I know I am a day early but with this Friday being Good Friday and I have some family coming into town, I decided to get the blog out of the way. (Hey, I wouldn’t want having to read my pointless ramblings to get in the way of your long weekend plans either.)
As I might have hinted last time out (who remembers?), my Mom and I ended up heading to our old home town of Glencoe. We stopped out at the cemetery to see where my Dad and sister are buried. (We have to come back to do some cleaning up on the family gravestone so we might be headed back that way in the next couple of weeks.)
We also drove down the main street of Glencoe. (You probably remember my post of “Glencoe – Still there!” earlier this week.) It’s funny because when I was growing up in Glencoe, I probably imagined myself leaving the town in the rear view the first minute I could. When I visit Glencoe now, whether it’s just going out to the cemetery or the Glencoe Fair Parade or the Town-Wide Yard Sale, I don’t run into a lot of people that I know. (I get the odd person who I see and think “He/She looks familiar but damned if I know who they are.”) The town looks, as an old friend of mine used to say “exactly the same but completely different.” You see the buildings and you remember that it was Nelm’s Pharmacy when you were growing up but it’s a Godfather’s Pizza now or how the Legion is now a Taekwondo place. Still, going to Glencoe still feels like coming home again. For better or for worse, the town shaped the person I am.
A few years before we moved back in 2004, I remember thinking that Glencoe would be a good place to retire. With all the work my folks have done on the house in Thamesford, I’d hate to leave it, especially with easy access to the east side of London, Ingersoll, Woodstock (I could not leave the One-of-A-Kind Antique Mall behind!) and even Stratford and Tillsonburg.
Speaking of retiring, I have not! The job search continues. I have to admit, I was getting a little discouraged a couple of weeks ago because it seemed there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot out there that I was able to apply for. However, the last couple of weeks has seen a number of new job postings so I’ve been able to put some more irons in the fire. I also met with Samantha at Community Employment Services at the Thamesford Library. (Couldn’t beat the commute.) I have worked with CES before and they’ve always been very helpful. I’m hopeful that trend will continue and they will point out any job-hunting tactics and tips I might have missed.
On Monday, we also stopped by the offices of Shelf Life Magazine in London to see Paul, the editor and publisher. The April/May 2026 issue of Shelf Life is out. You can pick it up at the Thamesford Library (I dropped copies off before my meeting with CES) and the usual locations in London. I’ve updated the Shelf Life website with excerpts from the issue. This is Shelf Life’s 28th anniversary issue and, as always, a great tool to find out all abut “the best in books.”
Normally I end my blog posts with a reminder that you can always reach out via Facebook Messenger with a text or voice message to let me know your thoughts on anything discussed above – or just a check-in. However, with this being Easter Weekend, I’ve decided to leave social media behind. This is not to discourage you from dropping me a line (you can also email me) but just a heads-up that I might not respond until next Tuesday. Meanwhile, I hope that everyone has a safe and happy weekend.
johnmilner.ca 