Grace notes

There's a chord in the opening music to season one of Battlestar Galactica that I can feel in my chest.  Really, I can physically feel that chord.  It also gives me a feeling of despair (which, if you know anything about BG, is quite fitting).  Interestingly enough, that same chord has been tweaked somehow in subsequent seasons of the show.  I still feel it, but less physically, and the emotion is gone.

A number of years ago, Tom and I were in London in the St Paul's Cathedral gift shop, when a piece of music came through the speakers.  It spoke to me of joy, boundless joy!  I had to have that cd!  Turned out to be the St Paul's choristers singing For the Beauty of the Earth. 

In the 70's, I had a friend who loved Nana Mouskouri.  Now, I thought Nana Mouskouri was okay, but I sure got tired of constantly hearing her records and going to her concerts.  When this same friend suggested going to hear another female singer in concert, I must admit that my initial reaction was a silent groan ... But I went, and within moments, literally moments, of hearing Ann Mortifee sing, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.  There's something about the timbre of her voice that just does that.

Some 30 years later, Ann Mortifee came to Kingston in concert with Hagood Hardy.  We went to see them out of curiosity:  I wondered if I would have the same reaction to her voice, or whether it was just situational - me and the 70's.  Yep.  Same reaction.

I've been thinking about music a lot lately. Maybe it's because I have a new friend with a background in music.  Maybe it's because we've just come from seeing Les Miserables in Vancouver (and marching smartly to the restaurant after the show ... Do you hear the people sing?).  Or maybe, I just never stop thinking about music; it's such a part of my life.

Listen to the St Paul's choristers.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycDk4r3vQ80  Does it give you that same feeling it gives me?  I hope so.

These boots are made for walkin'

We're beginning to understand that one person/one car is an inefficient and wasteful use of resources.  As a result, we're seeing car-free days, better transit systems, dedicated bike lanes.

We're also recognizing that our population is greying, that we'll require additional health resources and social safety nets to support a large cohort of senior citizens.

There is a linkage missing between these two issues: sidewalks.

In the 'old' days when there were fewer cars, we walked on the road when there weren't any sidewalks.  Then, as more and more of us had access to cars, sidewalks were just brief paths from parking spot to destination.

But now, as we're encouraged to get out of our cars and on to our feet, sidewalks are taking on new importance.  And there's the problem:  the sidewalks of yesterday are totally inadequate for today's seniors.

A person using a cane or a walker takes up about two-thirds of a standard sidewalk.  A motorized scooter can take up to three-quarters of the sidewalk.  The other day I met a couple in a two-person side-by-side electric scooter - The first of its kind in Victoria! they said, proudly.  It spanned the entire sidewalk.

Now add young parents with their state-of-the-art child carriers.

And sidewalk cafe seating ... and signs and telephone poles in the middle of the sidewalks ... and overgrown shrubbery ...

All of these are challenges in Victoria.  The mix of young and older people, the increase in people walking, the village atmosphere, are all what make this such a great city.  But Tom and I can no longer walk side by side on the sidewalk now that he uses a walker.

We need to widen our sidewalks.

Or, we can turn them into one-way single pedestrian lanes ...