One of the best things I read in 2023 was a chapter of The Eagle and the Raven by James A. Michener (1990). A copy of Chapter One, “An Old Apple Tree,” was very kindly sent to me by Dr. Donald B. Smith, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Calgary. It has been an enormous privilege to work with Dr. Smith on the production of a 21-episode webinar for The Ontario Historical Society (OHS) called In Hindsight: Half a Century of Research Discoveries in Canadian History. In his keynote address at the 2023 OHS Annual General Meeting, regarding the creation of this series, Dr. Smith made the following remarks.
I’d like to begin with just a story which I like quite a bit actually. It’s a story by James Michener. You probably know him for South Pacific, his book on Hawaii, Alaska, and 37 others. He was a very very popular American author. Well, he wrote a short story actually and going back to his boyhood, and the story is entitled “The Old Apple Tree,” and I thought it was appropriate to bring that in right at the outset of this talk.
“The Old Apple Tree” describes a tree that he remembered as a young boy, and he’s writing this story when he’s in his late 80s. He remembered this tree as a young boy and it was an old apple tree and it was at the end of its producing days, it seemed. But he recalls that the old farmer took eight rusty nails and, circling the base of the tree, hit these nails into the tree. And this absolutely caused a miracle. The miracle being, after this injection of these eight rusty nails, it kicked the old tree into action again. It was goaded back into life.
Well, OHS, you’ve done that with me because I’m at the end of my career (“fin de carrière,” in French) and this project – just fantastic – because I’m back in the game. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to pull together a lot of experiences that I’ve had over half a century in Canadian history. And my base in Canadian history, after all is said and done, is Ontario and Alberta, and in this series, In Hindsight, those are the two provinces that really are featured the most because that’s where I’ve done most of my work.
Rereading the chapter has given me the inspiration I needed to get back to blogging in 2024.
I have loved working on my blog, which I started in 2017, but have not updated it lately. Its purpose was to share what I’m learning (such as Editing Audio Files with Ocenaudio, How Does the Ontario Government Work?, and Learning About Indigenous People of Ontario) and chronicle my projects (like The Year I Visited 100 Museums and The Year I Walked Many of (Most of?) Toronto’s Ravines and Trails) and travels (including Ireland and Portugal).
I think the shrinking of my world during the pandemic quashed the creative urge somewhat. However, like an old apple tree prodded by nails, I too am compelled by new experiences to renew production.
Initially, before publishing anything, I had wanted to build an an entirely new personal website using WordPress’s new editor, Gutenberg. I’d like to update my WordPress skills, and my design sense to current trends. Also I hope I’ve grown since I started blogging, and have been a bit concerned over having my old content “out there.” However, there’s no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater, and I’m still very proud of my work. (Hat tip to Giles Orr for constructive input about this.) Perhaps I will build a new website, and can share that learning journey on this blog.
In fact, the example of a popular YouTuber has assured me that it’s okay to use an existing platform for new content. ChubbyEmu (Dr. Bernard Hsu, PharmD) makes medical videos, telling stories in medicine. (One recently sent to me by my brother, as a holiday eating cautionary tale, is A Grandma Ate 1 Pound Chocolate In 6 Hours. This Is What Happened To Her Brain.) ChubbyEmu had started out in 2015 posting mostly gaming videos, and then sharing his weightlifting and weight loss experience, before switching to medicine.
I’m further inspired by a Toronto Star article today: A year ago, he left to do marathons around the globe and break a world record. Now Toronto’s Ben Pobjoy is home after ‘the privilege of a lifetime’. In the accompanying video, Ben Pobjoy says, “So if you’re starting your New Year’s resolution, the first step is always the scariest.” Here’s to first steps.
An information professional, as defined by Wikipedia* is “someone who collects, records, organises, stores, preserves, retrieves, and disseminates printed or digital information.” I am an information professional by training, experience, and vocation. I am compelled to share resources (interesting, helpful, humorous, we’ll see). So let’s go.
*Of course there are other / better sources, perhaps the subject of a future post.
I’ve decided that 2024 will be The Year of Trying New Things, big or small, significant or not, however I choose to define them. Life is an experiment, right?
New Thing #1 is walking in Humber Bay Park East and West. I’d never had the pleasure, and yesterday’s windy weather made for dramatic conditions, with extra-large waves from Lake Ontario crashing along the shore.
I knew the Flight 182 Memorial was somewhere in Toronto, but not where, so was surprised to come across it on the walk in Humber Bay Park East (most of which was closed off for construction, incidentally, which prevented further exploration). The Government of Canada’s website says, “On June 23, 1985, a bomb exploded on Air India Flight 182 en route from Toronto to London, England killing all 329 people aboard, most of them Canadians. To this day, the Air India bombing is still the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history.”
While I’m (very) thankful for the opportunity to walk on non-icy paths into January, I’m aware that the milder weather is probably symptomatic of global warming (sigh, ugh).