Probably for Canadian Eyes/Ears only.

I was getting ready to go to the Optometrist yesterday morning to have my eyes checked and I thought I was having trouble with my ears when I heard something announced on the radio. It took me a second or two to process what I heard and figure out what the problem was. The announcer gave CBC's postal code as "Mangle 5 Words, 1'll Enunciate 6"!!! What is the world coming too? Everyone knows that the postal code is "Make 5 Wieners, 1"ll Eat 6"! Arthur Black told us this was so didn't he? Oh the world, or at least the CBC, it is a changin'.

We are CBC radio fans at our house and always have been. What a national treasure it is. I wouldn't care if we lost CBC TV, but would really feel sad if we had to go without CBC radio. It is truly Canadian and ties us together from coast to coast to coast. So many times AC and I have listened to something, only to shake our heads and turn to each other in fits of laughter and say "Only on the CBC!" We have our radio dial set to it in the car, in the kitchen, in the bedroom and with a little effort, we can even tune in up at Riverwood. Yes, we search for it on the radio dial wherever we go.

I must say it was disappointing when The Royal Canadian Air Farce and Double Exposure moved from the radio to TV. Both programs lost something when that happened. It was so much better when we could just listen to the humour and let our imaginations do the rest, rather than have the cast do some phoney sight gags. It was never as good on TV as when it played only in my mind's eye.

Other sweet memories are those of Alan Maitland reading The Shepherd on Christmas Eve; Stuart McLean regaling us with Dave's antics cooking the Christmas turkey or his visit to Polly Anderson's Christmas party; Barbara Frumm's classic interviews on As It Happens, such as the one with the nearly deaf man who kept saying "Ay? What did you say?" no matter how loudly she spoke. Each question got louder and louder but he still couldn't hear her. She kept repeating herself and ended up laughing uncontrollably while we laughed right along with her. I also remember the interview Barbara did with the lady who couldn't stop sneezing. The poor woman sneezed throughout the entire interview, and when Barbara asked her what she found to be the most difficult thing to deal with when you couldn't stop sneezing. In a very dignified British accent the lady answered after much thought "Well, achoo it makes it almost impossible achoo to go to the achoo theatre!" It was just too funny.

Oh, and I can't talk about the CBC without mentioning Peter Gzowski and his Morningside program. What a window on Canada that was. His program introduced me to Canadian writers, musicians and everyday heroes from all across the country. He made me laugh and cry and feel very proud to be Canadian. I remember standing in the kitchen with tears streaming down my face when I heard Shirley Eikhard sing Emily Remembers, a song about loving someone with Alzheimer's. Another day while I was driving the car I had to pull over because I was laughing so hard I couldn't drive. It was the day Peter and Stuart got into a laughing fit over the dead cricket!!! Do you remember that one? Oh my, it makes me laugh still.

Well, I guess that is enough of a walk down memory lane for tonight. Let me just end by asking you this question - Do you know how far you are from Redding?