November 20:
“long periods of stasis”
Synonyms: inactivity, inaction, inactiveness, inertness, dormancy, passivity, apathy
There can be little doubt that I entered a long period of stasis after I closed the cottage on September 30. After the high emotion of buying the cottage and a good deal of pressure to accomplish some important improvements to the building, a return to the city and a more “normal” life came as a bit of a relief. The pressure was off, until next Spring anyway. It became easy to say that I could get to work “tomorrow” and, as they say, “tomorrow never comes”. In fact, during the pandemic it has seemed to me that there is an unlimited supply of tomorrows, and therefore no incentive to get motivated to accomplish anything. There is infinite time.
Next Summer will be a pivotal time at the cottage. I have a commitment from a contractor to install a septic system, and that will trigger the need for new plumbing. I can’t do either of these jobs myself, but there are related things that I will need to accomplish if they are to be successful. In addition, there are some pretty basic things that need to be done to make the place more comfortable and enjoyable. All of these things will require planning and ordering materials – something that has proven to be more difficult in these times of lengthy supply chains.
I’ve begun thinking about how to approach all of the things that need doing, and I believe that I have good ideas about how I want the process to unfold. These ideas need actual plans if they are to happen and I will need to apply myself to that step sooner than later, because, according to another axiom, “time waits for no man.”
In a brief bout of insanity, I volunteered to become the Chair of the Garden Court Tenant Association (GCTA). Aside from suddenly becoming a piece of furniture, I’m not really sure what the position involves. While I’m very sure that there will be a degree of organizing (that one of my former Directors liked to call “herding cats”), I think that the job description is pretty open.
I decided to accept the position because I think Garden Court is a special place to live. Early in its’ life it won the Governor General’s Award for architecture. Our home combines elements of architecture, heritage, and landscaping. Many aspects of the buildings are unique to this day and one challenge will be to ensure that they can be protected and enhanced going forward.
We’ve been dealing with a 2 year construction project (coincident with the pandemic) that has many residents on edge. At one point, my 90-year-old neighbour stood in front of a backhoe, trying to stop further trenching for an electrical conduit. At the time, is was understandable and amusing; now it would be my responsibility – on some level – to try and resolve the situation without further damage or insult. A challenge for certain, and one that may generate fodder for these pages in the future.
Synonyms: headship, directorship, direction, governorship, governance, administration, jurisdiction, captaincy, superintendency, control, ascendancy, rule, command, power, mastery, domination, dominion, premiership, sovereignty
the leaders of an organization, country, etc..“a change of leadership had become desirable”
And while we are talking however obliquely about it, let’s mention leadership. Friends will know that I have developed a small rant about political leaders and their current lack of leadership. Granted, the pandemic brought many of our political figures to the fore and some of them occasionally showed incisiveness and determination. My belief is that at those infrequent times, they were actually following the advice of bureaucrats and others who focus on the dangerous reality rather than politics. Consider Drs. Tam and Henry as examples.
At other times, we got platitudes and poor decisions based on the direction of the political wind. Our low-brow former drug-dealing Premier somehow felt it was appropriate to open the malls to shoppers while the pandemic was warming up for another round. And our sanctimonious Prime Minister continues to find groups that he professes to “stand with” while not actually doing much of anything to make our country a more equitable place to live.
I’m tired of living in a country that was once much better than it is today. We “punched above our weight” in many respects and had leaders the like of Pearson and Davis. Now, we are not being lead by leaders so much as being left to the machinations of politicians looking to popularity polls. Leadership involves difficult and unpopular decisions and it seems to me that these days we are not seeing that done very often. I’m sure that these words will come back to haunt me as “leader” of the GCTA, but that’s a topic for another day.