From Pickering To London

 










Sunday -- Beautiful morning of early November sunny and bright with 9 C, will be 16 later in the afternoon. Amazing. I am enjoying my morning tea walking on my deck. We have to avail whatever is there. You never know what will be the next. Enjoy your moment. Not many colors around. Trees look quiet, waiting for the days ahead. Days of cold and snow. They are quiet but not down, ready to face the days ahead with their heads high. Look confident.

Night before yesterday my sleep was very disturbed. I went to bed couple of times to try my luck but no success, was able to sleep after 5.30 in the morning. I was out of my bed at 8.15, thinking to take my day like a slow one. But things turned other way round. 

My son was going to London to drop his son to London as his Reading weeks were over. His Uni to be started form Monday. My daughter in law used to go with him but for some reason she was skipping this time. An open spot was there for me to avail. I told you whatever is there, take it. Don't wait for the next time. Just do it.

I changed my clothes filled up my water bottle and jumped in the car, which was already about to leave. I was happy as my things to do were already done, checked out. In the morning I checked my table calendar. I had to wash my hair and had to do my laundry. I was done with all that earlier. 

I didn't know that I will be going to London. I put my laundry in washer before having breakfast. That is my routine. It worked out. I will enjoy my trip with no pressure no backlog baggage of things to do. 

Around thirty back I used to live in London. Two of my daughters were also with me. They were in school. My son was doing his Masters from Western Uni. I used to pass my time volunteering in couple of organizations. "Global House", a shelter home, set up by the Government of Canada, was my favorite place to go. I used to spend time with the people from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia, displaced from their homes, due to fighting in the land, at that time.

Weather is great. My grandson is driving, I am sitting next to him. My son always gives me the front seat to enjoy the trip. So nice of him. It is three hours journey. We are passing through Waterloo. One of my daughter used to be in Waterloo Uni years back. She now lives in Kent, in England with family of her own. Time flies things change. 

I was with my daughter, in Waterloo for some time. I used to get public transport to go to Kitchener, to pass my time. Kitchener is around one hour away from Waterloo. There used to be a big mall, I remember it was September, snow everywhere. London is in snow belt so the areas around are also the same. It was a refuge for me to go to Mall to pass some time. 

It is 3.45, we are in London, my grandson went inside the "Popeyes" to get food of his choice for himself and for my son. I opted for mini burger. We are passing through the "Cherry Hill" street where we used to live. Now passing through the downtown, I try to find the "Global House", where I volunteered years back. No luck. It was more than quarter a century back. Things change. Time flies. 

We are now at my grandson's place. Three of his friends live here too. I am in his room, to have a feel of the place. I wont stay long, just for couple of minutes. We don't have to test the patience level of the other person. Kids don't like to enter in their personal space. No one does. We have to keep that in mind.

We dropped his things now going back home to our place, Pickering. I know that going back will take longer time. My grandson was driving while coming here. Now my son is on the  driving seat. Kids love to drive fast, it cuts down the travel time but adds up the pressure level for we adults. We have to ignore, let it go. Let the kids enjoy. It is their time. We have to sit back and have to  show some tolerance. 

It is 8.15, we are back, have dinner at home. It was day long trip, a bit tiring but totally paid off. Helped me to revive all the beautiful moments of my life. I was happy with my last minute decision to jump in the car leaving for London Ontario. We don't have to wait. Avail whatever is available to make your day. 


Dear Readers, Hope things are fine with you people. Please keep track of following the directives. Keep social distancing and use masks whenever required. Thanks. 

Dear Retirees, Please no political talks, no pictures of Kamala Harris or anyone else, no Flags. Keep the Blog Reading Sessions out of all Political and Religious discussions. Have patience and let everyone enjoy his time. Thanks.

Dear Reader doing 2 Jobs, please follow what your Supervisor asks to do. Listen to him. Don't make any personal remarks. Don't talk about my Blogs. 

Dear "N" hope you are reading my Blogs. I love you and always keep you in my thoughts. 

Kris Dear, I am worried about my friends Hannah and Niklas. Please don't cut his phone. Let him enjoy his time. Thanks.


Comments

  1. I have posted the blog in Smile Corner. I am sorry for repeating my comment but I get the impression that you are not getting my previous comments. I know you are an extremely busy lady, so I will summarize it. Due to the social distancing issues that we had, the government issued the notice to me. I know you wrote social distancing guidelines however the priest appears to be your big fan. He is continuing to tell me and the community to have faith in you. When the councillor pointed out to him that you are telling us to be cautious, the priest said to us that you are very humble person and reminded us the numerous times you have solved difficult situations for us. He appears to have less confidence in himself, as he wants everyone to observe strict social distancing guidelines when it comes to attending his sermons in the church. The councillor somehow thinks that he is tricking us but I think she does not completely understand your abilities. You have proved that with the power of your pen, you can fix complicated situations by using your wise and folksy words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have posted the blog in all notice boards in lobbies A, B, C and D. I will post the blogs from the weekend later today

    Jimmy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the delayed posting, I was caught up in some other issues. I have now posted the blog from Friday night also

      Jimmy

      Delete
    2. SWN was fun. We talked about Smile's blog from today. The participants are amazed on the no. of things that Smile is involved in to keep herself busy.

      Of course we maintained social distancing :-)

      Tiara

      Delete
    3. SWS was good too. Participants were wearing masks and saying TGIM! :-)

      Cleo

      Delete
  3. My Smile is awesome! She is an awesome councillor. She is an awesome writer. She has an awesome schedule. She has awesome family. What an awesome person my Smile is!!

    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  4. This blog is my lifeline. Thank you for writing comment for me. I dont want to talk to anyone or do anything

    N

    ReplyDelete
  5. I lost the race to post the blog on our corporate notice boards. It was already posted when I got there. I did not see the weekend blog though. There was also a box of fresh SDs with a note from SA.

    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was in early today and posted the blog. I will post the blog from the weekend soon

      Of course the SDs were already there. Plus one additional donut for the poster

      Marg

      Delete
    2. Don't worry Marg. I have posted the blog from the weekend. :-)

      Craig

      Delete
  6. This blog is my saviour for my business meetings all the time. I was having a rough meeting today, to lighten the atmosphere, I used the blogs from last week during the coffee break and it reminded people that we should not try to go for perfection but get the best deal that is available. Just like you did. I mean you have an imperfect son who takes advantage of you, did not give you enough time to prepare for a day long trip, this would have been a negative situation for anyone, yet you flipped the situation around to positive and in the end enjoyed the day. After getting this message, all business participants agreed on the deal that we were discussing.

    Thank you Smile

    Keith Walker

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Madam Smile, you so good. You write good to. I go sick job worker and say him how you. He say I ok. I say you no sick any more? He say what you mean? I say remember you were sick and my Madam give you idea with blog. He say no I dont remember because it was many many years ago. I say may be you get sickness for forgetting thing. My Madam can give you some idea for that. She used to live in London 30 year back and she remember everything. My Madam very knowledge. She do science. She do microbiology. She do search on science. She meet Dear Mr. mayor and give ideas. She help lot people to, like Dear Retirees, Dear Mr. Sheema, Dear Mr. Dave and Mrs. Linda, Dear Students, Dear Mr, Dear Mr. Prof George, Dear Dear Kris, Dear Kris father, Dear Me and so many more Dear Readers. I wanted to tell him more but he start go fast. May be he forget make important phone. I do 2 proud jobs and always read blog

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Advisor,

    We did not go for our walk as it is getting very cold now and the temperature was close to 15C. As usual your Indian compatriots led the reading of the blog. It used to be an honour for everyone however they successfully made a case to everyone that as you are a practising Hindu lady from India, they should be the one doing the reading every day. The hijab lady told them about your instructions however they clarified that what you meant was that all should be treated well, and this is very much in line with your Hindu faith. We have stopped bringing pictures of political leaders however all are asked to greet each other in Indian greetings of namaste. They have asked me to continue to write comments however one gentleman proofreads it. I protested originally because he is not even retired and is serving as a senior administrator in your Hindu temple however I am not sure if you got my comment or not.

    Your blog created a lot of resentment about your son. The retirees are very surprised that he did not give you 1 week notice. The retirees always need advance notice of multiple days so they can be mentally and physically ready. The retired traveller does not need that much notice and 6-7 days notice is fine for him. The retirees are also concerned that your grandson and son got the meal at Popeye’s that they wanted as opposed to asking you to pick the place to eat. This is not appropriate for him to be doing that to you. The hijab lady and her temple people said that in their culture you would have been treated with way more respect than this. They also did a prayer for you after your Hindu and Indian friends allowed it. They wanted to leave after that but the retired priest said that his dog is outside so they waited. Since the incident from 2 weeks ago when the retired priest accidentally discovered that the hijab lady is uncomfortable with dogs, the retired priest has been bringing his dog to the restaurant every day. As dogs are not allowed inside, he leaves them outside. The hijab lady and her temple friends appear to be scared of the dog. The dog is very friendly and likes to play with everyone but perhaps they are scared of the size, as it is a rather large dog. I did write about the incident about 2 weeks ago however I am not sure if you received my comment.

    We know that Diwali is approaching so the restaurant manager has been asked to make special food. He appears to not like it and said that this is not an ethnic restaurant however your Indian friends told him about the importance of his event to you, so he is going to go ahead.

    Thank you
    Recent retiree

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Author,

    We read your blog at the Smile Garden today. We used to read it at SRC however the Dean asked us to move the readings to Smile Garden as SRC is a small space and can only accommodate 250 people

    After the reading, a junior Prof mentioned to Prof George that how is it possible that you got ready to go for a day long journey at a minute's notice. Prof George replied that you are very agile and have done that before on multiple occasions. Dean overheard that and agreed with Prof George. He added that though this is true, yet it will be better if plans are made around you and you are not just asked to fit into the plans. Though the Smile Army volunteers heard that they were not able to fully understand his words however we explained it to them and told them that the Dean uses few words but what he means is that you should not be asked to just drop in when the trip is already made, or if it is a 3 hour journey then thats quite long and regular breaks should be arranged, the restaurant also should be of your choosing etc. When the idiots understood this, they started raising slogans against your son and grandson.

    Thank you
    Literature Fellow

    ReplyDelete
  10. My Smile is amazing!! She is an amazing writer. She is an amazing psychologist. She is an amazing councillor. She is an amazing trainer. She has an amazing family. What an amazing person my Smile is!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Father say father very sad. Father say world atmosphere not good and father very anger to. Father say father old almost

    (Hannah say Hannah father feeling low.Hannah say Hannah no able do big party also because virus. Hannah say it lot case in Deutschland and Chancellor told everyone take kris care. Hannah say it niklas virus but can be kris bad. Hannah say you please care you. Hannah say Hannah happy that you go London and injoy. Hannah say Hannah want give message to brother that he need care you because he no do. Niklas say thank because you write about Niklas all time. Niklas say grandpapa very down because Trump lose. Niklas say grandpapa big Trump fan and say that he big leader for Europe too because he no let imigrant come to America. Niklas say Niklas no like politic but grandpapa explain Niklas. Grandpapa tell Niklas that they peeple come from other place, the girls put cloth on head, they no celebrate, like no do beer . They dont even go good church but have own temple in shoppes. Me say father election no over but father sad and anger. Me say father why worry in Deutschland but father say that we need do thing to send non German peeple back their home. Me say what me can do but father say he make plan and will tell all nabor how bad the imigrant are. Me say father why tell Niklas all this, but father say he tell Niklas because Niklas need no. Hannah say tell father no do. Me say me no able say no father and also father is right. Hannah say it no good. Me confuse. Me no no what do)

    Kris (Germany)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well well well. Here we go again. Another day, same thing. I wish Smile has not asked us to be so civil.

    Thanks mrizvi. Fantastic comment

    ReplyDelete
  13. Caaaaalllmmmmm down Plunker. Yes Smile has asked us to be nice, so be considerate

    Great comment mrizvi. Good job

    ReplyDelete

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