- COMMUNITY ‘EVENTS B2. STEPHANIE WIEBE summer ountry, - do,’ ' The lost art of loafing T’S TAKEN me nearly four decades of summers to stum- .. ble upon the perfect vacation. I realized this recently while ‘listening to my friends talk about their | holiday plans, One friend counted. the hours she’ll spend waiting ~ with three fidgety children, both in-flight - and at various airports, to get-to her destination. Another mapped out a com- "plicated web of hot pavement he’ li soon smanoeuvre in a mini-van. to travel cross: ‘And: me?. Alter picturing’ my friends. ‘apped i in choked traffic snarls and: heatéd airport line-ups, I was relieved to recount y. own plans. I’m doing absolutely noth- - This. summer, I plan to find a shady .. place to park myself and then sit perfectly Still. Better yet, I’il-lie. down. The impor- lant thing is, I won’t DO anything. “Doing nothing has long been ignored as a worthy pastime, These days, people “seem to feel as though they have to be ‘constantly doing something — playing volleyball, taking Karate classes, or tour: . ing r French Tésorts.~ , -Tt’s-time we gave some serious thought tor loafing. “There’s a lot more to it than .. - meets the eye, you know. When your body goes slack, your mind turns inward ~-and- backward. You can mentally step . back from the planet and digest your life, & something most of us rarely ‘take time to truths that are ruphr ta mind by a good bout of shiftlessness. You can ponder the * way. the trains sound different at night. oo Figure" out why Aunt Martha was so _srabby when you were a kid. Snicker to. yourself because the phone company sud- denly wants to make friends now. - Dedicated navel-gazers know ' serlous slothing. takes more -than a sofa and remote control. how, ing. ‘The world looks new ‘from a horizontal view. An honest stretch of sluggishness is as bracing as a trip to the moon, yet the only effort you’ve made is to park your- + «self like a spud, _. There was once a time when our society was much better at genuine summer leisure,.We once had common backyard fixtures built for the sole purpose of lying around - — hammocks, porch swings, and padded Chaise lounges. more, And very few people have porches, ' let: ‘alone porch swings, And while I’ve ' ‘seen the odd. chaise lounge around town, . I?ve yet to catch anyone lounging’ in one. “By and large, the world today is a far moré fevered place than it used to be, Today we live longer: and have more |. : leisure’ time on our hands than any pre-!. J vious generation, but-we’re compelled to" | “fil every minute of it with activity. When * , ‘It comes to doing nothing, many of us are ’ ata complete loss. We simply don’ tknow ;; “Not that we don’t try. Some people. a make a respectable effort at it by watch- “ Ing-t.v., which 1s not quite doing nothing; - ‘Is actually doing something. You might ~ say it’s the lazy man’s way of doing noth- But dedicated navel-gazers. know that. serious slothing takes more than a sofa and a remote control, It takes all of a wide sky and a stark, white calendar square. It: takes open time and space, enough. for. . you to lic back and let the afternoon drift by-in a comfortable haze. ‘You should try it. Just find ‘yourse atch’ of grass.’ The rest is easy. ‘have. her” Of Terrace and Kitimat: residents, ‘a local’ elderly woman. now has 1¢ freedom” to enjoy’ activities “Moost of us take for granted. - Sandy Norman's 85-year-old |. mother Alice Sleeth is a cardiac _~ patient who suffers from arthritis, ard has trouble moving around, Two years ago, the possibility “of ‘getting a wheelchair seemed “remote because she is on a ‘fixed _income, and doesn’t get Canada. - Pension. Norman's mother lives with her daughter and her family, but after purchasing her necessities like a bath chair and a walker, they couldn’t afford a wheelchair, The only other medical as- ' sistance they could receive was temporary. ; “Then my daughter Holly Ann heard about how if you collect pull tabs (off aluminum pop cans) | ‘you could get a wheelchair,’’ says Norman. The BC, Lions Society. for . Children with Disabilities collects pull ‘tabs from ‘all over the pro- vince. They then sell the tabs, which are pure aluminum, and use the money to buy wheelchairs ‘for disabled children-and adults. - -I€ someone wants a wheelchair ‘from the society, he or slie has to ‘apply and be put on a waiting. list. | . Then the Lions review the ‘list to’. ” decidé who should r receive je wheel- . But ‘Norman “didn't want her mother to wait.an indefinite peri, od of time ona list. - “My mother finds it very dif- ficult to even go-for a walk or go shopping, It was-such a shame with ‘the nice weather outside to housebound, ;She doesn’t have that much time left, aie eT want her to enjoy ier: . - So.she and her family decided to collect the pull tabs on. their TERRACE STANDARD BECAUSE: of the | genierous ‘help : “ ‘own. ‘They were told they n needed * approximately a ton to raise enough money fora wheelchair, ° Holly started collecting pull “tabs in earnest. Then the neigh- -bours’ children started saving them, the legion contributed a large bag, and the pulf tabs started tomountup. The family was saving them in Sleeth’s room and she joked that every day the pile grew. laxger. “Twas wortied they were going to squeeze me out of my bedroom,”’ jokes Sleeth. Two schools from Kitimat — Nechako Blementary and Mount _. Elizabeth — also heard about the quest for a wheelchair, and con- tributed a lange amouut of tabs. “Tt's been a real community ef- ’ fort,” says Norman. Finally Norman joined forces . with Shirley and Graham Mid- dieton, the owners of the Terrace Bottle Depot, The Middletous had been col- ‘Tecting the pull tabs on their own, and had amassed a large number, which’ they added to the’ Norman’s tabs, Still, it- wasn’t anywhere near the amount the ' BAC. Lions: Society had specified. © _ ABSo we: just advanced her the - _ money for the wheelchair,” says.” ‘ Shirley - Middleton. - “Tt would have ‘taken all summer to fuen that many tabs"): - Her. husband © Graham had: 2 struggled with cancer in the past, © ~and “received help . when. he. . needed it Shirley says they are. both glad to give. something t back to the community. ye . + “T-can’t see why she (Alice : Sleeth) should have to stay in the ‘house_all the time,'” says Shirley.» ' “She deserved to have a wheel-. chair.”? ‘With the -donatiga din ‘the’ ‘Middletons, Satidy Norman: Was: able to bay a a basic model $450 - ALICE SLEETH ed a new wheelchair two weeks ago, after: her family and ths community joined togather to ralsa money. . “ference, ” she says. “eq just want ‘to thank everyone for all the help . they gave us.’?. ; “