Quick links for December 2015

Welcome to my first post….

Kelowna Greenway’s Celebration Tree

Merry Christmas to all…

Christmas Angels…and Happy New Year

Christmas Angels and Happy New Year

I wrote this piece in December of 2010 for a January 2011 column in a seniors’ newspaper. The columns were advertising for my tiny private enterprise, MacSeniors Consulting, which I operated from 2005 to 2013.

First, let me wish one and all a new year to remember—for its good health, adventure, and happy encounters. 2010 was pretty good, but it’s time to move on from the Year of Us Acquiring to the Age of Aquarius*, which, according to my Apple’s Dictionary, is “believed by some to signal a period of peace and harmony.” Let’s hope so.

I want to start the year with a column that’s only peripherally about computers, but which connects to something touched on in a previous issue: generalizations and generations.

So here’s the (true) story. I’m at the Pharmasave Post Office about to start stamping my myriad Christmas cards, when a lovely female voice asks, “Would you like some help with those?” Now, I’d like to think I did not look incapable of performing the task myself (the postmistress certainly thought I could!), nor was I experiencing some kind of hallucination. I looked up and saw a lovely face with sparkling eyes and a vivacious smile. A thirty-something perhaps. A Christmas angel, I thought, (and I’m not sure I even believe in angels). I accepted her offer with great gratitude knowing it would save me a few minutes from my busy late afternoon.

She introduced herself as Kristina. She deduced that the cards might be on their way to business clients and mentioned that she remembered having helped her entrepreneurial mom years ago with her Xmas cards. I identified my business and asked her if she used a Mac. She said no, and commented that she didn’t know a lot about computers although she probably should. She mentioned that she had just come from work—at the horse barns (which explained the unusual scent I had been trying to place). We chatted amiably until the task was done, then I thanked her profusely, and we parted as kindred spirits who share faith in “paying-it-forward.”

All in all, my encounter with K was a highlight of my pre-Christmas season that re-awakened me to the possibilities all around us for happy, indeed magical moments of peace and good will. That is to say, when we’re not busy profiling (I believe we used to say ‘pigeon-holing’) people according to their gender, ethnicity, race, citizenship, politics, employment, appearance, mental capacity, and/or age just for starters.

I’ve written before about how my insights into ‘seniors’ have evolved (I would say improved) since I began business five years  ago. It’s not that I’ve discovered that people of advanced age can be wonderful. It IS that I’ve come to value how unique we all are. That so many are ALSO wonderful is a boon. My clients and senior acquaintances remind me every day that they ‘get’ the blessings of longevity!

So where am I headed here? Kristina is one of the “younger generation.” Does it have a name? Lots was written along the lines of this blog in 2005 about those currently 15 to 35:

“For years, every generation of twenty-somethings has had nicknames. Generation X and Y come to mind. But the latest phenomenon is well-educated, well-financed and not eager to pay dues. In their world of instant communication and instant gratification, having it all can’t wait. Employers, sociologists, and even the media have dubbed them ‘the entitlement generation.’”
The entitlement generation

And that’s pretty polite compared to some of the epithets I’ve heard roll off the lips of my (and the previous) generation. We say such bitter things mainly when we’re generalizing. Yet many, probably most grandparents I know will praise a favourite grandchild, nephew or niece, or other young adult whom they think the world of—as an individual. When it comes to the generation as a whole, however, we’re not always so generous. Maybe we should focus more on the ones and less on the zeroes…

I want to add an epilogue to the story. The very next day I met angel #2, a bright, well spoken, polite, (and yes, I noticed, beautiful, blonde) 18-year-old who is being home-schooled. We’ll call her ‘Laura.’ She and her mother needed their two Macs adjusted for a mutual problem. Sadly, I’m ashamed to admit that my first expectation of L was low because I initially saw her as a representative of that ‘entitlement generation.’ I couldn’t have been more wrong. At one point, Laura respectfully asked if she could show me how she performed a certain operation. Her demonstration provided me with helpful information. All in all, both ladies left me with a very favourable impression.

When I asked Laura what she was missing most about being out of school in her graduating year, I was shocked as mother explained that daughter has been subject to bullying at school.  L explained with a smile that she had decided to take her most difficult Grade 12 courses at home by correspondence but would “return for the second semester when she could better enjoy the fun stuff.” She did not present herself as a victim, and was very gracious, indeed surprised, when I complimented the wonderful attributes she had repeatedly displayed in the two hours the three of us had been working together, including remarkable and intelligent eye contact, eagerness to learn, and a consistently pleasant and optimistic demeanour. Her mom remarked that outside of home, she doesn’t think L hears a lot of positive comments even from support workers in the school system. Mother and daughter appeared to have a mutually supportive and respectful relationship. I can’t imagine anyone failing to grasp L’s qualities, but apparently it happens.

If people like Laura (and perhaps Kristina, too) are being squeezed socially by the very system that is supposed to be preparing us for the Age of Aquarius*, then what hope is there for the world? My hope is that characters like Kristina, Laura, and the billions like them (including an equal number of young men I don’t have space to acknowledge in this column), noticed, yet not always appreciated, will prevail. No amount of technology can create individuals like them. In fact, as we’ll discuss later in the year, technology may be the biggest threat to their growth and survival.

*Click here to learn more about the Age of Aquarius….

Postscript: Now that my wife and I have moved to Kelowna, I’m pleased to say that, daily, I bump into folks, young and older, who epitomize the human qualities this piece tries to appreciate. The post about the Celebration Tree (below) also reflects what I’m talking about….

I’m trying desperately to stop thinking about the flow of posts here, and just to get some up.
So if you find a lack of sequence, bear with me; that’s sort of the idea of this blog….

A shot of the neighbourhood:

The Celebration Tree
It’s a skinny little fir just off the south side of Mission Creek Greenway, not far from the Casorso Bridge. Most days we walk it by without a glance.

But come Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Mother’s or Father’s Day, Canada Day, Back to School Day, Thanksgiving, or Remembrance Day, the spindly shrub is transformed into what I’ve come to call The Celebration Tree.

It’s certainly not a secret. Dozens of walkers (with or without dogs), horses and riders, cyclists, joggers, and local photographers pass by it every week. The first time we encounter it, all dressed up in colours and symbols appropriate to the occasion, I think it’s safe to say we feel a glow of gratitude that some thoughtful person or group has undertaken to brighten the day.

The second time, and thereafter, I believe, our appreciation deepens.
When we find someone examining the tree and its icons, we stop to chat.

“Isn’t this great?”

“I wonder who does this—is it a group, school children, some eccentric ‘do-gooder’?”

“Who knows? But it’s something special, isn’t it?”

“Somebody should do a story on it, on the mystery.”

“Find out who’s behind it? I’m not sure we need to know, but it would be nice to thank her/him/them, wouldn’t it?”

The day after the holiday, the decorations are gone; the scrawny bush resumes it’s undecorated Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree persona again.

Not long ago, I encountered a fellow photographer looking for hawks along the perimeter path in Mission Recreation Park. We spoke of how much we love the photo ops in Lower Mission, especially around Thomson and Michaelbrook Marshes and the Greenway. We touched on the friendliness of the other folks who also use the trails here. Eventually, The Celebration tree found a place in the conversation. “I know the people who do it,” my colleague told me, “but my lips are sealed—because that’s the way they want it.”

I realize, too, that The Mystique of the Celebration Tree is a precious part of the Tree’s purpose. We don’t need to know who prepares and nurtures it; we require only a moment to reflect, meditate, and give thanks that we live in a community where such thoughtfulness exists and is so much appreciated.

I look forward to each special day, now, and make a point to visit this extraordinary spot. It never fails to inspire and to remind me that I have landed in a very good place!

Late note: Because of winter construction on the south Greenway, 2015-16, by which the creek’s channel is being redesigned to make it more natural, the dike is closed until Spring 2016.
Will The Little Fir Tree survive? I don’t know.

If it does not survive the creek’s redesign, I don’t think the tradition will die, but it won’t be quite the same either. Already, we’re seeing decorations along the north Greenway Dike in celebration of the 2015 Holiday Season.

Good Health, Happy Days, and All the Adventure You Can Handle!

SEE UPDATE ON THIS STORY BY CLICKING HERE: UPDATE ON CELEBRATION TREE

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Stories about the tree have appeared in the local press, as recently as November 2015 (http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Naturally-Yours—Winter-Newsletter.html?soid=1103726288256&aid=LRuIRUo_lVU#grant) The article (much of it from a Capital News article in 2002) covers the origin of this custom from 2000 to 2002 and credits Kelowna’s Pearl Jakins (shown below) with founding the tradition.

It concludes: “These days Pearl isn’t able to get around like she used to, but she still tries to get out to her tree once a week, though she has to drive there now instead of walk. The past couple of years she hasn’t been able to decorate the tree, yet the tree continues to bear decorations thanks to the goodwill of anonymous Greenway users who have grown to cherish the tradition. Pearl would like to meet some of the people who have taken up the torch and express her gratitude that the spirit of the Greenway tree lives on.”