Thankful Thursday

I'm not sure sometimes what the difference is between being thankful and simply playing the Glad Game.

I have never been a betting man and these days I try to be dogmatic and certain about almost nothing because experience has shown me that absolute certainties rarely turn out to be that.  Occasionally I will say that I will put money on something  when I'm pretty sure of my facts.  I remember very clearly (rare for me I admit) writing a piece on the Glad Game and Pollyanna.  In fact having just looked up some facts again I had a real dose of déja vu.  However I have searched both this blog and Eagleton Notes and can find references to the Glad Game but none referring to Pollyanna or to how the phrase came  into being.  

I'm sure that Heather will know because the character Pollyanna went to live in Vermont with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna is a best-selling novel by written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter who also wrote a sequel.  The remaining Pollyanna Series of books were written by other people.

Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we don't need 'em!"  [Wikipedia]

There have been many versions of the story committed to film and television but, for me,  the 2003 ITV  TV film version of Pollyanna starring  Amanda Burton as Aunt Polly and Georgina Terry as Pollyanna reigns supreme. This version is very faithful to the book, with one or two minor differences that do not affect the accuracy of the plot. It uses the original characterizations and storylines, but takes place in the English countryside rather than Vermont (only the scenery and accents show this, and the town is still called Beldingsville).  I will not mention the ending because if anyone who reads this has never seen it I would recommend it to you whether you be a young and romantic female or an old and cynical male or someone in between.  If it does not move you then I shall be very surprised (and disappointed).

So my 'Thankful' today is that I learned about the Glad Game.  Over the last decade it has helped me through many situations.

Playing The Glad Game

On 15 March 2002 Mum died at the age of 93.  She chose to die whilst she had all her mental faculties although she reckoned that she had a forgettory and not a memory.  If that was a forgettory then I’m not looking forward to what I might have as I get older.  In the period before Mum died I was staying with CJ and Jo.  Mum was still living with them although she went into a nursing home for the last few days of her life.  She was not in the slightest bit afraid of dying and wanted to rejoin her family and friends who had already passed on.  I trust that she is happily united with them.

It was a very sad time but also a time of understanding.  When I returned to Lewis, among the many cards of condolences was one from an acquaintance whom I knew only fleetingly.  It rested upright in front of me on the breakfast bar for some time – longer than it should have done - without me responding.  Then one day I had an unexpected piece of news which prompted me to ring.

So as a result of Mum’s passing I received a card.  As a result of that card I made a phone call.  As a result of that phone call I made one of the most important friendships of my life.

Some would say that God moves in mysterious ways.  Some would say that it just happened.  Some would say that it was fate.  Some would say it was karma.  Whatever.  I offer no opinion.  All I know is that if that simple chain of events hadn’t happened my life would have been very different and very much the poorer for it.

In what seem to be the very worst of circumstances one can still play the Glad Game.

I'm Still On This Planet - Just

Hi Folks

I'm here, really I am.  Since I've been in Northland I've not had internet access except for brief occasions when I've managed to send some emails I'd already typed although I have been receiving personal emails via my phone.

At this moment I'm sitting in a café in The Town Basin in Whangarei.  I have my NZ Telecom internet dongle plugged into Samantha and am going to update you.    

There is so much to blog about I could sit here for the next few days and still have more to tell you.  In fact I should have enough material stored up to carry me until I leave for Scotland at the end of April.  Of course it won't work like that because some of it will be out of date.  In fact some is out of date already.

I set out from The Cottage on Monday morning 26 January.  My original intention had been to take two days to get to Pauline's near Whangarei  in Northland about 600 k distant.  As things turned out the journey was easy and I resisted temptation to keep stopping to see this and that and photograph things for the blog.  So I arrived at Pauline's fairly early that evening.

 

I spent a few days exploring and a day playing croquet (yes, really) which, in itself, could merit a blog posting.  Then Pauline and I set off for The North so that I could see the sights and explore 'her' area of the country.  We had originally planned to arrive back yesterday (Monday) evening so that Pauline could be in work first thing this morning but we arrived back in Whangarei this lunchtime and I'm now waiting to collect Pauline after work later this afternoon.

Why are we late back?  Late Saturday afternoon we were returning from Cape Reinga (the northernmost point in New Zealand) when Dora had a hissy fit and - so far as I know at this moment - shed her fanbelt tensioner with a great deal of dramatic effect.  In addition to the usual things the power steering is driven by the belt and so I lost steering as well.  Dora is a very heavy lady.   So Dora, Pauline and I returned to Kerikeri  (the nearest town to where we were staying) where Dora rests at this moment awaiting repair.  We picked up a hire car and continued exploring on Sunday and Monday.  Monday was a local holiday in Northland so there was no garage open to look at Dora.  

So here I am waiting to see what happens next.

But it's been a wonderful opportunity for playing the Glad Game.

Although the roads in Northland are now vastly improved over their state a few years ago there are still some metalled (gravel) roads with exceptionally steep gradients and very long tight bends and very steep drops with no barriers.  If Dora had lost power on one of those bends I would have been unable to steer her and we may well have ended up going over the edge.  Had it happened in the very far north there would have been no cell-phone coverage.  Had it happened on a steep bend we could have been a severe hazard blocking the road (passing places are scarce).  Had it happened at night everything could have been so much worse.  Had it happened on Sunday or Monday we could have been caught in torrential rainstorms.  As it was it happened on a straight section of road with an (almost) convenient place to pull off without having to steer the car significantly, on a clear, sunny (but not too hot) late afternoon in a place with cellphone coverage only just over an hour from the nearest town.

Now how's that for an opportunity to play the Glad Game?

'Bye for now.  Hopefully I'll have more news tomorrow.

Too Small a Place To Share

Today I had to travel with the hood up on The Handbag (my Mazda MX5 roadster).  The car is small at the best of times but when the hood is up and I am in the driver's seat there is not much room left for even a handbag (hence its name).  I set off from Gisborne at 0900.  Some 40 ks into the journey travelling down a long straight at 100 kph I suddenly became aware of something large on my left leg by my ankle.  Being a sports car one cannot see one's feet when driving at speed without endangering one's self or others.  I involuntarily moved my leg and a cicada  suddenly flew up and over my leg onto the right hand side door.  (The car is right hand drive).  Now cicada's don't bite nor do they sting.  But with a wing span of about 5cm they are not the best things to have sitting in the car making cicada noises and flying around.  The problem was that as this incident occurred I had to slow down into a sharp bend preceeded by a sign saying that there were sharp bends and steep hills for the next 7 ks.  And I am supposed to share this fairly demanding driving experience with a cicada which by this time has gone up the leg of my shorts.  By definition there is not a lot of leg up which to disappear and I became less than a happy bunny. 

As providence would have it although there were no official passing places I came upon a pull-off which had been used for road maintenance  and managed to leave the carriageway without doing any harm to my suspension or underneath:  sports cars are not generally noted for off-road capability.  After a while I located the cicada which had crawled down the side of the driver's seat and managed to evict it from the car.

All in all not an experience to be recommended.  However in line with my tendency to play The Glad Game I gave thanks that it hadn't been a wasp.