OH HAPPY DAY! GARY'S RETIREMENT

What a beautiful Saturday! Sunshine and soft breezes. Cathy and I explored the mouth of the Salmon River out to the Bay of Quinte by canoe; it's Tyendinaga Mohawk territory. It's now our private spot that you are not to know about. Protected from the winds and home of turtle, beaver, heron, pike. We paddled ourselves into a pleasing state of exhaustion and returned in time for me to join the Federal Liberal Extraordinary Convention at 3 p.m.

The Convention went on for close to three hours. I experienced it as a happy experience and think that the Federal Liberals are beginning to feel somewhat cheered up. We/they have decided to hold off the leadership convention until some time between March 1 and June 30 of 2013. With these additional months, Bob Rae has the opportunity to shepherd a grass roots policy process. The more humble(d) Liberals are determined to listen and to think about the positions the party should take ... Think about this; there were over 2000 delegates in a teleconference with simultaneous on-line streaming of comments. This level of participation is apparently a first for North America. It feels like a new birthing. Lots of positive comments from the delegates notwithstanding the few technical glitches.

In the evening Cathy and I attended Gary Warren's retirement party at the Belleville club. One of his daughters led the toast and roast telling us that Gary's crowning achievement was the "International Support Worker" graduate certificate program at Loyalist. We learned that Gary transitioned from caring for the 'otherwise enabled' to teaching others to care. A visit to Mexico broadened his horizon and eventually inspired him to design a program that would bring an international perspective to caring for others.

Gary's daughter read out a history of his career and named the four points of wisdom that were keynotes in his life. The first is "Go with the green light." The second is "Spell phlegm." The third is, "Name your fear and face it." The fourth, "What do you want to talk about today?" Here is my interpretation of these points of wisdom.

"Go with the green light," is the motto of an activist. Don't get stopped because people and situations say no. You have a vision to fulfill and persevere until you find a way to carry forward. "Spell phlegm" is about ongoing learning. Work out the puzzles. Gain the knowledge. "Name your fear and face it" has to do with realizing that what you fear is the point of challenge that will make life interesting. Embrace the opportunity. "What do you want to talk about today?" is the basic starting point of a philosophy of education that recognizes that teaching is encouraging others to follow the line of their questioning minds and questing spirits.