By Vivian Collings
In this week’s upcoming issue of County Life, Janet Trull called this month No-vember in her piece called November calendar. That is my sentiment, exactly.
Let’s be honest; if you live in Canada, November is … the worst month.
We’ve been lucky up until this week, but, it’s usually cold, it rains and snows, trees are bare and brown, stores close earlier, and the sun goes down before many of us can get home from work.
Birds, both the ones with feathered wings and the “snow birds” with timeshares in Florida, fly south in No-vember.
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta didn’t sing about “November Nights,” they sang, happily, about Summer Nights, even though the former has alliteration and is nicer to say.
Actually, the only song I know written about this month is November Rain. Have you heard it? It’s eight minutes too long (sorry Guns N’ Roses fans) and pretty bleak, so, I guess, it’s a good representation of the month.
I think there are plenty of things we can focus on, though, to appreciate November, especially while living in the Highlands.
November is also “Movember;” men’s health month.
The average life expectancy for Canadian men is 80 years old, while the average for Canadian women is 84 years old.
This is for a number of reasons. Men may be more reluctant to speak about their health or seek help when they feel unwell. This has led to a lack of awareness in health issues that men face.
There is still a harmful stigma around men’s mental health.
November is important because the Movember Foundation is trying to change unhealthy ways of thinking about men’s health. They fund cancer programs, mental health, and education programs.
You can visit ca.movember.com to learn more about how the foundation is using the month of November to advocate for men’s health.
Another important part of November is Remembrance Day. Veterans’ Week was last week, and I was lucky enough to get to speak with some local veterans.
One of those veterans was Haliburton local Ed Burke. He told me about his incredible travels to countless countries while serving, for over 30 years, in the Canadian Intelligence Corps.
He shared story after story, and I could have listened all night.
That brings me to my next point: There is so much to do in Haliburton County moving in to the cold months.
I met and spoke to Ed at the Haliburton Branch 129 Legion during the weekly Meat Draw on a Friday night.
The Meat Draw really is a great social gathering place to meet and speak with so many incredible people.
Another gig that will also be happening every Friday night is Tacos and Tunes. The Ya Babys will be playing at Castle Antiques and tacos will be served by Poquito Loco.
Camp Camexicanus has been working hard on a production of School of Rock and will be performing it at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavillion starting on Wednesday, Nov. 23. Visit www.camexicanus.ca to purchase tickets.
Santa Claus parades will be upon us in a few days. How exciting is that?
This week, our Winter Guide will be out on news stands, highlighting all of the fun things to do for the next few months.
November is only as dull as we let it be. Yes-vember doesn’t have the same ring, but let’s make sure we push ourselves to get out and say yes to everything it has to offer.
