Life Is + Sister Hood + I Alway Drive

Good Morning from Warren Grove, Prince Edward Island

Welcome back to my second last blog post for Prince Edward Island Preserve Company.

A little damp here today, but the heavens are not adding too much rain, just a nice little refresher for the garden beds. 

I hope you have had a lovely week and are ready for a nice weekend. 

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” — Carl Sandburg,

In preparing to decouple my involvement with the company we founded, I have been thinking about what I can do to keep my mind active and my actions helpful to those around me. 

For years, I had a coaster on my desk where over time, I had placed thousands of cups of tea and on the coaster was a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm,” and reflecting on the past, I agree 100%. 

I loved building the company enthusiastically, and one of my many favourite things was greeting motor-coaches. I love people.  And meeting new people from other parts of the world was a joy, whether Pugwash, Nova Scotia, or Florence, Italy. 

I must admit the Italians were always a lot of fun. After their visit, I loved jumping on the motor-coach and saying arrivederci, and 50 enthusiastic Italians would smile from ear to ear and shout back the same. 

The most coaches I greeted in one day were thirty-three, and I welcomed over 650 coaches in one year. So, after being there for 35 years, using thirty as the multiple and the average of 400 coaches with 40 people, I guess I have greeted close to half a million people.

So, arrivederci, my friends. 

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." - Richard Bach.

Micheal Gerber, author of E-Myth preached that an entrepreneur should “work on their business, not in it.” A great concept, but I did not listen. Instead, as Frank Sinatra sang, I did it my way.

I like giving it all, just as Pete Rose did when he ran to first base even if he was walked. I have always to tried to the same but hitting 65 years of age; I found that the physicality I needed to continue positively wasn't there. And as my management style was always hands-on, and I strived never to ask a staff person to do a job that I was unwilling to do. 

I figure life is a three-act play, and I gave the second act all I had. So it is time to start the third act. Writing and learning to express thoughts and observations through words is a challenge and frightening at the same time. I dive into this enthusiastically and will do my best to express positivity through the experiences and lessons learned. 

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved but at what he aspires to. - Khalil Gibran

One project I was considering was to seek out other adopted adults around the globe to determine if there was a common psychological thread regarding how one felt about their place in the world. 

In researching, I found a book, Being Adopted, The Lifelong Search for Self, by David M. Brodzinsky, Ph.D., Marshall D. Schecter. M.D., Robin Marantz Henig. 

I have started reading, and I find it enlightening and interesting. I will share more about the research and personal experiences on A Bunch of Good Things soon. 

Reading “How an adopted 'sisterhood' uses P.E.I getaways to get together” on the CBC website is the catalyst to sharing what I have just shared. 

Though not biologically related, members of 'the sisterhood' adopted from Guiping, China, have become their chosen family. The P.E.I gatherings attract not just the core group of five but close friends from B.C. (Jane Robertson/CBC)

"He who can reach a child's heart can reach the worlds heart."

~ Rudyard Kipling

And I love this story from Aeon.

A bluesy ballad tells the story of Old Bet, the first circus elephant in the US.

In 1806, Hachaliah Bailey, a Somers, New York farmer, bought an elephant to help plow his farm. He paid $1,000 and named her Old Bet. 

He realized he could make more money from her as a paid attraction, so he began travelling the country with Old Bet and charging curious onlookers 10 cents for a rare glimpse. 

Structured around a bluesy country ballad by the US composer Sam Saper, this film from the US animator Lynn Tomlinson recalls Old Bet’s tale from the imagined perspective of the farmer’s dog.

The video shows unique handcrafted animations made with clay-on-glass and oil pastels. Lynn, the artist, brings a mournful sense of pathos to the story of the first circus elephant in the United States. And she hints broadly at the tragic centuries-long history of exotic animal exploitation for the sake of human entertainment.

Got to run but before I do, let's WIGGLE AND GIGGLE

I started a newsletter a few months back called A Bunch of Good Things—a place for positivity, my muses and encouragement.

Thank you to the seven hundred who have signed up, and if you have not already, please do so here. 

Our actions entrench the power of the light on this planet. Every positive thought we pass between us makes room for more light. JOHN LEWIS

With love from Prince Edward Island. 

Have a great weekend! 

Bruce + Millie

ps. Your Morning Smile

During a county-wide drive to round up all unlicensed dogs, a patrolman signalled a car to pull over to the curb.

When the driver asked why he had been stopped, the officer pointed to the big dog sitting on the seat beside him and asked, "Does your dog have a license?"

"No," the man said, "he doesn't need one."

"Yes, he does," answered the officer.

"But," said the driver, "I always do all the driving."