Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 21

Random Act of Metaphor: The Gnarly Tree

Hmmm, are there onehundred rings inside that weathered trunk?

I was on a nature hikeyesterday when this massive tree caught my eye. My fertile mind immediatelynamed in the Gnarly Tree. I am not anarborist so I cannot speculate what those tuberous growths are or whether theyare harmful to the tree. I can attest that it gives the tree a lot ofcharacter.

Clearly, it is a veryold tree that has occupied its spot for many decades or perhaps even a hundredyears. It must have weathered countless storms – adding ring after ring to itstrunk to fortify itself. Indomitable comesto mind.

We can find inspirationfrom the Gnarly Tree for thetroubling times in which we are living. Every trial overcome is another ringadded. Every drought outlasted drives the roots deeper. Every illness survivedleaves a new gnarly growth as a tangible sign of victory.

TheGnarly Tree is a randomact of metaphor to declare that hardship toughens our core, that no one makesit through life without acquiring war wounds and that the determined survive tofight another day.

Wear your wounds proudlyas badge of honour. Celebrate that you have survived the test of time. Andabove all, do not be afraid to be gnarly.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

Federal Election 2021: A Five Week Olympic Fact-dodging Sprint

Hmmm, did we not just do this every fourth year dance only a little while ago?

We are heading to thepolls on September 20th for another federal election. Justin Trudeausays he called the election because Canadians deserve a choice.

Okay Justin, my choiceis that you do not spend $500 million on an election in the middle of thefourth wave of a pandemic when you have only been in office 18 months and havealready accumulated massive debt with all the pandemic emergency reliefprograms.

But of course, it is notat all about choice for us or about what is in our best interest. The mostprophetic statement I have ever heard about politics is this one: The primary purpose of any government is toget itself re-elected. Trudeau called the election in the hope ofcapitalizing on positive public sentiment to secure a majority government. Itis that simple.

The only positive in thematter is that Trudeau chose the shortest possible lead time for an election.We will only have to listen to all the political rhetoric for a few weeksbefore marking our X on the ballet. Personally, I hope Canadians wrap Trudeau’sknuckles by booting his party out of power.

Or how about this: Ifthe Liberal government does not secure a majority, Trudeau must parade nakedthrough the streets of Ottawa chanting:

Irolled the dice and lost,

Ohmy, what a cost.

Nosalary for me.

I’ll rule for free,

With an out of tune banjo on my knee.

But for the next monthwe will have to endure the usual PR spin as the parties roll out theirplatforms and carpetbag of promises. Forget about the catch phrases and thegrandiose plans. The bottom line is always the same.

The Party in Power: We’ve done a bang-up job since we’ve been in power. Yes, there were a few scandals and we didn’t keep half our promises. But we’re on the right track. Don’t worry if the numbers in our economic policies don’t add up. Political math is a complicated thing. 2 + 2 can equal 4 or 2 or 7 depending on how you work the numbers.

The Opposition Parties: Everything the party in power has done is by definition wrong. The Prime Minister just isn’t fit to lead. Our guy is so much better. No mud on his boots (yet). Don’t worry if the numbers in our economic policies don’t add up. Political math is a complicated thing. Those guys play fast and loose with the numbers. The way we manipulate them is much better.

Think of this election as an Olympic event – a five week sprint to the wire where elbowing, tripping, shin-kicking, mudslinging and fact-dodging is all legal. The Gold Medal winner is the guy who shadow boxes best without ever actually giving a straight answer to a single question. Silver and Bronze medals are given out but they are consolation prizes at best.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

Virtual WW3: The Long Road Back

Hmmm,is it time to start thinking about the long road back?

COVIDcase counts are on the rise again. Some experts are already declaring the fourth wave while others are sittingon the edge of their seats waiting to do so. It feels like election night whenthe TV networks compete to see who will be the first to declare the winningparty based on the analysis of the early polls.

Theface mask requirement is not going away anytime soon. This we know. Here inOntario we may, or may not, get promoted out of Phase 3 Reopening in the nextweek or two if we hit the target percentage of the population vaccinated. But thenthere is the Delta Variant which muddies the already murky water.

A yearand a half into the pandemic and the rollercoaster ride continues. We arebecoming in some measure acclimatized to the uncertainty and learning to livewithin it. I supposed there is a small upside there. We are arguably betterequipped for the curve balls that life might throw at us moving forward.

It isclear that some of the changes have taken root and are here to stay. Thepreference for ordering goods online rather than visiting a store is firmlyentrenched. Great for Amazon. For bricks and mortar retailers, not so much. Workingfrom home – it works and many of us see no reason to go back into the office.

Thequestions percolating in my mind are evolving. I had been stuck on concernslike: How long will this drag on? What is the benchmark for declaring thepandemic is over. Where does “reopening” end and “all systems are go to resume”begin?

With nodefinitive answers to these early questions, my mind is moving on to newqueries. What do we do about the experts who say it is never going to be over? At what point do we stop looking fearfullyover our shoulder and start looking forward optimistically? Do we allow ourstate of mind and behaviour to be permanently altered?

At somepoint, there will be a post-mortem (apologies for the unintended pun) on how weas a society dealt with the pandemic. Did we get it mostly right or mostlywrong? Is there damage control and remediation needed? How can we move forwardwithout being weighed down by the state of fear imposed upon us?

From myperspective, what we have been through the equivalent of a war – maybe even avirtual World War III. There is much healing needed and lot of wounded footsoldiers that need help transitioning back to everyday life. It is not just aflip the switch situation.

Thereal battle may be just beginning regardless of what we have already beenthrough.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Metaphors of Life Journal: Frayed Around the Edges

Hmmm, will you keepflying even when your wings are old and worn?

Having one of those daysin which you feel frayed around the edges and not up to facing the everydaychallenges of life? The kind of day where you just want to pull the covers backover your head and hibernate for the day.

If you are, thebutterfly photo at the head of this post may be a good visual representation ofthe way you feel. The difference is that you will most likely be back on yourfeet in a day or two. The butterfly is nearing the end of its life span and isnot going to feel better tomorrow.

And yet, the butterflywas flying and doing its thing as if it was just a normal day. Butterflylifespans are measured in weeks rather than years so they do not have theluxury of taking a day off. Every day counts when you only have a handful ofthem to enjoy. We can take some inspiration from this reality to apply to ourown lives.

A frayed around theedges butterfly – a random act of metaphor to remind us that life is short andwe need to squeeze as much out of it as we can before the clock runs down.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions pagein the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

The Thunder Clap: Time to Hit the Play Button Again

Hmmm,did you jump out of your chair on Thursday morning?

Iwas at my laptop absorbed in working Thursday morning as a torrential downpourof rain arrived. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about thatconsidering had we have had more rain in the last five or 6 weeks than we hadfor much of last summer. Rain is a necessity even it spoils our plansoccasionally.

Butwhat did startle me was a particularly loud crack of thunder – the kind thatsends dogs scuttling under the bed in fear. It made my head snap to attentionand my eyes swivel to the window to check out the storm.

Fromthe scientific perspective, thunder is simply the sound caused by lightning.The sudden increase in temperature and pressure caused by lightning results ina rapid expansion of the air in the path of a lightning bolt. This in turncreates a sonic shock wave.

Thundercomes in a number of forms. Peels aresounds changing in pitch and volume. Rollsare varying mixtures of volume and pitch. Rumbles are less loud, lower in pitch and last for 30 seconds ormore. And finally, claps are loud,high pitched thunder lasting no more than two seconds.

Theseexplanations are all well and fine. But being the Metaphor Guy who always looksfor deeper meaning, it occurs to me that that particularly intense andpercussive clap of thunder could be interpreted as a sonic wake up call.

Wehave all slipped, or been pushed, into a bit of trance for the last sixteenmonths as a result of the pandemic lockdown and restrictions. We have beenbehind closed doors, masked and in many ways muzzled.

The new normal is the catchphrase for thenew world we find ourselves waking up to as some the changes we thought weretemporary are becoming permanent. Fair enough.

ButI like to think that that epic clap of thunder was a metaphorical slap in theface to tell us that we need to get back to embracing life and living with apurpose. We have been on an enforced pause for sixteen months. It is time tohit the play button again, emerge from our hibernation and grab life by thetail.

Thenew normal will only define us asmuch as we let it. We can and should choose to define life ourselves and bemaster of our own fate.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Icebergs on the Moon: Adapting to My Samsung Phone

Hmmm, who decided itwould be a swipe rather instead of a tap?

In order for you to makesense of this post, I need to issue three disclaimers:

I am 63 years old.Computers and digital technology came along after my brain went through theformative, programming years. Tech language and concepts are a foreign languageto me.

Some people have anaptitude for technology. I most decidedly do not. Not at all. Zero, nada,squat. The simplest concepts and practices make no logical sense to mewhatsoever.

Tech devices and I donot get along. You know how dogs can tell instinctively whether or not you area dog person? The same applies to tech devices. They sense I am an enemy andrandomly malfunction in deliberate fashion.

I am now the recipientof a corporate cell phone. No, I did not get promoted. My employer has decidedto adopt a hybrid work from home / at the office model. Accordingly, they havedecided to equip all of us with corporate cell phones.

You think this is a goodthing for me? Did you not read the disclaimers above?

I now have to keep trackof two cell phones, remember two cell phone numbers and two sets of passwords (An unlock code? Oh, for f****’s sake!),keep track of two separate charging cords, remember to recharge two separatephones and carry two phones with me on work days. This is a lot of stress toput me through when I have less than two years to go to retirement.

Learning to use mySamsung phone has been predictably tempestuous. My employer provided a Quick Start Guide. But it is 13 pageslong. Does that qualify as quick? Iam pretty sure that anything over 5 pages falls into a different category.

I had to change theunlock code from the default set by our IT Department. I did so. But the phone,taking an instant dislike to me, refused to accept the new code the first timeI used it. Oh, for f****’s sake! IThad to reset the default code so I could go through the process again.

The first call came inthis morning. I tapped the answer button. Nothing. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Still nothing. Back to the IT help desk. I have to swipe to answer? Oh, for f****’ssake! I have been tapping for years and now I have to swipe? You have to tellme these things!

I have no doubt thatthere is a photo of me on the wall of our IT Department. When I send in a helprequest, the reaction invariably must be: Ohshit, it’s Dyet again. Who drew the short straw today? Joe, you’re up. Here,down this beer before you talk to him.

Getting acquainted andcomfortable with my new Samsung phone is the equivalent of landing on the moon.None of the normal laws or logic apply anymore. Swiping is the new tapping andthat is just the part of the iceberg that is above water.

Icebergs on the moon?That’s a perfect metaphor. You don’t understand? Oh, for f****’s sake! Now you know how I feel.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Something You Don’t See Every Day

Hmmm, was it a sign ofthe unpredictable times in which we are living?

I was on a hikeyesterday at Dundas Valley Conservation Area. There were a lot of people outand about taking advantage of a nice day after a rainy week past and anotherrainy week ahead. Rather frustrating weather now that we are emerging from thepandemic lockdown and regaining our freedoms.

I was heading backtoward the Trail Centre going downhill through a wooded area. Up ahead I sawwhat looked like two people leading horses up the slope. There was nothingunusual about that as horseback riding is encouraged there. I assumed thepeople had dismounted and were giving the horses a break as they climbed thehill.

However, as I got closerI noted that the horses seemed rather short. A few more yards down the hill Irealized to my great surprise and consternation that it was not horses theywere leading but two cows. Yes, cows.

I exchanged a friendlygreeting with the two people as we passed resisting the urge to ask: Why in heaven’s name are you walking cowsthrough a conservation area? A few yards further on, I looked back and wastempted to take a photograph. I decided not to as it felt disrespectful.

I cannot for the life ofme come up with a rational explanation for this strange behaviour. Believe me,I have tried. But even my active imagination was not up to the task. And maybethat is the point in and of itself at a time when Virgin Galactic’s RichardBranson is blasting off for the first privately funded flight into outer space.

Taking cows for a walkthrough a conservation area – something you do not see every day and a randomact of metaphor for the increasingly out of character and unpredictable timesin which we are living. Learning to not ask why is becoming a survival skill.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Living in a Bubble: From Actual to Virtual

Hmmm, what happens whenthe frame of reference shifts off its axis?

I remember the day quitedistinctly. It was a Friday in late March 2020. All of the staff in ourdepartment was called into a meeting in the boardroom. We were told that theoffice was staying open for now while senior management continued to monitor thepandemic situation. We were told to take our laptops home for the weekend just in case.

On Sunday, we allreceived a call from our manager advising that in 48 ours the situation hadchanged and we would be working from home until further notice. None of us imaginedthat fifteen months later we would still be doing so with the end date still upin the air.

Now the official wordhas come down from senior management. When the office reopens (date still to bedetermined), we will be shifting to a hybrid work at home / in the office model(details still to be determined). It is the newnormal we were all cautioned to expect.

So it can be asserted,grudgingly in my case, that the world changed forever that day or thereabouts. Whetherit actually needed to do so is now moot. We crossed a threshold to a new eraand there is no turning back.

In the years to come, anarmy of experts will study and analyze how human behaviour has changed as aresult. They will have annual forums to present their findings and debatewhether we are at the thin or thick edge of the wedge. My prediction: They willreserve judgement on that question as long as possible to squeeze out everylast dollar of the research money available.

My interest in theequation is more a big picture outlook. How will our perception of the worldchange? Will the world feel like a smaller place or a bigger place than before?

We are much moretechnologically interconnected than 15 months ago which might argue for thesmaller world perception. On the other hand, our face to face interactions havebeen reduced by a factor of as much as 50% which swings the pendulum the otherway. Do the two even out to leave us roughly where we started? It will not bethat simple

My hypothesis is thatthe terms smaller and bigger no longer apply because the frame of reference hasshifted. Our perception of the world has mutated (pun intended) from actual to virtual, from sensory to intellectual. Our brains will graduallybe reprogrammed to react and interpret by observationmore so than by sensation.

We have entered an eraof living continuously in the bubble. We can still see what is going in theworld around us. But we are increasingly insulated from the touch and feel ofit.

I cannot help but wonder:What happens if, or when, the bubble bursts and a correction kicks in tobalance the equation? Will everything old be new again or will yet anotherevolution of the new normalreconfigure our lives?

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

My 35 Year Old Little Black Book

Hmmm, is time to retiremy little black book?

No, it’s not that kind of black book. It is a small,coil-bound address book that I have kept around and updated periodically forover three decades. I should have replaced it several times over the years. Butfor reasons I cannot discern, I have kept using it.

As you can imagine, itis rather worn and tattered. The front cover tore and fell off long ago. Thepages are dog-eared and yellowed. Numerous listings are stroked out as theindividuals referenced have moved (sometimes several times) or in some casespassed away.

It is, however, anarchive of my life over the years, albeit in some cases a reminder of things Iwould rather not recall. Example: The name and phone number of a lawyer Iconsulted years back when my employer downsized, kicked me out and tried to compelme to sign a non-competition waiver in return for the bare minimum severancepay they were offering. I stood my ground in that case and eventually got paid.

In the L section, thereis a hastily entered listing for an AnnaLombardi with an 800 number and a time. Obviously, it was a reference to ameeting of some sort. But the nature and purpose of that meeting is long lostto my memory.

Some entries have norelation to addresses and were probably ill advised. Example: The serialnumbers for a computer, hard drive, monitor and printer I owned in the earlydays of personal computers. (Yes, children, there was a day when computers didnot exist.) Why I thought the address book was an appropriate place to recordthat information mystifies me now.

There is a P.O. Boxaddress for Friends of Bill Mason.This entry relates to a week-long nature trip I participated in a few decadesago. It calls to mind a 45-minute, white knuckle canoe paddle along the shoresof Lake Superior when there were white caps on the waves. That is an experienceI am glad to have had, but have not desire to repeat.

The telephone number forAdam’s Golden Acre Motel inKingsville brings to mind many spring birdwatching trips to Point Pelee Provincial Park over theyears during the spring migration and the psychological high I experienced eachtime I went there. If you are a birdwatcher, this will surely resonate withyou.

Unfortunately, mychronic back problem precludes pursing that passion any longer. But the magicof Pelee is front and center in thenext novel I have been working on the last couple of years. Shameless plug,yes. Deal with it.

The fact that I havekept this address book for 35 years is a reflection of my being a creature ofhabit as well as being rather resistant to change. (Just call me Sheldon Cooper.)On the positive side, it now represents a metaphorical trail of footprints inthe sand that trace the course of my life through its up and downs, its joysand sorrows, its wins and losses.

I think I will hang ontomy little black address book. It is an archaeological record of sorts that mybiographer might find useful after I am six feet under. I will, of course, haveto accomplish something famous, or infamous, in the years to come to warrantthat consideration. I have a few good years left in me to achieve that status –at least on the infamous side.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Riding the Rollercoaster: The Quest for Equanimity

Hmmm, what is the secretto riding the coaster to our final day?

We live on an emotionalrollercoaster these days. Rising to dizzying heights and plunging to greatdepths driven by the fast-paced, unpredictable nature of 21stcentury life and exacerbated in the last year by the pandemic and therestrictions associated with it.

I am the sort of personwho keeps trying to achieve stability and some mastery over my fate. But I amcoming to realize that there are times when this is beyond my grip.

I had such high hopesfor the Maple Leafs this year. Iallowed myself to believe that Matthews, Marner, Tavares and O’Reilly, togetherwith our collective faith in them, would translate to a deep playoff run. Therollercoaster reached the top when they went up 3 games to 1 in the series.Alas, it plummeted back down as the Leafscollapsed and bowed to arch rival Montreal.

52 years and countingfor the Stanley Cup drought. I wasaround the last time they won it, but it is too far back to remember. 17 yearssince they won a playoff series. Oh, Hockey Gods, how long must we wait? There is always next season is wearingvery thin.

At least we are out fromunder the Stay at Home order.Hallelujah, the shackles have been unlocked! Three stages yet to go through asthe province reopens at a snail’s pace. The rollercoaster is slowly chugging upthe incline again. We’ve dropped off the edge twice before with the second andthird wave. But the jab in the arm will hopefully save us this time.

The downside of thatparticular rollercoaster may ultimately rear its ugly head when we have tostart paying off the mountain of government debt that is still accumulating. Iam not sure how many digits it will ultimately reach. But I fully expect thatmy paycheque will get dinged big time for that purpose. The deficit is afamished monster that must be fed lest it devour us alive.

We have made stridesforward and upward, albeit much too slowly, towards racial equality andreconciliation. But the rollercoaster nearly went off the track altogether withthe shocking discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children at the site ofone of Canada’s largest residential schools. The weight of that shameful legacyburdens us all.

On a personal note, I amlabouring the last few miles up the 65 year mountain to retirement. I can seethe summit far off in the distance – a speck at the outer range of my vision.My hope is that I make it there with good health, my sanity intact and enoughmoney to live simply.

Here’s hoping that thedownside of that rollercoaster ride is slow, gentle and comforting like asailboat on a calm lake on a sunny day that goes on and on and on. But I knowthere will still be some storms to weather.

With 63 years and countingunder my belt, I know that life is a continuous rollercoaster. We all havebattle scars from the downhill dives. We have each won and lost, succeeded andfailed, zigged when we should have zagged and collected a carpetbag of regrets.Happiness depends more upon or ability to endure the rises and falls withequanimity than with fortune or chance.

But oh, if the MapleLeafs could just raise the Cup one more time before I shuffle off this mortalcoil. Is that so much to ask?

~  Now Available Online fromAmazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage– Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.