Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.
~ Boris Pasternak (Russian – Novelist / January 29, 1890 – May 30, 1960)
Holidays and Celebrations:
Porte Musings:
Looking out my kitchen window yesterday the sparrows looked more like hummingbirds as they flew motionless around the bird feeder looking for an open space to land and eat. Fresh fluffy snow layered everything with it’s bright white and glitter. The maintenance man at the library was using a leaf blower to clear the sidewalks. I played outside for almost 2 hours blowing and shoveling the snow. Luckily the big tractor and blade of the contractor who was clearing the snow at the business beside me agreed to clear the end of my driveway where the snow plow had pushed the road snow in. I made sure to give him a small monetary tip and told him to enjoy a coffee on me.
When Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1958, he was forced to not accept it because the Russian Government had banned one of his most famous books: Doctor Zhivago1957 was banned in Russia. Censorship was aimed at keeping this away from the Russian people was fought during the Cold War as the USA tried to get as many of these books as possible into the hands of the Russian people.
Free Thinkers Day in the USA isn’t about Boris Pasternak, but celebrates the life and works of Thomas Paine (February 9, 1737-June 8, 1809). “Thomas Paine was a freethinker whose works inspired people to fight for social, political, and economic advancement.”
Bah Humbug. Why not celebrate Curmudgeons Day? Are they not a type of Free Thinker as well? or are they the opposite? So to all those cantankerous, difficult, and bad-tempered persons, who are usually also old men; here’s a day just for you. Made famous by the vaudeville star and actor W.C. Fields (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946).
So in the depths of winter if we aren’t curling up with a good book, dreaming about lofty ideas or just trying to mimic our favourite curmudgeon, we could always celebrate Puzzle Day. Get out one of those 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles and putter around the table piecing together a complicated scene, only to take it a part a few days later and return it to its box.
The good news is the Elementary Schools will be re-opened on Monday in our area. Some parents did a little celebration dance while others decided just to continue home schooling their children. At least we are seeing a drop in numbers of COVID-19 in the province of Ontario, although the numbers are still far too high.
Pfizer isn’t providing any vaccines for the next two weeks, while they revamp their factory. Pfizer is also recommending that the current doses be changed to 5 per vial instead of the 4 that was originally prescribed. The European community is debating if any vaccines should be exported until all their citizens are vaccinated and the USA is also threatening to put limits on Exports as their new President is ramping up their vaccination program.
So much for politics. I just pray that the vaccines are administered throughout the world and we can get back to some type of normal where the restrictions are lifted, we can freely hug each other and go to church or other public gatherings.