Several articles in your Spring issue pointed out to me just what a small world we live in. First was Malcolm Bell's piece about Whistler with a mention of Stein Eriksen and then Annemarie Gates' salute to Connie Spiers. If you can handle a little more nostalgia, I can connect the two.

I've been an avid skier for more than 65 years. In the fall of my last year at university in Seattle (early 60s), I attended a John Jay ski film with the captain of the ski team, Des Mathis. The last half of the film was of Stein Eriksen skiing on the Tasman Glacier in New Zealand. As we were walking out, I said, "How'd you like to go down there and ski?" Over the next week, I found myself frequently thinking about that idea; weighing that option against carrying on for a Master's degree or accepting a rather interesting job in Los Angeles. Finally, without introducing the topic, in the middle of a handball rally with Des, I said, "Were you serious?" He'd been giving it some thought too, evidently, because he immediately knew what I was talking about and said "Sure".

This new prescription cure is virtually unheard of within the medical community, yet it is destined to become one of the most desirable medicines in modern times. I feel it is so promising that it alone deserves a separate article in this issue. The side effects for many people are little to none, though some people are wired or experience vivid and lucid dreaming. The drug is called low-dose naltrexone (www.lowdosenaltrexone.org) or LDN for short. It is a promising new drug in many fields from cancer to autoimmune diseases to HIV/AIDs to even Central Nervous System Disorders to the likes of Alzheimer’s and ALS. So how could a simple drug originally intended to combat alcohol and heroin addiction come to have such a broad positive response to a full spectrum of illnesses all at once? The answer lies in the way it works, which is akin to a person wearing ear plugs

Recently, I came across a reference to a “designated advocate for pedestrians”, in relation to a transportation committee in Vancouver. I found this term both powerful and intriguing at the same time.

On the one hand, the concept of an advocate representing citizens on a council committee suggests an acceptance for the voice of the people in civic decisions, pretty powerful stuff. This is especially amazing since the above citizens group was not business owners, cyclists, dog walkers or any myriad of self-defined “community” interests. No, this group represents pedestrians. Why, that’s almost all of us!

The intriguing part is that municipal government is, by definition, composed of representatives of the people for the purpose of serving the people. Why then, would council appoint someone to advocate for the people? Is that not what they should be doing all along?

Transitioning to the Rest of Your Life

Prepared by Doreen Gregson,
CLU, CH.F.C., CFP, CSA, VP-Raymond James Financial Planning Ltd.

By 2036, the number of Canadians over age 65 is expected to swell to as much as 10.9 million*. That’s a lot of us, dreaming about retirement over the next 25 years. While many are dreaming, very few have taken the time and effort to really specify what those dreams look like – and how to get there.

Your retirement could include travel (both near and far), higher education, long days spent on hobbies, charity work, downtime with children and grandchildren, and so much more. Your lifestyle can be as simple or as sophisticated as your dreams and assets allow. The important thing to remember is it’s your retirement, and it needs to be designed around you.

But… What Will I do?

Our Native Plant Garden on Lions Bay Avenue is primarily an example of how to encourage the restoration of the original biodiversity of the area. We suggest to all of you with gardens here how beautiful  many of our native plants are. We have newly planted some and protected others which were already there on the site. Perhaps we can suggest to our residents how a few hours of weeding out invasive plants encroaching on the perimeters of their properties and re-planting ferns and other plants that naturally belong there can be a big contribution to this community which we could all be proud of.

We are all bound to be aware of the popular term 'Greening' and how it is being encouraged world-wide where ever possible. This garden is not a park or a playground - rather an area where a handful of people at a time (i.e., children from our school with an instructor and a parent) or any adults who might choose to learn more about how they can help to green our village.