Movember Time Again

Next month, the month of November, will be Movember and the anniversary of the first time I shaved my beard and moustache since December 1967.  Never mind my kids, not even my wife, Ingrid, had ever seen me without a beard except in photographs. Well, all that has changed and I spent the summer clean shaven - for the most part.

Following is the text of a letter that I have sent to family and a number of friends and colleagues in the hope that some of them will join with me again this Movember to raise funds for prostate cancer research in Canada.  I have also recommended to colleagues in the U.S. and Australia to form teams there.

Last November two of my sons, some male friends and colleagues, and I - with great support from wives, daughters, girlfriends and other enthusiastic and (usually) sympathetic ladies - raised $5,865 (yes, five thousand eight hundred and sixty-five dollars Canadian) in donations for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada . We did this as a moustache-growing team called the MoCann Terriers participating in an international/global fund-raising initiative known as "Movember".

As a man living with prostate cancer (very small, very slow growing, not (yet) life-threatening, under medical supervision) I must own up to having a certain vested interest in funds going towards this cause.

This November I've decided to get hairy and again grow a moustache for Movember - a movement that is changing the face of men's health nationally and globally. With thousands of other men and women I'm committed to tackling men's health issues and being proactive in the fight against prostate cancer. However, I know that on my own I cannot be nearly as effective as doing this together with a great team such as last year's Mocann Terriers and all the supporters who rallied round.

Here is the link promoting Movember 2008.

You can also follow this link to read up about what Movember is.

I invite each one of you to join my team this year, the "Mostashed Hairiers."

What happens if you join the Mostashed Hairiers ? 

You shave clean on the evening of October 31 and take a picture to prove it. You could get supporters to sponsor you just for doing that if you already have a moustache. For the entire month of November you shave your beard, but not your moustache, taking a picture every four or five days to post on the team blog so that the world can admire/guffaw/whatever and, most importantly, your supporters will make sponsorship donations to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada. Your wife/girlfriend/partner/whoever has a very important role to play in helping find sponsors for you from among their own friends and acquaintances.

To join my team, the "Mostashed Hairiers", click [HERE] 

or paste this into your browser: 

http://ca.movember.com/register/register-team.php?join=1&action=invited&search_captain_id=1349971&search_captain_email=terrycmccann@gmail.com

Once registered you'll be sent all the information you need to get donations and get growing as part of my Movember team, the Mostashed Hairiers.

You will need these details to complete your online registration:

Captain's Registration Number: 1349971

Captain's Email Address: terrycmccann@gmail.com

I fully understand and appreciate that not everyone will feel free to join as a mo-growing Mo Bro. There are three other important ways you can help:

1. Sponsor the team, or particular team members, with a financial contribution.

2. Spread the word. Make colleagues, family members or friends aware of Movember and the Mostashed Hairiers via the web links. You don't need to ask them to donate. Hopefully they will enthuse over what they see in their browsers and be motivated to donate to this very worthy cause.

3. Most importantly, educate yourself about prostate cancer - the number one cancer threat to Canadian men. If you are over 40 you are at risk; speak to your doctor about having a baseline PSA if you have not already had one. Prostate cancer is 95% curable if detected and treated early.

Your Movember Mo Bro - Terry

Canada votes in October 2008: Taxes, benefits and the environment.

The first time I was able to vote I was a young nineteen-year-old in South Africa and I voted differently to my parents. They and their generation voted for apartheid. Clearly, they were thinking about themselves, their job security, their retirement, and their taxes. I loved them and I love and respect their memory, but I have to be honest and say that this was the case. 

My parents refused to see that the system they voted for could not last forever and that their children and grandchildren would have to pay for and fix the mess that their politicians created. They turned deaf ears to or castigated the people who were warning them - and who turned out to be right - notably, for me, Helen Suzman and Helen Joseph. (Albert Lutuli and Nelson Mandela were far too "radical" for me in the late 50's and early 60's.)

My family (wife, 5 children) and I came to Canada a little over 10 years ago in 1998 and we came with almost nothing. We have been Canadian citizens for about 5 years and are proudly so. My family and I owe Canada and, in particular, its taxpayers a huge debt of gratitude especially when I think of the subsidized education (elementary, high, college and university), the hip replacement surgery, the post-surgery unemployment benefits, the cancer treatment and other healthcare benefits we have received.

I am approaching "senior" age and am very grateful that Ontario law changed a few years ago so that I will no longer be obligated to retire when I turn 65 because, quite frankly, I cannot afford to retire after being in the Canadian system for only 13 years. Nevertheless, I cannot, in all conscience, repeat the mistakes of my parents and vote with only myself and my retirement in mind. There is a whole generation of children under 18 who cannot vote and who rely on us to vote on their behalf.

I will not attempt to suggest what political party anyone should or should not vote for.  However, I would urge my family and friends and any Canadian reading this blog to think beyond the time between this election and the next. What kind of a world do you want for your children and grandchildren when they are adults? 

Our economy is built on the shrinking foundations of dwindling natural resources which are destructive in our use of them. The world as we know it and abuse it cannot last for even another generation any more than apartheid could have lasted forever. Are we going to start fixing our mess - and paying for it ourselves - or are we going to leave our debt for our grandchildren to pay off for us in between visits to our retirement home or graves?

This, I believe, should be the acid test for a political candidate to get my vote. 

Dear politician, do you have any idea as to what kind of a world, and a Canada in particular, today's three-year-olds should be inheriting from us when they vote in 15 years time? What in your party's platform today is ensuring that we get there and what measureable milestones do you have in your schedule for four years' time, eight years' time?

A Week in Cape Cod

Ingrid and I have just returned from a week in Cape Cod. What a place! We booked a week through RCI at a place called Pier 7 Condominiums in S. Yarmouth. Roughly 1200 km from our home we decided to take 2 travel days at each end of the week - and we were both really glad we did it that way and not try to do it all in one day.

Day 1 - Friday June 27
We travelled from home (Holland Landing, Ontario, Canada) to Newcomb in Adirondack Park where we spent the night and part of the next morning at a delightful B&B called Aunt Polly's that used to be a stage coach stop. Maggie, our hostess (Aunt Polly has long since moved on with history) took us for a walk on the property to see the largest beaver dam, complete with lodge, that I have ever seen. OK. After 10 years in Canada I've only ever seen 3 or 4 beaver dams before this one but I had no difficulty understanding why Maggie was pretty proud of this one. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were out in force, bug-spray notwithstanding, so we couldn't stay at the beaver dam too long. (See the bites on my leg in the photo on Day 4.)

Day 2 - Saturday June 28.
From Newcomb we travelled through the beautiful Adirondack Park to Cape Cod. Click on the link to see the route we took. Google maps, take a bow. We could not have done it without you. We took a wrong turn once going down and once coming back - and each time it was because I didn't do properly what I was told or I didn't watch the kilometers on my odometer.

Our studio unit was OK - nothing to rave about in itself. We certainly did not appreciate that the previous occupants obviously smoked inside the unit.
However, the staff were friendly and helpful and the location was excellent, both for use as a base for daily excursions to the many attractions of Cape Cod, as well as affording us a view of a small nature reserve complete with lagoon, grassland backed by trees, and an osprey nest with a mating pair.

We dined out every day and decided that we would try the fish dishes at a different restaurant each time. Only once did we not have fish; more of that on Day 7, and we did a repeat of one restaurant because their place mats provided a set of instructions for dummies on how to eat lobster which Ingrid decided to go back and try out.

Day 3 - Sunday June 29
We went to mass at the local Catholic church with a new title for Our Lady that I had never heard of before - Our Lady of the Highway. Route 28 is certainly a major road traffic wise, but hardly a highway having only one lane in each direction and overtaking is illegal. I have since found out there is a Shrine of Our Lady of the Highway in Michegin.

After that we took the 64 km trip to Provincetown at the very north-eastern tip of Cape Cod. We had no idea and were pleasantly surprised to find this was the weekend celebration for the annual Portuguese Blessing of the Fleet. We missed the actual blessing but the banners and people were everywhere.

We put our feet into the waters of Cape Cod Bay.

Very much to our surprise we found a place called Karoo Kafe which, unfortunately, was closed from 15:00 to 17:00 for siesta time. More of that when we went back on Day 7 (Thursday).


Day 4 - Monday June 30
The state of New York has set aside a huge section of the south-eastern coastline as a coastal reserve called the Cape Cod National Seashore. On Monday we went there to see Doane Rock and then took the 1.5 km walk to Coast Guard Beach where we took our first swim in the Atlantic since skinny dipping at Sandy Bay on the shores NW of Capetown in February 1976 - it was just as cold as ever. (That's me right in the middle of the pic on the left.)

When we got back to Pier 7 we watched the ospreys mating and then went to a really nice restaurant to celebrate the eve of Canada Day.

Day 5 - Tuesday July 1 - Canada Day
We went a bit further along the Cape Cod National Seashore to do a guided nature walk of about 1 km and then had a look at the Marconi wireless station site.

Back at Pier 7 we took a stroll at the lagoon and watched a wader we could not identify trying to catch fish. Being Canada Day we again went to eat at one of the nicer restaurants :-)

Day 6 - Wednesday July 2
On Wednesday we decided to stay out of the sun and did part of the Pottery and Art tour. Cape Cod is full of pottery and other arty type studios. We took the opportunity to buy a few gifts.

Day 7 - Thursday July 3
This has to be the most memorable day. We went to Provincetown to do the whale watch cruise. To put something in our stomachs we went to Karoo Kafe and had boerewors rolls - so wraggies. There we met Sanette, 'n boer se dogter van Ceres in die Kaap. The boerewors was good.

Our whale watch cruise departed at 13:00. On the way to the whale spotting area in open sea we were given a very instructional talk about whales by, I gather, a marine biologist/researcher.



Although we only saw 2 whales, the second was a juvenile humpback, so we were told, who kept us entertained and enthralled for nearly an hour with his head stand flipper wagging, flipper slapping, arching and rolling and breaching - leaping clear of the water on two occasions less than 30 metres from the boat.

I was using the optical zoom on my camera and he (she?) was so close that s/he could not fit into the camera frame. Ingrid and I both resolved this was something for which we should return to Cape Cod in a couple of years' time.

Before going home we went back to Sanette and the Karoo Kafe to have dinner. Neither if us had fish. :-) I ordered babotie, Ingrid ordered Cape Malay stew, and we each swapped half of what we were served. It was delicious and I highly recommend Karoo Kafe to anyone visiting Provincetown, South Afican or otherwise, for a good, reasonably priced meal.

Day 8 - Friday July 4 - US Independence Day holiday
We went to the Museum of Natural History which, of course, was closed for the holiday; so we went for a hike along one of the National Shoreline self guided trails which was right there - and once again put our feet into the waters of Cape Cod.

We decided against getting stuck in the traffic around any of the major locations that were setting off 4 July fireworks, and instead I spent 30 minutes on the south facing upper veranda of the resort watching the much smaller local effort.

Day 9 - Saturday July 5
We did a leisurely checkout from our unit and drove to one of the restaurants that advertised breakfast, but it had a 30 minute wait; the next had a 40 minute wait. Bad idea. Every restaurant on the R28 on Cape Cod was packed with cars. Obviously everyone and their aunt had the same idea so we began our trip back on an empty stomach.

Our trip back was also through Adirondack Park and we stopped for the night at Long View Lodge, Long Lake. A little more pricey than a B&B it was really a nice place with very reasonably priced fine dining on offer. Our room had a beautiful view of Long Lake. I just wish the American "Continental Breakfast" could be more continental and less American. Muffins and coffee is not what I was offered for breakfast when traveling in Europe.


Day 10 - Sunday July 6
We traveled home via Gananoque on the Thousand Islands scenic route, where Ingrid and I had lunch. All in all it was a great vacation.

Evening view of Long Lake, Adirondack Park.

Six Month Catch-up - with apologies

Hmmm. It's over 6 months since my last blog entry. How on earth do I pick up and bring you up to speed with what's been going on at Kwa-McCann?

I'll start off with some recent events, some good news and then some big, exciting news that's now so old it's no longer really news (unless you did not know. :-) Then I'll just bring you random news as it comes to me - mostly good news.

Blue Door Shelters Bed Race Fund Raiser
The agency Ingrid works for recently changed their name from "Transitional and Supportive Housing Services of York Region" (TSHYSR for "short" - really! - no bull!) to "Blue Door Shelters." Try shutting your eyes and saying all names from memory. QED. Anyway, Blue Door Shelters aka. TSHSYR put on a fund raiser bed race on Saturday June 14. For reasons too complicated to explain the "kids" and their partners were on one team, McCann Clan Inc., and I was on another comprised mainly of staff members or spouses, The Bluebeds of Happiness. (Have you neva hed of the bluebed of happiness?)
McCann Clan Inc. beat off the other four teams to win the "race" and The Bluebeds of Happiness raised the most money. Not too shabby. You can see all 150 pictures by clicking on the link to my Picasa album 2008 Blue Door Shelters Bed Race. You didn't click the link? Let me whet your appetite by warning you that my team is wearing Tinker Bell wings...

Health Issues - "Come back in six months"
Both Judith (this month) and I (last month) had the same happy instruction from our respective specialist doctors. Judith was told her CAT scan showed no indication of a return of any cancer; my doctor told me that my PSA levels were slightly raised but still way down from when I first visited him and not indicative of the prostate cancer changing type or size. Next time round I will have another biopsy - stings like the blazes for a few hours but totally worth it.

Tada! An Engagement is announced!
In February (I did tell you it was old news) Mark asked Luisa if she would like to wear an engagement ring he had bought her.

Actually, it wasn't quite like that - it was a lot more romantic with hundreds of rose petals and a flight booked to Winnipeg where Luisa's parents and 3 of 4 sisters live. They stopped at our house pretty-well on their way to the airport to tell us the good news. As it happened, this was Ingrid's and my wedding anniversary date, and they are planning to get married on August 15 next year - the same date as Luisa's parents wedding anniversary.

Three weeks ago Ingrid and I met Luisa's parents, Luis and Connie, for the first time. They stopped off in Toronto for 2 days and a night on their way from Portugal (the family are originally from Mocambique) to Winnipeg. We all spent a wonderful few hours on Mark's boat and then Mark and Luisa showed them where they plan to get married (here in Newmarket at St Elizabeth Seton) and have their reception.


Stephen graduates
On 26 May Ingrid, Stephen and I drove down to Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario for Stephen's graduation with a B.Sc(mech). It was a very happy occasion; Ingrid and I were very much the typical proud parents. Afterwards we had a celebration dinner and invited a former house mate of Stephen's to join us.

Meanwhile, Stephen's girlfriend, Heather, received the very happy news that she has been accepted to study medicine at Western University in London, Ontario. Congratulations Heather! We are extremely happy for you. I have provided my most recent pic of Heather taken at Sinterklaas last December.




The Weather.
You aren't a real Canadian if you don't talk about the weather, I have found. So I will tell you that we broke some temperature and snowfall records this last winter - a winter that seemed to drag on forever. Today is the first day of summer. Yep; in Canada summer only starts on the solstice - spring only starts on the equinox - and it really is like that. It has been relatively cold with a lot more rain than usual for the entire last three months. Yes, we did have some extremely hot days as well - into the 30s (Centigrade; high 80s F) but there seemed to be many more days with the max in the low teens.

Here are two photos taken after a record snowfall in March. One is of my neighbour giving me a hand with my driveway with his snowblower. The other is my back deck and access to the back door.



Summer Vacation
Next week Ingrid and I are off to Cape Cod for a week - making use of an exchange on our SA timeshare through RCI that we still own. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back - maybe :-)

...and a Happy New Year

It's difficult to believe that we are already at the end of the second week of January. I hope and pray for all of us that 2008 will be a good year.

Christmas Roundup.
It was a wonderful Christmas for Ingrid and me, being the first time since coming to Canada that we had the whole family together for Christmas Eve Mass, opening of the gifts, and dinner on Christmas Day. In addition we had two "significant others": Geoff and Mark Dank (the Tank). Luisa made a full (computer) screen cameo appearance from Winnipeg into our living room on Christmas Eve courtesy of Skype, Mark's laptop and our wireless router.

Our family has always opened presents on Christmas Eve. This was made possible by the fact that, while Santa Clause goes to the houses of our friends on Christmas Eve, he and Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) have an arrangement whereby Sinterklaas comes to our house on a weekend close to December 6 while on Christmas Eve Santa goes to the other houses that Sinterklaas did not visit previously. This made total sense to our kids from when they were young enough to know what was fair. The main, practical benefit is obvious - parents get to sleep in on Christmas morning. The other big spin-off for us was that Christmas has always been about the birth of the infant Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem, and not about Father Christmas. We give Christmas presents after singing carols on Christmas eve because we want to celebrate the birthday of Christ - and everybody knows you celebrate birthdays with gift giving...






Stephen, Heather, Ingrid and Judith in our lounge on the occasion of Sinterklaas.







Our Christmas crib.


Good News from Judith and Terry.
In November I went to the urologist for my 6-monthly visit to check up on the cancer in my prostate. He and I were very pleased that my PSA levels had actually dropped by 40%. I attribute this to 3 things: prayer, diet, and the cocktail of vitamins and minerals that I have been taking daily.

On January 2 Judith went to see her oncologist for her 6-monthly visit and was also given the good news to come back again in six months. We all had a bit of a reaction when the hospital phoned this last week for Judith to have a test this month. We all thought, "Oh no. What have they found?" However it proved to be that the person who booked the test had not read the order correctly and was only supposed to book the test for June.






When Judith and Ingrid came back from the oncologist they went and had their hair done!


Quick Summary of "the kids"
Mark is now back from Holland and has found a place to stay downtown Toronto within walking distance of where Miriam is staying. He continues to work at his old job in Newmarket.
Next month Sean will move out of our home to a place not far from Miriam and Mark.
Also next month, Miriam will be starting a new job having accepted a social work position at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. This month will see her finish her MA practicum at CAMH. We are all very excited for her.
Judith and Stephen are both at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Stephen is finishing his final year mechanical engineering this May. Judith will finish her first year of Phys Ed at that time.

Canadian Weather.
Canadians love to talk about the weather and this winter has provided us with lots to talk about. January is normally the "heavy" snowfall month of the winter season. This winter, we had more snow in December than in an average January. One dumping left more snow on the ground than any snowfall since a century record breaker in January of 1999 and temperatures plummeted to -22 deg C. OK, I know Mark's girlfriend, Luisa, is howling with laughter because that is "nothing" in Winnipeg but for a Seffrican Canadian in Toronto that is COLD! We had a 5 foot (150 cm) bank of snow down the side of our drive way - hand shovelled by Sean and myself.









Yours faithfully - the intrepid snow shoveller.






Snowman built in our backyard three days before Christmas - the day before this picture was taken - looking somewhat the worse for wear. Note the nose and pipe and some buttons lying on the ground. These, and the eyes, were given to Mark by his boss' family for Sinterklaas while he was still in Holland.








Snow bank piled up in front of our deck on New Year's Day.







There is a fascinating beauty about snow that collects on branches.







I really do love the "cake icing" effect.

Barely 3 weeks later, and one week after another huge dumping on New Year (see pics,) we had record highs in the teens which melted almost all the snow and brought out the skunks to sacrifice their lives as road kill as they always do in the spring.







Decomposed remains of a once proud snowman.