Well folks, we’re halfway through the month of November. Snow is slowly trying to make a semi-permanent appearance in my little slice of the country and I’ve been pushing pretty hard to raise funds for this year’s Movember challenge. As avid readers of my blog may recall, I posted about this before November hit, with the hopes of letting all my followers see it and potentially contribute early on. You can see the post, along with the instructions on how to donate here. Every year, I set a pretty modest goal of $500. Most years, I manage to meet that goal. Some years, less so. I’m never inherently disappointed when I don’t, since any funds raised are better than NO funds raised.
How it started…
However, this year has a different feel. Given that the month is halfway gone, I’ve been pretty disappointed in checking my Movember Challenge page to see that with the exception of one very important and generous friend, I’ve received no donations from anybody. Given the several hundred followers I purportedly have on this page, if each and every one of you donated even just $1, you would absolutely blow my goal out of the water and make a significant contribution to testicular and prostate cancer research, and help with the prevention and awareness of men’s mental health and suicide prevention.
How it’s going…
So help me out. Make a difference. I know it’s the time of year when everyone has their hands out, but I happen to be one of those folks who prides himself on never asking others for anything, so this is kind of a big deal for me. Anything any of you can spare goes a long, long way towards reaching my very important goal and contributes to the overall total that the organization achieves. No pressure and no harm if you choose not to donate. Just know that it’s appreciated and keep on reading! ☯️
For those who are new to reading, this is the sixth time I publish this post. And for good reason. In a world where proper nutrition is becoming more and more challenging, understanding how the vitamins and minerals we consume play an integral role in our health is paramount.
I absolutely love this post! I consider it to be one of the best-written and important posts I’ve ever drafted and when I mention this to some of my readers and/or followers, it usually catches them by surprise. Perhaps they believe that my endearment should be reserved for posts about martial arts or even Diabetes. But the truth is, the contents of this post cover a lot of the bases: nutrition, health and requirements of the body, which all play an integral role in maintaining proper health for Diabetes and ensuring one can train and develop their fitness acumen. So read on, if you haven’t. Scroll on by if you read it last year…
I consider the consumption of vitamins and minerals to be an important part of maintaining one’s health. It’s no surprise that modern nutrition is sorely lacking in most people and with every reposting of this material, I’m reminded of the importance of taking a steady multivitamin on a daily basis; a fact my doctors keep reminding me, as well. With the colder weather hitting our area and everyone’s immune system taking a hit, vitamins and supplementation are very important. So, bearing in mind that I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, here’s what I posted all the way back in June of 2019. Enjoy!
One of the key reasons behind the consumption of food is to obtain carbohydrates for energy. The human body requires energy to carry on normal functions and, well… stay alive! But what else do we get from the food we eat? A proper diet will also include a number of vitamins and minerals that we require to maintain proper health, growth and energy levels within the body. We’ve all heard about getting enough vitamins from a young age. I remember getting my Flintstones vitamin everyday as a kid.
But if you’re like most people, you’re likely wondering what these vitamins are for and what they do. My goal is to cover off the main ones here:
Vitamin A: This is an all-around vitamin that provides a number of functions including but not limited to the proper health of various bodily functions, tissues and helps to fight chronic disease and is known to be good for the eyes.
Vitamin B: This one is a bit complicated, as there is a large grouping of enzymes, vitamins and minerals that fall under the “B” category. In general, B-vitamins are used for energy production, immune function and absorbing iron. Some them include B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B9 (folate) and B12. There are a few more that I can’t recall, but B12 is considered amongst one of the most important of vitamins overall because it helps you turn food into energy.
Vitamin C: At some points, this one has been referred to as the sunshine vitamin. I’m thinking that’s mostly because people’s main source of Vitamin C is from citrus fruits. But this vitamin also helps with iron absorption, immune function and is a natural antioxidant that helps with the elimination of free radicals. Eating citrus fruits are also what sailors used to eat on long voyages to prevent scurvy.
Vitamin D: This vitamin helps with the strengthening of bones and teeth. Our bodies are designed to self-generate this vitamin naturally through exposure to sunlight, but obviously that needs to be done in small doses. Modern life has created an environment where more people spend their time indoors, away from the sun. So supplementation becomes important.
Vitamin E: A pretty straight forward vitamin, this one helps with proper blood circulation and clear skin.
Vitamin K: This vitamin is essential for blood-clotting. In order words, if you’re deficient in this vitamin, small cuts or injuries can cause excessive bleeding that can become dangerous.
Folic Acid: We hear people speak about this one as being necessary during pregnancy. And they would be correct! Folic Acid helps to prevent certain complications during childbirth but is important to everyone for proper cell renewal. This one is also known as Folate, or Vitamin B9 (as listed above).
Calcium: Most people should be familiar with this one. Teeth and bones, people! Teeth and bones! Good calcium levels are required to keep those body parts healthy.
Iron: This helps to build muscle tissue naturally and helps with proper health of the blood. As an interesting sidebar, it’s also what makes your blood red through the reflection of light!
Zinc: Immunity and Fertility. I’m a little unfamiliar with this one and haven’t had the opportunity to research it a great deal.
Chromium: This one is near and dear to my heart. Because it helps to control blood sugar levels. Chromium is what helps all the systems of your body to get the energy they need when they need it. Some traditional medicine practitioners will suggest Chromium supplements for Type 1 Diabetics who may have difficulty in maintaining proper levels.
Magnesium: This one helps your body to absorb all the other vitamins and minerals. It also acts as something of a relaxant to muscle tissue and play a role in proper muscle contraction.
Potassium: This mineral helps with the proper hydration of your body and helps to control blood pressure.
There are many others of course, but I’ve tried to cover off the main vitamins and minerals required for a proper diet. We get most of what we need by eating regularly and including a variety of healthy foods. A lot of people take a daily multi-vitamin, which is fine. But unless you are experiencing symptoms or unexplained illnesses, there shouldn’t be a need to actively try and take added amounts of anything. Your medical practitioner should be able to advise you if further supplementation is required. For example, patients who are recommended to take Folic Acid and Iron during pregnancy.
Obviously, all of this is extremely important; not only for proper health and fitness, which is important to me, but to help with Type 1 Diabetes as well. Taking a daily multivitamin can help to ensure that your body gets everything it needs, in combination with carbohydrates, lean proteins and fibre. My wife Laura originally gave me the idea for the post I wrote in 2019 when she asked about B-vitamins. Every time I re-post this material, I think of her. The credit for this post is all her! ☯️
They say that all living creatures only have a finite number of heartbeats. When one has used up all one’s beats, one’s life comes to an end. Some have the belief that this is one of the reasons why our beloved family dogs live far shorter lives than we do. Their hearts beats far harder and truer than ours. Dogs have no judgement, see no race and have absolutely no evil in their hearts. The only time we can expect to see something negative come out of a helped family dog is if you’re foolish enough to threaten one of their pack, or family members. That’s when you’ve effective fucked around and found out and likely deserve what you get. But I digress…
I never had pets growing up. My mother was mysteriously and conveniently allergic to every animal that you can pet. We had fish but frankly, if you can flush it, I never really felt that it counted. I’ve always held the belief that having a pet as a child has the potential to impart a number of important growing tools for a kid. Besides teaching routine, responsibility and discipline, a dog will also provide a child with a sense of bonding and attachment. Dogs truly are one of the very few creatures that can love unconditionally and without expectation. It took me a few days to get here and be able to write this. Last Friday, I had to say goodbye to the world’s best dog.
I first met Molly when I was posted in a small, southern Saskatchewan town. As the town had no bylaw enforcement, we were frequently called upon for bylaw matters, which included animal control. One of the locals had broken up with her husband and he left his dogs behind. She would normally put the dog in the backyard while she went off to work but after a short while, she figured out a way to shimmy out of the yard and would take little walkabouts throughout the town. Molly was always a gentle soul, wagging her tail and walking up to everyone who called out to her. I got used to a routine where I would pull up in my police vehicle, call her over and she would gleefully hop into my back seat without objection. I would then bring her home and put her in her back yard. Wash, rinse and repeat.
Molly and I in 2014
After a few weeks, the lady who had Molly posted on Facebook that she was moving out of the house and would have to surrender the dog to a shelter and as she couldn’t bring her into her rental. I was very aware that the likelihood of finding a good home when going into a shelter was unlikely. Not willing to have Molly’s life ended prematurely, I spoke with my wife and she agreed that we could take Molly in. We have a fully fenced in back yard, and open empty lot on the northern side of our house and plenty of space inside, including a finished basement. Since I had never had a dog before, there were periods of learning and adjustment, including discovering her rampant fear of thunder, her strange affinity to my wife’s slippers and her frequent need to be petted and shown affection.
Soon after, my wife and I welcomed our first son, Nathan. Molly took to Nathan and became an ad hoc protector. She would sleep under his crib at night and curl up close whenever I’d have him in his slumber chair. Molly followed everywhere we went and we even had a futon she slept on, which included a nightly routine of tucking her in. She became an immediate member of the family and everyone who met her on our walks took to her immediately and loved her. Molly was always gentle, always quiet and I can count on one hand the number of times she ever barked for any reason. I used to love coming home from work where she would bolt out the door and chase each other around the empty lot until my chunky ass got tired.
A freshly shaved Molly giving good morning kisses to Nathan
Molly travelled with us when we transferred to Regina. Our new house unfortunately didn’t have a fenced in back yard and for the first time, we had to tether her when we put her out. She wasn’t pleased with this but still enjoy bolting and chasing birds and squirrels around the yard. After a few years in Regina, our life situation changed. We had our second son, Alexander, coming along. Molly was getting up in age and her tolerance for the daily grind of life was becoming difficult. Realistically, we were never really certain how old Molly actually was. The lady we got her from “thought” that she was at least 4 or 5 when she came to us, which would have put her at about 10 years old by the time our second son was born.
Given this and a number of different factors, we decided we needed alternate arrangements. Luckily, my wife’s family has a farm. ever hear that the dog was sent up to the farm? This is literally what we did. My in-laws had a fenced in back yard, a large farm yard with plenty of opportunity to run and chase gophers and squirrels. Plus, I would get to see Molly any time we visited family. Despite the fact that Molly would have her home life changed for at least third time in her life, it was a win/win.
Molly was always generous with her affection
Molly has spent the past five years in the care of my mother-in-law. She took to her like she’s taken to everyone. She lived a god life and I like to think we did the best we could for her. I often think about where Molly would have ended up, had we not taken her in when the previous home gave her up. I’m glad we were able to keep her in a comfortable home and surrounded by people who loved her. Unfortunately and as is the case with everyone in life, time caught up to her. in the past year, her golden fur turned white. Her legs began to fail and could no longer support her. Like any loving family, we began to have the difficult conversations regarding what next steps may eventually be required.
in recent months, Molly also became incontinent. For anyone who’s ever had a pet, while it’s totally normal for there to be an occasional “accident” in the house, it becomes an obvious sign of an age issue that could no longer be ignored. During a recent trip to our family’s home, I asked that inquiries be made for final arrangements for Molly. I’ve come to find that most people view pets through one of two lenses; either they assume it’s “just an animal” (in which case, go fuck yourself) or they understand that when a pet becomes a part of the family, losing that pet can be as traumatic as any other loved one dying.
Reading on a rainy day
I was travelling for work last week when Molly’s appointment with her vet was scheduled. I reached Kindersley around lunch time after days of travelling and staying in a hotel. As expected, Molly greeted me at the door and I was given plenty of head bumps and sniffs while I gave her pets and cuddles. It only took a few minutes for her body to grow exhausted and she had to lie back down on her doggy bed. I had a few hours to spend with her. While she spent most of that time snoring and sleeping at my feet, I got see her, tell stories about her and take her for a short walk. Granted, she could barely walk out the back gate of the yard and up to the truck before needing to be carried but I got to take her for a walk one last time.
We had to pick her up and carefully load her into the back seat of my mother-in-law’s truck. She went in willingly enough. I mean, what dog doesn’t LOVE a car ride, right? We drove in silence, with the exception of my mother-in-law asking if I’d wanted to drive and my commenting on how I was able to look around and see what’s changed in Kindersley in recent years. We arrived at the vet clinic and lifted her out of the truck. The side door opened and Molly willingly walked up to the vet tech, tail wagging with familiarity. Much as she had been her entire life, she was accepting and friendly of everyone she encountered, even in the advent of what would come next.
Our last walk together
The difficult part for a dog is that unlike a person, they can’t tell us what’s wrong, what hurts and what the problem may be. It leaves their loved ones with the unfortunate responsibility of deciding that they’ve reach the end of this life for them. I’ve never had to experience of having a pet put down. I have to confess that my experience was far different from how I’ve had it described by others. The staff were completely transparent, explaining every step and wouldn’t take any of said steps without telling us first. She was given a sedative/pain killer that would relax her and numb any joint or limb pain that she was experiencing. It only took a couple of minutes for her to once agin be snoring at my feet.
Once the staff brought her into the procedure room, it was over within a couple of minutes. Given how peacefully and calmly she left this world, I felt we should all be so lucky. Even the vet staff all knew Molly, and commented on how they were one of their favourite visitors due to her friendliness, gentleness and demeanour. And that’s the mark she made on everyone she met. She was always the friendliest. She was the best doggy in the world. She wasn’t man’s best friend. She was EVERYONE’s best friend. It’s true what they say; we don’t deserve dogs.
I may never know everything that Molly had been through in her life. The first years of her life will forever be a mystery. While there is some possibility that her first years were difficult, she showed no signs of it throughout the years she was with us. And in one brief moment, it was over. Molly’s heart struck its last beat. But to the end, it beat strong and true with nothing but affection for those who cared for her. A finite number of heart beats. The story of everyone’s life always begins and ends in exactly the same way. It’s how we fill the chapters in between that make each of us unique. And Molly’s story was a solid one. Until we meet again, fur baby. ☯️
We’ve all been there… Our week is a bit long, we’ve pushed ourselves a bit too hard and we suddenly find ourselves with a night where we get back home and all one wants to do is crash and hit the pillow. I had just such a night recently. I got home from work and was utterly exhausted. I muddled my way through supper and did my usual dishes and chores before flopping down on the couch and wishing for death. not literally, mind you. But the thought of just closing my eyes and drifting off seemed pretty blissful in that moment. Luckily, we were able to get the boys down for bed relatively early and I ended up crashing myself. I slept for roughly twelve hours, despite repeated alerts from my pump and my reservoir hitting zero units.
I woke up the next morning to a quiet house and made a move towards the first caffeine of the day. I couldn’t help but notice that I still felt utterly exhausted, which may be an issue in and of itself. That might be something that I need to look into, at some point but considering I slept several HOURS beyond what I usually would, it got me to thinking about all the times I chose to nap on the weekends and how it always made me feel more tired than when I first fell asleep. It raises an important question; can one sleep TOO much? The easy answer would obviously be yes, but how far does that answer go?
According to an online article posted by the Sleep Foundation, “Oversleeping, or long sleeping, is defined as sleeping more than nine hours in a 24-hour period.” By that definition, what I did last week certainly falls under this definition as I slept for three hours beyond that threshold. The article goes on to explain that even though there are valid reasons one might oversleep, such as fighting off an illness, but sleeping more than seven to nine hours in any given night can have some negative effects on one’s health, as well.
According to WebMD, oversleeping can lead to a number of conditions including but not limited to obesity, headaches, back pain, depression and heart disease. The article also suggests that oversleeping can leave one open to the risk of developing Diabetes. Although I assume they’re referring to Type-2, it’s kind of nice to read an article where something may cause Diabetes instead of Diabetes BEING the cause. The article also suggests that people who consistently oversleep have a higher death rate than those who do not.
Ultimately, if you find yourself consistently oversleeping, you may want to consider talking to a doctor about it. There may be outlying conditions that cause you to oversleep. Obviously, there are inherent problems with oversleeping if you have Type-1 Diabetes. You may miss a meal, forget to test your blood sugar or like me, have your pump run on empty while you’re still slumbering, causing an increased spike in your blood sugars. Like everything else, it’s important keep a tight control on one’s Diabetes, even during the hours you sleep. ☯️
Today is always a bit of a bittersweet day for me. It’s my older brother’s birthday. Born on December 3, 1972, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease from birth. His kidneys failed soon thereafter and he was the recipient of donor kidney when he was a toddler. He was diagnosed with epilepsy, heart conditions and Fanconi Syndrome, which likely contributed to his kidney failure. His replacement kidney, which wasn’t supposed to last more than five years, lasted until the age of 18. A veritable walking miracle, he continues to be a source of inspiration and the example to follow, even in my adult years.
His love of life and love of family taught me the importance of valuing what’s important and to continue fighting, no matter how dark or bleak the outcome may appear. He continued to fight his illnesses and always kept a smile on his face, always ready with a hug or an “I love you” for family or friends. I always admired how someone so young who literally fought death every day could have such a positive outlook on life and appreciated everything. If that isn’t the epitome of a shining human being who knows what it means to live, I don’t know what is.
Sadly, my brother passed away in April of 1991. During what had become a routine hospitalization to our family turned out to be the last time he would leave him home. Called in the middle of the night, my family and I rushed to the hospital to find my brother comatose. He passed from congestive heart failure a short time later. His death affected me in ways that even now, I haven’t consolidated. His influence and example continue to drive my day to day existence. If everyone would be a little more like my brother had been, the world would be a better place. Happy birthday, bro. You would have been 50-years old. Miss you. ☯️
There’s no shortage of imagination in today’s society but it often feels as though old ideas are being regurgitated and recycled at an alarming rate. Movies and shows that came out decades ago are being brought back into the light with a modern look, modern actors and modern twists. And sometimes that can be super fun. Other times, it falls short on expectations and leaves the viewer disappointed.
For example, I’ve always been a great fan of classic 70’s and 80’s slasher movies. For example the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street series were fantastic and delivered exactly what one would expect: a bunch of people being unrelentingly slaughtered by a supernatural killer. That’s why, when the reboots of these movies came out in 2009 and 2010 respectively, I had great expectations. Both movies fell short.
Sometimes, a remake or reboot can reignite the imagination. Man of Steel was absolutely fantastic and I enjoyed the fact that they focused a great deal of the beginning on the planet Krypton and how Superman actually became, well, Superman. It still doesn’t compare to 1978’s Superman: the Movie with Christopher Reeve. That movie taught me a man can fly! But the reboot did the legend and the genre justice. I especially enjoyed how the Man of Steel didn’t have an all-powerful Superman who was unstoppable. There were several instances where the titular character gets thrown around, showing at least some augury of vulnerability.
That brings us to The Matrix. For those who aren’t familiar, The Matrix is a science fiction movie that came out in 1999, which seems like an eternity ago. The premise is that everyone lives inside a virtual reality environment controlled by machines that have enslaved humanity. The protagonist is freed from the machine environment and revealed to be a chosen “One” who has the ability to manipulate the virtual reality environment. It was a fantastic movie and still holds up. It generated two sequels, which weren’t QUITE as fun as the original but still good.
That’s why I was SUPER excited to hear that a somewhat reboot was being released last year. The Matrix: Resurrections. Despite the pandemic delaying and slowing down certain film releases, previews and hype built my excitement and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this movie. It actually ended up being one that I purchased, which is contrary to my personal policy of waiting for it to appear on one of my streaming services. When I found it a local retailer, I scooped it up. My wife and I are massive Keanu Reeves fans, so we were both looking forward to it.
When we finally got to sit down and watch it, I have to admit that the build-up was somewhat slow. And strange. Considering it’s a sci-fi movie, that’s saying something. Once we got into it, we find out that it’s 60 years into the future and the main protagonists have been “resurrected” by the machines. The storyline was sound but it fell short in its delivery. And it was a little too similar to the previous movies. This usually wouldn’t be a problem for a genuine reboot. But this was shown to be something of a continuation of what occurred after the end of Matrix: Revolutions.
All in all, it was a decent movie but certainly not worth the hype or the excitement I had at waiting for it to come out. To say I was disappointed in it might be an exaggeration. After all, there were some fight scenes and some cool set ups. But I definitely regret not waiting for it to come to a streaming service instead of buying it. First world problems, right? ☯️
I’m pretty late getting a blog post written today. That’s what happens when you waste away a cold, cloudy, autumn-like morning by laying in bed longer than you should, followed by dragging your feet at some errands before the work week starts. Luckily, once I was able to sit down in my rocker, play some daily crossword puzzles and get some caffeine into me, all was good.
Nathan and I started our day by having some breakfast (which consisted of cold pizza for me. What?! It’s the weekend…) followed by running to a local department store to grab groceries and items we would need to make it through the week. When we got home, Nathan was hungry again, which he practically always is. I fed him a snack and since the baby was in bed, my wife and I decided a cold, lazy Sunday was an appropriate time for a nap. I convinced Nathan to stay quiet for an hour so that we could lie down.
When we woke up, Nathan decided he wanted to go to the park. Since it’s the weekend and I have no reason to decline his request, I agreed on the condition that we take our bikes. I’m only about halfway towards my current virtual marathon, which requires 508 kilometres on the bike. I’m currently at roughly 200. Today should have been my day to break out a solid 40 or 50-kilometre ride, but the morning left me uninspired due to the cold.
Nathan and I donned our helmets and took to the streets, hellbent on making our way to a local park, which was about a kilometre away. Nathan still has his training wheels on, since he outright refuses to work his legs consistently to get them stronger. I’ve been threatening to remove his training wheels all summer, but I thought this would be a good opportunity for him to ride with me and get a feel for some actual biking that doesn’t simply include doing circles in the driveway.
Riding to the park with Nathan was a learning experience. For one, I got the opportunity to o learn how slowly I can cycle and still maintain my centre of balance on the bike. FYI, it ain’t very slow. But once on the street with me, Nathan gave himself the effort and started to push hard with his legs. He not only kept up at a reasonable pace, he overtook me a couple of times and the grin on his face was worth the slow speed.
His reward was playing at a local park with a batch of kids and making new friends. He even got to pet a dog. And despite not sweating through my fitness gear like I usually do, I added almost 3 kilometres to my virtual marathon. I’ll worry about great distances tomorrow. today, I got my son on the right track to start using his bike not only for recreation but as a source of transportation. And I can certainly appreciate the opportunity. ☯️
I’m not one for posting more than once per day, but today was particular… Anyone who’s been following my blog for a while is aware that I frequently posted about my bicycling milestones, all through out the summer and fall last year. Given that temperatures hit the high teens today, the whole family took advantage of the warm weather to spend some time outside. During this time, I opened up my garage and cleaned my SUV… You know, typical warm weather stuff.
One of the things I did was grease up the chain on my bike and inflate the tires to the proper pressure. Once that was done, I couldn’t resist taking a quick spin around the block to try the ol’ girl out. I was wearing a hoodie and jeans, completely unstretched and unprepared. But I managed 1.5 kilometres in just a few seconds over 5 minutes. I spent the early afternoon running some errands and picking up my Diabetic supplies, all the while thinking about my bike. Once I got home, I couldn’t resist changing into fitness gear and going for a more substantial ride. Especially since a snowstorm is calling for tonight.
My first outing of the season. Not bad for a first run.
My wife was taking advantage of a quick nap while the baby was sleeping and Nathan was occupied, so I threw in the earbuds, slapped on my helmet and took a ride. 10 kilometres in 37 minutes is far from my best time, and I can admit that I didn’t really do any cross-training through the winter months. But it felt nice to get out and peddle, listen to some rocking’ tunes and enjoy my first outing since snow hit the ground.
I don’t know if a snowstorm will hit as expected, as it’s still 14 degrees out and we’re slipping into the wee hours of the late evening. But once this weather starts holding permanently, I’m looking forward to training to reach my goal of 200 kilometres. This is the goal I had for last year, but I only ever reached about 75 kilometres before it started getting too cold to be out. I’ll try not to be a constant pain in the ass and post about nothing but cycling. But I intend on keeping track of my progress and hopefully reaching the goals I fell short on last year. ☯
Sometimes I feel like an old country song. You know the ones… Where the job sucks, the house is flooding and fate seems hell-bent on bending you over the nearest bench and jabbing you up the rear end with a flaming red-hot poker… Oh, wait! That’s not a country song. That’s my life in general!
Yes, I’m feeling a little morose right now. I’ve been doing some reflecting, and maybe it’s the state of the world, maybe it’s my current perspective or maybe it’s the fact I can’t seem to get a damn break and sell my f&$kin’ house, but it has me down a bit and sometimes getting ahead of what’s getting you down isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
I came to a realization tonight while looking through some old memories from back home (Dalhousie, New Brunswick). I’ve forgotten and been forgotten by more people from my past than I will likely meet and/or becomes friends with in my future. I’ve always been a firm believer that it’s important not to live your life with regrets. Because every step you’ve taken, good or bad, has led you to be the person you are today. And to be honest, I kinda love the person I am today. I think my wife would agree…
But despite the fact that I may regret nothing, I still find myself contemplating and wondering about some of my choices and thinking about where I would be if I had made them differently. I’m sure that some of you have found yourselves in this position as well. And this is the step upon which I find myself sitting on this fateful night.
I’ve applied for a number of jobs back home. Ironically, I’ve found that the majority of these jobs are all located within the same southern New Brunswick city, which would be awesome to live in and work in. But I’ve built my life in Saskatchewan for the past eleven years. The jobs I’ve found all seem to be drawing me back to a specific area of New Brunswick and I can’t help but feel that karma is pushing me in a specified direction.
I’m tired of being tired. Recent obstacles have brought the past two years into question, but I can’t seem to sit back and admit defeat. I don’t think that any self-respecting person in my position could. Would you? Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, would you just throw in the towel and admit defeat? Can any strong person do as much?
Many people have told me that something good is just around the corner. That when one door closes, another door opens. I rather like to think that when one door closes you re-open the damn thing. That’s kinda how doors work. Maybe something good is coming from around the corner. But I don’t feel inclined to wait until that door becomes available. Maybe I need to start forcing open some doors of my own… ☯
I had an interesting dream last night about Japan. It was reminiscent of my trip there in 2001. Although it’s been almost twenty years, I still remember getting on the road in the early hours of morning before the sun rose to drive from my home town of Dalhousie, New Brunswick to Mont-Joli, Quebec where my team and I would grab the first flight of many that would carry us all the way across the globe to Narita, Japan.
It was a long summer before we travelled out in October of 2001. The world had changed about a month prior and I was curious as to whether we would actually be making the trip. But as it turned out, we decided to live life for the sake of living and risk it out. Although the rest of the team took the summer off, I trained hard as I anticipated getting my black belt in Okinawa. I was at the tail end of my time as a brown belt and this trip would provide the final step I needed to finally begin my journey in the martial arts.
Performing Seisan kata for Sensei and Nakama-Sensei at his dojo in Ginowan
We had a total of four flights, starting from Mont-Joli to Quebec City, Quebec, followed by a flight to Montreal, Quebec, on to New York before finally flying to Narita, Japan. We stayed overnight in New York and did the tourist thing. It was nice, and we even climbed the Empire State building. We dined at some restaurants and embarked on the fourteen-hour flight that would take us to Narita.
During that fourteen hours, our flight arc took us across Alaska. I remember everyone being fast asleep and the plane was dark and quiet. I was gazing over the snow-covered landscape that was 35,000 feet below me. I remember leaning my face against the window and thinking about how the world looks so peaceful and beautiful and serene from that high up… Then my bowels almost evacuated. The plane rocked violently and shifted to the side. It felt as though the plane struck something solid and I saw the port-side wing flex upward at what I felt was an impossible angle before settling back to its original position.
I sat there shaking, thinking about how close I came to dying. I looked around the plane and realized that no one had woken. I realized that if the plane had crashed, I would have been the only poor bastard awake to experience it. When Sensei woke up, I told him what happened. He got a good laugh at my expense as he explained that we probably struck an air pocket and dropped a few feet. Once the plane hit normal air, the wings would flex to accommodate the stress. If only I had known, I could have prevented making a fool of myself. It would be the first of many of those situations on this trip…
Nakama-Sensei’s senior class posing with us in Ginowan
We landed in Narita, Japan and stayed at a traditional Japanese inn. The rooms had paper walls and tatami mats for beds. Honestly, the most comfortable sleep of my life with the exception of my memory foam mattress. There was a public bath and meals were served by the inn’s owner who was also the front counter person. We stayed there for three days and visited Tokyo Tower as well as the Budokan and Kodokan Judo Institute. Believe it or not, I had my very first beer at a Japanese dignitary’s home during my time in Narita. I was 23 years’ old.
We took a short flight across the Ryukyu islands to land in Naha, Okinawa. this is where we would be spending the following weeks of our stay. We checked in to the Oasis Hotel in Naha, where I would be sharing a room with the two other guys in my team while Sensei and his wife had the second room. As of the following morning, our schedule went a little something like this:
Wake up at 6:00 am;
Brief breakfast of whatever foods we purchased from a local grocery store and ate in our rooms;
Three to four hours of karate classes in the morning before breaking for lunch;
Afternoons to ourselves, which included laying on the beach, shopping at the local markets and visiting museums;
No supper, because heavy shit was coming;
Another three to four hours of karate with the senior class;
Beer and food at Nakama-Sensei’s home afterwards;
Ceremoniously pass out from exhaustion;
Wash, rinse and repeat.
Uechi-Ryu’s original dojo in Futenma City, Okinawa
It was a gruelling few weeks of training and running around. Although it was October and considered to be the onset of the colder season for Okinawans, it was 40 degrees and hotter than hell for us. All the beer and sake we drank never came out. I could include a lot of the incidents that took place during our trip. The fact that Sensei filmed one of the other male students applying sunblock on my shoulders while at the beach, getting drunk in front of that aforementioned dignitary since it was my first time drinking beer and accidentally screaming “I love you” in Japanese to a fifteen-year old girl… Yeah, I wasn’t proud of that one. Y’all can tell me in the comments which of those fuck-ups you’d like to hear more about!
Left to right: My Sensei, Nakama-Sensei and the head of the Okinawan Karate Association
Out of everything I experienced in Okinawa, watching Sensei receive his 6th Dan was by far the most rewarding. Combined with a couple of Okinawan elders trying to set me up to marry their daughters and bring them back to Canada, it was a memorable night. It was also a fantastic way to wrap up our trip. I even got the opportunity to visit some Buddhist temples.
I miss Japan and Okinawa greatly. It was mostly a month of good times and good memories. It only surprises me that it’s taken me this long to dream memories of the place. Sensei has returned to Okinawa every two to three years since then. He keeps going back and all I’ve done is dream about the memories I’ve made. Perhaps someday I’ll go back.
I didn’t get my black belt in Okinawa like I planned. In fact, I only got it the following year in Sensei’s private dojo in my hometown. In some ways, a lot of ways, that suited me better. Would it have been memorable to get it in Okinawa? Sure. But I wouldn’t trade the memories I gained in Okinawa or the experience of my black belt test for anything in the world. ☯
The Blogging Buddhist 