Mudpuddle

Apparently, the chopping of 8 to 12 feet of branches from the ground up and rendering the trees a lot less beautiful is for “security reasons”. The idea is that we can see anyone lurking about on the property. Of course, I can now see into the living room of the people opposite, now and there are less branches for birds to call home.

Some years ago, I was on the Board for the co-op and we had an on-going problem with kids hanging out in the open area behind our set of units and the community building, as well as vandalism and thefts from the community building and several units. At that time, we ordered that a motion-sensitive security light be installed which would hopefully stop this problem. The committee responsible made all sorts of excuses as to why this wasn’t feasible and why they didn’t want to do so. We finally ordered them to do it…. It was never done.

So, now, we are back to having our trees hacked up rather than spend a $100 or so dollars on a security light.

Meanwhile, on most summer evenings, groups of teens congregate at the end of one set of units across our parking lot drinking, partying, and breaking bottles until the wee hours or until the police are called. The one street light at that end of the co-op has been broken for years. A security light would solve that problem.

In my missive to the Board this morning, I almost suggested that we chop down all the trees, remove the fences, put up security bars and have roving bands of co-op members armed with baseball bats wander about the co-op at all times to provide “security”.

In fact, one of our “security conscious” neighbours actually suggested a few years ago that we have a “security patrol” do night patrols. Oddly, whenever the kids are creating a ruckus requiring the police be called, I haven’t seen this particular neighbour out and about “providing security”.

Quite frankly, I am of the opinion that the “tree trimming” has less to do with “security” and more to do with a certain member’s fetish for ensuring that all vegetation be removed with the exception of small, geometrically planted plots of annuals in front of each unit. This same member came over when my nephew was doing some yard work (preparing for the fence replacements) when I wasn’t home and ordered him to yank out all my plants along the fenceline. This despite the fact that he wasn’t on the committee in charge of preparing for the fencing and the person who was had visited and we discussed what should and should not come out.

The other member chopped down all the trees around our unit and ordered my nephew to tear up the entire garden, whether or not they would have in any way affected the work to be done.

It must really gall him that many of the plants, though displaced, grew back. Although my garden looks like Hell, I am letting the plants grow as they will and to Hell with him. Sadly, the trees are gone for good.

This is the same person who chopped down a tree rather than fix the retaining wall around our yard. The tree he chopped down wasn’t the one causing subsidance… so, of course, the one that was had to be chopped down, as well.

Apparently, the chopping of 8 to 12 feet of branches from the ground up and rendering the trees a lot less beautiful is for “security reasons”. The idea is that we can see anyone lurking about on the property. Of course, I can now see into the living room of the people opposite, now and there are less branches for birds to call home.

Some years ago, I was on the Board for the co-op and we had an on-going problem with kids hanging out in the open area behind our set of units and the community building, as well as vandalism and thefts from the community building and several units. At that time, we ordered that a motion-sensitive security light be installed which would hopefully stop this problem. The committee responsible made all sorts of excuses as to why this wasn’t feasible and why they didn’t want to do so. We finally ordered them to do it…. It was never done.

So, now, we are back to having our trees hacked up rather than spend a $100 or so dollars on a security light.

Meanwhile, on most summer evenings, groups of teens congregate at the end of one set of units across our parking lot drinking, partying, and breaking bottles until the wee hours or until the police are called. The one street light at that end of the co-op has been broken for years. A security light would solve that problem.

In my missive to the Board this morning, I almost suggested that we chop down all the trees, remove the fences, put up security bars and have roving bands of co-op members armed with baseball bats wander about the co-op at all times to provide “security”.

In fact, one of our “security conscious” neighbours actually suggested a few years ago that we have a “security patrol” do night patrols. Oddly, whenever the kids are creating a ruckus requiring the police be called, I haven’t seen this particular neighbour out and about “providing security”.

Quite frankly, I am of the opinion that the “tree trimming” has less to do with “security” and more to do with a certain member’s fetish for ensuring that all vegetation be removed with the exception of small, geometrically planted plots of annuals in front of each unit. This same member came over when my nephew was doing some yard work (preparing for the fence replacements) when I wasn’t home and ordered him to yank out all my plants along the fenceline. This despite the fact that he wasn’t on the committee in charge of preparing for the fencing and the person who was had visited and we discussed what should and should not come out.

The other member chopped down all the trees around our unit and ordered my nephew to tear up the entire garden, whether or not they would have in any way affected the work to be done.

It must really gall him that many of the plants, though displaced, grew back. Although my garden looks like Hell, I am letting the plants grow as they will and to Hell with him. Sadly, the trees are gone for good.

This is the same person who chopped down a tree rather than fix the retaining wall around our yard. The tree he chopped down wasn’t the one causing subsidance… so, of course, the one that was had to be chopped down, as well.

I don’t mean that I have a great lifestyle or lots of money so am “lucky”.

“Luck” often is used in the sense of “winning” something…. the lottery, having gotten a good job… things like that. In this case, I mean that in managing to survive thus far in life, I am lucky. To have the people around me that care for and love me… I am lucky.

We often take for granted what we have in life, either not appreciating just WHAT we do have and frittering it away or forgetting the fact that others don’t have it so good. Occasionally, we are faced with the fact that a split second may well have been the difference between life and death. Occasionally, we come so close to death that it makes us step back and think…. “I could have died”….

Occasionally, it is the fate of someone we know or someone who shared an experience but did not survive that pulls us up short and makes us question “Why them and why not me?”

That “moment” for me was faced last Saturday.

As I have mentioned in this blog, I recently had an accident that could have been far, far worse than it was. For reasons I won’t go into, it has been impressed (by others but also by myself) on me just HOW “lucky” I was to come out relatively unscathed. I have some broken bones and some pretty bad bruises but even though other people look at me and say “Man, what a horrible ordeal you went through!”, I just laugh it off and say… “No. I am very lucky and I am not about to complain about the “inconvenience” of a few broken bones and some bruises”.

Firstly, there is my dear friend, az. Az lives in Seville, Spain. Az and I have never met in person but in a very real way, I feel I know her very well. Az has been faced with a battle with cancer, firstly colon and now liver. Like most people with cancer, she is not braver or stonger than any other human being. She admits to having her fears and moments of anger. But like most people, she is fighting the battle in the way that it has to be fought.

In some ways, she is luckier than most in that she has a large circle of friends who are medical professionals who have been helping her with facts and the very real challenge of negotiating the medical maze. She is lucky, too, in that these people all know and love her and they are doing what they can in very real ways both to help guide her but also to support her emotionally. She also has a large circle of friends, many whom she has never met but many who she has welcomed to her home in Seville with open arms. All of us love her and hope for the best and want to see her come victorious out of this fight for her life.

For az, her “moment” is proving to be very long, indeed.

On Friday night, just before I was heading out to Smiths Falls to watch Rob, Ray, and Ken play, I got a call from my dear friend Robert. Robert called to ask if I remembered someone named Chris Davis from work.

I do, indeed remember Chris. Chris worked at Indian Residential Schools Resolutions Canada with me until he left to move to Austin, Texas. Dave was such a nice guy… Funny, articulate, intelligent, just a nice guy who was great to work with. He was also a very talented musician. Dave had undergone a transformation in his life, losing weight, getting fit, making some other major changes that eventually culminated in his moving down to Austin.

Despite the fact that I didn’t know him well… we didn’t socialize, it was hard to say goodbye to him because I was just getting to know this really great person, it was hard not to be excited for him because HE was so excited about the move.

I emailed him a couple of times when he got down there and mentioned him to a friend who lives in Austin (who works at the Alamo Drafthouse) but then he kind of dropped off my radar.

Robert’s next words were one of those “pull you up short” moments. “Chris was killed last Saturday on his bike”.

That means that on the day when I was nearly killed, Chris WAS killed….

It is useless to wonder “Why him and not me?”. It is and it was. The fact is that whatever happened, but for a split second…. I might me dead and he might not be. But for a split second, we might both be dead… or neither. Our accidents weren’t related. In fact, they were separated by thousands of miles. The coincidence is that both of us endured life-altering moments. Both of our moments are, in some way permanent, though his will affect all those who knew and loved him in ways my moment will not.

He doesn’t have the luxury of viewing his moment and appreciating his luck. I do.

But for the grace of… God? .. whatever, here I am and there he was.

I can’t say that the rest of my life will be dedicated to the memory of Chris but I will always be mindful that I have the luxury of, at least this time, looking back on that moment in my life with amazement and, hopefully, live better and clearer than I did up to that moment… not take so much for granted the feeling of entitlement to immortality that we humans often have.

My “luck” was also to know az and to have known Chris.

I don’t mean that I have a great lifestyle or lots of money so am “lucky”.

“Luck” often is used in the sense of “winning” something…. the lottery, having gotten a good job… things like that. In this case, I mean that in managing to survive thus far in life, I am lucky. To have the people around me that care for and love me… I am lucky.

We often take for granted what we have in life, either not appreciating just WHAT we do have and frittering it away or forgetting the fact that others don’t have it so good. Occasionally, we are faced with the fact that a split second may well have been the difference between life and death. Occasionally, we come so close to death that it makes us step back and think…. “I could have died”….

Occasionally, it is the fate of someone we know or someone who shared an experience but did not survive that pulls us up short and makes us question “Why them and why not me?”

That “moment” for me was faced last Saturday.

As I have mentioned in this blog, I recently had an accident that could have been far, far worse than it was. For reasons I won’t go into, it has been impressed (by others but also by myself) on me just HOW “lucky” I was to come out relatively unscathed. I have some broken bones and some pretty bad bruises but even though other people look at me and say “Man, what a horrible ordeal you went through!”, I just laugh it off and say… “No. I am very lucky and I am not about to complain about the “inconvenience” of a few broken bones and some bruises”.

Firstly, there is my dear friend, az. Az lives in Seville, Spain. Az and I have never met in person but in a very real way, I feel I know her very well. Az has been faced with a battle with cancer, firstly colon and now liver. Like most people with cancer, she is not braver or stonger than any other human being. She admits to having her fears and moments of anger. But like most people, she is fighting the battle in the way that it has to be fought.

In some ways, she is luckier than most in that she has a large circle of friends who are medical professionals who have been helping her with facts and the very real challenge of negotiating the medical maze. She is lucky, too, in that these people all know and love her and they are doing what they can in very real ways both to help guide her but also to support her emotionally. She also has a large circle of friends, many whom she has never met but many who she has welcomed to her home in Seville with open arms. All of us love her and hope for the best and want to see her come victorious out of this fight for her life.

For az, her “moment” is proving to be very long, indeed.

On Friday night, just before I was heading out to Smiths Falls to watch Rob, Ray, and Ken play, I got a call from my dear friend Robert. Robert called to ask if I remembered someone named Chris Davis from work.

I do, indeed remember Chris. Chris worked at Indian Residential Schools Resolutions Canada with me until he left to move to Austin, Texas. Dave was such a nice guy… Funny, articulate, intelligent, just a nice guy who was great to work with. He was also a very talented musician. Dave had undergone a transformation in his life, losing weight, getting fit, making some other major changes that eventually culminated in his moving down to Austin.

Despite the fact that I didn’t know him well… we didn’t socialize, it was hard to say goodbye to him because I was just getting to know this really great person, it was hard not to be excited for him because HE was so excited about the move.

I emailed him a couple of times when he got down there and mentioned him to a friend who lives in Austin (who works at the Alamo Drafthouse) but then he kind of dropped off my radar.

Robert’s next words were one of those “pull you up short” moments. “Chris was killed last Saturday on his bike”.

That means that on the day when I was nearly killed, Chris WAS killed….

It is useless to wonder “Why him and not me?”. It is and it was. The fact is that whatever happened, but for a split second…. I might me dead and he might not be. But for a split second, we might both be dead… or neither. Our accidents weren’t related. In fact, they were separated by thousands of miles. The coincidence is that both of us endured life-altering moments. Both of our moments are, in some way permanent, though his will affect all those who knew and loved him in ways my moment will not.

He doesn’t have the luxury of viewing his moment and appreciating his luck. I do.

But for the grace of… God? .. whatever, here I am and there he was.

I can’t say that the rest of my life will be dedicated to the memory of Chris but I will always be mindful that I have the luxury of, at least this time, looking back on that moment in my life with amazement and, hopefully, live better and clearer than I did up to that moment… not take so much for granted the feeling of entitlement to immortality that we humans often have.

My “luck” was also to know az and to have known Chris.