To Infinity and Beyond…

As I relax this morning in a warm world (Mexico) far away from my snow-shrouded home, my old compadre Jim Ferguson has generously stepped in from the cold to share his far-off vision into time and space.

So put on your spacesuit, settle in and travel the universe with Mr. Ferguson …. 3… 2… 1…. liftoff…..

“Heh Jimmy…what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Those words were spoken to me 60+ years ago on Penhorn Drive in Dartmouth, NS by one of my friends.

I was 4-5 years old at the time. I didn’t have to think about it for more than a second as I responded, “I want to be an astronaut!”

How many of you wanted to be an astronaut when you were a kid? Come on now…admit it. I’m betting at least some of you had the same dream as I had during your childhood. And why wouldn’t you? Those days were quite thrilling as the “space race” with the Russians was front and centre in the news on a regular basis.

A quirky TV show called Star Trek got its start in the mid-1960s. Space…the final frontier was a hot topic especially as the television technology advanced.

I have memories of the early space flights from around the time John Glenn went into orbit on Mercury 6 in 1962. I don’t recall Alan Shepard’s historic flight of 1961 on Mercury Freedom 7 or the even more historic flight of the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1, who a month before Shepard, became the 1^st man in space.

I recall the Canadian pride as Alouette 1, the 1^st non-U.S. or Russian satellite, was launched in 1962.

Then there was Ed White becoming the 1^st American to walk in space in 1965 only to die two years later in a horrible fire with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee aboard Apollo 1. I cried like a baby when I heard that news. I remember that tragedy as clearly today as if it happened yesterday.

Then there was the penultimate space event of our time, the Apollo 11 trip to the moon and Neil Armstrong’s famous words, “that’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”

I was a space junkie…no question about it. I was so much a space buff that I wrote away for kits from NASA with lots of kid-oriented information about the various rockets and stories of the astronauts. There was even a small speck of what was supposed to be moon dust.

I would peek out my window at night staring up into space and looking for any moving objects to confirm my belief that there were life forms on other planets possibly coming to earth to visit.

Heck…on December 24^th during those early years, my brother and I even spent time scoping out the vastness of space for signs that Santa Claus was heading towards 27 Penhorn Drive to drop off some presents! I would occasionally see a moving dot of light which my dad would identify as a satellite. It was still cool to see.

After the Apollo 11 moon landing, and as I was heading into my teen years, my space interests waned and were replaced with many other interests, not the least of which was hockey.

Just like many young kids dream of being an astronaut, many young Canadian lads also dreamed of “making it to the NHL.” Many of my friends talked about this dream though none of us ever made it (although…I still feel there is an outside chance I could still make it at 65-years-of-age…😊).

Despite the shift in interests at that time, I was still captured by some space references. For example, when Elton John came out with his song Rocket Man or David Bowie with Space Oddity and those famous opening words “Ground control to Major Tom…”. The space imagery of those and other pop songs was wonderful.

The TV show Star Trek, with Canada’s very own William Shatner as Captain Kirk, first aired in 1966. As a kid, I was sucked right into the idea of space being the final frontier and that man should “boldly go where no man has gone before.” Sign me up Gene Roddenberry (the show’s creator).

While the space adventures were always fun and mesmerizing to this young lad, as I got older, I realized that there was so much more to Star Trek than meets the eye.

If one only looks at the show for its superficial space adventure enjoyment, one is likely to miss the amazing progressive social lessons that were taught in the show.

The Enterprise bridge and crew contained both men and women and Lt. Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols) was African American and was a central character in the show. In one episode, Uhuru and Kirk share a kiss! This type of inter-racial intimacy was not common in those days on TV.

And don’t forget, the main bridge crew consisted of officers who were Vulcan (Spock), Japanese (Sulu), Scottish (Scotty), and Russian (Chekov). Enterprise had the mission to explore new worlds and to make friends with new races with the prime directive of not interfering with these new races and cultures in their development.

There were many races represented in the crew of the Enterprise and that grew over time, becoming more and more diverse as new worlds were discovered. Star Trek was a trail blazing show for progressive social ideas and could be a study worthy of a university sociology course (if it isn’t already).

Then came Star Wars. I won’t go into all the details with this series of movies. Let’s just say that the technology had advanced, and the space adventures were much more mesmerizing. It only served to fuel my love of all things space.

I will say, however, that as Star Trek blazed a progressive social trail, Star Wars also blazed a trail demonstrating the power of good over evil in the form of The Force and The Dark Side representing man’s inner struggle with the ego. Fascinating lessons to be learned if one looks beyond the space adventure action of the series.

There were many other events that seemed to reorient my gaze back to the stars over the years, two of which will wrap up this blog.

The 1^st was the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. The images captured by this telescope have been spectacular and might I say soul-stirring!

These images have served to increase my wonder at the vastness of our universe and the billions of galaxies that it contains. Astounding! Mind boggling! Who can forget seeing the image titled “The Eye of God” (below) or the “Pillars of Creation” (above).

There are so many others. AND…with the recent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) these images are even sharper and clearer as the telescope technology has improved dramatically since the launch of Hubble.

The JWST is now allowing us to capture ancient faint light that is billions of years old from the very edge of the universe and from the dawn of the creation of our universe shortly after the “Big Bang”.

These two telescopes have taken us out into the universe in ways that a rocket ship or TV shows could never do. Scientists are barely scratching the surface of what we can learn about our universe from images and data collected by the JWST. Stay tuned…

All this discovery and beauty from space has only reignited my childhood dream of being an astronaut.

While I am realistic knowing that that dream will never come to fruition, I can still gaze into the heavens and dream of what’s out there.

Peace,

Jim Ferguson

The Coolest Game on Earth

Sure, he lives in the States, but deep down in his heart lies the lifeblood of a maple leaf-pure (oops, Canadiens-pure) Canuck.

I’m talking, of course, about my friend Jim Ferguson who regularly jumps in here to share with us his more serious, as well as lightweight thoughts on everything going, much the same as this ADHD’ish Man On The Fringe has for some years now.

Jim and I met in the hallowed halls of Stanton Yellowknife Hospital in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (in Canada’s Arctic region) in 1977, and have been fast (but growing more slow) friends ever since.

During our stint in the frozen north, Jim and I played hockey together… actually against each other, as I dressed for the Westown Wheelers and Jim was a member of the Twin Pines Totems.

But enough about olden days from me. It’s time for Jim to bring out his pads and tell you about his most Canadian of experiences… take it away Jim…

Yvan Cournoyer

Today I want to blog about a topic near and dear to my heart and the hearts of most Canadians.

No! I’m not talking about beer, poutine, smoked meat sandwiches from Dunn’s Famous Smoked Meats in Montreal, or where on Oak Island Captain Kidd’s treasure is buried. I’m talking about the “coolest game on earth” …

HOCKEY!

Hockey is part of the very fabric of Canadian life for so many of us (count my mum out… she despises the game for reasons to be discussed later).

How often have you heard someone say that hockey is “part of our culture”? If I have heard that once, I’ve heard it a million times!

We eat and breathe the game and have strong allegiances to our favourite teams and our favourite players. For me it has been, since I was a wee lad, the Montreal Canadiens, and my favourite player was always the Roadrunner, Yvan Cournoyer – all 5’ 7” of him flying up and down the ice with great speed and scoring highlight reel goals from both sides (he was ambidextrous).

I have great memories of watching Les Habs on Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) on Saturday evenings with my dad and brother.

It was hard not to be a hockey fan growing up in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in the 1960s.

We would receive hockey gear for all birthdays and at Christmas too. We rarely missed HNIC on Saturday nights. Those “original six” games were something to behold even on our B & W TV.

We had a small lake a ½ mile from our house where we would scrape off a rink and play hockey from morning until supper time, day in, day out during the winter months. In the summer we played street hockey all the time. What’s not to like about that schedule, eh?

My dad was an excellent hockey player growing up in Quebec in the 1930s and 1940s. That was certainly an inspiration for me to want to play.

He was a good goalie and in junior hockey played against the likes of Jean Beliveau and other eventual stars of the NHL. He boasts that the “pre-Habs” Beliveau never scored on him although he did split dad’s head open cracking him across his “melon” with his stick in frustration one time.

My grandad and grandma were even approached by representatives of the Canadiens seeking permission to move dad to Montreal to finish high school and to groom him for the possibility of eventually trying out for the junior Canadiens and maybe the “big club” one day. But… his parents refused, and dad (seen in photo below-top centre) would eventually join the Royal Canadian Air Force where he backstopped the Western Europe RCAF Flyers against the top European teams during the 1950s.

I played organized hockey growing up in Dartmouth NS during my younger days and then in the Annapolis Valley during my high school years. I loved the game.

I was on the Central Kings Rural High Wildcats in grades 9, 11, and 12. In grade 10, my parents decided I needed an “attitudinal adjustment” and a shot in the academic arm and sent me to Kings College School (KCS) in Windsor, NS.

KCS, founded in 1788, is the oldest boy’s school in Canada (now Kings-Edghill).

I remember my dad selling me on the KCS opportunity by telling me “they have a good varsity hockey team and it’s a private school, so you are on the ice every day if you make the team”. That was enough to sell me on the opportunity.

What he didn’t tell me was that the coach at the time was an egomaniacal former American Hockey League (AHL) goalie and former junior hockey coach in Halifax who used to compete against my dad, who was then owner and coach of the Dartmouth Junior Arrows across the harbour.

Let’s just say that the coach made my life a living hell when I tried out for the team BUT I had the last laugh (I think?) …I made the team.

One other interesting hockey point about KCS worthy of mention. There has been and continues to be great debate in Canada as to the birthplace of hockey. The debate centres on whether the game originated in Montreal or at KCS in Windsor NS!

Having the KCS connection, I am promoting KCS as the birthplace of hockey (no bias here, eh!). Evidence suggests that the lads at KCS took the Irish field game Hurley and adapted it to the ice in the 1800s and the rest is, as they say, history.

Varsity hockey was a main sport at KCS in 1973-74 when I was a student there. No doubt the history of hockey at KCS was a strong motivator for us kids to want to play for the varsity team. It certainly was for me.

Not everyone is a hockey fan.

As noted above, my mum has NEVER liked the game and has always felt that dad, my older brother Dave, and I wasted too much of our time in front of the TV watching “those damn games” or playing the game.

My dad continued to play as an adult for whatever squadron he was with at the time.

I played at all levels through high school and in a brutal adult league in Yellowknife as a young man. Larry and I both played in that league, and it was a battle every game especially against the RCMP/Yellowknife police team – the dirtiest team of the five teams in our league. I still have bruises and pains from those games…😊 [Ed. note: Me too!]

Mum was so against our love for hockey she eventually developed a sadistic streak and started to watch HNIC with us and cheer on the OTHER TEAM just to piss us off! Thankfully that only lasted a season or so and she got bored.

I loved the game so much that when I was in Nome, Alaska from 2002-2005, I teamed up with a few guys from Minnesota who also love the game and we started a youth hockey program for the kids of Nome.

We built a NHL-sized outdoor rink and before you know it we had almost 70 kids sign up. We did an old-fashioned “equipment drive” through the mail in Minnesota and scored many boxes of gear, skates, etc from a Catholic high school team in St. Cloud and we were able to outfit the whole group of kids with much of the gear they would need.

We would practice and play in all conditions including MINUS 20-degree temps. These kids were dedicated and hearty boys and girls.

Lastly, I spent 6.5-years in Alpena, Michigan working in a busy family medicine clinic.

The “biggest game” in town was the high school hockey team and the rink was packed for every game.

Jim wearing his Alpena jacket but playing outdoors at -20 in Nome, Alaska

I decided to take in a game during my 1^st winter in town and one of my friends was manning the penalty box and mentioned to the coach that I was Canadian and a former hockey player. Next thing I knew I was talking to the coach after the game, and he asked me if I would serve as an assistant coach of the team to which I said “absolutely”.

I spent 6 seasons as an assistant coach, and working with the youth sharing my passion for the game only deepened my love for the game even more. The highlight of that 6-year run was making it to the 1999-00 Division 1 State finals where we lost to a powerful private school in the title game.

So now…at 64-years-old, I have turned my attention to my 85-year-old mother-in-law and have brainwashed her into thinking she is an avid hockey fan…😊

We sit in front of her TV watching games a couple of times weekly and I get to tell her who to cheer for and of course she is a Habs fan (much to the chagrin of her son back in Boston…😊)! It doesn’t get any better than that!

Game on!

Peace,

Jim

Jim’s Dad Ian playing goal with the RCAF in the mid-1950’s

What Would YOU Do?

Today I’m happy to share with you another guest post from Jim Ferguson.

When Jim sent this post to me, I frankly hesitated. Hmmmm… this doesn’t sound like me.

As you likely know, I profess myself as an atheist. Jim (as you may know, and if not, will soon find out) is a devout Baha’i adherent.

Religiously, we are 2 trains on separate tracks. And yet.

While I don’t confess to a belief in God, I do admire and respect many many of the teachings of the various religions. And I respect Jim’s beliefs and understanding of religious texts and philosophies.

Many of you who read this post today share a religious commonality with Jim. And others may not.

Making the world a better place cries for understanding each other. A willingness to listen, and if we don’t totally agree on everything, we know that humans are one, and all have the same right to share this world, so long as we cause no harm to another.

I think Jim’s final paragraph is a lovely summary.

So without further delay, here’s Jim:

Greetings MOTF-ers, tis I, Jim Ferguson, back for another rendition of guest blogger for Larry.

I am, as usual, happy to give the lad a break from the mental strain of coming up with blog topics every week or two. Okeedokee…let’s get at it!

Have you ever come across the old bumper sticker “WWJD”?

It was popular a couple of decades ago as people wondered “What Would Jesus Do” (WWJD) in this situation or that situation!

I’ve been pondering this myself lately as I have witnessed the forces of societal decay and disintegration manifesting themselves before my very eyes. Maybe you are observing it too.

It is hard to be blind to the fast decline setting in with daily accounts of war, rumours of war, mass shootings, poverty, political unrest and corruption, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, crime…need I go on?

Let me state up front that I am not a card-carrying Christian BUT as a member of the Baha’i Faith, I love and revere Christ and His teachings.

I could not be a Baha’i without acknowledging the validity of Christ and Christianity as I acknowledge the validity of the other great spiritual Teachers to humanity-Krishna (Hinduism), Buddha (Buddhism), Zoroaster (Zoroastrianism), Abraham and Moses (Judaism), Muhammad (Islam), and Indigenous spiritual Teachers such as Deganawida (Iroquois Confederacy), among others.

Baha’is believe that the Creator has sent a new Prophet to humanity for this age-Baha’u’llah, who teaches that there is only one God and that all the great religions come from one God and all humanity are members of one family. That’s another story for another blog.

I consider myself a student of religion having studied the history and spiritual teachings of various religions since childhood.

The other day as I was pondering and meditating on the destructive and negative forces plaguing humanity and what the solutions were to the myriad problems confronting humanity, I found myself thinking of that bumper sticker and wondering what Jesus had said to humanity in His teachings. What did He tell humanity to do or how to live that could contribute to the betterment of our world? 

I decided to go to the Bible and read only the red-letter words as they are the words of Christ.

My conclusion has been and remains that Jesus brought many teachings for the spiritual upliftment of the individual and of society. If one ignores the man-made interpretations attached to the religion today and goes directly to the red words one can find gems that can inspire goodness in the individual which can then translate into goodness in society at large.

Here is an answer to “WWJD”.

I am providing a sample of His teachings for you but have a more extensive list if anyone wants it. This sampling focuses on basic qualities that I feel relate to making the world a better place. Also…I am not offering any interpretation. I leave that up to you in your personal meditations. 

So…” WWJD”? He would tell you/remind you:

Not to live by bread alone but “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matt 4:4

To worship “the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” Matt 4:10

That: Matt 5:3-10

-the poor in spirit are blessed “theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

-those who mourn are blessed “they shall be comforted”

-the meek are blessed “they shall inherit the earth”

-those who hunger and search for righteousness are blessed “they shall be filled”

-the merciful are blessed “they shall obtain mercy”

-the pure in heart are blessed “they shall see God”

-the peacemakers are blessed ”they shall be called the sons of God”

-those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake are blessed ”theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

That “You are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matt. 5: 14-16

That “whoever therefore breaks one of the least of the commandments and teaches men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” Matt. 5: 19

That “unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5: 20

That “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement. And whoever says to his brother “Raca” (worthless) shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, “you fool” shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matt. 5: 22

To hold true to your word, “But let your yes be yes, and your no, no. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” Matt. 5: 37

To turn the other cheek, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” Matt: 5: 39

“And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two” Matt. 5: 41

To “give to him who asks you and do not turn away those who want to borrow from you.” Matt. 5: 42

To “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…” Matt. 5: 44-48

Not to “do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men…But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” Matt. 6:1-4

To say the Lord’s Prayer Matt. 6: 9-13

That “if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. 6: 14-15

That “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” Matt. 6: 19-21

That “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness” Matt. 6: 22-23

That you cannot serve both God and material wealth and to not worry about worldly affections. Matt. 6: 24-34

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” Matt. 7: 1-2

Not to look at the sins of others when you yourself are a sinner. “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in thine own eye?…Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” Matt. 7: 3-5

That “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matt. 7: 12

That whoever hears His teachings and practices them “I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matt. 7: 24-27

That “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” Matt. 12: 25

That “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matt. 12: 35

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul” Matt. 16: 26-28

That “if you have faith…nothing will be impossible for you” Matt. 17: 20

To be humble: “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18: 4

Not to offend: “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” Matt. 18: 7

To forgive your brother his trespasses: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matt. 18: 35

Not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false witness, to honor father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself. Matt. 19: 18-19

How to be perfect: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matt. 19: 21

To “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matt. 22: 37-40

To “have peace with one another.” Mark 9:49

Well…there you have it.

A sample of the teachings of Christ on the nature of peace, humility, forgiveness of others, righteousness, turning the other cheek, meekness, not being judgmental, giving to the poor, living a spiritual life, etc.

I conclude that if the world demonstrated more of these qualities, we would be living in a better world. One does not need to be a Christian to appreciate the teachings brought to humanity by Christ and to realize they are good medicine for what ails the world. Next up…WWBD? (What would Buddha do, or, What would Baha’u’llah do? We could do a whole series…😊)

Peace,

Jim Ferguson

Looking Towards A New Me… When I’m 64!

Jim Ferguson is an old and very good friend of mine (and the MAN ON THE FRINGE).

For a second time this year, I’ve asked Jim if he would consider contributing a guest post and he has generously taken me up on this.

I always enjoy Jim’s insights as he possesses an extraordinary vision into the combination of science, religion, and human compassion. These can be challenging subjects to mix and marry, but Jim has a talent for bridging the gaps.

Today, Jim is striking into a lighter and perhaps… more fun arena – his upcoming “retirement”. I’ll let him tell you his story:

The Man Behind the Curtain aka Man On The Fringe – Sir Lawrence Green – has once again asked me to contribute a guest blog focusing on the theme of my impending retirement from a medical career spanning the better part of 44-years.

It all started in Canada’s Arctic region, Yellowknife, NWT, in 1977 when I trained as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and then worked with Larry at Stanton Yellowknife Hospital until spring, 1979.

I then married an American girl and was off to medical school in the States a decade later, graduating as a Physician Associate and getting a Master’s degree in Public Health and completing a fellowship in Integrative Medicine along the way. The rest, as they say, is history.

As I approach my retirement, it really is all about history-where it all started and the journey to where this phase of my life will conclude.

It seems that this journey has passed in the twinkling of an eye to the point where I feel a bit numb and dizzy as I view the course of the past 44-years…sort of like a retirement version of benign positional vertigo.

As I have been reflecting on this major life-change I have found myself defining my retirement by some of the major retirement songs of our era. I’ve been thinking of some of these songs and whether any of these might be apropos as I board the retirement ship to “sail off into my golden years”. 

Here are a few examples and some musings. Maybe those of you reading this who are retired will find some common threads.

Glue your dentures in and make sure the Depends are nice and snug…here we go:

– Johnny Paycheck is known for the song Take This Job And Shove It. The opening refrain is recognizable to many- “Take this job and shove it, I aint workin’ here no more”.

While I love the feistiness of the song, I would have to say that this song doesn’t reflect my attitude towards my work or my employer as I wrap up my career as a family medicine provider.

I entered medicine seeing it as a vocation or even a calling. I love being of service to others and what better career path to follow than medicine where you work with people at their most vulnerable i.e., when they are ill.

I have loved my work for that reason and have had great employers over the years whether in Yellowknife in the early days, in remote Alaskan villages during the middle of my career, as a public health officer, and finally for Providence Medical Group here in Oregon.

While I am retiring from my job with the medical group, I am not retiring from medicine completely. I will seek ways to recreate myself in service to others using my medical knowledge and talents and I look forward to those opportunities.

– The Beatles had a hit with Sir Paul McCartney’s light and fluffy When I’m 64.

While I tend to favour Lennon’s more gritty rock and roll sound, this particular “bubble gum” attempt at a rock tune strikes a retirement chord.

As it turns out I will turn 64 in December a month or so after I pack it in at my current place of employ. This song has some definite influence on my retirement.

I’ve long lost much of my hair, I’ve been handy (thanks to Red Green who has told millions of men: “If women don’t find you handsome, at least let them find you handy“), I’ve spent more hours than I can count in the garden on my 5.4-acre farm in Oregon.

Bottom Line regarding this song: been there…done most of that!! I guess I could throw this CD in the player as I walk out the door at work for the final time and it would seem appropriate.

– If anyone is expecting me to live up to the message in Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild, well you have another thing coming.

My version of wild these days is to down a bottle of Geritol, chase it with a Fleets Enema, and hit the hay by 8 PM.

OK… maybe I’m not that far gone BUT the wild days are behind me. Larry can attest to the fact that our Yellowknife days were about as wild as they come- who else here can chug a Molson Canadian standing on their head in under a minute…😊

Those days are long gone and while retirement will be nothing like the days of yore, they will be filled with opportunities to be of service to my community and I do welcome the change from having a set schedule day in/day out and being more flexible in determining what I invest my time in.

I do have hobbies that I will pursue. I still enjoy watching my beloved Habs (Montreal Canadiens hockey team) when I can. I also enjoy my mandolin and playing music. I love being outdoors and hiking and running. There will be lots to keep me busy as I move forward.

– As I have alluded in this blog post, I see a beginning in the end.

As one career ends another exciting phase of life begins. What better song to portray this than We’ve Only Just Begun by The Carpenters featuring the silky-smooth voice of Karen Carpenter.

Don’t tell Larry that I told you this BUT he and I would occasionally sprawl out on the two chesterfields in his apartment in Yellowknife and semi-doze off listening to Karen and Richard performing their magic.

That song is a great segue towards retirement. As one door closes another opens, as one window closes, another window opens, etc. You get the point…Insert your own cliché here:___________________.

Karen sings “so many roads to choose, we’ll start out walkin’ and learn to run…sharing horizons that are new to us…” A great inspiration as I head into the unknown.

I am also aware that maybe I’ve peeved off a few folks in my work life along the way, so I am a firm believer in the adage that if you are being run out of town, get in front of the crowd, and make it look like a parade…😊 That’s my plan on my last day. It’s a win-win for me.

– I will leave you with one last song that I have always loved…. Five for Fighting’s 100 Years.

It is a touching tune of the passage of the years from the age of 15 to 99. Go listen to it…you’ll recognize the song when you hear it.

I can especially appreciate the verse where he sings: “Half time goes by… Suddenly you’re wise…Another blink of an eye…Sixty-seven is gone…The sun is getting high…We’re moving on.” Man ‘o man…how true it is.

Where have the years gone? I feel as though I am there now. Two-thirds of my life has flashed by and yet I am thrilled at the thought of what is to come and look forward to the great adventures that await.

Well…if you are near retirement or have already moved beyond that point in life, what songs best describe your retirement journey? Let’s see them in the comment section below.

Peace,

Jim Ferguson