Spots in Time - Gord Turner
Happy New Year and best wishes for the year ahead. At this time of the year, many people are making resolutions and setting up wish lists. They have in mind certain accomplishments they wish to attain and, in some instances, they simply want particular things to happen in the next 12 months.
I heard recently about a party game during which everyone had to write out their most important wishes and put them into a hat. As a wish was pulled from the hat, others at the party had to guess whose wish was fluttering in front of them.
Some people’s wishes were straightforward and predictable. For example, the skiers and boarders at the party simply wished for lots of snow. If the current weather forecast is correct, it looks as if their wish will be granted early.
Other people have complex wishes. A few people wished for improved health without taking any further drugs. That’s a difficult task in this day and age as it seems that pharmaceutical drugs go hand in hand with continued health as people age. Heart patients, for example, now live 20 years longer than their parents did with the same disease.
I heard that one party-goer wished for peace. That’s not complex if the individual only wanted his household to become a quiet retreat from the world with fewer people knocking on the door and sleeping in his extra bedroom. Perhaps, on the other hand, he meant that he desired peace in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Ukraine, and in Africa. That’s a tall order version of peace, one hardly to be attained in the year ahead.
I can imagine various groups in Castlegar putting in their wishes. It wouldn’t be difficult to guess that Communities in Bloom would like to achieve five bloom status and win a major award again. Sculpturewalk would be clearly wishing for 30 or more first-rate sculptures to adorn the streets. The organizers want this summer-long event to continue to catch the imagination of Castlegar folk and remain a #1 tourist attraction.
I can hear Castlegar City Council making a motion that wishes for minimal snow fall. Maybe they made that motion during 2014 because they certainly didn’t have much snow for senior management to plow during the CUPE strike. Less snow falling during the winter means more budget-money can be carried forward for the year ahead.
Someone at the party probably wished for government taxes to be kept at status quo. All of these taxes — income tax, sales tax, and property tax — could use a year of zero impact. Another guest might have wished for no increases in telephone or natural gas or electricity fees. All I can say is “good luck” as the large companies providing these products are always requesting increases from their governing bodies.
If I had been at the party and tendered my wish, it would have been for an early spring. That way I could get my yard in shape early and walk on the green grass in bare feet before April 1. Because I don’t like ice and snow very much, an early melt and a valley filled with sunshine would suit my soul. I could sit on my deck and bask in the glory of the coming summer.
If my golfing buddies had been at the party, they would have wished for open fairways and greens by April 1. That would give them a long season to strive to break 80 — another one of the magical wishes that might have made it into the hat.