Lucknow Sentinel, 2009-07-15, Page 5Nothing like the celebration of a mother's birth
As part of Mom's 65th birthday party, I was asked
to say a few words.
That'll teach 'em!
My mom had one of the most unique decorating
styles that I have ever seen. In fact, I have known
many bachelors who couldn't come up with the
things she tried. Once, when I was still living at
home, she redecorated. the bathroom. Now there
are not a lot of people around who would even
TRY to wallpaper inside the shower, but she did.
"How is that going to work for, you know, hav-
ing showers?" I asked.
"Well, you'll just have to point the show-
er head straight down," was her practical
answer.
The problem was that the shower head
already came out at my navel. Pointing it
straight down meant that we had to shower on all
fours. This was not a problem for my mom, who : at
that point had already started to shrink to the height
of a garden gnome.
The most dangerous weapon my mom ever owned
was neither a gun nor a knife. It was a wok. Yousee,
she bought -a wok, :telling us that our family could
now begin to enjoy stir fry. " m... stir fry!"
was our thought. Snow peas, chicken, soya sauce,
water chestnuts -we were in for a treat However the
concept of stir fry to my mom was less a chance to
taste snow peas and more an opportunity. to purge the
entire fridge of every leftover known to man. We had
quite a few interesting dishes -I can tell you that you
have not eaten until you've experienced peanut but-
ter/coleslaw stir fry.
The floor of the pantry served as a trap door, lead-
ing to the basement. Unfortunately, that basement
stairway= was always pitch black, whether the
trap door was down or up. When my dad had to
go into the basement for something, he would
lift the trap door, then climb down thea stairs. It
was THEN that my mom would always decide
that she needed something off the pantry shelf
and lower the door. A few minutes later,
my dad would climb the stairs and
THUMP his head on the floor. Fm
telling you that floor would jump
about THREE INCHES! Then mbm
would lift it up and discover my dad
standing there with a huge Wile E
Coyote -style lump growing out of his head.
Christmas was always a fun time with mom ..
because she loves giving gifts. She would spend
hours searching for the one present that she was sure
was perfect for you. In fact, we've had a DVD play-
-er for nine years and yet last Christmas she gave me
a five -.gyp ack of Fuji VHS tapes. As' I was opening it
she said to me: "Do you know how hard it is to find
.
those anymore? They must be collectible!"
Yes, my mom could make you laugh your butt off -
sometimes op purpose, sometimes just by being in
the same room -and how special is that!
Mark - Thrice is our nationally syndicated humor
columnist andhe loves his mom!
The sound of country
music will be hitting the
good old , outdoors of
Lucknow on Aug, 22. The
inaugural:. Music in the
Fields, being presented by
the Lucknow Kinsmen
will see a strong lineup of
country music stars.
The lineup will include
Johnny Reid, Doc Walker,
George Canyon, Beverley
Mahood, Tara Oram, Alex
J. Robinson: and Mike
Lynch and The River
Junction Band. The event
.will be hosted by Mr.
Lahey and Randy from the
hit Showcase series Trailer
Park Boys.
One artist from the con-
cert lineup will be high-
lighted each week and this
week George Canyon will
be looked at. f -
When you see the man,
with piercing eyes thaf.
hang above his square jaw
the star appeal becomes
even more obvious and
you remember all those
achievements - the string
of hits, a shelffulhof Junos
and Canadian Country.
Music . Awa, nOt to
mention + his rocket -ride tc?
American fame on
Nashville Star 2 in 2004.
Plus there is the subse-
quent blockbuster albums
One Good Friend and
Somebody Wrote Love.
"If you were to pick a
theme for • any of my
albums, it's always going
to be somewhat to do with
my family, said Canyon.
`They will have to do with
moral issues, miracles and
faith for sure. My faith
plays a veryimportant part
i
ill my life. If t wasn't for
that I'd probably be long
gone.”
:WhatI`Do will resonite.
with anybody vg's ever
tais4 • a k ' since it
Vibes with di
precision, the gentle act of
guiding a child through
e.
"My son said to me,
months ago, `Dad, why
don't you have any songs
about me on your
albums?' and he'd just
turned 10. And I, said,' You
know what buddy, you're
right: So I wrote two
-songs about him on this
album."
• Just Like You is the first
single from What I Do a
the other half of Canyon's
Daddy y Duology.n con-
trast to. What I Do, the
Calgary -resident attacks
the subject from a lighter
if . no less true perspective
on Just Like You, examin-
ing his longing for child-
hood-lost
hildhood-lost with hopped -up
fiddles and banjos, set
against a thumping back -
beat.
"Kale knows it's a true
song," says Canyon about
his son, with a soft chuck-
le.
huckle. "When we heard it on
the radio for the first time,
he sat there with a big grin
on his face, because he
knew it was his. Arid I'll
tell you, as a Dad, that'sa
pretty darn cool feeling,"
Canyon sings about
things that are bigger than
him, and the humility is
flattering.
"In country music, sin-
,
: verity. i s ev ,„ . said
Canyon. "It's why the
likeable 38 -year-old from
Nova Scotia is
ascending star on both
sides of the bow'.
°`flckets for Music in the
Fields are available
through TicketMaster.
Ticket are also available
locally at Ernie King
Music Ltd with locations
at 70. Court House
Goderichand 3
Josephine Street,
Wi gham, the Lucknow
tourism. office; Nine
Waves in Lucknow and
Kincardine and the
Huron -Kinloss municipal
office.
For, more information
on the festival visit -the
Music in the Fields .web-
site at www.musicinthe-
fields.ca.
George Canyon
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - Page 5
Ratings'� f'
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IA mama
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