April 14, 2021
This is the time of year I call
showers, flowers and pilgrims. As in that somewhat tired old joke, if April
showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims.
We’re certainly in the season
of showers. The last couple of days have been wet, indeed. Monday it poured for
most of the day. We have 3 daffodils blooming outside our bedroom window. Those
flowers are always the first to appear, because that side of the house, facing south,
gets a lot more sun than the flowers we have planted at the front of the house,
facing east. Along with daffodils, we have a few tulips planted outside that
bedroom window, too. To the west of the window, and where I cannot see them
without lifting the glass and poking my head out are my two beleaguered rose
bushes. I’m hoping for a few blooms this year. I do know they’re still alive
because I saw them yesterday. We’ll have to wait and see if rose buds follow.
The front garden more or less
sprawls from the north-east to the south-east corner of the house. There are daffodils
and narcissi, tulips and crocuses and hyacinths. We have two peonies, and an
abundance of lily of the valley. And bracketing them all, at each of those noted
house corners, is a lilac. We’ve had those particular trees/shrubs a few years
now, and while they’re not growing rapidly, they’re steadfastly alive and have
bloomed during all but one year.
The trees here are not yet
budding, but I know that they soon will be. In the meantime, the flowers planted
in the front of the house are already all green shoots—or in the case of the
peonies, reddish shoots. Just growing, reaching higher, and hoping for no more
snow.
Of course, these same bulbs
have put shoots up a few times and then been snowed upon. They’re hardy, and I
have faith in them, and in nature. Most of the time.
I was not at all surprised but
was very saddened to hear of the passing of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh. We saw a picture of him, taken as he was riding back to Windsor Castle
after his discharge from the hospital a few weeks ago. Seeing him, one knew he
was going home to die.
He has been a fixture in my
life for all of my life, as has Her Majesty. There has been no other monarch in
my lifetime, and yes, HM Queen Elizabeth II is my queen, as Canada is a part of
the British Commonwealth.
My parents both considered
themselves as British subjects. They held the monarchy in great esteem and raised
the three of us to that same standard. My father died when I was 8, but I still
recall one of our absolute Christmas traditions—watching the Queen’s Christmas
Day message.
Until 1982, with the
repatriation of our constitution, if we landed and an airport and there was a
line designated “British Subjects”, why that was the line we would need to
stand in because we were. That’s a poor illustration, I know, but my point is
that while Canada passed the Constitution Act and Great Britain passed the Canada
Act to make Canada completely sovereign, that didn’t dismiss my emotional
attachment to the Crown (and I am not referring to the television show).
And yes, I do know all the
words to God Save The Queen and will in fact stand any time that I hear it played
or sung.
While Prince Philip can be
accused of comments and jokes common to his age and the times in which he was
raised, and those comments were racist, I have never believed in throwing the
baby out with the bath water. I do believe the dedication he has shown in the
service of others, most notably the youth of the commonwealth, far outweigh
words uttered that were at the least, intemperate and at worst highly offensive.
And I don’t recall hearing of any actions he’d taken that can be considered
offensive.
We are in danger of becoming a
people unwilling to forgive, and incapable of mercy. I think that I just
described and therefore now finally understand the concept of cancel culture. But
if we allow that to become our norm, that, my friends, is the ballgame.
Seriously.
For what is humanity but the ability
to see ourselves in others, to feel compassion for our fellow humans,
acknowledging that we are all imperfect beings. To err, and be forgiven,
and to forgive, and to keep trying. That is the point of living.
On a personal note, David and
I received our first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine yesterday morning. Our local County
Health Unit has a clinic here in town, and it was the Moderna mRNA that we
received. I thought that I would cry like a baby after, but I haven’t yet. Likely will when I least expect it. We are
both relieved and very, very grateful to have been given this gift.
I got the shot for myself, no
question there. But I also got it for anyone else I might come in contact with.
To protect my 48-year-old son who has type 1 diabetes, and anyone else who’s
vulnerable. We are all in this together. And having got the shot, yes, I am
still going to wear my masks. Plural, because I wear 2. And I will definitely
get the second shot, when appointment day arrives.
I hope you are planning to get
your shot and will still continue to mask up as well. If we all work together,
we can kick Covid’s ass.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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