I wanted to write about the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia we visited in Halifax last week. The City is not far from us at all and an easy ride, it also has great restaurants and many nice sights.
Instead I will speak of a little drama in my life which happened last night at the Club. As a retired person you would never know that I am retired, I volunteer in many causes and work often 30 to 40 hours a week, here and there. Currently I am involved in the renovation and redecoration of several rooms at the Haviland Club, an old mansion celebrating 150 years since its construction in 1869 by a young widow of 33 and single parent Esther Full Lowden, she was also a business women. Her older husband George had died suddenly in 1864 at age 47. She was left with a shipping empire and had to navigate the difficulty of being a women in an age when women were not heard from nor voted, in a very narrow minded society on a small Island.
The house at no. 2 Haviland street is in the Italianate style its quite beautiful and has many interesting features. Its a big job but an interesting one renovating the rooms but it is fascinating as you learn the history of this building.
We are also now in the midst of a Provincial Election campaign voting day is April 23, a strange date since is falls immediately after Easter and in Canada both Friday and Monday of the Easter weekend are holidays and you cannot campaign on Easter Sunday, nor on Good Friday, bad form.
I have been helping out our candidate in District 12 which means canvassing door to door. This week the winds have been very strong and cold even if the days were sunny. I was over tired and kept going anyway. Skipping lunch etc… You know sometimes you just have to stop and have a coffee and a sit down, something I have to learn, I am not 20 anymore.
So on Friday afternoon I went from canvassing on the streets to Party HQ to the Club for pizza and a glass of wine, I suddenly felt very dizzy and I knew I was going to faint. The Club has security cameras and this episode showed how well they work. I apparently fainted twice, broke my glasses and banged my head on a pillar thus the big bruise on my forehead. When I came to I was in the hallway with people around me and the paramedics. Off we went to the hospital sirens blaring. I apparently fainted in ER, have no recollection of that either. Everyone saw the security film at the Club and at the Hospital, I did not, made me smile.
I did ask Will to take the photo of me in ER, it just struck me as funny. We are also planning to rebuild the wheelchair ramp at the Club, a fellow club member had been after me on that topic, so I asked the paramedics how they found it structurally, it’s ok but could be a lot better, it is wood and dates from 1997. I got excellent care at the hospital, very kind and attentive staff, could not ask for anything more. Thank you to all at the QEH in Charlottetown.
The next day I was very tired and still a bit uncomfortable. I will be going back to my doctor to see what can be done about this despite the fact that after all the tests at the Hospital all was normal. Answered all the strange questions they ask to see if you are coherent, no problems there. So life goes on, but at a slower pace, no need to kill myself, I am retired after all.
Needless to say this photo is unretouched.
