Timeless

 A couple of weeks ago I slept with my watch on  accidentally broke my watch's metal band.

This should not have been a problem because I always slept with my watch on own three other beautiful watches:

1. My grandfather's pocket watch, a true art deco antique, which I wore on a gold chain for my wedding as my "something old." All I have to do is wind it and the thing keeps on ticking. Just like in the Timex commercials! However, you have to wind it at least 50 times. Who has the time for that?

2. My father's watch. It works fine when you wind it, but the clasp doesn't work and I was afraid I'd lose it.

3. Another watch which I thought worked but never wear. I found out why I don't wear it. It must have died in the drawer a while ago, neglected and lonely. I put it in the donation box in the recycling room.

So I took my watch to the jewellery store in the mall to send to the manufacturer to fix. This was right before Christmas. I had to wait 10 days to get it back.

Ten days of not being able to time how long something cooked. (Needless to say, I forgot to update the oven clock every time the power went off so it was hopelessly wrong.)

Ten days of not knowing how late I was for anything.

At first it was frustrating and I had to find various ways to work around it.

I put my (working) father's watch on the bathroom counter.

I turned on the tv even if I wasn't interested in the program, just to check the time in the upper right corner.

I asked M what time it was. Constantly.

However, there were advantages to being Timeless.

As long as I didn't have any appointments that day, I could just relax and go at a more leisurely pace.

Sure, I was still busy all day. (I'm the equivalent of a personal support worker to my husband.) There was laundry, dishes, and meals and medications to prepare.

But I forgave myself if I didn't do all the chores.

I kicked out the voice of the Mean Home Ec Teacher who lived in my head, criticizing me. She was (and probably still is) a perfectionist. Well, I didn't need to be.

I decided that there would be a new way to do things. I asked myself:

- Must I do this? (If not, forget it!)

- If so, must I do this NOW? (If not, I'll postpone and do something else. Something fun.)

- If I need to do this NOW, how can I break it into manageable little pieces?

It was a revelation. I'm much more relaxed now that MHET has been evicted. I even somehow found the time to write and submit a few short non-fiction pieces. 

I have my watch back now.

But I hope the new me I discovered when I was Timeless will remain.

Time is on my side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oSRvcdlgSI

 

Season's Greetings to

 everyone! Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate, and Happy New Year!

All my blog readers. All five of you.

People who are just browsing and found my site by mistake. Welcome!

Friends and family checking out my blog.

Everyone, that is,

EXCEPT

our doctor who chose to take the holiday week off, along with all the secretaries and nurses,

leaving M without two important prescriptions!

👎

Bah, humbug!

My New Year's Surprise

Something remarkable happened to me the first night of Rosh Hashana.

I arrived home from visiting M in rehab about 6:30 and discovered that both of the two elevators of our condo were out of service. Because I use a walker and can't schlep it up six flights of stairs, I was stuck in the lobby. I kept asking the concierge when the repair person was coming and was told, "Soon." 

By 8:30 I was getting hungry. The concierge, who had stayed past her official quitting time, told me that someone was having a party in the party room. She asked them whether I could have something to eat because I was stuck downstairs and was hungry. They said okay and I crashed the party.

The party was a family of four, eating a catered meal. When they said, "Actually we're having our first night of Rosh Hashana meal," I smiled. 

"That's what I should be doing, too. My husband is finishing some physiotherapy in rehab* and I was visiting him."

They had plenty of food, a  mind-boggling variety. Vegetarian or meat. Gluten or gluten-free. With nuts or without nuts. All kosher--I'm not--and all absolutely delicious.

My neighbours, whom I was meeting for the first time, were charming as well as gracious. I left after half an hour, refused their offer of taking some leftovers, and thanked them.

I only wish that M could have been there, too, to share my special Rosh Hashana surprise.

* a long, evolving story, which I won't go into here

 

The Last Word (a 50-word biography)

 The Last Word

Pregnant Paris doctor flees Nazis.

Landlady: Someday you speaking English. Then you being a lady.

Crossword puzzles become her English lessons.

Toronto medical school head: Stay home. Be a mother.

Accepted two years later.

"You actually passed. And your English is so good!"

"It should be. I memorized your textbook."

Writing Mentors

 

Until recently, I always thought that a writing mentor was a result of lucky happenstance. Someone who gave useful advice or who helped you connect with the right person or market, sprinkling fairy dust on one's writing journey.

It didn't occur to me that you could seek out a mentor, as some people now do in Twitter pitch sessions. You just had to be lucky and hope someone would sprinkle fairy dust in your direction.

I've had four such incredible people in my life.

1. Rita Fromkess 

was the wife of a movie producer and an assistant producer. I met her in August 1970 in London's Dorchester Hotel when everyone was stuck in the lobby during a sudden downpour. We started talking and I told her that I was in university and wanted to be a drama critic. She gave me some tips on what to see in London and in Florence. She said that her husband was producing the movie, "The Last of Sheila." She said she wanted me to see it and write her to tell her what I thought of it. She gave me self-confidence in my ability to write. 

2. Barbara West

was an editor at Chatelaine magazine. My future mother-in-law was her doctor and insisted that I give her a call to get writing tips. Ms. West was kind enough to talk to me about Chatelaine and what kind of articles it used. I sent her a few queries but never hit the Chatelaine sweet spot. However, after rejecting my query about James Houston, she told me exactly which market would accept it: enRoute. She was right.

3. James Houston

was the author/artist/screenwriter/glass designer/discoverer of Inuit sculpture and printmaking who was the subject of my cover story for enRoute. He took a chance on a novice journalist and let me interview him on speculation. (I didn't have a market yet when he was in town for his Glass Art Gallery show opening.) I will always be grateful to him. And to Janak Khendry, the owner of the gallery who arranged the interview.

4. The woman at Italian Night

M and I went to an Italian Night sponsored by the church of our friends in the fall of 2008. (We just liked Italy and our friends suggested that we might have fun.) Although we were the only Jewish people there, everyone made us feel welcome. The Italian food was delicious, of course, and we enjoyed the entertainment. Sitting at our table was a couple whose son was an author of children's books. The woman told me the name of the publisher and I recognized it. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't bring my business cards with me for this purely social occasion. 

After we left early to feed and walk Echo, I researched her son. He had written some high quality non-fiction children's books. And he had an agent. A Canadian agent. It hadn't occurred to me that there were any Canadian agents who might handle children's authors. Soon after, I sent a query to a Canadian agent and was successful.

From my mentors, I learned that market and publishing information is always changing and it's important to keep up-to date. Talking to complete strangers, while scary, can be rewarding. Inspiration can come from the most unexpected sources. Act self-confident before you actually are.

Also, never go anywhere without your business cards (or your book's bookmarks)!

Still Crazy...

 (about each other)

...After All These (30) Years!

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

Therapy for Tulipexia*

*Starved for tulips

because, like me, you lack a tulip garden?

Here are a few cures I'm using currently.

1. Look at photos of tulips of the past, saved on my phone or the computer.

2. Watch videos and photos on the Twitter feed of Keukenhof, the world's largest spring garden, located near Amsterdam. It's a delight and the next best thing to visiting there. Hurry; the season ends on May 14.

 Keukenhof

3. A lovely relaxation video, Flying Over Netherlands, which is accompanied by music. Instant happiness for tulip appreciators.

Flying Over Netherlands 

Gordon Lightfoot

 I was sad to read that Gordon Lightfoot passed away yesterday.

My first concert was a Gordon Lightfoot performance at Massey Hall in November 1968. He seemed as though he belonged on that stage. He used to perform there every November, his birthday month. For a while in the 70s, my favourite singer alternated between him and Stevie Wonder.

Gordie wrote some of Canada's best songs, which included folk, rock, and ballads. He had a unique style and a great voice (the latter was unlike someone he was often compared to, Bob Dylan). The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) commissioned him to write something in honour of Canada's centennial in 1967. He wrote Canadian Railroad Trilogy, which he had to research. A superb piece of historical writing.

Canadian Railroad Trilogy

What's my favourite Lightfoot song? It's too hard too choose just one. 

Here's another possibility that perhaps isn't as well known, Christian Island, an ode to his sailboat and to summers at the cottage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP3n_U7G2CY

  

The Mayoral Election: A Modest Proposal

 Due to a sudden resignation of John Tory, Toronto's former mayor, there's another municipal election coming up in June.

With no incumbent, it's an open field for candidates.

Today's Toronto Star stated that there are now

46 candidates...and counting!

Enough is enough! 

I propose that they

- cut off the number of candidates when they reach 52,

- put the list in alphabetical order,

- call off the election,

and 

- let each candidate be mayor for one week a year.