Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Not really, but when I saw the graphic they posted all I could think of was to get on my rola bola. Too bad the article in the Globe and Mail discusses house mortgages and interest rates. Still, the intent of the rola graphic is to show the right balance, the tipping point, between a house mortgage and interest rates. This the rola bola does very well. Without balance, you’ll quickly fall off.

By Catherine Mulroney, Globe and Mail Thursday, Oct. 01, 2009

After my mother died six years ago, my father clung valiantly to his rituals and routines, determined to demonstrate he was coping and able to fend for himself.

A favourite tradition remained Sunday dinner at our place. After saying his hellos, he would loosen his tie and hand over his suit jacket for me to hang up.

Then my son Luke would ask, “Would you like a beer, Grandpa?” to which my father would respond, “I wouldn’t say no” or “A little something to wet my whistle” or “You could twist my arm,” all designed to make me groan and my kids laugh.

To lose oneself, but for a moment. To scrub your mind of the cobwebs that collect, in exchange for the fresh odour of cow manure and the sight of dead vermin on the road. To calm down and return a better person.

Some of life’s simple pleasures need not cost much money, but can put the heart at ease. One may always reach and strive for more worldly possessions, but is this a true measure of success?

Simple pleasures:

• Hearing laughter that follows tears
• Baking cookies in the afternoon
• Riding bikes in the winter
• Dodging water drops as it starts to rain
• Warm wind on your face
• Climbing to the top
• Hearing snow crunch beneath your feet
• The trickle of water flowing through the downspout
• Working the system to get better food for your family
• Talking to friends