32 - Sunday. July 14. 1994

- North Shore News

Toughing it out in the age of Madonna

SOMETIMES I'M glad

rm

as old as IT am, as when

Madonna feels constrained to expose her underarmor to the world, or when the newspaper carries parental discus-

sions about having sleep-over.

And when one reads that New York and London are verging on the uninhabitable, both rife with crime and poverty and despairing dislocated homeless people.

Stuff like that makes me feet | don't really want to hang around for the next round.

Just going to the shops for the daily bread is a trip) through dismay. Packaging is designed (o thwart, quality is questionable, products one has relied on for years disappear without @ trace, replaced by something ‘new and improved."*

In a pig’s eye. avoid the incontrovertibly fact that Pouilly Fuisse is roughly 30 dollars a bottle. it once was less than six.

Families have lost their focus, communication having been dele- gated to the television. Dinner conversation is no longer practised for its civilizing influence on the young; mouths are stopped with food, thoughts yield to the bow.

But the one evening you find that wretched box has brought right into your space a demonstra- tion of the riches of old age, and you decide to last forever, after all. Rostropovich lugs his cello to Carnegie Hall to celebrate its 100th birthday, and one is so proud of that old man it’s like a personal triumph.

Such fingering, such bowing mastery, and he in his 80s. com- manding his cello to speak perfect Tchaikowsky. The piece is in- tricate, the fingers fly, the master never wavers, and this is a truly thrilling performance. Don't give up, we want ro say to him, don't ever call it quits.

And one cannot awful

now Alas,

teenage junior’s

girlfriend in for a

Eleanor

THE VINTAGE YEARS

But one feels beleaguered.

We feel obsolete, the last people to have been born into the natural world, where the grocer did men- tal arithmetic and children) were taught to observe now and ques- tion later. The world then was such a quiet place one could hear coyote voices und owl cries on the night air, and the whistle of a train would carry longingly across the breadth of Canada.

And Canada. what of it, our place in the world, our identikit?

Who will we be if it unravels? We'd still be British Columbians but that would be meaningless without the sturdy framework of Canada to give us world defini- tion. We're the elders, after all, we've helped design this country’s image. They say we've brought it up to be dull and boring, and it’s true we've leaned towards caution and respect for authority. But in the world’s eyes we are also reli-

ICBC issues annual grants

THE INSURANCE Corp. of B.C. (ICBC) has issued) grants of $1,089,660 and $82,067 to North Vancouver City and District respectively in lieu of 1990 taxes.

ICBC expects to issue more than $3 million in grants to over 25 municipalities this year.

As a provincial Crown corpora- tion, ICBC is not required to pay business and property taxes but makes annual grants equal to the amount which would be levied if

it Were @ private business.

The amounts are payable on claim) centres, administrative of- fices and storage and salvage yards. They vary according to the size and jocation of the premises and differences in municipal mill Tales.

North Vancouver City receives the largest single grant for the corporation’s head office located at the Lonsdale Quay.

SEASIDE LUNCHES

Now open for lunch! The Boathouse Restaurant in Horseshoe Bay has just opened its doors for tantalizing summer lunches. Come join us for the superb food, the incredible view ... and weather permitting, enjoy it all outdoors on our heated patio. Reserve your view seat now!

D : r) ‘ | A SPECIALTY SEAFOOD RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED — 921-8188

{Outdoor Pattie weather permitting)

Lunch 11:30-2:00

Dinner

Brunch

able, and sober. and stonate and hospuible.

So the problems we feel with having Quebee fling off ina hat? is the aneent problem oot the younger sibling Quit bene se bossy, we want to say. we Know you've gota colortal past and that your style is unique, we're not challenging it. But we are happening now, sou hase to ace knowledge our different speed. our different script.

We Jove the facr of your romantic culture and sour tists language and your exotic origins, it vives our country a certain cachet. an eatea flavor. Hang on to it, by afl means, bur enjoy it. stop insisting that we pay atten- on to it. We've vot other fish to fry.

So we're tetchy. We've forgor- ten the perks that old age carries with it. The freedoms are mullti- ple. Just the way you want to dress is a demonstration of unfet- tering. You can choost to be a nonconformist or a cowboy or a hippie or a stuffed shirt in hat and spats and who cares.

“When I} am an old lady, | will wear purple,"’ says the defiant poetess, ‘‘and a red hat. which doesn't go.””

The world sees the white thatch on the top of your head and knows that fertilization has been suspended and that you cannot be deemed accountable any more.

No one expects you to translate kilos or meires at this age. Any-

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_MERCURY )

one who dares fo talk computers to sOu rs Mmetely showine off. Pat him oon the head. One hes the nerve at Gast to curry wa cane and whip ott the heads of dandelions.

Plirtins, can be quite un- constrained, you're in no danger of ever being taken seriously. You can opass the most outrageous remarks and no one will turn a hier “dotty old thing.’ they say indulgently.

My own life was enriched when ] was saung hearing two elderly iadies introducing. One said, “This is omy husband Charles."* The other replied, ‘Oh. do vou

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call vour husband Charles? | call mine Howard.” Ns though hus- bands were hhe large dogs or tame ducks. An unforgettable exchange.

tts tke being royalty, ever un- quesuoned.

no more the passage of “‘nice™’ — nice china, nice Manners, nice litle dress- makers. Thus are we to pass our nonage, if we're lucky, which luck hinges on so many imponderables we can be sure of nothing but that from here on in it's a gift. Not to worry. We'll tough it out, [1's what we came for.

Therefore mourn

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