I Don't Wish I'd Done It 30 Years Ago.....

Five months anyway since I last took - or had - the time
to spend a few moments laying down some random ( and as
always scattered )thoughts.
First - I am living proof that there comes a time when
you have to forget about everything else and do the right
thing for you. I will suggest to you that money, security,
comfortable surroundings - all that stuff will look after
themselves. When the need for change, the need to shuffle the
deck, the need for a new perspective is recognized - do it !
My wife and I are now settling into a new life in Fort
McMurray Alberta - far removed from our surroundings of
20 years in Nova Scotia. I remember now how badly I needed
a change when we left Kitchener Ontario - I beleive the
pigs tails, sauerkraut and all too plentiful beer tipped
the scales at that time - and how well Nova Scotia satisfied
that need...but the time comes. What a welcome breath of fresh
air Northern Alberta has been.
I love my job - everyday a challenge - everyday a reminder there
remains so much to learn - everyday a reminder that I will
never have all the ( right ) answers.
I remain in radio - broadcasting - where I started my career
nearly 40 years ago. God that's scary.But as much as it's the same
media, the same playing field, the game has changed and my
involvement in the game hs changed and what I extract from
the game has changed - and does change - everyday.
Fort McMurray is wonderful. The weather is spectacular - summer -
just as I'd like it..sunny and hot but not "sweating standing still"
hot...cool enough for sleeping at night - and just nice for for my
favorite summertime pastime - golf.
Fort McMurray on the outside is still a little rough around the
edges. But on the inside - where the community ticks - there exists
an energy I've never witnessed. The people who make up the volunteer
community - the heart of any community - are charged, commited and
dedicated to making a contribution and making Fort McMurray a wonderful
place to live.The population has doubled in the last ten years - and
there is no indication that the world's thirst for oil will impair
that growth for another couple of decades to come.It is a community
where fundraising never stops - where golf tournaments, and galas, and
kitchen parties and concerts and festivals and exhibitions lead one
right into another...I haven't missed too many meals...
It is nice to be happy again.
I miss the friends I made at Oakfield in Halifax - but I certainly do
not miss the golf course and the gang that ran it.
I miss my bridge playing friends from Thursday night in Grand Lake -
and I truly miss singing harmony with Charlotte and Shelley and playing
music with Charlie, Dave, Pete, Ernie, Cathy and Gordon...and
a few other people, particularly some of my clients...but , boy,
it's nice to be happy again.
More shortly - there's a party about to break out upstairs.
Happy Trials.
Don