I’m going to take a month off from the weekly question and do something I used to do for the National Post in August. Instead of writing The Bookless Club, I’m going to do a short story each week. To make this a more challenging project, I’m going to ask you to send me one word that you’d like to see incorporated into a story.
This week’s words were: motorcycle, scissors, and African violets.
They were a nuisance, weren’t they?
And so many of them.
At one time there had been over 50 of them. There’d been some attrition, but only slightly. Only three had been lost on his watch; just three. The deep bay window over the kitchen sink now held 47 African violets. Not bad, he thought, given that he hadn’t the slightest experience or even interest in African violets.
They were a nuisance, weren’t they?
No, the violets had been Eleanor’s thing. It had started when the kids had gone off to university; that much he did know. Providing care is a hard habit to break.
It began simply enough: two pots on the counter top. Suddenly, ten of them. Then people started to surrender violets into her care. A “Here, see what you can do with this one”, sort of thing. And somehow they thrived under her supervision. Then came the African violet tchotchkes – the African violet tea towels, mugs and calendars – gifts, mostly. It hadn’t taken long for their numbers to swell to the 50 that now occupied every inch of space in the east facing window.
And then Eleanor had gotten sick.
Terribly sick.
It was all very quick. Quick and relentless and rude. She had melted away like snow in April. And there wasn’t a damned thing he or anyone else could do about it.
When people asked how long she’d been gone, Tony would answer in months. Months! Even though the answer would now be 34 months and a sensible person would have answered three years, he still answered in months. It was like when the kids were little. When Carolyn was born, Andrew was 15 months; when Andrew was 23 months, Carolyn was eight months.
They were so fresh, so new; so vulnerable. The number of breaths might have been a more suitable gauge of time than something as unremarkable as months. His current calculation demanded the same. Every morning, it was like Eleanor’s death had just happened. Every morning, Tony felt exactly as he had leaving the hospital that day.
It alway felt fresh. It always stung.
His current calculation demanded the same.
But he didn’t think about any of this while he tended to Eleanor’s violets. Alone in the kitchen, he thought about which ones needed to be rotated to balance out their sun exposure. He thought about which ones were a tad on the dry side – those tended to be the violets on the perimeter where evaporation took its toll.
Using a tiny pair of scissors Eleanor kept in the junk drawer, Tony would surgically remove any spent blooms. The scissors were shaped like a crane and the blades were the long bill of the bird. In those moments, Tony imagined himself a patient crane or stork, spearing his fish dinner from the waters beneath him.
Carolyn had offered to take the violets. There were just so many and they were a bit of nuisance, weren’t they? Tony aways shrugged and said he’d think about it. She didn’t press him on the matter.
Carolyn’s 15 year-old, Sandy, wanted a motorcycle. He was saving up for one and was more than halfway there. Tony hated this idea and he had good reason to. As a physiotherapist, he’d seen more than his share of the damage done by motorcycle accidents. As he clipped and fertilized and rotated Eleanor’s violets he wondered what they’d have discussed on this subject. Eleanor had been a nurse and he knew her position would have aligned with his.
Providing care is a hard habit to break.
“You know what I’ll do?” he said aloud.
He pulled a miniature violet out from under the spreading leaves of another violet and examined it.
“I’ll take Sandy down to the ER”.
He paused and looked up into his reflection in the window.
“An excellent idea”, Eleanor responded. “Let him see first hand what can happen”.
Tony nodded.
Both Tony and the appliances hummed in the silent kitchen. Within the half hour he’d finished up with the violets. He looked at the clock on the microwave. Where did the time go?
These violets were such a nuisance, weren’t they?
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Submissions to last week’s question:
ALL ABOARD OR ALL ASHORE? ARE CRUISES FOR YOU?
My mother-in-law was on a cruise to Alaska. She liked to go for very early morning jogs and ran with a fellow who was also an early riser. After the cruise, she asked me if I knew who John Grisham was? He seemed like a very nice fellow and a writer of some sort ….
Patrick Ramsay
In 1973 my wife and I boarded P&O’s liner Arcadia for a 21 day cruise to Sydney from Vancouver. It cost $800 each which was cheaper than flying. After two months touring around Australia we took a three day cruise to New Zealand where we lived for 15 months. We made lifelong friends on that short trip. What a great way to get around! The ships were mostly filled with young twenty somethings like us, all looking for adventure. We came home by air, with a little eight month-old kiwi! The only cruises I take now are on BC Ferries.
Don Christie
In our first year of marriage I booked an Alaska cruise as a surprise for my husband. The travel agent asked if we were celebrating a special occasion. I told her no, so she asked if we had an anniversary coming up. In the following month, I said, to which she replied “close enough, I’ll add that to the booking”.
At our final dinner, the server wheeled over a cake with Happy Anniversary on it. My husband said “It’s a mistake. It must be for someone else”. Meanwhile I was kicking him under the table and apologizing to the server for my husband’s “bad memory”. We got to eat the cake, and I got a good story to tease him with at subsequent cruise dinners.
Madeleine Lefebvre
I couldn’t believe that at this time of the horrific fires burning our province and in Alberta, with homes destroyed, landscapes destroyed, economies destroyed, you would be so insensitive to have a column applauding and endorsing something as polluting as the behemoths that ply the seas so that those aboard can have the experience of, as you say: Old World service where everyone remembers your name.
Kathryn Woodward
Our first Alaska cruise as a married couple of 25 years. We survived 10 days in a cabin of 250 sq.ft. and we are hooked! We’re now pouring over new brochures with a multitude of destinations on offer. White linen service and Lido buffet here we come! No pots to clean, no dishwasher to pack, no groceries to shop for, with launderette on every deck. How cool is that?! Cruises are in. To planes and trains we say au-revoir. No luggage limits. Ahoy!
Ayesha Laher
The Cruise Ship industry has done an acceptable job of maintaining hand hygiene upon returning to the cruise ship after a shore excursion. Foot wear hygiene? Not so much. Our desire to experience the local culture has resulted in many shore excursions away from the cruise ship. We have traversed open markets, wet markets, game reserves, safaris, plantations, etc. Imagine what might be on those well traveled boots? On your next cruise ask the CEO of your specific cruise ship what they have done to mitigate problems of footwear hygiene upon reentering the ship.
Name Withheld by Request
My husband and I were not big cruisers, but we loved a Danube River cruise and several Alaska cruises – Alaska cruises are so easy from our Vancouver home. The best cruise of all was seven days to Alaska in a family group of ten. We ate together at least once a day in various locations and enjoyed trying different foods and options. It was such fun for the cruising newbies to experience and explore Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan and to experience amazing Glacier Bay. The ten of us agreed that the cruise was a great experience and well worth the fares and would be something to do again. And then Covid struck and life changed. Maybe one day?
Sheila Charneski
Years ago my husband and I went on a cruise to Alaska. This was the first-time holiday without children and the first-time on a cruise. After we boarded, we started racing up and down the escalator like two children in a candy shop. We had never dreamed the ship would be so luxurious! Recently, we went from St. Petersburg to Moscow on a river cruise – the best kind of cruising, we decided. Very relaxing, quiet, beautiful scenery all around, small numbers on board, and excellent service. Now we will move into a retirement residence with many amenities; my husband says, “view it as a luxurious cruise”.
Bonnie Hamilton
Yes to cruising! Our first experience happened when a neighbour suggested we join them on a repositioning cruise out of Vancouver. We flew to Las Vegas on Saturday; enjoyed the sights and sounds until Wednesday morning when we were bused to LA to board the Star Princess. However we soon encountered a problem. My luggage did not make the ship! Another passenger graciously lent me a dressy jumpsuit for the formal night and being only slightly smaller than my husband I was able to borrow a sweater and pants from him. Princess generously compensated me $300US for me to shop in their onboard shops. I bought one outfit and saved the rest of the money. Fortunately it was a short cruise; we arrived in Vancouver early Saturday morning, but it took a week for my luggage to get home.
Linda Moore
Having saved enough to treat ourselves, my friend and I booked a cruise to Alaska. Everything was wonderful to start: amazing food; great service. Absolutely no complaints, however, about three days into our journey, my friend became ill. The following day, so did I – viciously ill. Thankfully, there was a doctor on board. Norovirus was once again running its way through the passengers. So, not only did we miss a large portion of the journey from illness, we also had to isolate ourselves from the rest of the passengers. When it came time to disembark there were quite a number of us sorry looking travellers but no compensation offered for the loss of our holiday. I won’t take the risk a second time.
Julia Wilkie
Cruises are for us! We only unpack once. Five-star accommodation is guaranteed every night, and transportation is hassle-free. Most importantly, we have experienced so much. We watched five species of whales and experienced penguins on an Antarctica expedition cruise. In the Arctic we saw massive icebergs, polar bears walking on ice floes and learned from the Inuit. Baltic and Mediterranean cruises provide a fascinating collage of ancient history, while the Panama Canal and Caribbean was a fun and exhilarating party experience. The end of each day brings us to an outstanding dining experience and dancing to the live band.
Pat and Dan Howard