Thought Of The Day

    It's cold and windy today. Weather is like a roller coaster nowadays. Couple of days ago we were so sure that summer will be here anytime soon. Now it looks like it is not anymore. We have to wait for a while.  It is 11.30 feels like 16C below zero and wind gusts 65 km. Sun is shining in full bloom. It's the beauty of Canada that the sun is there most of the time to make our days brighter even in cold wintry days.  Cleaning lady is busy working at my place. I have to wait for her to leave.  After that I will go for my walk. Today I have to be extra careful, and have to bundle up in layers.  We have to manage with whatever the circumstances are. Things change and so does the weather. It won't be the same cozy and comfortable all the time. Some days too hot and some days too cold. Rain, snow, we have to manage whatever is there. Same are the people around. Some friendly, some straightforward and some blunt and sort of rude.  We humans ar...

    Today is the 5th of April. Time flies so quickly. April just started and nearly one week has gone by now. New year is also not new anymore. Quarter of the New year is gone. Shower started in the morning. It is not heavy rain, just drizzling. I love to walk in the drizzle. You feel cozy, with a very unique feeling. Looks like It is washing all your stray thoughts away.  Stops you from thinking anything else.  Your mind is just focused on the beauty around. Wonderful aroma of the earth. Rain drops hanging on the trees like pearls. Atmosphere starts looking great, loaded with all sorts of fragrances. You start to feel that you are also part of nature, part of the universe. Your focus gets diverted on the scattered beauty. It's 11.30, I am getting ready for my walk to Tim Hortons.  I will enjoy my walk in the drizzle and also the coffee after over there. It will be a treat for my body. She is a great listener. Always cooperates with my plans to make...

     Yesterday the weather was cold and windy with gusts 54 km. Walk was a bit challenging for me. I made it anyway. Today it is much calmer and not so windy, just38 km. Sunny with 2 C, first time not below zero after a long time. It's Tuesday everyone left for work. Today is garbage pick up day in our neighborhood. Grey, green and blue all sorts are lined up by the side of driveways. It is a working day so not many cars are here. Just a couple of cars are beside the front doors, waiting for order to proceed. I am done with my breakfast and with making some calls. My younger brother is not well, going through his difficult times. With age so many things start coming up. Our body becomes weak, same with our nerves and other powers. It becomes hard to tackle the circumstances. This is the cycle of life. We have to face it with patience. Patience is a virtue, helps to handle things every time. We have to distract ourselves. The more we will be focused we get depressed. Thing...

    March 29th 2025 It's a cloudy rainy day. Rain just started and will be for the whole day. March will be done and in a couple of days April will start. April showers May flowers. It is great news that Spring will be here shortly. Flower beds will be back to life. Birds will start nesting. The Magnolia tree in my front garden, started budding already. The Magnolia tree is always the first one to let me know that Spring is just around the corner. My friend the Black Squirrel will be here for his workouts on the wooden fence of my back garden. The Canadian rose plant will be loaded with beautiful pink flowers all around. I can't wait to see all that. Atmosphere will be loaded with aroma and all kinds of fragrances. Skeleton trees will no longer be Skeletons. They all will be back to life. There will be so much green around. It will be a totally different scenario. We will start planning to hit the roads, trails and waters. People will be busy outdoors, going fish...

  March 25th 2025 It was a busy day for me. Internet guy was coming around noon to fix it. In the morning I had to make some calls. My younger brother had surgery a couple of days ago. It is not serious, still it will take some time to get back on track for him. It's important to let the people know that we are there for you in your difficult moments. Especially for our loved ones, we have to make it a priority to contact them. Our calls will work like a lifeline at times of distress. It will boost their will power to handle their difficult days. Time flies, nothing is there forever. Kids are growing up. We are getting older. Same is for the time of distress. It won't stay for long. Those who are now dealing with the difficult period of their life won't need you later on. Everything matters at the time when needed. It devalues afterwards. Our days here, in this world, are numbered. We have to keep that in mind. Calendar goes on flipping. Mornings keep on chang...

     March 22nd 2025 Weather is tricky, too windy, 56 km gusts. I see some flurries too from my window. I am done with my breakfast, planning to go for my walk. I think it is not safe for walks.  At our age we have to be more careful with our body. We can’t afford falls. It will be done for the rest of the days of our life. Our body is not so strong to handle any such thing. Safety is important at any age. It has to be top priority at our age. My son has to go with his wife. He offered to give me a ride. Lucky me. It's 11.15, I am at Tim Hortons. This is like my second home. I am working three days a week, going to the library to play Darts.  I take library like my work place, my office. After we are retired, we have to trick ourselves. It works well to keep our mind on the right track. Helps to keep ourselves away from thinking negatives. Mind and body are interconnected, like two in one. We take care of one of them, the other one will work well t...

  March 17th 2025 Open letter to my Friends It's already mid of March and we still have to wear coats. It is Monday morning with 4C below zero feels like 11C below zero. We had lots of snow this year, especially in the month of February. We had two back to back big storms dumping more than seventy eight centimeters of snow. We were stuck for about a day otherwise life was going on. Roads were all cleared and traffic was normal. Walkways and side roads took some time to be back on track. Thanks to the city workers. Toronto was not the same. It was a different scenario with heaps of snow by road sides. To open car doors was not easy on a double driveway due to the big snow dump at the side. Our city looked like Ottawa. It reminded me of the time thirty years ago. The time when I used to live in Ottawa. Things in Toronto looked the same in February. Snow all around. Anyway, the snow is gone. Not here anymore. Thanks to the sun shining in full bloom. Summer is getting closer day by da...

   March 15th 2025 It's 10 in the morning cloudy hazy day. Sun is not awake, still hiding under his grey blanket. I won't blame him.  It is weekend. Let him enjoy. I am getting ready to leave with my son. He is going to pick his son, the youngest one from uni. He has his exams today from 8 to 10 am. Universities have their own programs, own time tables. Exams even on weekends and at nights too sometimes. So much has changed from the things from our times. Zoom lectures online classes. Not in person like we used to do in our days. My eldest grandson just used to change his shirt for customer meetings. He is managing the sales department. Things are getting easier day by day. I think there's a cost to all this. We go on losing human touch. Family values are already at stake. Younger generation doesn't want to mix up with distant family members. They don't even know them. No time and no need for such extra matters.  To them this is all irrelevant. Waste o...

  It is the month of March and the weather is a bit tricky. Charles Dickens was right to mention in one of his beautiful writings.  “ One of those days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade “. Amazing description so close to reality. Weather is getting better day by day. Snow is melting away. Sun looks much brighter in full bloom. Smiling from up and above. Summer looks just around the corner. Everyone is waiting eagerly making plans for partying outside. In Canada every season is intense and comes in full bloom. We Canadians have a feel of all and learned to enjoy every season. Winter comes with twenty to twenty five C below zero Piles of snow dumping around. Spring comes bringing everything back to life. Flower beds with all kinds of beautiful flowers. Skeleton trees now loaded with leaves around. Grass in gardens, is lush green. We see so much green all around. Autumn comes, bringing a totally dif...

      It's a beautiful cold morning windy day gusts around 44 km. Weather is getting better, still 8 C below zero. Some people started their walks wearing winter coats with gloves and everything on. Snow is still around, melting down a bit. Walkways are patchy with small water puddles here and there. Sun is smiling from up and above. He is there most of the time to make our days brighter. This is the beauty of Canada that we have bright days even at times of 20 C below zero. Our gloomy cloudy days are not so many in comparison to our sunny mornings. Every city and every country is unique, differs with its own climate with its own scenario and beauty. While visiting various cities we get different flavors everywhere to enjoy our time. I had visitors early this morning today. My late husband's younger brother’s wife is here from back home visiting her daughter. She is leaving next week, she came to see me with her daughter from Mississauga. It's forty minutes a...

    March 4th 2025 Beautiful morning after days it is not snowing today. Chances of rain are 80% for all day. Let's see. Our weather channel's predictions are usually correct.  We Canadians rely on it. We start our day checking the forecast first thing in the morning to plan our day schedule. Our life is all around this channel. It plays a key part in our day to day life here in Canada. Today is my dentist appointment in the afternoon. Cars are out of the question as my daughter in law works in person. My grandson, the eldest one, works online. He is having an in-person meeting today.  He offered to change his schedule for my appointment. I was happy and thankful to him for his kind gesture. I told him that I can make it on my own. I know that sometimes we need support to streamline our things in life. I believe we have to try to handle it on our own until it's unavoidable.  It gives strength to ourselves and boosts our will power too. This is esp...

  March 1st 2025 March has already started, spring is just around the corner and we are still under the grip of cold. Winter is not done for us in Canada. It's 16 C below zero feels like 24 C below.  Heaps of snow are all around due to last week's two back to back snow storms. We are having light snow every day but not as much as last week. We had thirty five centimeters of snow in just two or three days. Snow is no problem here in Canada, especially in Toronto. City is equipped to deal with that. Streets and walkways all cleared right away. I live by the curly roadside still it is done in a couple of hours later on. Some provinces in Canada on the North side have issues as there is too much snow not easy to handle so it takes time to clear the mess. My eldest daughter in Edmonton has to wear cleats to get mail from the mailbox just across her house.  Winter is long over there for more than six months. I won't blame the city people. It's tough to deal with...

  February 25th 2025 Today I walked to Tim Hortons after weeks. My walking was on hold due to the back to back couple of snow storms. It was muddy and water on the walkway still I was able to handle.  I was walking slowly, not taking big steps. Snow now became ice, hanging with trees around. White Snow banks by the sides of the walkway, looking beautiful, giving a scenic view to the path. I was wearing joggers. It helped me to walk through. It was sort of a muddy path I made to get to the Coffee House safely. We have to look around for the conditions to be careful with our health and safety.  Health varies to everyone. Depending on our health we can take measures to make decisions taking that aspect into account. Safety is a priority for everyone at any age. As we are getting older we are entering into the later stages of the cycle of life. We have to take added precautions. Our body becomes older and fragile and needs extra care and extra safety. We have to...

  Clearing the paths and walkways is a long process, and will take weeks to put the city back on track. Bunkers of snow, all lined up by the roads and walkways.  Driveways are under the same situation. It's not easy to enter your car. You can not open the door if two cars are parked on the driveway. Door gets stuck by the pile of snow at the side. It's sunny today, we will be getting some help to soften up the density of the snow. It will be slightly softer to clear off. Still it is a lot, not a day or two days job. It will take a while.  It's 9 C below zero feeling like 17 C below. Weather channel always portrays the windchill factor to give the actual cold intensity. It helps to get ready to be prepared to face the cold outside. We don't get any surprises. It's early morning, 8.15, I am done with my breakfast. I am getting ready to go with my son to drop my grandson, the youngest one to his Uni. He has exams at 9 am. We grandparents experience a uniq...

    Happy St Patrick day to all my Irish friends We in Toronto are in the middle of a couple of snow storms. There were two back to back with twenty five centimeters of snow. Thirty years ago I used to live in Ottawa. There we experienced heaps of snow. Winter days were tough. long for more than six months over there. People used to walk on the frozen lake surface. Snowflakes were floating on the lake water even in the month of May. Roads used to be cleared thanks to the city still snow used to be like hillocks around. Nowadays it's the same situation here in Toronto. City expects that it will take three weeks to clear all that mess. My walks are on hold for now. I try to go to the Coffee house to change my scenery whenever I can. My grandson goes to the gym. I coordinate with his schedule. My son was going to get groceries yesterday, He dropped me at Tim Hortons. Even the coffee house entrance was not safe. I was taking my steps very carefully. We try to get out...

    It's mid of February and two big snow storms are on the way. Snow is already all around. February is usually a tough month here in Canada. Same for the parts in America closer to the Canadian borders. I called my brother yesterday. It was the same story over there. He was stuck at home and walks were out of question for nowadays. He lives in Whitby with his daughter, twenty minutes away from my place Pickering in Canada. He is visiting his other daughter in Chicago. He was thinking that he will be away from the tough freezing cold days over here. Not anymore. I am worried about him. He is not in good shape, facing Parkinson problems. He is about my age, just a couple of years younger than me. In his good days, he was a very active and outgoing person. We have to value our moments in hand. You never know what is going to come in later days ahead. God forbid anything can happen at any stage of our life, still the last leg of the cycle of our life is a bit tricky...

     Sometimes things look good all in your favor and suddenly you figure out that you have to take a back. Today the same happened to me. It was 10 C below zero and also not too windy, and looked good to walk.  I planned to get out to get some fresh air and to top up my steps. Winter days you won't get many chances to add up your steps. We live in Canada, it's snowy and cold. We are used to it still, going for a walk is like a challenge for us. We have to bundle up in layers with so many things on and it becomes tough to walk around to enjoy the outdoors. Anyway I got ready with everything, sweater, gloves, woolen cap, stole and with my heavy winter coat. There are from light to heavy ones, all varieties of coats in our coat closet. We pick and choose depending on the weather conditions.  It is good to have safety as your priority all the time. Not good to have any surprises on the way. It is better to think before taking any action. Think through, ...

  It's early morning on cold wintry days. Cloudy morning, the sun is hiding somewhere inside his grey blanket. Not in a mood to wake up early. Maybe he wants to enjoy his weekend.  Snow is all around such a peaceful, serene atmosphere. My deck is under a thick sheet of ice. Red garden chair looks beautiful with thick white cushions. On the back in the flower bed of my back garden plants of pink Canadian roses and the blood red David Austin roses, are now transformed into bushes. They are now loaded with white Cottony flowers not with roses anymore. It is 10.30 in the morning, I am standing by the front door of my house. Very different view here. My red wooden bench is loaded with a bulk of white stuff. Hockey net by the garage side looks knitted with pearls in between and also decorated with icicles. What a beauty to behold to cherish. It is 11.15, I am at the lakeside. Water looks Steel gray in color at the front. At the back it is Beige with a golden hue giving...

    Today I started my day quite late. Not my fault. At our age every morning comes up with a new story. We don't know what is coming up, which body part is going to give us a tough time. It comes like surprises.  Nights are also the same. I mean on some nights we are having good sleep. Some nights we just keep on tossing in bed, checking time and waiting for our sleep. Morning or sleep whichever comes first, we are happy to receive, to avail our peace of mind.  Things related to our mind are not totally under our control. Sometimes day to day matters are enough to lose our patience. We get distracted. Start thinking, going too much into it.  The more we focus, the problem gets magnified. It overpowers our mind. Mind gets distracted start losing it's control. It gets mixed up with it's commands. It's ability to control our body, starts losing it's grip.  Body follows the command of our mind. Mind is not able to direct our body to go on the rig...

  New Year is still a newborn, just one month old. I think most of the New year resolutions must already be under the pillow. People must be tired of the ambitious rules and regulations they chalked out for themselves to follow. This is the story every year. We get carried away by December and start making a long list, mostly related to our health and body. We like to trim out our body to get in shape. Brisk exercises, strict healthy diets. Everything is there intact on paper, phone and computer. We make an honest commitment with our own selves to follow all that, no matter what. It looks like a fool proof plan, to get in shape with a beautiful figure. Looks like it will materialize in just a couple of weeks. Few weeks pass and we get tired of all that. Start cheating ourselves. We try to make ourselves understand that if we skip sometimes it won't be a big deal. It won't make much difference. We just have to go a couple of extra miles, a couple of extra weeks. We...

    Sometimes things are not under our control. They get out of your hand. We just have to accept. Today same thing happened to me. It is the end of January. Weather is not in favor. Snow and cold is at it's peak, 18 C below zero.  Yesterday was wind warning with 70 km gusts. I am skipping my walks nowadays. Safety has to be priority at all time for everyone, specifically for we seniors. Our body is old a bit fragile. We have to be careful while taking any ambitious plans into hand. Car not available. Our SUV needs some part replacement, was staying still on my driveway for a couple of days, now is in workshop. My eldest grandson is working online, has to go in person on some days.  He is managing with rental car. He rented Tesla. He is fond of good cars. He loves driving. Youth are youth, carefree. They enjoy time in their hands. They know the art, how to enjoy the moments with whatever available. I salute them. My daughter in law has to go for work in pe...

    January 25th 2025 It is Saturday 10.30 in the morning on a cold day snow all around with 15 C below zero. I have to go to my friend's place to get together in the evening. It's about an hour away. Nothing else for the day. Just make a couple of calls to my daughters. I have to make some other calls too. I will not do that today. Keep in mind that on weekends people have their own plans.They are busy with their own family things. It is not good to bother them.They won't appreciate our calls. Leave them alone to enjoy their time. We can call them some other time, some other day. I believe calls are an important matter and timing of calls is critical. We can make or break our relationships, depending on the timings. First of all we have to check the day and time.  On working days no one will like calls until late evenings. Keep in mind that we are not going to disturb them at their dinner time. People are with family, and won't appreciate calls at that t...

      Today is Tuesday. I don't have to go to work to play Darts. I am off today. I have to make some other plans to fill in my day plan sheet. My back garden displays a different scenario. Deck is covered under white sheet, the same as the grass. There is a thick slab of ice on the glass top of my steel garden table. No more flowers in the flower bed. It's so quiet all around. Today is the garbage pick up day for our neighborhood. All the green, blue and grey bins are lined up by the driveways, waiting to be picked up. Cars are staying still in the driveway for the orders to move. It looks like a very quiet atmosphere around. No activity on the ” Twin Towers “, I mean on the two tall trees in the front garden of my next door neighbor. All of its apartments look vacant. Birds are still away, not back from South of the Border. It will take time I think a few more weeks to rent out the Towers apartments. Things will change. It is 10.30, I am in my room. Breakf...

    It's 10.30 in the morning. I am done with my breakfast and with browsing messages on my Facebook.Time now to get ready for my walk. I opened one of the drawers of my writing table. There I found so many small papers with my notes and dates. I got interested, and started reading couple of notes. In one of those, was written, “ 14th November 2018. It was a small note about my journey from Croydon, the place one of my daughters used to live. She moved to Kent about six years ago. It was about my trip from my daughter’s place to meet my younger sister. To take the bus # 109 to Brixton station from there the Blue line tube to Walthamstow station. That was the meeting point with my sister“. It took me back to the days when my younger sister was mobile. We used to coordinate meetings at various spots. She lives in Ilford, London England. Now she is not so mobile has to use a walker to move around. Things change so quickly. We never think about that till the time com...

   January 14th 2025 Time flies so fast, it's around two weeks already after everyone was celebrating the new year. Anyway life goes on no matter what. Ups and downs, good and bad, sweet and sour, all moments keep on coming on the way. Life goes on. Seasons go on changing, we keep on flipping our calendar to keep ourselves updated. Nothing stops. Life goes on. We keep on losing our loved ones, getting busy making new relationships. Life goes on. This is the beauty of life. We keep on crossing stages of our lives sometimes with victory, sometimes with hard, bitter experiences. We keep on forgetting all that as nothing stops. Nothing stays forever. We are busy throughout our lives, until the last leg of our life. Last leg of life is a bit tricky. We start losing our strength, facing some challenges. Our nerves are not as strong as it was previously. Our body is old. Our kids, all settled, are busy with their families. Our friends are old like us. Difficult for them...

    It is a bright sunny cold morning. I am having breakfast and enjoying the view of my back garden. It's not looking like a garden anymore. My deck is covered with white sheet of snow. Grass is also under the white blanket.  Flower bed with no flowers, just with a couple of shrubs. The Canadian rose plant has no leaves. Beautiful pink roses are a matter of history. They were gone weeks ago. The glass top of my steel garden table is loaded with a thick slab of ice. The red garden chair, my son got from the Canadian Tire store, is nearly half under the heap of snow. So much has changed in just a couple of weeks. Weather was very cold and windy for a couple of days, 22C below zero, gusts around 50 km. Today is much better, still cold and slushy. Slushy is dangerous to walk, especially at our age. I won't take any chances to slip. My eldest grandson is going for his coffee. I talked to him to drop me at Tim Hortons. It's like a second home for me. The days whe...

    It's a cold windy morning, feels like 17 C below zero and the wind gusts 44 km. I will have to take precautions to go for my walk. I will do that later on. It is  9.30, I am  just done with my breakfast. Have to make some calls. I will do that now. Calls are important too. We have to mix and match our daily routine. We have to top up some other things along with our physical activities. To connect with the people around. Calls to friends and family members. To get busy with the things you enjoy. All this will help to boost up your mental peace. Your mood will get elevated. You start feeling up. That is enough to make your days. Life is a gift from God. To handle our life is in our own hands. He gave us liberty to deal with our lives in whatever way we want. Whatever we pick things to do is all our own choice. We can live life happily or make it full of misery, it is all up to us. Everyone has to come across some bitter moments in life. Life is like a...

  Today is January the 4th. New Year is no more new anymore, getting older day by day like us. Celebrations already done.  You people must have jotted down a long list of things to do regarding your health.  Strict schedules must be ready, especially for your diets and workouts. You must have chalked out spread sheets to follow day by day, week by week for this year. Just like we use to do every year.  We try to be hard on ourselves in the month of December. Especially the last two weeks are tough for us. We become like a drill master. Like a tough coach for our own selves. We try to straighten up everything regarding our health, our body. our outlook. I mean regarding our figure.  We want to look as perfect as we can for others. I believe that we have to think twice before making the list of our objectives to be achieved. To avoid with going through all that. The objectives, which most of times look good on paper, not able to achieve. Give a thought ...