Grand Boulevard Residents Association

I’M FOR THE BIRDS

Our Boulevard Area is blessed. We are close to the mountains, surrounded by trees, gardens and streams — all of which attract an abundance of birds. I have been feeding the birds for many years and, in today’s restrictive world, birds are ideal visitors. They don’t want to come in, they don’t intend a long visit and they prefer to keep their distance. And what wonderful personalities they each have!

CROWS – They are, I think, bullies at heart. But their ability to mimic a cat makes me laugh! Every Spring there is one “Spoiled Brat” chick who refuses to learn how to feed  himself. He sits on a branch and caws incessantly until his Mom gives up, throws up her wings and gives him seed.

RING-NECKED DOVES – A more gentle, peaceful bird you will never find. A pair always come together, perch together and feed together.  Early morning and late evening I hear them quietly cooing in a nearby tree.

CHICKADEES and SPARROWS – At the feeders all day long. They don’t like to share and they Continue reading →

Hi Neighbour. Wow, am I glad to see the sun!  I’ve been spending so much time in front of a screen that’s it’s having an effect on my health! I have great advice for my friends about getting away from screens, but I have a small screen tucked away in my bedroom. Yes, in my bedroom. Know what it is? No, not a cell phone. Not a computer. Not an iPad. A Nintendo Gameboy, given to me by a friend whose son left it behind when he left home, along with the kind of stuff that our grown kids leave behind and expect us to clean up after them.

Well, I love it! And it’s in my side table, for the occasion when I can stay in bed on a rainy morning and play Tetris. Yes, I’m hooked! Ever since a visiting Japanese boy gave me a tiny, 2″ toy, with Tetris on it, and showed me how to play it. If you don’t know what Tetris is, different shapes of blocks ‘fall down’ in a box, and you can fit them into the wall at the bottom. When a row in the wall is completed, it disappears. But more blocks are falling, so you can’t stop or you’ll Continue reading →

DOWNSIZING

The time had come!  There were no little children running through the house, no teenage boys listening to their music, no girls gathered in my daughter’s room, and no mother to enjoy her grandchildren.  Even my husband had moved to a care home, and I was living on my own for the first time in my life.  I didn’t need a house and a yard to look after.  It was time to move into a condo or an apartment.  But… what do I do with all my stuff!?  83 years of collecting things!  How could I fit all that into a small apartment?  My thoughts of moving began in February, 2019, and didn’t materialize until the end of August, 2019.  I had to divide my things into 3 groups – Keep, Donate and Discard. Continue reading →

Hi, Neighbour,

Have you been thinking about what 2021 has in store for us? After 10 months of ever-present uncertainty and adjustments to our expectations, it’s been wearing on our spirit and produced new societal issues. You know what I’m talking about and, if you’ve successfully made appropriate shifts, you and your family are getting used to a New Normal. You’re rearranging your indoor spaces, or using the Great Outdoors for exercise or a change of scenery. I remember my mother saying: A change is as good as a holiday. Well, we’ve all had lots of potential ‘holiday time’ in 2020. But how did we find the motivation to make the changes?

A few times in 2020, I made a list of all the little jobs around the house that needed to be done — that have been waiting for that Rainy Day at Home, to get done. But we’ve had a hundred of those days in 2020! How can I get motivated to clean up that box of old photos, give away those clothes I don’t wear, or fix that broken lamp? Sometimes, when I know I’ve only got a limited time to finish a task, or I’m facing an impending deadline, it motivates me to get my act together and do the task… sometimes. Continue reading →

Hi, Neighbour, here are expressions that are similar in other languages:

          The early bird gets the worm.
          Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

I’d like to encourage you to make a plan to get up and go for a short walk in the morning, with or without your kids …or your significant other, if you don’t have kids.

Developing a good habit of taking a walk in the morning, is dependent on getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night, for adults. To do that could mean going to bed earlier at night. Getting to bed earlier is dependent on turning off all screens at least an hour, preferably 2 hours, before going to bed — and not allowing any screens in the bedroom. To successfully ban ‘screens’ from the bedroom, means keeping your computer,TV, tablet or phone, at night, in a room far away from the bedroom, behind a closed door (not in the bathroom near the bedroom!) — thereby resisting the temptation — or addiction? — to ‘just check’, to see if you’ve got mail…

          In French: L’avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt.
          (The future belongs to those who get up early.)

          In German: Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund.
          (There’s gold in your mouth in the morning.) Continue reading →

Hi, Neighbour.

          Today I’m asking: What good is taking a walk? Why should we take a walk, if it doesn’t have a purpose, like getting us somewhere in order to do something worthwhile? It’s like saying: What’s so good about walking, anyway? or: What’s so good about walking on Grand Boulevard? I’ve seen it a thousand times, as I drive by.

          That’s exactly the point. Get out of your home and don’t get into your car. These two activities don’t have to be automatically linked, but, unfortunately, for the vast majority of us, they are. However, for those of you who are working from home, start to see what it feels like to change your morning routine. Continue reading →