The Rural Voice, 2005-01, Page 36Patti
Robertson
operates
Classic
Interiors in
Wingham.
By Patti Robertson
Cozy and content I rolled over,
stretched like a luxuriating cat and
pondered the fact that within a very
few short hours I would be back
home in Canada ... the week just
ending had been rich with courses,
adventures, shopping, swimming and
sunning in Florida. It surely had been
Paradise!
Back home awaited final jobs of
hanging draperies for clients in time
for the festive season, compiling and
assembling numerous photographic
orders in time for Ward's client
deadlines for client gift giving along
with our own personal gifts to buy
and wrap and decorations still to be
hung, food to be prepared, snow to
Home Decorating
Looking ahead to 2005
shovel, dishes, beds, laundry, etc.,
etc., yikes!
And then, just before sheer
exhaustion set in, that truly clever
voice which resides deep within me
spoke up and said "Patti, Florida is a
fantasy ... true paradise is right
where you hang your hat, live, eat,
sleep and make your living. Your
blessings are that you have a warm
home, a comfy bed, hot water,
clients, neighbours, friends, family
and all the trappings that truly make
for an interesting and successful life.
Part of any successful life, is
performing all the tasks and jobs that
go along with leading a responsible
life."
I let my mind wander around all
my privileges that I all too often take
for granted and out of this came a
preview of the year ahead. Though no
doubt we'll once again have our share
of snow days with a mountain of
snow to be shoveled, with luck I'll be
bundled up inside reading cuddled in
my favourite blanket, with a hearty
pot of stew on the stove for dinner.
How we will have those wonderful
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32 THE RURAL VOICE
sunny afternoon walks where the
' snow is all fluffy and laden on the
trees, creating a virtual "winter
wonderland".
Then, with patience, winter will
fade to spring and we'll have the
freshest green sprouting all over,
daffodils and tulips and crocuses
poking their sunny heads above the
warming earth. Of course there will
be spring housecleaning to tackle,
windows to wash and lawns to be
tidied in time for other seasons to
turn when we get our chance at
weather as good as any•Florida has to
offer. Yes, there will be gardening to
do and lawns to be mowed, pools to
be cleaned. Let's not forget those
long and sultry summer nights all for
the enjoying at no extra charge other
than the duties we perform as part of
our life. Finally we arrive at our oh -
so colourful Canadian fall and this is
where our neck of the woods really
shines. No Florida fall can rival the
show ours puts on. Our minimal price
is raking and bagging our leaves and
preparing our homes once again for
Old Man Winter.
Living in paradise comes at the
price of being responsible — to
business associates, and customers,
neighbours, friends, family, our
homes, Mother Nature and ultimately
ourselves. With hard work and good
grace we get to escape to other areas
and study their privileges which'too
come at a price. There is no such
thing as a free lunch.
I stretched one last luxuriating
time, in but a few hours I would
arrive at terminal three in Toronto
and be grounded in the reality of the
hustle and bustle of Christmas with
the New Year fast approaching —
2005, with all its glorious seasons,
and the jobs that come with the
turning of the calendar year. Business
and household tasks that are our
privilege to perform with all the
marvelous technology and inventions
we are fortunate to have access to. So
I'm wishing you and yours another
wonderfully joyous year in the
paradise you choose to create.
Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year!O