Teenagers have always been melodramatic. 

And the drama isn't any more mellow in the early 21st century than it was in the mid 20th. For the last six weeks Jinhee has been part of my life. I've really enjoyed talking with her, having dinners together, watching her strike poses and click pictures on her phone, getting her to move around things that are too heavy for me and watching her youthful swings from attentive to distracted or from hopelessly in love to determinedly independent. Youth isn't wasted on the young; it's inflicted on them, and a good thing too. The old could never take it. Whenever my life has started to border on the boring, Jay or one of his gang has entered to shake it up a bit, give me a boost which I couldn't live without. It helps me appreciate the fact that the pace of my life is suited to a person of my age. 

The last three days with Jin were crazy. I picked her up just before noon on Monday, and we drove to the airport in high spirits, arriving 3 hours before her plane for Seattle was scheduled to take off. Three hours and twenty minutes later she was loading her luggage back in my car. The tale is too aggravating to dwell on here. Suffice it to say that even though she was just switching planes in Seattle, Alaskan Airlines couldn't let her board without either a visa for the USA or an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). We did our best to get the latter on line at the airport with a lot of help from a wonderful Alaskan Air employee but no luck. They even kept their baggage conveyor open an extra 20 minutes but the ESTA was still not processed. The woman who had helped us said that the approval of the ESTA application used to be very fast but in the last year it has really slowed down. So after 3hours and 20 minutes Jinhee was loading her luggage into my car again. We drove back home and finally, by 8:30 that night, had everything organized for her flight to Incheon on Wednesday. We kicked back, had something to eat and went to rest in our rooms. We had had a few laughs during the day; got to work on our patience, which neither one of us excels at naturally and both had a good night's sleep. Jin felt as if she was in a fine hotel because the room and bed she had shared with Min seemed so much bigger when she was alone in them, and the shower is powerful and even had her favourite shampoo, left by her mom when she returned to Korea. On Wednesday we had to rise at 5:45am to make her new flight. This one was with Air Canada and did not touch down in the USA. All went well. She's safely back in Korea and my feeling that it's best to avoid the US for the moment has been reinforced. 

Jin on her way to customs after our farewell breakfast at Tim's

Sunday, December 1 The first snow of the winter falls in town. I think it will stay for the winter, so I set the snowman Jin made the first winter they were here on guard. 

On Monday I have an appointment to find out the results of the MRI.  

 The organ recital of old age

I'll begin in this way since I mentioned last time that I expected a miracle from my favourite physio on November 21. As I suspected, we are not living in an age of miracles. At his office, I again put on a pair of one-size-fits-all shorts and had my knee examined. He's older, manipulated the joint with more authority and was more definitive in his diagnosis of the problem, a torn meniscus. He described it using an analogy with a washer. That made me laugh because just this week I had come to the same conclusion about the problem with my ancient espresso maker which had been sputtering for ages. I was given it by a colleague at North Dundas District High school in 1973 and had only replaced the washer once, I think. At any rate I replaced it and it works perfectly again. I don't have such high hopes for myself, the human body is more complex than those old espresso makers, but I am now faithfully doing the new set of exercises I was given. One thing that could almost be classified as a miracle; however, is the fact that I was called by the hospital on Friday and have an appointment for an MRI this Tuesday afternoon. I readily accepted but then had second thoughts because the physio had given me a confident diagnosis and told me that the latest research indicates that in cases like mine physio works better than surgery. However my own inclination to accept all good luck and Miriam's agreement have kept me on the list for Tuesday. This knee has limited activity to an ever changing variety of physio exercises in my ever-being-modified spare bedroom/ healing centre. I have jerry-rigged gear that would amaze even my dad, the master of making do. That and walking to medical appointments now makes up most of my activity. 

Life as a spectator continues. On Monday evening I walked to the Towne Cinema to meet a friend and watch the film club's presentation of a documentary, "Honeyland."  It's an amazing presentation of the life of a middle aged Macedonian beekeeper and her old mother. The countryside is awe inspiring and their stark life in tune with it until a breathlessly rowdy family of seven moves into the surrounding ruins. I've never seen anything that so clearly juxtaposes the vast and silent rhythms of nature with the noisy acquisitiveness of humanity. Yesterday I went again with Miriam to watch 'Live from the Met.' And again I really liked it. The opera was "Akhnaten" by Philip Glass. I've seen another opera of his. Phelim McDermott was in charge of both productions. He's a genius. The visual element perfectly matched the music. I loved it. The role of Akhnaten is played by the counter tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo whom I had never heard of. His voice is very high and yet seems effortless. His entire body was waxed for the role because he first appears almost naked as a young man. I really laughed at his answer to a question he was asked about the waxing during an interview at intermission. He jokingly responded that he was used to it; that's how he got his high voice in the first place. 

The physio workout room. You can see from all the horizontal and soft gear that I am not doing rigorous training.  That's what I like about physio. It's targeted without being strenuous, at least in my experience. I have included my espresso buddy in the shot. Lucky for it the dried out and cracked washer was quickly replaced by a lovely flexible new one. My old meniscus is another story. 

It's a cool , rainy Friday in the Okanagan

The snow that fell in Vernon last Sunday night had gone by Tuesday, but there is enough in the hills now for Sovereign and Silver Star to have opened for Xcountry skiing yesterday. I will not be among the first to try it out. I still can't even walk any distance. But I'm ramping up the remedies. I saw the doctor again yesterday and convinced her to get me on the list for an MRI. She convinced me to start taking an analgesic because the pain was making me move in weird ways that were causing pain in places other than my left knee. I am continuing to do the exercises the physio gave me and on November 21 will finally see the physio who helped me so much with my shoulder problems years ago. He's very popular for good reason. Of course I'm expecting that he will preform a miracle. And as is always the case, the day after I finally made some serious moves my knee feels better than it has in ages. But that's probably the analgesic talking. I haven't been drinking. 

Jin came for dinner last week and will again tonight. She has helped me with a few heavy jobs and we have a good time together, at least for a few hours. 😇😇🤣

In my sedentary period I have read and spectated more than usual.  On October 26 I went with Miriam to watch Massenet's opera "Manon" at the Vermon Cineplex. It was live from the Met. I'm not a big fan of opera, but that one was wonderful. I do love dance, and last week I saw the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at the Vernon Performing Arts. I've seen them before. They are inspiring, especially when you have to stand for a few seconds to get your footing before you can hobble out of your seat at intermission. And last night I drove to Kelowna with Miriam and Bill to listen to Robert Fisk speak. He was brought in by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. His presentation was entitled, "Trump and Chaos in the Middle East". After years of covering the Middle East, he has many well informed insights. His sympathy for the Palestinians is undisguised. His direct contact with the area, its leaders and people make his comments well worth taking into consideration. This morning I listened to a few minutes of the tv coverage of the public Congressional Hearings into the Trump impeachment. That was enough for me. The US has put more effort into educating a minority of its citizens in the exchange of legal semantics than it has in explaining to the majority how a democracy works and their place in it, which is understandable given that it is above all a materialistic, capitalist country and the law pays. The wealthy minority certainly has never wanted the increasingly numerous much less rich majority to understand anything about how democracy works let alone that they could control government. So what I saw this morning was an exchange of very slick semantics. As Antonio warned Bassanio (I realize that neither of these characters was without predjudice) in "The Merchant of Venice",

" The devil can cite scripture for his purpose"

I'm beginning to think that Leonard Cohen was wrong. It's not democracy, it's autocracy that's coming to the USA. 

Enough. 

Now for some pictures of real people. 

Min and her friend at her 20th Birthday dinner

Jay and May at Min's Birthday dinner


November 16 was dad's birthday, so I include my favorite picture of him with Jay and one of Jay in James Bay Park, taken when we were visiting mom and dad. 

Travel

Henry 6, Part 2

Act4, Sc4, ll. 57&58

King Edward:

What dates impose, that men must needs abide;

It boots not to resist both wind and tide. 

And so with VIA Rail,

What freights impose 

Must also be abode. 

Passengers do not roll until they pass. 

And then at last 

Move

To somewhere else. 

To someone else's home

Where things are done

In other ways

At other times. 

Strange at first,

Neither better nor worse,

In most cases. 

Best adjusted to,

To learn from

To keep the peace.

Later, to leave.

To carry on,

Altered,or not. 

Jinhee's 17th Birthday and Hallowe'en

Jin turned 17 the day before Hallowe'en. I picked her up at the gym. When we got home, she put the winter tires in the car for me. She's very strong. When she was younger, she once said, "Lola is power."  But I'm not any more. Maybe I will be again if this knee ever gets better. Actually, it is better but not great. We had a good birthday dinner together. 

Last night was 🎃Hallowe'en. I wore a mask and carved a cantaloupe; when I went to buy a pumpkin the day before, there were none to be had, not even for ready money. Fewer kids came to the door this year than last, so I had lots of candy left. I ate too much of it. The rest is now frozen until I think of who to give it to. I hope that will help me exercise what little restraint I have. 

Jinhee's birthday had an Italian theme, lasagna and

and a DQ triple chocolate ice cream pizza cake. 😋

Hallowe'en cantaloupe 

Jay's school decorated for Hallowe'en

May and her Hallowe'en class


May in her facial mask. Jay sent me this picture with the explanation, not Hallowe'en related. But I beg to differ. 🤣