homeless destitute person is somehow neither able or willing to obtain the services that are available in this community to his kind?And,of course,he is far more deserving than the veterans who also need the assistance provided by poppy fund donations.
There is a certain,unpopular,admittedly politically incorrect way of discribing those who would rob poppy boxes.The problem here is not homelessness.It's being morally challanged,being destitute of the most rudimentary ethics,of having not one grain of respect for veterans or the society that you live in.This person is not some cute,unfortunate homeless person.He is a predator.
It's a complete shame that theft from poppy boxes cannot be dealt with in the manner that it deserves.This is no ordinary act of theft.It is a complete act of moral indecency.Sadly,the penalty for theft is written into law,and can't be stiffened over a mere matter of disrespect.We could,though at least call the prosecutors office en masse to demand that the thief,if caught,be tried by indictment,as opposed to by summary conviction.Indictment is always at the prosecutors discretion and carries somewhat stiffer penalties,though the move would be largely symbolic.But sadly,there is fat chance of that ever happening in a province that can't even bring rapists to justice fast enough to prevent them from beating their charges.
All of this leaves me with one single question.IS THIS WHAT OUR VETERANS FOUGHT AND DIED FOR?
Sometimes I think Calgary is the meanest city on earth.Lets see if I've got this righgt.Three years ago there was a theft of cash from a poppy box at a certain North Hill restaurant.A waiter chases the thief down,but what do you know,he turns out to be a down on his luck,destitute street person.So of course,the restaurant manager does the right thing and simply allows that individual to keep the stolen money.Makes perfect sense to me.If you want the wolves at the door,just keep putting meat on your front lawn.No wonder the thief is back this year,to the very same restaurant.However well intentioned this restaurants manager may have been,he is simply misguided in a very simple way.A homeless,destitute person?Excuse me!It seems that certain other people don't get it,so let me explain.This homeless destitute person is somehow neither able or willing to obtain the services that are available in this community to his kind?And,of course,he is far more deserving than the veterans who also need the assistance provided by poppy fund donations.
There is a certain,unpopular,admittedly politically incorrect way of discribing those who would rob poppy boxes.The problem here is not homelessness.It's being morally challanged,being destitute of the most rudimentary ethics,of having not one grain of respect for veterans or the society that you live in.This person is not some cute,unfortunate homeless person.He is a predator.
It's a complete shame that theft from poppy boxes cannot be dealt with in the manner that it deserves.This is no ordinary act of theft.It is a complete act of moral indecency.Sadly,the penalty for theft is written into law,and can't be stiffened over a mere matter of disrespect.We could,though at least call the prosecutors office en masse to demand that the thief,if caught,be tried by indictment,as opposed to by summary conviction.Indictment is always at the prosecutors discretion and carries somewhat stiffer penalties,though the move would be largely symbolic.But sadly,there is fat chance of that ever happening in a province that can't even bring rapists to justice fast enough to prevent them from beating their charges.
All of this leaves me with one single question.IS THIS WHAT OUR VETERANS FOUGHT AND DIED FOR?
Monday 5 November 2012
op/ed/presidential candidates and religious convictions
As a relative neophyte to social media,this is my first real experience of an American election on Facebook.Of course,like most users,the comments posted on my timeline ranged from mildly amusing to downright side splitting,from irreverent to irrelevant,from missing the mark to striking a blow straight through the heart.Many,if not most were obviously partisan,but that did little,in most cases to change the quality of the actual commentary.Nor did they do a great deal to convince me,if I were a member of the American electorate,which I am not,to change my political worldview.
Among the many posts that I received was one of an individual,presumed to be Barack Obama,holding a book called "The Post American World."This book is alleged to be a Muslim view of the world after the defeat of America,but,having not actually read this book,I cannot vouch for that.Rest assured,though,it will soon be on my reading list.The whole point to this post though seems to be to imply that which I've heard spoken nearly continually since Obama first appeared on the scene.That Barack Obama is a Muslim.And,in fact the photo above goes one step further and attempts to connect that fact with liberal politics in a non sequiter fashion.Moreover,there is a real question in my mind as to whether or not the person pictured here is actually Obama.But I suppose that a lot of the sort of persons who post things such as this,preaching to a choir of those who are predisposed to believe such drivel whenever they see that hated word"liberal",believe that all black people look alike.Not that it really matters,especially to rank and file ignoramuses,but I'm not buying into it.
While there is plenty intellectually wrong about this post that I could point out,I wish to use it to the purpose of asking some questions we really should be thinking about.Namely,do we have the right to know everything about the religious beliefs of presidential candidates,in this case Barack Obama and Mitt Romney?More to the point,is this information at all useful,or is it extraneous and distracting?Should I be concerned if I were to see Romney holding,carrying or reading a Book Of Mormon.
As those of you who read my posts might suspect,I have a particular worldview that informs such matters for me.As an Evangelical Christian and also a liberal,I have an opinion as to whether I want to see the free world intrusted to a Muslim,a Mormon,a Christian,an Atheist,a Nhilist or any other given type of believer.It goes without saying,perhaps that I would prefer to have leadership that is open to being guided by God.That,essentially is the Christian point of view.
The question,however is not so much about what any given qualified candidate believes,what he reads or how he chooses to worship God,though again,as a Christian I have my obvious preferences.Preferences which I hasten to note,don't seem to be available among the current group of presidential candidates.The question is more a matter of how,and to what extent any given candidate's religious views can be expected to inform his politics.And to that end,America seems to do rather well on the whole.While many presidents,perhaps all of them, have had particular religious views,zealotry hardly ever rules the day.It should also be noted that it is the few among religious believers that can be labeled zealots.Moreover,not all members of a particular faith believe exactly the same things.But it is interesting to view past candidates,or potential candidates and note the names of those who were either not nominated or not elected.Even as an Evangelical Christian,when I see names like Pat Robertson and Jesse Jackson on that list,I believe I'm looking at a system that gets it right enough most of the time.
Should I be concerned if indeed Obama were shown to be a Muslim?Perhaps,though I make note of the fact that it was under his administration that Bin Laden was killed,in fulfillment of foreign policy initiated by a previous Republican government.While determining the intricacies of how Obama's faith may have played out in this matter,I think it is safe to think that it was only incidentally informative to the matter at hand.The right actions were taken.That is the bottom line.Religion of any stripe did not prevent Obama from doing the right thing.
Should I be concerned that the Republican candidate believes in a religion that is based on gold tablets,written in ancient Egyptian and revealed to a man called Joseph Smith,before they were sucked back up into heaven before their very existence could ever be verified.Perhaps.In truth ,Mormonism seems a totally illogical form of belief to me.But that does not mean that I think Romney would be likely to put his convictions ahead of his oath of office.It is far more likely,in my mind that he would be informed by Mormon belief,perhaps guided by it,but not apt to impose the totality of that belief on his politics in general.And really,it is his political views,not his religious ones that cause me the greatest concern.
On the whole,I think that it serves us very little to know the exact details of each candidates religious beliefs.It really just muddles things,at least in my head,to the point that I'm less likely to make a good choice between the two.Voters,in my estimation are far better off knowing and having confidence in the fact that America has a healthy enough political ecology,a strong enough constitution and an informed enough electorate to ensure that it's system actually works to the point of keeping the ground level and correcting it's own mistakes over the course of history,at least for the most part.
Having said that,religious belief might well be something to consider in rendering a vote.But it should be far from the only thing.A politician's past record and known political beliefs,integrity and stated policy bears much closer consideration and examination.
While there is plenty intellectually wrong about this post that I could point out,I wish to use it to the purpose of asking some questions we really should be thinking about.Namely,do we have the right to know everything about the religious beliefs of presidential candidates,in this case Barack Obama and Mitt Romney?More to the point,is this information at all useful,or is it extraneous and distracting?Should I be concerned if I were to see Romney holding,carrying or reading a Book Of Mormon.
As those of you who read my posts might suspect,I have a particular worldview that informs such matters for me.As an Evangelical Christian and also a liberal,I have an opinion as to whether I want to see the free world intrusted to a Muslim,a Mormon,a Christian,an Atheist,a Nhilist or any other given type of believer.It goes without saying,perhaps that I would prefer to have leadership that is open to being guided by God.That,essentially is the Christian point of view.
The question,however is not so much about what any given qualified candidate believes,what he reads or how he chooses to worship God,though again,as a Christian I have my obvious preferences.Preferences which I hasten to note,don't seem to be available among the current group of presidential candidates.The question is more a matter of how,and to what extent any given candidate's religious views can be expected to inform his politics.And to that end,America seems to do rather well on the whole.While many presidents,perhaps all of them, have had particular religious views,zealotry hardly ever rules the day.It should also be noted that it is the few among religious believers that can be labeled zealots.Moreover,not all members of a particular faith believe exactly the same things.But it is interesting to view past candidates,or potential candidates and note the names of those who were either not nominated or not elected.Even as an Evangelical Christian,when I see names like Pat Robertson and Jesse Jackson on that list,I believe I'm looking at a system that gets it right enough most of the time.
Should I be concerned if indeed Obama were shown to be a Muslim?Perhaps,though I make note of the fact that it was under his administration that Bin Laden was killed,in fulfillment of foreign policy initiated by a previous Republican government.While determining the intricacies of how Obama's faith may have played out in this matter,I think it is safe to think that it was only incidentally informative to the matter at hand.The right actions were taken.That is the bottom line.Religion of any stripe did not prevent Obama from doing the right thing.
Should I be concerned that the Republican candidate believes in a religion that is based on gold tablets,written in ancient Egyptian and revealed to a man called Joseph Smith,before they were sucked back up into heaven before their very existence could ever be verified.Perhaps.In truth ,Mormonism seems a totally illogical form of belief to me.But that does not mean that I think Romney would be likely to put his convictions ahead of his oath of office.It is far more likely,in my mind that he would be informed by Mormon belief,perhaps guided by it,but not apt to impose the totality of that belief on his politics in general.And really,it is his political views,not his religious ones that cause me the greatest concern.
On the whole,I think that it serves us very little to know the exact details of each candidates religious beliefs.It really just muddles things,at least in my head,to the point that I'm less likely to make a good choice between the two.Voters,in my estimation are far better off knowing and having confidence in the fact that America has a healthy enough political ecology,a strong enough constitution and an informed enough electorate to ensure that it's system actually works to the point of keeping the ground level and correcting it's own mistakes over the course of history,at least for the most part.
Having said that,religious belief might well be something to consider in rendering a vote.But it should be far from the only thing.A politician's past record and known political beliefs,integrity and stated policy bears much closer consideration and examination.
Sunday 4 November 2012
memoir chapter II-continued.
For the longest time it seemed I was no more than vaguely aware of changing seasons.Everything I recall seems to be in the warmer months,at least in the first few years of life.I was still very young,but I still don't recall any real snow memories,where there was snow all over the ground.But summer ended and autumn came.It grew cooler and all of the machinery being used to build our neighborhood disappeared.There was no working all year around there and then,like they do today in Alberta.I don't even recall that anyone really worked on any of the houses being built around us then either.One day all the machines and the men running them were just not there any more,but the neighborhood was still far from finished.
It grew cooler though,before all the machines left.My father and I would still walk about in the neighborhood sometimes,going even as far away as Killiam Drive,which seemed very far away to me.All of the streets were still lined every few feet by those pot bellied kerosene lanterns which were lit up at night.But my father showed me if I placed my hands on the bottom part of the lantern,the metal was cool,and had frost on it.Car windows would frost up too,and one time we went for a walk through a piece of woods,I believe it was on Whitney Street,for that street did not go all the way through then.There were a lot of huge puddles and they were covered over with just the thinnest covering of ice.The moon was full and very pale with a white ring around it.It looked very cold.I don't remember anything about the leaves changing colors that year,but Halloween came and I can recall that people my mother called spooks came to our door,once it had gotten dark out.The Kerosene lamps were still on the ground and gave the streets a surreal sort of a glow,so it was very spooky.I still had no real Idea what Halloween was all about though,except that when the spooks came to our door,we gave them candy and they would go away.Then some more would come and you would repeat the procedure.This went on all night it seemed,until I fell asleep.Because we had lived in the country,Halloween had never really happened before.Well,it may have happened,but no one ever came to our door when we lived in the country,as far as I can recall.
So summer and fall of my third year came and went.Christmas must have happened,but I don't recall much about it,except that we did go out into the woods and cut down a tree.My father took an axe and after some time walking in the woods he cut down a tree and put it in the trunk of the car.We took it home but I don't recall decorating it or even bringing it into the house,or much else about that Christmas.
And so 1964 turned into 1965.In a couple of months I would turn four years old,and I recall that birthday quite clearly.It was the beginning of a time which I recall with increasing clarity.
1965.In 1965,the average cost of a new house was $13,600 and the average yearly income$6,450.There were a lot of new house being built around us,and people for the most part were likely very close to the average income in our part of town.Gas cost about $.31/gallon,a loaf of bread about $.21 and the average monthly rent about $118.
A person born in Canada had a life expectancy of 68.76 years at birth.Canada ranked seventh in the world in that respect,while Sweden ranked first at just under 72 years. The list of popular names remained unchanged for boys over 1964(1.Michael,2.John,3.David,4.James,5.Robert).The most popular names for girls in 1965 were,1.Lisa,2.Mary,3.Karen,4.Kimberly,and 5.Susan.The name Albert rounded out the top hundred names for boys,while the name Melinda was the 100th most popular name for girls.
On the world scene,Lyndon Johnson was President of the United States,and Harold Wilson was Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom.Here in Canada,Lester Person defeated John Diefenbaker to become the Prime Minister of Canada.
In August,1965,rioting broke out in Watts and 34 people were killed.The Gateway Arch was completed in St.Louis,and Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit the United States.The voting Rights Bill guaranteed the rights of African Americans to vote,Hindi became the official language in India,and Rhodesia declared it's independence.In 1965,the Iron Lung was replaced with the respirator.Canada received a new flag in 1965,the Maple Leaf,which my father would sometimes call "Pearson's bastard flag."The mini skirt appeared in 1965,and what my father would say about that is unprintable.America sent it's first troops to Vietnam.
Winston Churchill died in 1965,as did Nat King Cole and T.S. Eliot.Malcom X was shot to death in Harlem.
Born in 1965 were Sarah Jessica Parker,Ben Stiller and J.K.Rowling.
Popular films of 1965 were "The Sound Of Music",Gold Finger","Mary Poppins" "Cat Ballou"and "My Fair Lady",which won an Academy Award for best picture.
Lastly,The Oxford English Dictionary introduced 368 new words,including Shake and Bake,Motown,biohazard,grunge,jet lag and Zamboni.Likely no one noticed the extreme irony of the term jet lag and Zamboni being introduced in the same year.
In 1965,I turned four years old and had a birthday party at our house in Moncton.
Sources:www.wordorigins.com
www.thepeoplehistory.com
www.babycenter.com
It grew cooler though,before all the machines left.My father and I would still walk about in the neighborhood sometimes,going even as far away as Killiam Drive,which seemed very far away to me.All of the streets were still lined every few feet by those pot bellied kerosene lanterns which were lit up at night.But my father showed me if I placed my hands on the bottom part of the lantern,the metal was cool,and had frost on it.Car windows would frost up too,and one time we went for a walk through a piece of woods,I believe it was on Whitney Street,for that street did not go all the way through then.There were a lot of huge puddles and they were covered over with just the thinnest covering of ice.The moon was full and very pale with a white ring around it.It looked very cold.I don't remember anything about the leaves changing colors that year,but Halloween came and I can recall that people my mother called spooks came to our door,once it had gotten dark out.The Kerosene lamps were still on the ground and gave the streets a surreal sort of a glow,so it was very spooky.I still had no real Idea what Halloween was all about though,except that when the spooks came to our door,we gave them candy and they would go away.Then some more would come and you would repeat the procedure.This went on all night it seemed,until I fell asleep.Because we had lived in the country,Halloween had never really happened before.Well,it may have happened,but no one ever came to our door when we lived in the country,as far as I can recall.
So summer and fall of my third year came and went.Christmas must have happened,but I don't recall much about it,except that we did go out into the woods and cut down a tree.My father took an axe and after some time walking in the woods he cut down a tree and put it in the trunk of the car.We took it home but I don't recall decorating it or even bringing it into the house,or much else about that Christmas.
And so 1964 turned into 1965.In a couple of months I would turn four years old,and I recall that birthday quite clearly.It was the beginning of a time which I recall with increasing clarity.
1965.In 1965,the average cost of a new house was $13,600 and the average yearly income$6,450.There were a lot of new house being built around us,and people for the most part were likely very close to the average income in our part of town.Gas cost about $.31/gallon,a loaf of bread about $.21 and the average monthly rent about $118.
A person born in Canada had a life expectancy of 68.76 years at birth.Canada ranked seventh in the world in that respect,while Sweden ranked first at just under 72 years. The list of popular names remained unchanged for boys over 1964(1.Michael,2.John,3.David,4.James,5.Robert).The most popular names for girls in 1965 were,1.Lisa,2.Mary,3.Karen,4.Kimberly,and 5.Susan.The name Albert rounded out the top hundred names for boys,while the name Melinda was the 100th most popular name for girls.
On the world scene,Lyndon Johnson was President of the United States,and Harold Wilson was Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom.Here in Canada,Lester Person defeated John Diefenbaker to become the Prime Minister of Canada.
In August,1965,rioting broke out in Watts and 34 people were killed.The Gateway Arch was completed in St.Louis,and Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit the United States.The voting Rights Bill guaranteed the rights of African Americans to vote,Hindi became the official language in India,and Rhodesia declared it's independence.In 1965,the Iron Lung was replaced with the respirator.Canada received a new flag in 1965,the Maple Leaf,which my father would sometimes call "Pearson's bastard flag."The mini skirt appeared in 1965,and what my father would say about that is unprintable.America sent it's first troops to Vietnam.
Winston Churchill died in 1965,as did Nat King Cole and T.S. Eliot.Malcom X was shot to death in Harlem.
Born in 1965 were Sarah Jessica Parker,Ben Stiller and J.K.Rowling.
Popular films of 1965 were "The Sound Of Music",Gold Finger","Mary Poppins" "Cat Ballou"and "My Fair Lady",which won an Academy Award for best picture.
Lastly,The Oxford English Dictionary introduced 368 new words,including Shake and Bake,Motown,biohazard,grunge,jet lag and Zamboni.Likely no one noticed the extreme irony of the term jet lag and Zamboni being introduced in the same year.
In 1965,I turned four years old and had a birthday party at our house in Moncton.
Sources:www.wordorigins.com
www.thepeoplehistory.com
www.babycenter.com
memoir-chapter II -continued
One of the first places I remember us going to once we moved to Moncton was the beach.My father loved the beach and warm,even hot temperatures.He liked to swim in the ocean and sit in the sun on the sand and go for long walks along the shore.digging clams and cooking hem in a huge pot was one of his favorite summertime things to do.In fact,from what he told me later in life,he must have been nearly obsessed with the beach.He would,he said gather up some friends when he was young and head off,over land from Springhill to Heather's Beach,which had to be nearly thirty miles away.On the way they would raid a farmers hen house and kill a chicken or two.Once they got to the beach they would dig clams and live off of those for the remainder of the weekend.It was a time my father always spoke of fondly.
Moving to Moncton gave us the oppurtunity to go to the beach when my father was on his days off.The beach was at Shediac,a bit east of Moncton,on the road to where you used to catch the ferry to Prince Edward Island.Shediac holds itself to be the worlds lobster capital,and everywhere there was evidence of that fact.Big piles of lobster traps everywhere,lobsters painted on the sides of buildings that housed restaurants featuring lobster.There were even lobster shells laying all over the beach and all up and down the roads that were anywhere near the beach.
It took a while to get to the beach from our house as we did not have the roads we have today.You had to drive out on the old Shediac Road,through some farm country and past a golf course.It seemed to take forever when e were kids.When we came to a T intersection,you could get to the beach by turning right.The ocean was straight ahead,and if you turned left instead of right,you would go to where my father worked and where we used to live,after passing through all the little seaside villages along the coast.
The beach was a very new experience for me.I'd never seen this much water before,nor,for that matter so much sand.Everywhere I looked it was either water or sand and I could never decide which I liked more.The water was cool,but good for swimming and wading in.I loved he way the waves would come up on the shore,and made a game out of trying to outrun them.It was a game I could play for hours and I liked it nearly as much when the waves did manage to catch me.I loved the way the cool water felt on my bare feet.There were seagulls overhead too and I believed I could catch them.It never once occurred to me that they could not be caught no matter how much I ran after them,so I ran and ran and ran.The birds were a noisy lot,always squawking and squabbling over the tiniest piece of food.Eventually,I noticed that they would dig up clams,which they could not open,except for an unusual way that they had devised for doing this.Once the clam was on the sand and they could grasp it,they would fly off with it and drop it on some nearby rocks so that it would break open.Then they would descend and eat it.
Almost as much fun as the water was the sand.It was wet and flat at the waters edge,but grew drier the farther back from the water you got.At the shoreline,my feet would make their mark on the wet surface of the sand,only to disappear with the very next wave.So I would spend a great deal of energy placing down new foot prints while the waves were receding,only to watch them disappear again.Where,I wondered,did they go?A little way back from the water the sand was drier,but not really what you would call dry.It was here that we made castles using a plastic pail and shovel.The best thing about that game was that once you dug a deep enough hole,it would fill up with water from below.That water was very warm compared to the water a few feet away at the edge of the beach.I could sit in the hole I'd dug and it was a bit like a bathtub,only it was outside,and it was surrounded by castles.Building castles was about s close as a three year old could get to doing the sorts of things the men in back of our house at home were doing.It was as close as I could imagine to being a construction worker.
There was a shack at the beach too,that sold refreshments.You could buy fries and hotdogs there,as well as cold drinks.We never went to the beach when we didn't get to eat a hotdog,which is not something we ate at home all that often.Later,maybe a year or so later,my father bought a small barbeque and we would take that with us to the beach and cook hotdogs and burgers.Cooking outside was new to me too,and I loved the idea.I wondered why we didn't do it at home too.But it was a privilege we only indulged in at the beach,something that belonged exclusively to the beach,a sort of beach ritual,like building castles or swimming.
Every time we went back to the beach,it seemed to me,I should be able to find the sand castles I'd built the last time we were there.But I never could find them.They had gone away,and I couldn't understand why.I would be mildly disappointed by that fact,but it would only motivate me to get busy building some more.Still,every time we would return,the castles from the time before were gone,and I couldn't understand where they had gone.They had just vanished,and I never thought of them as being like my footprints in the waves.Their disappearance was simply a mystery to me.
Moving to Moncton gave us the oppurtunity to go to the beach when my father was on his days off.The beach was at Shediac,a bit east of Moncton,on the road to where you used to catch the ferry to Prince Edward Island.Shediac holds itself to be the worlds lobster capital,and everywhere there was evidence of that fact.Big piles of lobster traps everywhere,lobsters painted on the sides of buildings that housed restaurants featuring lobster.There were even lobster shells laying all over the beach and all up and down the roads that were anywhere near the beach.
It took a while to get to the beach from our house as we did not have the roads we have today.You had to drive out on the old Shediac Road,through some farm country and past a golf course.It seemed to take forever when e were kids.When we came to a T intersection,you could get to the beach by turning right.The ocean was straight ahead,and if you turned left instead of right,you would go to where my father worked and where we used to live,after passing through all the little seaside villages along the coast.
The beach was a very new experience for me.I'd never seen this much water before,nor,for that matter so much sand.Everywhere I looked it was either water or sand and I could never decide which I liked more.The water was cool,but good for swimming and wading in.I loved he way the waves would come up on the shore,and made a game out of trying to outrun them.It was a game I could play for hours and I liked it nearly as much when the waves did manage to catch me.I loved the way the cool water felt on my bare feet.There were seagulls overhead too and I believed I could catch them.It never once occurred to me that they could not be caught no matter how much I ran after them,so I ran and ran and ran.The birds were a noisy lot,always squawking and squabbling over the tiniest piece of food.Eventually,I noticed that they would dig up clams,which they could not open,except for an unusual way that they had devised for doing this.Once the clam was on the sand and they could grasp it,they would fly off with it and drop it on some nearby rocks so that it would break open.Then they would descend and eat it.
Almost as much fun as the water was the sand.It was wet and flat at the waters edge,but grew drier the farther back from the water you got.At the shoreline,my feet would make their mark on the wet surface of the sand,only to disappear with the very next wave.So I would spend a great deal of energy placing down new foot prints while the waves were receding,only to watch them disappear again.Where,I wondered,did they go?A little way back from the water the sand was drier,but not really what you would call dry.It was here that we made castles using a plastic pail and shovel.The best thing about that game was that once you dug a deep enough hole,it would fill up with water from below.That water was very warm compared to the water a few feet away at the edge of the beach.I could sit in the hole I'd dug and it was a bit like a bathtub,only it was outside,and it was surrounded by castles.Building castles was about s close as a three year old could get to doing the sorts of things the men in back of our house at home were doing.It was as close as I could imagine to being a construction worker.
There was a shack at the beach too,that sold refreshments.You could buy fries and hotdogs there,as well as cold drinks.We never went to the beach when we didn't get to eat a hotdog,which is not something we ate at home all that often.Later,maybe a year or so later,my father bought a small barbeque and we would take that with us to the beach and cook hotdogs and burgers.Cooking outside was new to me too,and I loved the idea.I wondered why we didn't do it at home too.But it was a privilege we only indulged in at the beach,something that belonged exclusively to the beach,a sort of beach ritual,like building castles or swimming.
Every time we went back to the beach,it seemed to me,I should be able to find the sand castles I'd built the last time we were there.But I never could find them.They had gone away,and I couldn't understand why.I would be mildly disappointed by that fact,but it would only motivate me to get busy building some more.Still,every time we would return,the castles from the time before were gone,and I couldn't understand where they had gone.They had just vanished,and I never thought of them as being like my footprints in the waves.Their disappearance was simply a mystery to me.
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