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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Red letter day, our own King Arthur, Ontario the Good and the Big Bang Theory

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Grandma Carol with Superman.........Halloween 2008!

Well, today is the big day! The United States' election, and although I'm a proud Canadian, I'm watching the big vote south of the border really closely. I asked my wife the other day if people might have felt like this in 1960 – when John Kennedy was running for president. I feel a huge hope for the planet. I feel like we're coming out from under a suffocating black cloud that's been crushing us down since the 1960's ended. And now, dare I think, that if Barack Obama is successful in today's big vote that the cloud just might lift and we will enter a new period of hope and promise. Because I don't think America has been off course for just the last eight years. I think the election of Richard Nixon in 1968 was the beginning of the end of the liberal movement in the Western democracies – and only now do I feel and hear in the speeches of Barack Obama that maybe a new period of shining liberalism is about to dawn. I feel like I'd like to stand on the rooftops and sing, "Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine – it is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius." But I know that's stupid and I'm a day early, but you can't blame a guy like me for thinking this way. I have felt badly beaten by the viscitudes of life these past 35-40 years while the dream of a free, unfettered planet has languished. But now I can again feel hope. So, yes, I'll be anxiously watching the returns tonight and hoping for a big Democratic victory. And if Obama wins, I'll do something I sort of swore I'd never do again – I'll try to trust a politician. I'll give this guy the benefit of the doubt. He says he's going to change the United States of America and he's going to change the world. I'm cheering him on......I'll try to help if he asks. I like him. But.....this might be my last kick at the cat. I hope he can pull it off.....

At the same time, I wonder what will happen here in Canada. Like Jim Gilbert, I feel that if the U.S. elects Obama and we've got Harper, we're going to be completely out of step on the continent. And it's likely that the new American president will not look kindly on Mr. Harper and his George Bushisms. Hopefully, the Liberals will hold a convention and a new Trudeau (metaphorically speaking) will burst on the scene. That's sort of what happened in the 1960's, although our King Arthur came along a little later. And wouldn't it be great if the Canadian political scene got a little more exciting.......I'd be all for that!

My, how the mighty have fallen! When I was a young guy growing up in Ontario, this province was the economic engine of the country. We basically supported most of the rest of the country and had a weird sort of pride about it. We also had the best health care and education systems in the world. And our nickname was Ontario the Good because you couldn't shop on Sunday, you certainly couldn't buy alcohol on Sunday, there was no gambling and a host of other "good" rules and regulations. So, these days we're oficially a "have-not" province, our health care and education systems are in tatters and my Dad thinks we're living in Soddom and Gommorah and are about to be turned to pillars of salt. So, how did all this crap happen? And who the heck has been at the controls over this enormous fall from grace? Good work to the power elite that has run the province over the last 30 years – you fellas have really created a royal mess. But what the heck – you're politicians so what should I expect.....

You know, I got talking to a fellow the other day about the Big Bang Theory – you know that the universe started off with some type of Big Bang. And, of course, religious people believe that God created the earth. I have problems with both ideas, although I know one is born of faith. So suppose there was a "Big Bang" – what was there to go "bang"? I really can't think about how we got here without giving myself a huge headache. It must be really frustrating to be a scientist studying this stuff all the time – because you can never really know what happened if you're into that Big Bang stuff. It's hard enough for me to imagine that we're on this huge chunk of rock hurtling through space at unimaginable speeds with something called gravity holding us in place. Who thought that up? I do know one thing, though. All life on this planet is a miracle, plain and simple.....And all life on this planet is precious, plain and simple......and I just wish we could start to live that way.

Watching the starving struggle for food in the Congo is a sobering image.....and we have Sobey's.......strange, but true.

Out of time for another week. Hope things are going well for you and you're enjoying the great weather.....take care and remember, "Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may."



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.