February 18, 2025

BGs Positively Speaking

Renewal

Renewal is not a single moment of transformation, where everything is instantly changed, it is a quiet, persistent, unfurling of clarity after confusion, a feeling of purpose after being worn down and defeated. Renewal demands honesty: a willingness to accept what no longer fits, what has run its course, and what deserves to be reborn in a different form.

An example: The Perkolator. When Covid19 caused it to shut down The Perkolator began a period of renewal. As the restrictions were removed, we launched a new extensive website and a new email subscription service. We then linked our website to those of our advertisers. Our print edition moved to a full colour publication, giving it a new look and better readability. All of this required us to accept renewal and change. That renewal process continues with the new owner Marley at Muskoka Graphics whose goal is to introduce The Perkolator to a wider group of readers.

Renewal is an act of courage. Requiring stepping out of familiar patterns—even the comfortable ones, and rebuilding with intention. Shedding old habits or beliefs that once protected us but now restrict our growth. Other times it’s about reclaiming parts of ourselves we have set aside: creativity, curiosity, or ambition. Renewal doesn’t demand perfection; it invites alignment.

There is a naturalness to renewal. Nature models it effortlessly: with trees, leaves, rivers and seasons shifting without apology. Humans often resist these cycles, clinging to what feels predictable. Yet renewal becomes possible the moment we stop fighting change and start listening to what our life is quietly asking for.

Renewal can be sparked by a major turning point or by something small. What matters is the willingness to begin again, each step forward, is a declaration that growth is still possible.

Ultimately, renewal is the process of becoming more fully ourselves.

Editors Quote Book

Quick Thinking

When Albert Einstein was making the rounds of the speaker’s circuit, he usually found himself eagerly longing to get back to his laboratory work. One night as they were driving to yet another dinner, Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (a man who somewhat resembled Einstein in looks and manner) that he was tired of speech-making. “I have an idea, boss,” his chauffeur said. “I’ve heard you give this speech so many times, I’ll bet I could give it for you.” Einstein laughed loudly and said, “Why not? Let’s do it!” When they arrived at the dinner, Einstein donned the chauffeur’s cap and jacket and sat in the back of the room. The chauffeur gave a beautiful rendition of Einstein’s speech and even answered a few questions expertly. Then a supremely pompous professor asked an extremely esoteric question about antimatter formation, digressing here and there to let everyone in the audience know that he was nobody’s fool. Without missing a beat, the chauffeur fixed the professor with a steely stare and said, “Sir, the answer to that question is so simple that I will let my chauffeur, who is sitting in the back, answer it for me.”

Children, Telling It As It Is

While I sat in the reception area of my doctor’s office, a woman rolled an elderly man in a wheelchair into the room. As she went to the receptionist’s desk, the man sat there, alone and silent. Just as I was thinking I should make small talk with him, a little boy slipped off his mother’s lap and walked over to the wheelchair. Placing his hand on the man’s, he said, “I know how you feel. My mom makes me ride in the stroller too.”

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As I was nursing my baby, my cousin’s six-year-old daughter came into the room.  Never having seen anyone breast feed before, she was intrigued and full of all kinds of questions about what I was doing. After mulling over my answers, she remarked, “My mom has some of those, but I don’t think she knows how to use them.”

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Out bicycling one day with my eight-year-old granddaughter, Carolyn, I got a little wistful. “In ten years,” I said, “you’ll want to be with your friends and you won’t go walking, biking, and swimming with me like you do now.” Carolyn shrugged. “In ten years you’ll be too old to do all those things anyway.”

Trivia Quiz – Famous Canadians

(Click Question For Answer)

Your Horoscope

For Amusement Only

The Words We Speak…. PUPPY

Generally speaking the word means “toy” or “miniature” dog, and is derived from the Middle French word “Poupee”, meaning doll or toy. Which, in turn, is derived from an early Latin word “Pupa”, that is also the origin of the English word Puppet. Around the end of the 16^th. Century the meaning changed from Toy Dog to Young Dog. Proor to that a puppy was “A Whelp”.

The Car Repair

A nerd meets up with a friend as he’s picking up his car from the mechanic.
“Everything OK with your car now?” asks the friend.
“Yes, thank goodness,” the nerd replies.
“Weren’t you worried the mechanic might try to rip you off?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t. I was SO RELIEVED when he told me all I needed was blinker fluid!”

Chicken Surprise

A couple go for a meal at a Chinese restaurant and order the “Chicken Surprise”. The waiter brings the meal, served in a lidded cast iron pot. Just as the wife is about to serve herself, the lid of the pot rises slightly and she briefly sees two beady little eyes looking around before the lid slams back down. “Good grief, did you see that?” she asks her husband. He hadn’t, so she asks him to look in the pot. He reaches for it and again the lid rises, and he sees two little eyes looking around before it slams down. Rather perturbed, he calls the waiter over, explains what is happening, and demands an explanation.”Please sir,” says the waiter, “what did you order?” The husband replies, “Chicken Surprise.”

“Ah! So sorry,” says the waiter, “I bring you Peeking Duck.”

Am I Adopted?

Boomer Time

The post WW II “Baby Boom” covered the period from Jan.1 1946 to Dec. 31,1964. There’s no single, officially recognized “first” Canadian Baby Boomer. meaning the first Canadian boomers were born in early 1946, so the first few Canadians born in 1946 hold that unofficial title.. While the US has a known first (Kathleen Casey-Kirschling on Jan 1, 1946),

The Professors

A group of Engineering professors were invited to fly in a plane. Right after they were comfortably seated, they were informed the plane was built by their students. All but one got off their seats and headed frantically to the exits in maniacal panic. The one lone professor that stayed put, calmly in his seat, was asked: “Why did you stay put?” “I have plenty of confidence in my students. Knowing them, I for a fact can assure you this plane will never even start.”

The Last Word

No matter how much the cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.