Friday, December 25, 2009

Lohbado Chistmas


On behalf of dreaming man and the multiplicity of dispersed spirits, we wish you a very Lohbado Christmas and a Morono New Year. December 25, 2009, Kent Avenue, happened on Friday. As everyone on this street knows, Friday is garbage day.

What better way to celebrate Christmas than to put out garbage for the crows and then to hurry down to the strip mall and buy a twelve-pack of spring water! That's precisely what I did. Of course, the garbage trucks won't be by today. The workers are celebrating Christmas or a day off with family and friends, or enjoying a quiet time.

I slept in until about 9:45 AM. There were no loud banging footsteps from the apartment above the bedroom at 6:30 AM. Even unemployed people are awakened early in the morning, Monday to Friday, as people hurry off to work. Therefore, a holiday feels like a holiday, even when you don't have a job.

After breakfast, I went out for coffee. While walking down Kent Avenue, I paused to observe the spectacle of crows enjoying Christmas dinner. I was too tired to run back and get the camera. It's a scene I won't forget, about a hundred crows, digging into city-regulation black plastic garbage bags. I watched a couple crows taking turns to peck through plastic, and yank out strands of spaghetti. Many crows cruised up and down the street. A crowd of crows sat in the branches of trees towering above power lines.

The strip mall cafe was quite crowded. A customer announced in a loud voice that he drank a lot and got quite excited on Christmas Eve. I popped in the earplugs, read a book and enjoyed a cheap cup of coffee, that's a bit hard on the stomach, and doesn't taste so great, but it's cheap. After coffee I gave money to the panhandler who often sets up his gear near on the walkway of the strip mall. He travels with a pair of cross country skis, sometimes wears a helmet. I wished him a Lohbado Christmas and he blessed me for giving him spare change.

Feeling good after being blessed, I went into the chain store to buy a pack of spring water. I didn't need a pack of spring water, but I figured, if the store goes to the trouble of staying open on Christmas day, the least I could do, as a small token of appreciation for their effort, would be to go in a buy something. I felt like obtaining a lot of volume, maximum product for minimum money. The packs of spring water fit the bill. For $ 2.79 I got twelve plastic bottles.

I went home, please with the deal. Not only was it a good deal, but purchasing those bottles would enable me to support the recyclables industry. I feel bad that often my recyclables bucket has nothing more than flyers and maybe an empty yoghurt container or miscellaneous wrappers. I will be fitting in fine next recyclables day, when I place the twelve empty bottles in the bucket. That way, I can be a regular consumer, getting a lot for very little, to obtain that rich and momentary feeling of satiation. I can also feel moral, like I'm part of the save the earth campaign. I'm doing my duty like a good citizen in buying a lot of plastic to put in the bucket, to show how much I care. At the same time, I'm supporting the corporation that produces the little bottles of water. In other words, I felt like a real Lohbado.

Happy Christmas to people of all religions and non-beliefs!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In Mayan mythology, the crow is sometimes known as "The Bird Who Cleans the World" in recognition of its importance as a recycler. For the Chinese, however, the crow is a very bad omen. In Nunavik, the only birds I have consistently seen, whether for good or bad, are crows. Chris