It is hard to believe that as of August 14th it will have been 7 years since my first column appeared in the CFN in 2012. It has been a very rewarding experience and I am very grateful that I have had a lot of family and friends supporting me.
Jamie, my Editor has been so great and…very patient. Thank you. A big thank you also to my Computer Technician, James Ladouceur, who has been such a big help over the years.
Here now is column 154.
Diane Chambers, one of our local artists is very talented. I have seen some of her paintings and they are exceptional. Diane told me that a friend of hers took a photo of some scenery in the Thousand Islands area. Diane liked it so much and decided to do a painting of the scenery.
If you have ever watched the Bob Ross painting show on PBS, near the end of some of them, he will say something like,” Let’s have some fun”. Then he will add a great big fir tree, an old cabin or maybe a majestic waterfall.
That may have happened to Diane who decided to add two Loons floating along on the water to her painting. It is a very beautiful and peaceful scene.
Unlike me who needed lessons to learn to paint, Diane is a natural artist. I can appreciate so much her work and the beautiful details in her painting. Thanks, Diane, for sharing this gorgeous painting with us.
Photo courtesy of Ray Chambers.
Another talented senior in Cornwall is Bob Katz who is an amateur and enthusiastic photographer. It seems he takes his camera everywhere he goes. He loves to photograph wild life wherever he finds it.
Bob took this lovely photo of a Blue Jay sauntering along in the grass. It may not have been just an occasional stroll for the bird though.
From what I read they eat a big variety of food which includes nuts, seeds fruits, insects, bird’s eggs or nestlings, caterpillars and even mice. So, he may be out in the grass hoping for a quick snack. It was also interesting to read that although they can be very noisy birds, they also have a soft whisper and faint whistle.
Thanks, Bob, for sharing this beautiful photo with us.
The Canadian Hearing Society has some suggestions for people who want to know how to better communicate with people who have a hearing loss.
Having worn two hearing aids since I was about 46, I find that the only real problems I have (except when I forget to put both aids in) are background noises and people who talk softly. Another is when people put their hands in front of their mouths and I can’t supplement my hearing by lip reading.
Here are some of the CHS’s suggestions:
1) Always face the person you are talking to.. Be aware that when you are looking away from a person or covering your mouth, your lips can not be seen.
2) Speak normally, don’t yell or scream. Yelling causes you to speak abnormally, making it more difficult for people to understand you.
3) Make sure you are well-lit. Dim areas make it difficult to speech read. If there’s a light source behind you, such as a window, this often makes it difficult to see your lips.
4) Reduce ambient noise. When speaking to someone who is hard of hearing, try to minimize surrounding noise.
5)Explore alternate ways of communicating such as writing on paper, using text or email on a Smartphone or showing examples of what needs to be done.
6) Confirm with clarification. If there is a chance you have been misunderstood, a great way to clarify is to have someone repeat what you said. Works for hearing people as well.
Go to the Canadian Hearing Society’s web site for more information. https://www.chs.ca/communication-tips-0
I came across this little photo taken in the 1960’s on the Pediatric Ward of the Cornwall General Hospital of a little sweetie I had been holding. I remembered it because I had been playing that little game about a “church” with him. That is the one where you twine your fingers together to form fists that make a church, point the two index fingers up to make a steeple and your thumbs are the doors. You can wiggle your fingers for the ‘people’ inside. So I said to him, ” Here is the church and here is the steeple. I open the door and see all the people”.
When my fingers started wiggling he laughed and laughed. Then, he would poke my hand to do it again. I think I had to do it about 8 times. Someone snapped a picture of us. You can see him laughing. So much fun to play with kids.
A big thank you to the Staff in MP Guy Lauzon’s office. It has been my experience and the experience of many other people I have talked with, that the Staff have consistently over the years been courteous, pleasant, efficient and very very helpful. Thank you.
Another big thank you to MP Guy Lauzon. He has been our MP for many years and has benefitted his constituents so much that they often just refer to him affectionately as “Guy”.
I want to wish MP Guy a wonderful and happy retirement. Thank you for your many years of service. It has been very much appreciated.
I finally got a photo of Tiger with his paw around my arm holding on very tight so I wouldn’t get up and leave him. What a big baby!!!
Here is a cute joke from a friend:
A father buys a lie detector robot that slaps people when they lie. He decides to test it out at dinner one night. The father asks his son what he did that afternoon.
The son says, ” I did some homework.”
The robot slaps the son.
The son says, ” OK. OK. I was at a friend’s house watching movies.”
Dad asks, “What did you watch?”
Son says, “Toy Story.”
The robot slaps the son.
Son says, “OK. OK. we were watching p*rn.”
Dad says, “What? At your age I didn’t even know what p*rn was.”
The robot slaps the father.
Mom laughs and says, “Well, he certainly is your son.”
The robot slaps the mother.
Robot for sale!!
Have a good week, Dawn