Close observers of current events, or anyone with a pulse for that matter, has probably noticed that the world is a pretty crappy place right now. How crappy? Well, it’s as crappy as it’s ever been as far as I can remember, and I’ve been around since the Dead Sea was just sick. It’s got to the point where I dread checking the news every morning for fear of whatever fresh atrocity has emerged overnight.
But we’re not going to talk about that this week. It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so let’s talk about love.
I love people. Not all of them obviously. There are one or two out there who I wouldn’t cross the street to pee on if they were on fire. But I was thinking the other day that there are a surprising number of people, here in Drayton Valley and in other places too, who in one way or another make my life better. Some of them do it on purpose. Some of them do it by accident. And some of them do it simply by existing. But I’m grateful for each and every one of them.
I love sitting outside on my deck on the first real spring day and watching as six months worth of dog poo gradually appears through the snow on my neighbour’s lawn. Other people’s problems are the best kind of problems.
And I do love the sunshine we get here. I grew up in Glasgow, where we were taught to believe that any sunny day might be the last we’d see for a generation, so you learned to appreciate a bit of blue sky when you saw it.
I love salty snacks. They are so darned tasty. Sadly, it’s become increasingly obvious over the last few years that those same delicious treats are trying to kill me. But unrequited love is still love.
I love my job. Or I do some of the time. Sure there are days when it’s a pain and I really don’t feel like dealing with another story about sewers or snow removal. But those days aren’t that common and I’m privileged to be able to do something that for the most part I enjoy. And I’m also lucky to work with people who I rather like. Don’t tell them. They must never know.
I love Canada. This year marks four decades since I made this country my home. I imagine there’ll be a parade of some kind on May 19 to mark the anniversary. This is a great place to be. Sure we’ve got some problems – winter’s aren’t great, food has become too expansive and apparently Justin Bieber has a new record coming out – but this is still one of the best, perhaps the very best, countries in the world by pretty much any measure. Shut up Sweden, nobody’s talking to you.
I love that this is a long weekend, which is exactly 1.5 times better than a regular weekend. Yes, observant readers might notice I have used that joke before, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
And I love how easy it was to come up with this list. The world is a grim place right now, so I consider myself lucky to be able to say that here at home things are not too bad really. I hope you’re able to do the same.
