Ceilidh Newsletter – Special Edition #7

Happy Canada Day

Victoria Street, Edinburgh

This will be the last newsletter for a while – I need a break and anyway some of my family are coming for the month of July so the house will be busy (and noisy – but in a good way.)  The hot tub is ready for heating up swimmers and no doubt they will get the trampoline set up on the front lawn when they get here.  We have had part of the deck at the back replaced, actually Steve is just finishing it now and it looks so good that we have decided to replace the rest of the deck later.

In the front garden the pink dogwood is still giving us a wonderful show and the hydrangeas are just coming out.  We are so fortunate to have such a lovely garden especially during this unusual time.  It is a lot of work but this is the time to sit back and enjoy it.  We are open to visitors but call us first to ensure you don’t all come at once!

Thanks for the nice e-mails – they are much appreciated.  So here is another special edition, hopefully a cheery note to brighten your day with nothing but pictures, jokes and videos.  I hope it finds you all well and that this will lift your spirits.

I have managed to complete my father’s war time story though there is nothing from the later part.  I am sure he would have written home but these letters are lost.  I have sent the draft to my daughter for editing as I am a two finger typist and there will be lots of corrections.  Once complete I will share it with my brother in Tasmania, who I have not seen since 1982, my sister in Ayr, Scotland, their families and my own family.  I have also been asked whether the letters should be forwarded to some war archive as they are first hand account but I would have to get the OK from my brother and sister as they are personal.

Now I have to try and piece together his story of growing up in Glasgow and his early years as a doctor.  These come from letters he wrote to us but they are not in the proper sequence so, like his wartime letters it sometimes is the same story told with more information, etc.

We are both well, as are our children and their families.  I hope this finds you all well and coping with the current situation.  Wherever you are please be careful, keep in touch with others, keep fit and stay safe.  Enjoy the summer and the break from these newsletters.

Thanks to those who continue to send jokes, videos, etc. without which these newsletters would not be the same.

I received this notice from School of Scottish Studies at Simon Fraser University yesterday. Please follow the link for details.

http://www.sfu.ca/scottishstudies/connecting-to-scotland-during-loch-down.html

Near Rogart, Sutherland

A sign in a shoe repair store in Vancouver reads: 
           We will heel you,
            We will save your sole,
            We would even dye for you.

Loch Bi, South Uist

A sign on a Blinds and Curtain Truck:

“Blind man driving.” 
 
On a Septic Tank Truck:

Yesterday’s Meals on Wheels

view from Upper Halistra Waternish

ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can’t remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
___________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He’s 20, much like your IQ.
___________________________________________

 

George Square Glasgow keeping distance

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Sunset over Nairn

St. Bernard’s Waltz  Bobby Brown & the Scottish Accent Grandfather Mountain Gala

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A Poem for our times

I wandered lonely as a cloud
Two metres from the madding crowd
When all at once my name was called
To enter Waitrose hallowed hall.
This was the pensioners’ special hour.
I’d gone to get a bag of flour.
But I forgot, when through the door,
What I had gone to Waitrose for.
The Waitrose staff are extra kind.
I told them it had slipped my mind.
They asked what else I had forgot
They clearly thought I’d lost the plot.
I phoned my wife again to ask.
She reminded me of this special task:
“I need some flour to bake a cake
With all that cream you made me take.
Ah yes I recall” I had to lie.
I dared not ask what flower to buy
But then I saw them next the tills
A bunch of golden daffodils!

Anon.

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Teviot Bridge

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John Muir Way overlooking the River Tyne at Inner Tyninghame Bay

On a Plumber’s truck:
“We repair what your husband fixed.”
 
On another Plumber’s truck:
“Don’t sleep with a drip.  Call your plumber.”
 
At a Tire Shop in Milwaukee:
“Invite us to your next blowout.”
 
On an Electrician’s truck:
  “Let us remove your shorts.”

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IT’S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes… I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas.  I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.  Pondering the peas, I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

‘Hello Barry, how are you today?’
‘H’lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus’ admirin’ them peas. They sure look good’
‘They are good, Barry. How’s your Ma?’
‘Fine. Gittin’ stronger alla’ time.’
‘Good. Anything I can help you with?’
‘No, Sir. Jus’ admirin’ them peas.’
‘Would you like to take some home?’ asked Mr. Miller.
‘No, Sir. Got nuthin’ to pay for ’em with.’
‘Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?’
‘All I got’s my prize marble here.’
‘Is that right? Let me see it’, said Miller.
‘Here ’tis. She’s a dandy.’
‘I can see that. Hmm mmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?’ the store owner asked.
‘Not zackley but almost.’
‘Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble’. Mr. Miller told the boy
‘Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.’
Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.
With a smile she said, ‘There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn’t like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.’
I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.
Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.
Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts…all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband’s casket.
Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one; each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.
Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband’s bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.
‘Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim ‘traded’ them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size…they came to pay their debt.’
‘We’ve never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,’ she confided, ‘but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho ..’

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral:
We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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On a Maternity Room door:
      “Push. Push. Push.”
 
At a Car Dealership:
“The best way to get back on your feet – miss a car payment.”
 
Outside a Muffler Shop:
“No appointment necessary.
We’ll hear you coming.”
 
In a Veterinarian’s waiting room:
“Be back in 5 minutes.
Sit!
Stay!”
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Some fun and interesting sites: – note if you have a link to something you think others will enjoy send me the link. Sound on, full screen:

A great commercial

The language is Albanian.

The message is universal (Don’t prejudge anyone! Be gentle with people because you don’t know their concerns)

If the video does not bring a tear to your eye, your recent sedentary isolation has brought on more than just hardened arteries.

Black lives matter

The Pope has a sense of humour

Make your very personal mask – a super idea.

 

 

How did they predict this?

A great use for drones

Bird song opera

Bird Song Opera

Nightdress?

 

 

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Ben-Ledi-at-sunset-taken-from-Cambusbarron

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The iconic paddle steamer “Waverley” has open heart surgery to replace 2 boilers

Gay Gordons  John Ellis And His Highland Country Band Thistle & The Shamrock 1999

All events have been cancelled or postponed but you should check first.  Check up on your neighbours, friends and those in need.  A kind word will help their troubles.  There is much to be thankful for and we are blessed.  I hope you are all well and if not get better soon.  I would love to hear from you – drop me a line at duncanmackenzie@telus.net 

Hope this newsletter brings a smile to some faces.  Please forward it to all your friends. I am about to try to devise a dance for 2 people keeping a social distance.  Maybe I will make a video and include it in a future newsletter!!

Take care and be safe, I miss you all, but we’ll dance again

The Clyde in a Glasgow sunset

 

May your troubles be one, may your blessings be more,
and may nothing but happiness come through your door.

Duncan MacKenzie
ceilidh@rscdsvancouver.org