ARTIFACT OF HOPE!

We are well into the 21^st century. 2013 is nearing the end with financial advisors looking back over the recent months.

Economic recovery is coming in dribs and drabs, but overall, change is a constant.

Over the past few years, many North American communities, including this Waterloo Region, have been affected by radical changes. Plant closures and downsizing of major companies have resulted in unemployment and substantial job losses. Here, a manufacturing hub has been altered significantly.

One response to this drastic change has been to re-invent some of the industrial sites, everything from technology bases and offices to restaurants and coffee shops. Loft apartments and creative workspaces beckon to 21st century echo boomers and entrepreneurs.

Recently, I visited an art show, Box 13, that was staged in a huge steel-framed building where metal works are now made at a fraction of the scale from earlier days. As I approached the building, which show-cased many creative works, I saw a mud-covered, object on the ground. On closer examination, I could see that it was a bolt, very heavy, and probably from days gone by. This artifact, in all its rusty glory, now sits on a shelf at home. 

2013 BOLT

To me, this piece of history is a symbol of the ingenuity of the past and the creativity that will respond to the challenges of the future. It is a true piece of art!

With these innovative approaches -- adapting and re-purposing – there is a sense of optimism in the air in communities that have experienced drastic changes.

That is a good sign, something to celebrate.

November might be bleak and dreary but it isn't stopping the celebrations. Best to all who are gathering south of the border for the American Thanksgiving. Happy Hanukkah, as well, as candles are lit on this commemorative week.
Cheers to all who are celebrating!

R.I.P. JFK NOVEMBER 22 2013.

It was just an ordinary day for our multi-grade class in a little Canadian village.

Mrs. B. managed our 3-4-5 mix of middle-grade students with a mix of stern discipline, "woe betide you" admonitions and a bit of Irish humour in our Catholic elementary school.

As we completed our typical tasks of the school day, we were more than surprised by an unexpected knock on the classroom door by Principal Sister L. on November 22, 1963.

She explained that she had some serious news to tell us -- "The President has been shot." Into my 10-year old mind whirled pictures of a hunting accident. We were told to say some prayers for President Kennedy. We stood, took out our rosaries, and began the long intercession of prayers for his survival.

It wasn't long till we heard another knock on the classroom door. The Principal, with a bit of a quiver in her elderly voice, told us that President Kennedy had died. He had been killed by a gunshot from someone nearby.

Thoughts of an accidental shooting were erased by the introduction of a long-lettered new word into my vocabulary and that of my peers. Assassination was the multi-syllabled term that left its lasting impression on our young minds. It had as many "s" letters as Mississippi but would never become part of a child's rhyme like the name of that state. The assassination of President Kennedy was a tragedy that impacted everyone.

The next few days, all eyes were turned towards our American neighbour as that nation struggled to come to terms with what had happened to their leader.
In a pre-Internet/Twitter/Facebook era, citizens of the world looked to the print media and the television. We saw bold newspaper headlines and heard the grief and mourning of a  nation while our families and communities also mourned the loss of a man who had come to be a symbol of hope and promise, especially since the scary days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It is five decades, now, since the tragedy. Still, the world is left with many questions about the event.
Most of all, we are left wondering, much like the 10-year old me who, sadly, learned a new vocabulary word on November 22, 2013.

Still, I wonder why?

In the spirit of today's vernacular,

R.I.P. JFK.