Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!!!

Perhaps it is not the last official week of summer, but in practice for most people - this is it! Schools open Tuesday and it's business as usual in most places. I must admit that, as an amateur sailor, I heard many complaints about the wet, cold and foggy weather on Lake Ontario this summer. On the other hand many of the boats returning to our little club said they made the best of it and had a good holiday.  Perhaps the fall will usher in some good sailing weather prior to the first snow fall!

The Local Crumedgeon

If anyone has the right to complain about the weather it must be our good friends in Winnipeg. In mid-August some disposal snow heaps still measured 18 inches! Now there is reason to complain as they usually get an early winter in October. I consider most of the talk around the docks as merely friends voicing their frustration or even just engaging in conversation.  Perhaps just a way to 'break the ice'.

Healthy complaining is a good way to get feedback from others. If it is something other than the weather, it's an excellent way to explore some solutions to what might be personal problems. However, both sides, as in any dialogue, must be open to hear the input provided. Even if we vent a non-conversational complaint, I have learned as an octogenarian, that it is very important to be diplomatic and careful how I voice the issue.  If I complain too much, and don't listen at all, no one is going to listen to me. Some people just venting, and are not truly trying to solve a problem?  Perhaps just looking for an argument? When someone is always complaining, they not only get on our nerves but friends will say, 'Here comes our local curmudgeon'

I must admit there are many issues in the world that we need to discuss, and even bitch about because there seems so little that we can do otherwise. A few of the big issues I feel helpless about are: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), who struck out at the Americans by beheading a journalist, have also indicated their plans to expand their brand of terrorism. (Violence for political change) Even some Canadian boys have been seduced into their eighteen century world!  What do we do if they make it back to Canada? The Gaza conflict, between Israel and Palestine, is like an ugly volcano, periodically erupting. What are the Russians up to in the Ukraine? Then there is Ebola and WHO declaring it an international health emergency. Even in Canada - the problem of missing and murdered Aboriginal women is becoming a major issue and a source of dispute between the provinces and the Federal Government.

One has to wonder - how and when these events will impact our way of life as Canadians. Has the world always been this way and we are now more alert because of our enhanced means of communication? Or are things getting out of hand on our little home planet called earth. These are things to really complain about, but it seems the best we can do is vent our frustration, at least until the threats come closer to our shores. Whining will do little to change things. Open discussion might not bring solutions, but will help us deal with our hidden fears and frustrations.

I read somewhere, and given the above, that our modern skulls house a stone age brain! If we humans can't solve our simple and daily issues, then how are we going to find solutions to the terrible atrocities in our large communities?

Ajahn Chah

A Thai meditation master once wrote, 'If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know completely peace and freedom. Your struggle with the world will have come to an end.' 

This advice might be good for an octogenarian like myself, but if everyone did that, who would stand up to the oppressors? Bitch, bitch, bitch!

Yes, the weather was not that great this summer for amateur sailors in Ontario. But then again, there is always next year - I HOPE!

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week