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Refining the defining of fine

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:08:51 GMT

Refining the defining of fine

by Thom Barker

For the first permanent settlers of the Saskatoon area, a fine lifestyle was one free from the liquor-soaked debauchery of Toronto. In 1883, a group of 35 erstwhile Methodists led by John Lake and calling themselves the Temperance Colonization Society, made the arduous journey from Ontario’s industrial centre, first by train to Moose Jaw, then by horse-drawn cart to the beautiful banks of the South Saskatchewan. Their intention was to set up a “dry” community, but the dream was short-lived. By 1899, the first Saskatoon bar licence had been issued. Imagine what Mr. Lake and his teetotallers would think of the new Tequila Night Club.

One can only assume Regina’s founding father, Edgar Dewdney, had a considerably loftier conception of what constituted a fine lifestyle. Having reserved for himself a substantial quantity of real estate at Pile of Bones, Lieutenant-Governor Dewdney proceeded to designate the hamlet, by then renamed Regina, capital of the North West Territories over the competing—and what most people considered superior—claims of Battleford, Qu’Appelle and Fort Qu’Appelle. While the lieutenant-governor loudly and frequently defended the choice on the grounds there was no finer water and soil anywhere in the territories, with his profits he was able to afford a very fine lifestyle indeed.

Late 19th-century temperance spoof courtesy of Saskatoon Public Library

‘Fine,’ of course, is one of those niggly little words that can mean a lot of things. It can be a penalty, as in a speeding ticket for travelling too fast in your Beamer; or something that is particularly slender, such as hair. In common parlance, it has taken on the attitude of being a state of mediocre wellness:

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

In the context of lifestyles, however, the definition we are probably most interested in is: ‘something of superior quality.’ This definition stems from the Middle English ‘fin’ derived from the latin ‘finitus,’ literally meaning ‘finished,’ via the Old French ‘fin,’ meaning minute or exact. The implication is that something described as fine has reached a pinnacle in its evolution.

There are things that are empirically finer than others. Few people would debate, for example, that a Timex is ‘of superior quality’ to a Rolex. Other things are more troublesome. Which is finer, a Picasso or a Rembrandt? So, when it comes to ‘fine,’ there is often an element of taste involved—although there are those who would argue even taste is subject to being defined as fine or, well, less refined.

If the perception of what is and what is not fine is subjective, then the phrase ‘fine lifestyle,’ is bound to conjure ideas almost as individual as the conjurer. When I graduated from university, for example, my idea of a fine lifestyle was sending my shirts out for laundering; throwing away the pistachios that had not completely opened; and driving a car that wasn’t one piece of duct tape away from being a pile of smoking parts on the side of some desolate country road.

Once I had achieved those goals, however, nothing but dry-cleaning was good enough for my shirts; pistachios became a sorry substitute for macadamias; and I started shopping for a Lincoln.

Then again, to a majority of the people on the planet, and even some in our fine cities of Regina and Saskatoon, my university lifestyle of swilling peanuts in a Laundromat to which I had taken a bus might be a fine lifestyle.

If the ultimate test of a lifestyle’s fineness is happiness—there are also those empiricists who would debate this premise—then a fine lifestyle is in the life of the stylist. For a happy monk, a cloistered existence of quiet meditation, hard labour and minimalist sustenance, may certainly be ‘of superior quality’ to one spent yachting on the Mediterranean sipping Dom Perignon and puffing Montecristos.

Not to be trite, nor to slip in a gratuitous Beatles reference, but money can’t buy you love. Anyone who has had any exposure to the lives of the rich and famous—and by that I mean anyone who has not been living the life of a cloistered monk—knows that some people at all levels of income struggle to find the balance that would define a lifestyle as fine.

Nevertheless, when most people hear ‘fine lifestyle,’ there is usually a connotation of luxury, leisure and money, which is a bit like the old sales joke: “Do you want it fast, good or cheap? Pick two.” It is pretty hard to have all three. For example, most people I know who have money work extremely hard for it and don’t seem to have a lot of leisure time. Don’t think about this too much because you will find holes in the logic you could drive a Hummer through. Suffice it to say, luxury, leisure and money can also be relative terms.

All of this musing has not gotten me all the way to defining this blog, but it is, in my ever-so-subjective opinion, a fine start.

Comments

Robert M. Barker said on Friday, October 08, 2010:

A good start, indeed!

Previous poll results

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:53:27 GMT

Previous poll results

October 27: Were you prepared for this week's winter storm?

Pretty much: 40.0%

Not at all: 25.0%

Somewhat: 20.0%

Totally: 15.0%

October 20: What is the most you would pay for a bottle of Scotch? (Available at SLGA; 750ml.)

Johnny Walker Blue: 259.95 37.5%

Auchentoshen 12-yr: 49.95 25.0%

Chivas Regal 18-yr: 95.95 18.8%

Walker King George: 749.56 12.5 %

Ballantine's Finest: 26.95 6.2%

October 13: What is the perfect size for Regina and Saskatoon?

Current size plus moderate growth: 45.5%

250,000 to 500,000: 30.3%

500,000 to 750,000: 9.1%

Why not shoot for a million: 9.1%

They're already too big: 6.1%

October 6: How much annual income does it take to have a fine Lifestyle?

$100,000 to $250,000: 37.5%

$250,00 to $1,000,000: 25.0%

It's not about money: 22.5%

There's no such thing
as too much money: 17.5%

Saskatchewan: Population 3 million

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:06:36 GMT

Saskatchewan: Population 3 million

by Thom Barker

Imagine Regina with a population of 590,000 people. How about Saskatoon at 660,000?

Irvin Studin thinks Canada should, and can, grow its population to 100 million if we ever want to be an influential power in the world. By extrapolation, if Saskatchewan wanted to merely maintain whatever influence we have now in a dominion 100 million strong, we would have to triple our population as well.

In a nutshell—if a 3,500-word essay can be crammed into a nutshell—Studin, Program Director for the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance and editor-in-chief of www.globalbrief.ca, argues that at 34 million, Canada simply does not have the critical mass to take our rightful place among the great powers of the world. He estimates critical mass is somewhere between 85 and 130 million people.

“The Canada of 100 million has a far larger national market and the attendant economies of scale and scope—for ideas, for debate, for books, for newspapers, for magazines (print and online), for all species of goods and services,” Studin writes. “It poses a far more impressive cultural counterweight to the US—now only three or four times larger, instead of 10 or 11 times.”

The proposition of Saskatchewan’s two major cities with nearly three-quarters of a million people each seems almost impossible, but that kind of growth is not unprecedented. Between 1951 and 1981, Saskatoon’s population tripled from 53,000 to 154,000. During that same 30-year period, Regina did not grow quite as dramatically, but still more than doubled from 71,000 to 163,000. In 1901, Toronto was the size Saskatoon is now. By 1951, it was 675,000.

Of course, the first half of Saskatchewan’s big population explosion, 1951 to 1965, was the famous baby boom following World War II. The secondary “boom echo” in the 1980s and 1990s did produce another spike, but because of the declining birthrate trend in the developed world was not nearly as pronounced. So, even if the Millennials were to mimic the child-bearing attitude of their grandparents rather than their parents, it would not have a tripling effect.

The only way Canada could become a country of 100 million citizens is through immigration. For an example of that we need go no further than our muscle-bound neighbour to the south, which did it, largely through immigration, in only 50 years. The United States’ population in 1870 was the size of Canada’s now. By 1920, it was 106 million.

In the area of immigration, Saskatchewan would stand to fare very well. The Province is already aggressively pursuing an international recruiting policy and there is no shortage of people —in Asia, in Africa and even in Europe—who want to come to Canada. A national population explosion would also likely put almost unmanageable strain on our largest population centres—the Lower Mainland of B.C., southern Ontario and Montréal—so Saskatchewan would also be in good stead to benefit from interprovincial migration. And we have the untapped resources to support a massive influx.

But let’s put aside the fact it would take an act of political will we have not seen in this country since the last spike of Canada’s first transcontinental railroad was driven home by CPR financier Donald Smith at 9:22 a.m. on November 7, 1885 at Graigellachie, British Columbia. Let’s ignore the how and the why of the equation, as well as, the accompanying issues of infrastructure, employment, social change and economy. And let’s not dwell on the possibility that a Saskatchewan of three million may only exist in a dystopian version of the future that includes a commensurate global population of 21 billion humans.

Let’s just fantasize for a moment about what a city of 600,000 to 700,000 could support that a city of 200,000 to 250,000 cannot. And let’s start with our national sport. There are nine National Hockey League cities with populations in the range of 500,000 to 800,000. Granted, the metropolitan areas of these places range from 1.1 million (Ottawa) to 5.3 million (Atlanta), but if support for the Roughriders is any indication, the whole province, now three million strong, would constitute the Saskatchewan Blues’ metropolitan area.

Not a sports fan? How about world-class art galleries, museums, theatres and concert halls? Venues that could draw the next tier of cultural respect. That is not to cast aspersion on what we already have or suggest replacing it, but cities approaching the three-quarters of a million marks could support much more including even more diversity in smaller venues.

Taste a little less highbrow? When was the last time you heard Regina Folk Festival uttered in the same breath as Edmonton and Winnipeg or Saskatchewan Jazz Fest with Montreal and Vancouver?

Those are some of the possibilities. The question is whether it is actually something we do, or should, aspire to. Personally, I think a tally of 200,000 to 250,000 is just about ideal. I have lived in a city of four million (Toronto) and a town of 2,000 (Fort Qu’Appelle). Regina and Saskatoon have pretty much everything I missed about the city when I lived in the country and pretty much everything I missed about the country when I lived in the city.

And, if I really feel the need to avail myself of some of the amenities one can only find in a larger centre, I can easily get there because we are big enough to have international airports that don’t feel like you’re being herded into an abbatoir.

Interested in what Regina and Saskatoon might really look like in a few decades? Stay tuned for the winter editions of our print magazines in which Edward Willett, award-winning science fiction author and our associate editor, will explore the future.

You won't find this at your local SLGA store

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:33:09 GMT

You won't find this at your local SLGA store

by Thom Barker

In Saskatchewan, we generally don’t flaunt it even if we have it. Unless it’s the Grey Cup, then we’ll flaunt it for decades.

If you really want to flaunt something, though, how does a $163,000 bottle of Scotch sound?

Last week, the Dalmore distillery of Scotland unveiled the first six-figure bottle of whiskey in history. Only three bottles of the 64-year-old Trinitas were produced. American whiskey aficionado Mahesh Patel, who has more than 1,000 bottles of fine whiskey in his collection, was the first to drop 100,000 British pounds to get one.

“Whiskey is my passion,” Patel said. “The Dalmore Trinitas is now the jewel in the crown. It is a beautiful spirit from a trusted luxury whiskey brand.”

At an estimated $32,000CA a glass, if it was sold in fine restaurants, it kind of defines “sipping whiskey,” doesn’t it?

Sukhinder Singh of Great Britain, one of the leading whiskey specialists in the world, quickly scooped up bottle number two saying: “Most of the first growth malts have proven to be good investments over the last decade and I have no doubt that this will become one of the most sought-after bottles in the world.”

No doubt. But if you don’t want to wait for Singh to put his bottle up for sale in his London shop or for Mahesh to invite you over for a wee dram, you can still pick up the last bottle when it goes up for auction at The Whiskey Show, London’s premier luxury whiskey event, on October 29 and 30.

Of course, if you’re off to buy a $163,000 bottle of Scotch, you’re going to want to go in style. Maybe British billionaire Philip Green would give you a lift in his Gulfstream G550, or you could just buy one for $59.9 million. While in London, you’ll want to stay at Claridge’s where you can get a two-bedroom art-deco penthouse, complete with private butler, for a mere $5,500 a night—although, you’ll probably feel a little like you’re slumming after your stopover in the palatial, 10-room Bridge Suite at the Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas for $25,000 a night.

Before you reach for your no-limit Centurion American Express card to pay for that third bottle of Dalmore Trinitas, make sure you didn’t forget your Aurora Diamante fountain pen for signing the bill. Encrusted with 30 carats of diamonds and sporting an 18-karat gold nib, it’s a bargain at just $1.28 million considering they only put out one per year.

On your way back to Saskatchewan, you will want to celebrate your historic purchase and what better way than with a little bubbly? A 100-year-old bottle of Heidsieck originally destined for the Russian Royal Family, but shipwrecked off the coast of Finland in 1916 and recovered in 1997 should do the trick at $275,000, or $366 per millilitre. Of course, you wouldn’t put a fine Champagne like that into just any stemware. Perhaps a set of two by designer John Calleija, hand-carved from natural quartz and encrusted with 15 carats of diamonds for only $400,000 is in order.

And don’t forget the snacks. Iranian Almas caviar in a 24-karat gold tin is a paltry $25,000. You will probably want two.

So, let’s do a quick tally for the accountant. That’s the Scotch, one G550, a quick stopover in the Bahamas, three nights at Claridge’s, one fountain pen, shipwrecked Champagne, the glasses and the caviar: $61.7 million.

That’s the thing about vacations; they always seem to cost more than you thought they would.

Might as well enjoy it

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:56:12 GMT

Might as well enjoy it

by Thom Barker

This week in Saskatchewan had a lot of the province's residents muttering under their crystallizing breath: "Global warming? Bring it on, baby."

We live in a place where it routinely snows in May and September. On October 15, 1926, Saskatoon set a record with 35.6 centimetres of the white stuff. On October 16, 1984, Regina had 26.4. There isn't a month of the year in which at some point, our two major cities have not recorded temperatures dipping into the minuses. On July 6, 1934, it was -2.2 in the capital.

I have lived in Canada for,... well, let's just say several decades and leave it at that. Yet somehow, whenever winter arrives in our fair cities, we seem to be unprepared for it. I call it the Kubler-Ross syndrome. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was the Swiss-born psychiatrist who developed the Kubler-Ross Model, more commonly known as the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

On Monday afternoon, when the first flurries started in Saskatoon, denial was in full force. A collective, "it is not snowing," was nearly audible in the City of Bridges. By Tuesday, Regina was engulfed in a full-fledged winter storm sending motorists scurrying to get snow tires installed despite the fact that we almost invariably have snow in October and that Environment Canada told us last week it was coming. If that's not denial, I don't know the definition.

Throughout Tuesday and on Wednesday morning, anger was the stage du jour, especially considering all those cars sliding around on their summer wheels. First snow plus commuting requires an entirely new examination of the term "road rage." By Wednesday afternoon, when the sun started to peek through the clouds, we were well into bargaining, despite a bitter north-western gusting up to 35 km/hr making it feel like -13. "It's going to be really warm next week," went the common refrain.

Sometime over the next few days or weeks, for many people, the depression will set in and by the time they get to acceptance, crocuses will be poking their delicate little blossoms through the crust on the grounds of the Legislature.

Personally, I love winter. Yes, even in Saskatchewan. I believe it is my own form of permanent acceptance of the fact I choose to live in a place that has winter approximately half the year. I know some of you are thinking: "yeah, right, more like his own state of permanent denial." Call it what you will, but really, I think it is the anticipation of winter and not the season itself, which is so odious.

Humans, especially Saskatchewanians it sometimes seems, tend to have much greater memory for bad things than good. This is likely an evolutionary trait: "Fire bad, burn Og." But our main evolutionary advantage is our big brains: "Fire good, make Og warm, cook meat, make airplane, fly south."

When you think about it, winter is not that bad. Saskatchewan is the sunniest province in the country. Our winter days, as short as they are, are bright and if you dress properly, there aren't that many days that are too cold to go outside. Even in January, typically our coldest month, the average temperature is only around -20. And we only get a handful of really nasty storms.

I may be rationalizing, but even that is a good thing, because winter is here, folks, and it's going to be with us for a while. I, for one, refuse to live my life looking forward to summer because my birthday is in summer and every one of those that come around means one less winter I'm going to be around to enjoy.

Phew

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:37:18 GMT

Phew

by Thom Barker

At approximately 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Saturday, people in Alberta and Manitoba were buffeted by a slight, inexplicable breeze. It was the collective sigh of relief emanating from Rider Nation as the green and white eliminated the Eskimos from the Canadian Football League playoffs.

Sorry Richie Hall, we miss you in Riderville, but we needed that one. Not that it was all that important to knock off Edmonton. Whether our Roughies would play the Eskies or Lions next week was "six of one, half a dozen of the other," as we are so fond of saying here in Saskatchewan.

What was important was not going into Sunday's Western Semi-Final riding a five-game losing streak. Despite pundits' arm-chair coaching suggestion that Head Coach Ken Miller rest critical starters such as Darian Durant in what was touted as a meaningless game, Miller stuck with his A-team throughout the season-ender. It may seem a questionable decision, especially in light of defensive star Barrin Simpson's injury in the first quarter, but let us not underestimate the importance of the 13th man. We needed this one for the fans.

Shortly after the loss to B.C. on Hallowe'en, I got in the elevator. A slight, elderly woman, was already there. Anywhere else in Canada, our elevator smalltalk would probably have taken the form of "nice weather we're having," or "aren't all the little children in their costumes adorable?" Not here. This grandmotherly lady glanced at my Riders cap, shook her head and said: "What the heck was that?"

What the heck, indeed. After racking up an impressive record through the first half of the season, the Roughriders have looked kind of flat of late. And if it had not the Lions early season front-office shenanigans and on-field mistakes, and Edmonton's dismal one and six start, it might have been us coming down to a must-win situation in Week 19.

We are not out of the tall grass yet, though. The final game of the season was encouraging--Durant was spectacular; Fantuz took the lead league in receiving yards; Jason Clermont showed signs of his old self; Dressler's quickness was on full display; Cates was, well Cates; Koch proved he is well-deserving to be on the field in Rob Bagg's stead; and even Grice-Mullen had some flashes of brilliance.

The performance also underscored our weaknesses, though, something you can bet your watermelon Wally Buono was paying close attention to after his Leos squeeked into the western semi by edging the surging Hamilton Tiger Cats at the last minute.

Our pass defence is strong, but we still can't seem to stop the run. Our special teams have showed signs of improvement, but they are as inconsistent as a politician seeking re-election. And what the heck are we going to do about place-kicking. We miss you Luca.

Nevertheless, with this small boost of confidence, Mosaic will be so loud this weekend, they will hear it in Vancouver and we do have a knack for disappointing Henry Burris and the Stampeders in Calgary.

Dare I say it? Watch out Montréal. Now we just have to book a remedial class in counting players for the coaching staff to avoid a repeat of last year's Grey Cup fiasco.

Why the bell still tolls

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:56:29 GMT

Why the bell still tolls

by Thom Barker

Even in the wee hours, the sound of church bells still marks the passage of time in downtown Saskatoon. As has been my custom of late, I was up before 5:00 this morning. I find this quiet time, without the persistent emails and phone calls that characterize the rest of my day, are my most productive. For a solid three hours, only the faint hum of my laptop, comforting in its own way, and the hourly chiming of Third Avenue Anglican's brass, disturbs my concentration.

In the old days, bells served an important function. As society moved from an agrarian to industrial lifestyle, we became governed by clock-time rather than solar time. But before the 20th century, watches and household clocks were uncommon except among the well-off. Working class people had to rely on public bells to know when it was time to go to work, have lunch, worship etc. In this day and age, however, it seems somewhat anachronistic. My wife and I don't even have a device dedicated to telling time any more. Why bother? In the bedroom, my iPod serves double-duty as an alarm clock. In my office, Windows has a clock on the bottom right-hand corner of my computer screen. The coffee maker, microwave and stove all tell time in the kitchen and moving on to the living room, is our cable box, DVD player and TV. If I venture outside the apartment, I always have my Blackberry. I haven't worn a watch since the early 1990s. And even if I were to forget my phone, I can always count on Saskatoon City Hall's bells chiming on the quarter hour.

So why do the bells still toll at Churches, city halls and legislative buildings everywhere? Humans are, if nothing else, nostalgic. Customs and traditions, such as bell-ringing, are not easily displaced even when their functional role becomes moot.

Of course, the reason may be as simple as we like the sound of bells. When I heard them this morning, I stopped to listen, as I almost always do. But there are those who suggest there is more to it than that. Several years ago, I wrote a feature on bell-ringing for the Ottawa Citizen. During my research for that piece, I encountered people who thought our connection with bells was divine. A spiritual harkening to their maker and the heavenly reward to come. I spoke to an autism researcher, who believed the abilities of prodigious savants--autistic individuals who exhibit extreme inherent talent for mathematics, music, art etc.--may actually be encoded in their DNA. Certainly, if "genetic memory" is ever proven, it could indeed explain our affinity for bells because many anthropologists surmise rudimentary bells were the first musical instruments, an evolution of noisemakers assumed to have been used to ward off evil spirits. And given the opportunity, there are few among us who didn't at some point in childhood, turn a pot and wooden spoon into a makeshift bell.

It is an occupational hazard, I suppose, that when something gets my attention, the first thing I often do is ask why. And quite often I will go to some length to answer that question. Other times it just reminds me that, in life, it is important to take the time to listen to the bells.

Previous Poll Result

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:30:30 GMT

Previous poll results

January 31: Tim Hortons coffee is:

Decent and consistent: 47.2%

A mediocre brew: 36.1%

Vile swill: 13.9%

The best in Saskatchewan: 2.8%

December 21: Have you ever spent Christmas alone?

No: 64.7%

Yes: 35.3%

December 13: Where will you spend Christmas?

At home: 68.8%

At a relative's elsewhere: 12.5%

Someplace warm: 12.5%

At a relative's in Sask: 6.2%

November 7: Will the Roughriders go to the Grey Cup?

Yes: 66.7%

No: 13.3%

Don't know: 20.0%

October 27: Were you prepared for this week's winter storm?

Pretty much: 40.0%

Not at all: 25.0%

Somewhat: 20.0%

Totally: 15.0%

October 20: What is the most you would pay for a bottle of Scotch? (Available at SLGA; 750ml.)

Johnny Walker Blue: 259.95 37.5%

Auchentoshen 12-yr: 49.95 25.0%

Chivas Regal 18-yr: 95.95 18.8%

Walker King George: 749.56 12.5 %

Ballantine's Finest: 26.95 6.2%

October 13: What is the perfect size for Regina and Saskatoon?

Current size plus moderate growth: 45.5%

250,000 to 500,000: 30.3%

500,000 to 750,000: 9.1%

Why not shoot for a million: 9.1%

They're already too big: 6.1%

October 6: How much annual income does it take to have a fine Lifestyle?

$100,000 to $250,000: 37.5%

$250,00 to $1,000,000: 25.0%

It's not about money: 22.5%

There's no such thing
as too much money: 17.5%

Whaddaya mean I don't love Saskatchewan?

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:57:56 GMT

Whaddaya mean I don't love Saskatchewan?

by Thom Barker

Is anyone else feeling a little non-plussed with the new ad campaign by the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU)?

If you haven't seen the new television spots, they are premised on a few of key phrases: "If you love Saskatchewan," "There's a better way," and "Don't mess with our Saskatchewan." There's even an accompanying website: ifyoulovesaskatchewan.ca.

I'm not going to weigh in on the issues that these ads are attempting to address because, quite frankly, I haven't formed an opinion, and in that way, I am part of the intended audience for this campaign. In advertising, particularly political advertising, you don't need to convert the converted and you are never going to convert the opposition.

So here I am, sitting at home, watching TV, and all of a sudden my favourite show is interrupted by a montage of earnest-looking, regular Joe and Sally Lunchbucket types imploring me to join them in solidarity against the evil Brad Wall and his cadre of privatizers. So far so good. I like government services. I don't want to lose those.

Then, one of them says, "If you love Saskatchewan..." Whoah, hold on just a second there. Are you suggesting if I don't agree with you, I don't love Saskatchewan?

Okay, take a deep breath. Maybe that's not what they're saying, but now, I'm just not feeling the message any more. Then another one says, "Don't mess with our Saskatchewan." Whoah again. Whose Saskatchewan? Am I included in that "our" or not. If I decide to go against them, does that mean it's not my Saskatchewan too?

I still haven't fully researched the issue of privatization. I don't even really know if that's what the government intends to do. But I can tell you this: in 30 seconds, the SGEU has done its best to alienate me as a potential convert.

They are right about one thing. There's a better way. There's a better way to reach the undecided than trying to bully or shame us into solidarity.

There's something about Christmas

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 07:53:00 GMT

There's something about Christmas

by Thom Barker

There is something about Christmas that brings out the sentimentality in editors everywhere. Try as we might to ignore the urge, it seems to compel those of us with a forum to reflect and wax philosophically.

Even my former editor--whom I called J. Jonah, after the hard-nosed Daily Bugle publisher of Spiderman fame--used to reprint the famous and most-published Christmas editorial of all time, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" from the September 21, 1897 edition of the New York Sun.

I suspect the reason Francis Pharcellus Church's response to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon's letter-to-the-editor is so widely and frequently republished is that we all aspire to be as eloquent, but so often find our attempts to be merely maudlin.

Similarly, Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is perhaps the most frequently retold and adapted story of all time. The concept of a curmudgeonly old miser haunted by his inner demons to the point of redemption speaks to the human condition in a way that is both timely and timeless.

We don't really need these classics to promote reflection, though. As the "big day" approaches, I invariably think about one Christmas in particular. In 1999, I spent Christmas day alone.

I was living in Austin, Texas where golf is a year-round sport. On Christmas eve, greenskeepers at the municipal courses leave the flags out so anyone who wants to can play for free on Christmas day. I had tried to scare up some of my golfing buddies to join me, but they all had family obligations (go figger).

Nevertheless, and maybe it was just the golf-starved Canadian in me, I fully expected free golf would bring out the masses. It didn't. If you've never lined up a putt on an elevated green overlooking half a dozen completely deserted fairways, let me tell you, it's a little eerie in a post-apocalyptic, you're-the-only-one-left-behind-after-the-rapture kind of way.

Okay, it wasn't really that bad. I had turned down offers to spend the day with friends' families and my kids would arrive the following day to spend the rest of the holidays with me. And, generally speaking, I like being by myself. My wife says--only half facetiously--that I can be alone in a crowd of people and quite happy about it.

That day, however, I just felt very lonely. In my more Scrooge-like moments, I tried to convince myself it was just another day. One in 365. But it's not just another day. Christmas represents the better part of our nature. It encourages all of us to embrace community, kindness and generosity. It is an opportunity to count our blessings, whether we attribute them to the divine, blind chance or something in between.

Quite apart from all the things it is, and it is many things, Christmas is a powerful idea that speaks to the wonder in us all. If you need further proof of just how powerful, try spending one alone. I don't necessarily recommend it, but it did have a profound impact on my perspective.

You could also look at the life of Virginia O'Hanlon. In her 82 years, 47 of which she spent as a teacher and prinicipal in the New York City public school system, Virginia received thousands of letters asking her if she still believed. In her responses she always included a copy of Church's editorial. Later in life, she credited his words with shaping the direction of her life positively.

Here's to this Christmas, and all of your Christmases, being everything you want them to be.