my grandmother's electric guitar
My grandmother’s antique twin beds were gathering dust in my garage. Pity because the richly dark wooden frames were beautiful. We have some of her furniture in the house, but the beds were impractical. Maybe a dump run? Then an idea. My friend Kevin builds electric guitars from reclaimed and new wood with new and vintage parts. At first he was skeptical. “I’m not sure about this.” He took the beds and then sent me excited texts. “It’s maple with mahogany veneer. Great!” He made some guitar bodies and necks and, as a thank you, he made me a beautiful custom instrument in my grandmother’s memory.
You can find Kevin’s creations on his website The New Vintage.
no year
“Back to work, back to school; it feels like a new year.” I hear that every autumn. As I remind my non-Jewish friends, fall is indeed the new year, according to the Hebrew calendar. Since we are living in the time of COVID, it was not the usual High Holidays. No family lunches or breaking the fast with a potluck. No pilgrimage to temple. Just hanging with my 90-year-old mum in her condo, attending services via my laptop. I commend religious leaders who adapted with streaming technology, but there was none of the usual mingling and visiting after services. Hard to replicate that virtually. Let’s hope 5781 is better than 5780.
dog jealousy
My dog hates walks. They’re supposed to like walks right? Their instinct is to hunt. Our trainer says a walk is the hunt with food as the reward. Not according to our chihuahua cross BB. She’d rather lay on a satin pillow with food brought to her on a tray. Every morning when the leash is readied, BB hightails it. Under a table, she looks forlorn. Getting out of the house is a struggle. I drag or carry her to the sidewalk. More tugs to get her moving. Our other dog Toby is impatient. I look at other walkers and their eager dogs with jealousy.
golden age
History shows that media do not die, they adapt and occupy new and different spaces for consumers. That’s what happened to radio. Many predicted the medium was a goner, with a possibility that digital streaming might save it. Digital delivery did not rescue broadcast radio. Instead, podcasting happened; bite sized slices of radio, streamed or downloaded on demand. Some are rambling conversations. Others are tight, sound-designed journalism, much like the features I produced for CBC Radio. The best are stories well told. The result is a new golden era. Here are links to some podcasts I love.
magpies
“Those black and white birds are beautiful,” says my cousin visiting from LA. “What are they?” “Magpies.” Beautiful? Magpies? Here in Alberta, Canada, they’re as common as sparrows. Ignored by most, hated by some, they’re scavengers and bullies. I call them biker birds. About as big as your forearm, they prey on smaller birds, squirrels and harass rabbits. What I think is common, visitors find exotic, similar to when I visit Texas and see armadillos. Lately I have been appreciating magpies. My cousin is right. They are attractive, coloured like penguins except they’re fighter jets, not chubby submarines. And they’re fearless. They don’t care what you think.