Sochi 2014 Medal Standings

The preoccupation with gold, gold or nothing, frankly annoys me. I was cheered to see the many Olympic athletes who were obviously overjoyed to receive their bronze medals. You see the preoccupation with gold in the ubiquitous lists of medal standings based on who has the most golds or, the perverse opposite, who has the most medals regardless of gold, silver or bronze.

Here is a list like we did  it in our inter-house athletics at school: 3 points for a first, 2 points for a second, 1 point for a third. Let's get real.

Family Catch-up - by Ingrid

2013 was a particularly hectic year and we have not done an update since January 2013. 
- Text mainly by Ingrid. Photography mainly by Terry.

Valentine Dance

Team Valentine

 

Heather, Stephen, Miriam, Geoff

Terry, Ingrid, Grande Amante, Luisa

Feeling the baby kicking

Ingrid and Stephen

Terry and I have been very involved with the planning and organising the Marriage Encounter Valentine Dance which was held on February 9th, which also happened to be in the middle of Miriam and Geoff's packing up for their move to their new house the next weekend.

The dance was a great success and for us an opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

We didn't know it at the time but this was the first move of four during this year.

Heather and Stephen's ANNOUNCEMENT

The Announcement

We finally ate the cake

Two days after Stephen's actual birthday on February 22 we all got together for a birthday lunch at Mark and Luisa's house. Rob and MaryAnn, Heather's parents, were with us too and when the birthday cake was presented it said Happy Birthday Daddy - their announcement of a baby on the way. While Claire and Jonty were staring mournfully at this magnificent cake ( when are we going to get some??  ) the adults were running around the table congratulating the new parents to be and each other.

Easter Egg Hunt

There must be more

Another one

Jamming

Alan, Miriam (3 hands), Judith

At the end of March at Easter, Geoff's parents, Alan and Sharon, came to stay  at Geoff and Miriam's new house for the first time. We had a wonderful Easter lunch that day followed by a very exciting Easter Egg hunt in the garden and later with a jamming session in the basement.

Heather and Reinier Visit

Two weeks later my brother Reinier and sister-in-law Heather arrived in Canada from Scotland. Heather was involved in a conference but Reinier spent time with us in Holland Landing. We did manage to get together with most of the family and Heather at Miriam and Geoff' home on the Sunday before Heather left for Ottawa to do some research. Reinier endeared himself to Claire and Jonty, allowing them to explore animal sounds on his cell phone.

Listening to animal sounds

Reinier, Heather outside LMM home

I had taken a few days off the following week and spent a very enjoyable day with Reinier at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). The next day Reinier and I went to Peterborough from where he took the bus to Ottawa to meet up with Heather. The next weekend we did the same arrangement in reverse and on our way back to Holland Landing we stopped at Leaskdale, a little hamlet north of Uxbridge where Lucy M Montgomery (Ann of Green Gables) lived for, I think, 9 years. The house was locked but when we went to the church just down the road we happened to meet a member of the LMM Society who offered to go home to get the keys so that we could have a look. A small group of Leaskdale residents are working hard to restore the house and church where LMM's husband was the minister and from where she did a lot of her writing. Heather has done some research into LMM and the visit was quite special for her.

Caitlyn's Birthday

We celebrated Caitlyn's first birthday in April. It was a fun day and had a surprise visit from Luisa's Mom, Connie, who was on her way to Portugal and had enough time between two flights to spend some time with us.

Welcome Gabi

Gabi getting Claire-love

Our next big event was the birth of little Gabriela Elizabeth on May 3. Like her brother Jonty she decided to come three weeks early. Her second name Elizabeth is after Aunty Bessie who was very pleased with the choice. On June 2 we had a " Meet  Gabi " event and apart from it being another family gathering it was a great opportunity to meet some of Mark and Luisa's friends from Peterborough.

Sean and Judith Move

At some point around this time Judith was finishing her exams and preparing to move to a one bedroom basement apartment in Mark D's sister's house in Toronto. This would make commuting to her first chiropractic placement much easier than from her place in North York. If I remember correctly Sean had moved to his new place in the city by then -what I remember most from that was unloading furniture in the rain .

Toronto had more rain in 2013 than I can remember in the 15 years we have been here - many floods and rivers in our garden. I think around this time  Stephen and Heather also announced that they were looking for a house to buy.

Father's Day Work Party

Mark M, Mark D, Sean, Stephen

On Father's day we had a work party at our house to shingle the garden shed. This had been planned on two previous occasions but rain (what's new?) and a downed tree forced us to change the plans both times. Finally it got done and it looks great! Thank you, all!

Aunty Bessie R.I.P.

On June 30 we sadly said goodbye to Aunty Bessie. She died peacefully at the age of 97 while praying with our friend Pat who had been staying with her when she became critically ill. Aunty Bessie didn't want to go to hospital or Frail Care and she died in her own bed as she had always hoped she would. Although our hearts were sore, we were grateful that her death was so peaceful. She was a most amazing , happy, content and spiritual woman and will always occupy a special place in our heart. Her name lives on in our sweet little Gabriela Elizabeth. Terry left for South Africa the next day and spent two weeks sorting out the estate and arranging the funeral and a memorial service at the retirement village where she lived. He managed to see some of our friends who also very kindly gave him a place to stay while there. For photos and more comment see Elizabeth (Aunty Bessie) Sessler 1916-4-27 - 2013-6-30 R.I.P.

Claire's Birthday

Terry missed Claire's third birthday party because he was in SA as well as my aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary which we celebrated at the annual Holst picnic (my side of the family in Canada).

Visit from South Africa

Anne and Barbara

On July 15 I met my friend Barbara Miller who came to spend a month in Canada staying with another friend. While she was still planning the trip Barbara connected with us and I was able to take some days off work to spend time with her. Barbara is one of my oldest friends from my university days; we shared our first apartment away from home and although we had lost contact for quite some time it was so easy to pick up the thread again, it was quite amazing. The next week Barbara and her sister Anne came to spend a few days in Holland Landing. We took a trip around the Holland Marsh, went to Peterborough for a day and visited St Marie Among the Hurons. Barbara does beautiful beadwork and Newmarket happens to have a well known bead shop, That Bead Lady, which we visited too.

Heather and Stephen Move

Heather and Stephen moved into their new home on August 1. Terry and I went to help them the next day. It is a beautiful century home close to the hospital where Heather works and not even 10 minutes drive from Stephen`s work which means that it is also really close to Mark and Luisa.

Ingrid's Birthday

Discovery Harbour

Musket drill

On my birthday, Terry and I went to visit Discovery Harbour in Penetanguishene. We had planned to take more time off around that time but by then we knew that Terry`s work was coming to an end and we thought it would be better to have a break then.

Retirement - sort of

September 6 was Terry`s last day at GE and he officially retired. This is not going to be the end of work however. Terry has taken some courses for additional certifications and has registered his own company with a view to doing quality management and ISO consulting. It certainly does feel like the end of an era for us - and the start of a new adventure.

Baby Shower

The next day we had the baby shower for Heather and Stephen in Peterborough with a get to know the down-town scavenger hunt arranged by Luisa.

Peterborough Liftlock Boat Cruise

On Sunday we went on the Liftlock Cruise courtesy of Mark and Luisa - watching Jonty was a delight.

Gananoque

The day after, Terry and I went on a three day tour to Gananoque and Thousand Islands.

Osprey Squatters nest

We did a Thousand Island boat tour

Sky Deck Selfie

St Lawrence from Sky Deck

...and viewed the St Lawrence river and islands from the Sky Deck

The Socialist Pig Coffeehouse

...and had some great meals and coffee and walks around the picturesque town of Gananoque. We can recommend The Socialist Pig Coffeehouse.







I had taken the rest of the week off too  and when we came back we spent it doing some planning and talking about our new "state of life."

Lachlan James. Ta-da!

That weekend we were back in Peterborough babysitting Jonty for Mark and Luisa`s annual Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. When Stephen and Heather arrived for dinner on Friday evening Heather announced that she was maybe going into labour. During dinner it became obvious that she was definitely going into labour and we had Heather bouncing off the walls with excitement while Stephen appeared to be in shock ( not surprising as this was three weeks ahead of due date).

Lachlan James, Daddy Stephen, Mommy Heather

Stephen had arranged for somebody to fix their hot water heater which had stopped working and another company to install new shutters the next day; now it seemed that they would be spending their time at the hospital having a baby. We changed our arrangements so as to babysit Jonty at their house and supervise workers and by the time that was all done Lachlan James was born on September 14.

Lachlan meets his cousins

Grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins all descended upon the hospital for the next two days - much noise and activity to the consternation of some nurses but Lachlan took it all in stride and slept through it all.

More birthdays

Next weekend we were again back in Peterborough (maybe we should move there) for Mark`s birthday - family, friends, more children -about 50 people in all.

The day after it was Miriam's birthday celebration which we celebrated with breakfast - all the McCanns slept over at the two houses.

Thanksgiving

Cousins in a wigwam

On October 13, a whole 3 weeks later, we were back at Stephen and Heather`s house for Thanksgiving which they hosted with contributions to the meal from everybody and, especially, Stephen who, contrary to the Canadian tradition of turkey, made the most delicious lamb roast and ham. Nobody complained.

After the huge meal we all went for a walk in a nearby parkland where the kids found the remnants of somebody's wigwam. Scouts?

The rest of the year

Life slowed down as we settled in with babies, Terry's studies and preparations for his consulting business and my ongoing work. 

Reading the rhyme

In the beginning of December we celebrated Sinterklaas, Terry wrote his Six Sigma Green Belt exam and of course... more birthdays. 

Jonty got a fishing rod

Jonty turned 3, preparations for Christmas and trips to Winnipeg ( Luisa and kids) and SA (Mark for Pieter Grootes' wedding) kept us all busy.

Christmas and The Ice Storm

On the night of Dec 21-22 an ice storm hit Toronto and surrounding areas and created havoc, loss of power for more than a million people and roads that were blocked by fallen trees. We were lucky - although we could not get out of our driveway for a day and one of our trees split in half and crashed, we still had power. 

Ice Beauty in our back yard

Miriam and Geoff and the girls came to stay from Monday onwards as they lost their power and by then their house was getting too cold. The plan was to have Christmas here instead of at their house but plans were reversed again when their hydro was restored on Tuesday. Many families still had no power during Christmas, some even beyond New Year. 

Christmas Dinner

Geoff's parents came from Ottawa and I think it is true to say that I have never had such a tender and succulent turkey as the one Geoff prepared that day. 

The next day Terry and I spent the day with Stephen and Heather and her parents, Rob and MaryAnn, at their farm at Lafontaine. The trip from our house to theirs is about an hour and thirty minutes and the scenery was just too beautiful. Being further north, while they did have some ice , they did not have the devastation but rather a lot more snow.  



Stephen took Terry for a ride on Rob's new toy along the local snowmobile trail. As Stephen was driving Terry managed to take some video footage of the beautiful trail.

Winter stroll

Lachlan asleep on his sled

That night Stephen, Heather and Lachlan came to our house and stayed with us. The next day we all went for a walk with Lachlan all bundled up on the sled - he slept the whole time.

On New Year's eve Terry and I went to a dinner and dance with friends at the parish hall.

Happy New Year everybody!!

My Morning with Madiba

The passing of Nelson Mandela is creating the irresistible urge in countless people around the world to recount their personal experiences with this great man. The McCann's are no exception, and unapologetically so. Mark asked me to post this on the blog for him.

Hamba kahle, Madiba

My Morning with Madiba

 I was lucky enough to spend the morning, as a sixteen year old boy, with President Mandela on the 13^th of May 1995.

A close friend of the family (Beryl) was one of his personal assistants and asked if I wanted to assist in helping President Mandela sign copies of his newly released autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”. These copies were specifically going to be sold at the Rugby World Cup final to raise money for the Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund. As I recall, this was the first fundraiser for the fund.

I woke up early that morning, as we had to be at President Mandela’s house by 6:30 am (he was apparently an early riser!).  I was a little nervous during the drive as I was not sure what to expect when meeting the president of the country. Do I call him Mr. Mandela, President Mandela, Madiba; do I shake his hand? These were just a few of the thoughts that ran through my head.

At around 7 am we were ushered into the dining room where all the books were piled. The next moment President Mandela walked in, tall, commanding and in his pyjamas. I will never forget them: light blue flannel pyjamas. He immediately put me at ease coming over, thanking me for helping and excusing himself for still being in his pyjamas. It was early he explained, he hadn't had breakfast yet, and they were quite comfortable.

There was another boy around my age there to help too and the three of us came up with a strategy to make the process efficient. I would put the book in front of President Mandela, open on the page he had to sign, and the other boy would take it away and stack it once is was signed. We worked like this for about an hour and a half until all the books were complete. In this time President Mandela chatted to us about our lives, family and school. Thinking back it was amazing how calm and relaxed he made us feel around him.

Once we had finished signing all the books he looked at both of us and suggested we join him for breakfast. This will forever be one of the most surreal experiences of my life. There I was eating bacon and eggs with Nelson Mandela in blue flannel pyjamas. He was at the head of the table, I was on his right, and the other boy on his left: just the three of us. I recall quite vividly trying to keep up my best manners, answering his questions, making conversation, all while his 2-year-old grandson was playing with my feet under the table.

Being a Saturday, I guess all the fun presidential decisions needed to be made. The reason the date is so clear is that during breakfast there were a number of people coming and going trying to figure out who of the family was going to join the President at the soccer that day. Bafana-Bafana, the South African national soccer team, were playing Argentina at Ellis Park. I recall thinking “ask me, ask me!!”. I never did get the invite J.

At the end of breakfast President Mandela got up and went to the phone in the corner of the room. There he had a little red phone book. Picking it up he asked us for our telephone numbers. “I always want to keep in contact with my friends”, he said while writing the numbers down.

At this point it was time to head out and with a quick goodbye my morning with Madiba was over. It is a morning I will cherish and forever be privileged to have had.

Madiba, I consider you a friend too. You are humble and have no prejudices.  South Africa and the world are a better place because of you and you will be sorely missed. In your passing I am brought back to these memories and want them to inspire me in how I live my life.

Madiba, hamba kahle, go well, keep on dancing and hopefully, one day, the whole world will be dancing with you.

Mark McCann

5 December 2013

Always Leave the Office On Time?

I came across this poster from a friend and former colleague:

Bear with me as I give you my reflections.

Commuters queue for minibus taxis
in Johannesburg.
Picture: SUNDAY TIMES

This sounds wonderful, difficult not to agree in principle. No offence intended, but I'm afraid that it is a first world luxury that goes with a home swimming pool and a jacuzzi. The Toronto Star recently ran a series on Third World sweat shops. This poster for them is the stuff of dreams. The same goes for farm labourers and peasant farmers, and for thousands of Black South Africans who stand in queues for an hour or more, literally, for their turn to get into a minibus taxi that will take an hour before they get to their place of work or home again. As for the large numbers of unemployed, most would love to have the opportunity to work overtime - at least until they've had to do it through the winter.

If you can always leave the office on time, thank Heaven for the privilege, but spare a thought for the overwhelming majority of the earth's workers whose only choice is to work for as long as they are told or beg on the streets.

These people are not fools or losers. They are fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who are modern day saints helping to keep their families alive. The bad news is that a lot of these overworked and underpaid workers are the reason for much unemployment in Europe, the US and Canada - among others. I give up. I have no idea what the solution is.

Remember, Remember the Month of Movember

If you haven't noticed yet, this is the month of Movember. Once again the gallant Mo Stashed Hairiers are covering their upper lips for the cause of raising funds for men's health, notably prostate and testicular cancer research and men's mental health. Please go on over to the Mo Stashed Hairiers blog which also has some information on prostate and testicular cancer and some common sense, health precautions that men can take.

Here is a video we made three years ago.