Happy Boxing Day, the holiday stress is This particular Christmas concert was memorable for many reasons over if you want it to be
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To those of you thinking this sounds a little bit simplistic or even silly, there is actually some very basic science involved here. The deeper you breathe, the more oxygen you get into your system. More oxygen in your bloodstream, the more molecules it can make, molecules like hemoglobin that carry the oxygen to the various organs and tissues where it is released to burn nutrients that provide energy to power the functions of the organism. You know, life isn’t an emergency, and despite what some people seem to obsess over, most things really aren’t worth getting that worked up about. Now that Christmas is done, the presents are being used, the leftovers are about to be consumed and there’s no more shopping needing to be done, it really is time to relax. If you’re one of those ‘bargain-hunters’ who absolutely has to get back into the madness that has become Boxing Day sales, well, more power to you. Just don’t drag everybody else into your feeding frenzy. A buck off wrapping paper just isn’t worth the stress it probably caused you to get it. Really, this can be the absolute best time of the year. Chances are things at work are at their yearly lowest ebb, demands-wise (unless of course you work for a newspaper) and often the best thing to do is absolutely nothing. There, the pressure’s off. You have an official excuse to goof off, be a couch potato, or indulge your inner slacker. Honestly, there’s nothing now that can’t wait until Jan. 6 and no reason to worry about it anyways. There is New Year’s Eve coming up but keep in mind there are plenty of us out there that really don’t care if New Year’s Eve comes or goes. There was a time for when New Year’s Eve meant one of the two best gigs of the year (the other being Canada Day). When you’re in a band, the New Year’s gig is one of the easiest to get and chances are it’ll be your best payday of the year. But since paydays for bands haven’t increased since I was doing it 35 years ago, it’s hard to get excited about it. And for those who worry and/or obsess over not having a date for New Year’s (you know, the unreal expectation that you have to have somebody to kiss at the stroke of midnight), just keep this in mind. Your dog or cat doesn’t have anybody to kiss at midnight on New Year’s either, and they seem to be getting along just fine.
Fitness and exercise tips for beginners You want to get into shape, but you aren’t sure where to start. Cardiovascular (cardio) exercise is a good entry point into the world of fitness. Cardio includes anything that really gets you moving, such as walking, running, and the like. Before you even consider stepping on a treadmill or an elliptical machine, you need to make sure you’re ready for it, mentally. Tip #1 Remember that you’re worth it. Exercise is about more than physical exhilaration. It’s about transforming your body and mind, into a state where you believe that you’re important enough to deserve the body of your dreams. Tip #2 There are no shortcuts. It’s all about you. Change won’t happen unless you really want it to, and part of that means being fully committed to daily exercise. Tip #3 Work out, and then work out some more. Don’t slack, give it
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your all each and every time you head to your fitness club. Do five more minutes of intense cardio, or 10 more reps with weights. Push yourself. Of course you want to make sure you don’t push yourself too far, so make sure you have a personal trainer or fitness professional by your side when you’re first starting out. Any successful exercise regimen will include both cardio and weight training. Cardio is a good place to start, but in order to burn the maximum amount of calories, weight training is necessary. Remember it’s not just about losing fat, but also building muscle, and raising your metabolism. If you think you’re ready to take the plunge and start exercising, visit Omega Fit Club in Kingston. You can call the club directly at 613-634-3484, send them an email, or visit their Facebook page for more information.
A picture is worth a thousand words - or lots of calls when you advertise with the Classifieds. Call 613-5468885 to place your pet for sale ad. (Don’t forget the photo!)
Mary Cook Columnist editorial@theheritageemc.ca
Lifestyle - The Christmas concerts at the Northcote School usually went off without a hitch. Miss Crosby saw to that! For the entire month of December we had rehearsals every day after school. Never could we miss even a minute of our studies. Oh no, not with Miss Crosby! That meant it was getting on to dark by the time we walked the three-and-a-half mile trek back home. And every last pupil had to take part. It didn’t matter if you had a voice like a crow, you sang in the choir. If you were so shy, you couldn’t say your name out loud...you had a part in the Nativity scene anyway. And the program rarely varied. The parents who crowded into the Northcote School to see their children perform could count on a repeat performance of the year before. That is, all except that one year when everything that could go wrong, went wrong! We had rehearsed until we knew our lines backwards and frontwards. The tree was up in the corner, and the school room had been scrubbed from top to bottom. Christmas messages were written on the blackboards, and the desks had been piled in the cloakroom, and chairs moved in from the United Church. We pupils were to be at the school early, with our parents arriving in time for the concert. Well, as soon as we got to school, there was trouble brewing. First of all, the mice had eaten all the popcorn balls off the Christmas tree on Friday night, so all that was left for decoration was the wisps of silver tinsel Miss Crosby brought from home each year, and the coloured paper stars each pupil made. Of course, there was no piano in the school, and so that year, Miss Crosby had Three Mile Herman’s parents bring in their crank-up Victrola, (I think the only Victrola in the entire Northcote area) and from someone else she scrounged a record of Silent Night. The record was as big as a meat platter, and since Three Mile knew how to get the music out of the Victrola, he was to
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Heritage Column — Happy Boxing Day everyone. Here’s hoping Craig Bakay your Christmas Reporter went the way you editorial@theheritageemc.ca hoped and you’re able to use today to decompress. You know, despite all the good cheer and merrymaking, this holiday time carries with it a lot of inherent stress. There’s just no avoiding it. And not all of us have developed coping mechanisms for stress. One of the most immediate stress relievers is to take three deep breaths. You’ll undoubtedly notice that your third breath is deeper than your first. This can be taken as an indication that your stress levels have decreased (maybe not as much as you’d like but decreased nonetheless).
make it work at the appropriate time in the concert. The appropriate time was when the Nativity Scene was coming to a close, and just before Santa was to burst through the back door. Bad Marguirite as usual, was an angel, after she had complained loud and long that she was tired of being a sheep. To keep peace Miss Crosby had let her wear a handmade silver halo like Velma and me, who were also angels. My sister Audrey was again the Virgin Mary, which didn’t please Cora one bit. Finally, the parents were crammed into the school, the old stove was belting out the heat. You couldn’t see out the windows for the steam off bodies and the bad smell of overshoes and gum rubbers hung in the room like a cloud. The first thing that happened to put a damper on the concert was when big Emma grabbed a hold of the make-shift curtain (just a group of flour bag sheets hung on chicken wire to separate the performers from the audience) to stop herself from falling, and the entire “stage-curtain” came down like a cloud wafting from the sky. Someone got a ladder from the cloakroom, it was hammered back up and the concert was ready to begin. Miss Crosby got us through the singing numbers, and what passed for a pantomime, and the Nativity Scene was about to begin. Someone turned down the oil lamps on cue, and Two Mile got the nod from Miss Crosby to start cranking the Victrola. Somehow, someone brought the wrong record, and we were listening to a high screechy voice belting out a song from the First World War! Two Mile Herman never missed a beat, and kept turning the handle on the side of the Victrola and we continued on with the Nativity scene as if that was the music we had rehearsed with all along, even though none of us, except Two Mile had ever heard the record before. The concert finally came to a close, and after thunderous applause from the parents, the entire schoolroom of 18 pupils, sat on the floor at the front to await Santa Claus, who was supposedly standing out in the cold waiting to be let in. Uncle Alec Thom got up and went to the door, and Santa, in all his glory flew in, ringing a set of bells on a piece of rein, exactly like our horse King wore, and just about knocked Uncle Alec for a loop. He careened into the classroom, and immediately sat right on the knee of the first woman in the back row. She let out a war-whoop and with a might shove, pushed him to the floor, where it took three strapping men to right him. It was obvious to everyone that Santa had been into something stronger than green tea. By this time the heat in the crowded little one-room school house was bouncing off the walls. Uncle Alec, my father and a couple other men got “Santa” into a chair at the back of the room, and within minutes he was sound asleep and snoring loud enough to waken the dead! Miss Crosby ended up handing out the Christmas presents herself, a few of the mothers passed around cookies, and the Christmas concert came to a close for another year. Someone drove “Santa” home in his own cutter, and the talk around Northcote for weeks on end was about all the excitement at the school that cold winter’s night. My brother Emerson and Cecil said it was the best Christmas concert ever held at the Northcote school. Interested in an electronic version of Mary’s books? Go to https://www. smashwords.com and type in Mary’s name for ebook purchase details.