Seniors Situation Room by Dawn Ford – Lazy Hazy Days of Summer – 8 Years & 175 Columns Later!

Remember that wonderful song by Nat King Cole, “Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer”? Sodas, pretzels and beer. Well, not exactly – no beer. When I was growing up you had to be 21 to be served alcohol. Any social circles I was involved in, whether dances, parties or any formal activities, there was no alcohol or drugs. It was a good thing for sure.

It also reminds me of many days camping at Charlottenburg Park with the Trinity Anglican Church Girl Guide Company.We also had special camping days at other sites such as Watkin’s Glen, NY and Doe Lake, Ontario.

In this photo of August 1956 given to me by Frances Glass Irwin, we are in dress uniform, not camp clothes, which tells me that we were probably visiting a camp site.

In this photo of the 1950’s is Beverly Heward in the back and from Lt to Rt. , an unknown camper, unknown guide, me, Frances and Myrna Plumley. It looks as if we were helping the camper knock in a tent peg. We seemed to be enjoying it all. Lots of fun.

Ah, those were the days.

A friend sent me this cute item:

“A wise man once told his son: My boy. when you accumulate the understanding to know why a pizza is made round, then put in a square box and is eaten in triangles, then and only then will you be able to understand women.”

Ho, Ho, Ho!!! No supper for you guys tonight.

As of August 14th. I will have been writing The Seniors Situation Room for 8 years, since 2012. That is a lot of typing for someone who never wanted to be a secretary and have to type. Where did the time go??

A big thank you to Jamie, Editor of CFN for his patience, assistance and wise direction. Another thank you to James Ladouceur, my computer tech whose aid has been so helpful over the years .A big thank you to the readers, my friends and my family for your support. This column is number 175. Hard to believe.

Editor’s Note: We have been asking the City of Cornwall to help support the publication of a book celebrating Dawn’s amazing contribution to our local history and culture, but they are refusing sadly.

A friend who is a talented musician, photographer and artist showed me some of his paintings. One was a magnificant tiger, another a portrait of a beautiful lady, a bouquet of flowers and a dog. They are all lovely and well done but when I saw the one of the dog, I could feel that it was a very huggable dog. I think it was Charlie Brown who said, “There is nothing like a dog” and of course, Snoopy would say that it is true. I agree.

My friend has asked to remain anonymous. Thank you so much for sharing your talents with us.

One thing I like about art is that every artist has their own flair. One time I was at a painting seminar and the subject was a seascape: water, sky, beach and a palm tree. We were all painting the same scene. We painted our sky and then the teacher said to pickup our brush and go straight across the canvas for the horizon line. Whew!! Pressure!! I picked up the brush, dabbed a bit of paint on it and brushed it straight across. A miracle. It was straight. The teacher thought I had done a great job. Other artists came to see this beautiful horizon line. They asked me how I did it so perfectly. I said, “Totally by accident.”

My friends Bea Tardif and Anne MacDonald were with me at the seminar. We finished our paintings and each one was just a little different. Bea’s palm tree was gorgeous and Anne’s ocean was a welcoming green that it made you feel like diving in. We went home with our treasures. it was fun.

Don’t hesitate to learn how to paint. It is a wonderful pastime and so rewarding and fun.

Here are some children’s displays of their biblical knowledge when they were asked about the old and new testaments- spelling has not been corrected:

1) In the first book of the bible, Guinness god got tired of creating the world, so he took the sabbath off.

2) Adam and eve were created from an apple tree. Noah’s wife was Joan of ark. Noah built an ark and the animals came in pears.

3) Lots wife was a pillar of salt during the day but a ball of fire during the night.

4) Sampson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a jezebel like Delilah.

5) The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had troubles with unsympathetic genitals.

6) Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles.

7) Moses led the Jews to the red sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.

8) The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up to mount cyanide to get the ten commandments.

9) The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

10) The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.

Have a good week, Dawn

1 Comment

  1. I have a memory of going to Burlington for a camping weekend with some Girl Scouts. While there we searched for fossils in an area known for this. I still have the fossil I found there – resembles a little snail buried in the rock. In the picture can see tools in our hands for working on the rocks, but doubt we worked in our full Guide uniforms.
    -Myrna

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