An indoor Christmas display

I have neighbours who live up my street, very nice people, but they do something every year that drives me nuts. They put up their Christmas tree and all their outdoor Christmas lights on Nov. 1. They still have their Halloween pumpkins sitting on their front step but it's Christmastime everywhere else.

I know I should live and let live, but seeing all that joyful cheeriness on Nov. 1 just makes me angry. For me, the spirit of the holidays should not start until after Remembrance Day. Wait until after American Thanksgiving and then go to town with the Christmas lights.

This year my house is dark. That's right, I'm pulling a Grinch and my youngest daughter is not happy about it. A couple of weeks ago I tested our outdoor lights and all but three of them were either broken or burned out.

"Screw it, I'm not buying any more," I said out loud to nobody but myself because I was inside the garage while my son hammered on his drum set in the house. Yes, we're that family, the Twisted Sister of our neighbourhood!

But what to do? You can't say no to an adorable 9-year-old with the biggest, bluest eyes you've ever seen.

Compromise, that's what I did. I told Bronwyn I would put up indoor lights this year. That way I didn't have to fall off the roof again trying to do my best Chevy Chase routine in Christmas Vacation. For a peak of that clip see the YouTube video above. You can also read about my experience falling off the roof at this link: Click here

So this weekend I'm going to buy some indoor Christmas lights and wrap them around our front windows. I'll be safe and warm putting them up, or at least that's the plan.

I even told Bronwyn I'd string some Christmas lights around her bedroom window. That sealed the deal!

For those of you who brave the cold and who are not afraid of heights, I salute you for putting up your outdoor Christmas lights. You brighten my evening walks.

But inside is where it's at for me this year. Merry Christmas!

With one pitch I got old

The Oshawa Legionaire Pee Wee Select team on the bench. No. 77 is my son, Tavish.

Most days you go through life living today just as you did yesterday and the day before. Some of them are good days, others are bad. You don’t often think that combing the number of days you’ve lived could only lead to one conclusion — you’re getting older.

But you’re not getting older, you’re getting better, right? 

Like most of you I rarely think about my age (except on birthdays) because inside I’m still young at heart. Then something happens that changes how you view yourself. For me that day came last week.

Major League pitchers report to camp in the next few weeks. That fact has not been lost on my son Tavish. He loves baseball, watching it and playing it. I’ve been told when the Detroit Tigers visit Toronto on the Aug. 28 weekend we’re going. I’d hate to disappoint him.

I took Tav to the Home Run Baseball Academy in Ajax. He got two baseball bats for Christmas and was anxious to try them out. I rented a lane at the indoor facility and off we went.

It felt good putting on the baseball glove once again and loosening up my throwing arm. Granted it took a bit longer getting used to pitching strikes but Tav was patient. It also helped we had access to a pitching machine to spell me off!

Tav hit pitches for about 40 minutes before he asked to take a break. He was making solid contact with most of my pitches but after swinging the bat for the better part of an hour it was time to put it down and play some catch.

That’s when it happened. With one throw I got OLD.

Last summer I was still a head taller than my son. Tav only came to my shoulder. Theoretically that made me bigger and stronger but even then I knew the day was coming when my son would surpass my staggering height of 5’7”! Today he looks me straight in the eye. He wears a larger shoe than I do. I carry more weight on my frame but other than that we’re the same size.

Another difference we share is our throwing speeds. Tav is officially . . . faster. In fact he throws faster than I think I even did when I was his age!

We were throwing the ball back and forth when I said to him, “Okay, throw me a good one.”

Tav let it fly and as I put my glove up to catch it the ball hit the screen behind me.

“What was that?” he asked sarcastically.

I would have loved to say “Lost it in the sun” but we were inside. Instead I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders. Inside I was thanking God Tav’s throw was to my left and not directly at me. Otherwise our game of catch would have ended horribly.

He threw a few more my way and they were coming in hard and straight. My hand was stinging from the impact. Tav threw hard last summer but these throws had even more velocity on them.

Or maybe they weren’t coming in as hard as I thought. Maybe, just maybe I missed that throw because my reaction time was S-L-O-W-I-N-G down. Maybe his throws were hurting my hand because I was getting soft? Maybe my glove needed replacing?

I’d like to think my boy is just getting bigger and stronger. I don’t want to think it has anything to do with my age.

You’re only as old as you feel, right? Right.

Tavish throws a pitch in a playoff game last summer against Prince Edward County.
Recorded the win!

What would your grandfather think?

If there is one thing I know about my wife it's that she adored her grandfather Howard Russell. He was someone who left an everlasting impression on his family. Almost every summer our immediate family travels to Port Elgin for vacation just so we can stop at the school house were Grandpa and Grandma Russell spent the early part of their retirement years. There hasn't been a single occasion when we've left the school house when Heather hasn't teared up. The times she spent there when her grandparents were alive were special, they were happy lifetime memories for her. I wasn't there but through Heather's stories about her grandparents I know they have helped shape the person she's become today. Howard and Hazel were much loved.

Howard worked for CCM for most of his working career. He was very much a man of the people and a proud union supporter. As such when the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was organizing in the 1930s he put his energy behind the cause helping sign members. With Tommy Douglas as a leader it was a righteous cause, one that benefits Canadians from coast to coast to this day thanks to our universal health care system that was heavily influenced by the CCF and later the NDP.

When Heather became a woman's advocate and later the first person to set up a Workers in Motion Action Centre after Lear Seating eliminated the third shift at its Whitby manufacturing plant in 2006 family members often commented, "Your grandfather would be proud." His labour roots were branching out through the actions of his granddaughter.

Heather met Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
at a campaign stop in Whitby.

Today Heather is seeking the federal Liberal nomination in Oshawa riding. She commented to me the other day some people think her grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew what she was doing. I disagreed. He may roll over but I think he'd also sit up and applaud.

Heather isn't seeking the nomination for personal gain. Like her grandfather before her Heather is standing up for people just like herself, people who want a better life, not only for themselves but for their children. The fact she believes this can be accomplished through the Liberal Party and not the NDP wouldn't disappoint her grandfather. If anything I believe he would be proud that his actions, his passion and his good example had a profound influence on his granddaughter. An influence that has inspired her to stand up for what she believes in and to help her community.

Heather's involvement in Oshawa spans years, many of which were spent with the Boys and Girls Club of Durham Region. She served on the board for six years and later as president of the foundation for three years. As part of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce she served on the Community Education Committee for three years and she also served on the Literacy Network of Durham Region's board of directors. And just last month she joined the Campaign Cabinet of Feed the Need Durham. This isn't something she does to pad her resume or for personal gain. She's just hard-wired to being active and she cares enough about her community to do it.

Her actions have not gone unnoticed. In 2011 she was given a Volunteer Service Award by the Province of Ontario, in 2013 she was given a business award from Business and Professional Women of Durham  and this year she was nominated to attend a Bold Vision at a national Woman's Leadership Convention.

What would her grandfather think? He'd be the proudest grandfather in the world and rightfully so.

There's no guarantee Heather will get the Liberal nomination but I can think of no better person for the job.

Contributing to your community is something to be proud of and something that won't change for Heather whether she gets the nomination or not. It's what she does, it's who she is.