This morning’s trip to the [[Charlottetown Farmer’s Market]] will forever be remembered as the day that [[Oliver]]’s social life exceeded mine in breadth and depth.

This was to be expected of course: I’m not exactly a social butterfly. I’m more like a “nerd hermit” most of the time, save for those rare occasions when I put on my dancing shoes and rock out. (Okay, that’s never happened, but there’s always hope…)

So this morning at the market Oliver simply decided that he would no longer be held back by my social reticence, and plunged into the crowds on his own ([[Catherine]] is afraid that I let him out of my sight; I didn’t).

Things began with a hearty hello in the parking lot to Maggie Brown and son (I’ve been living here for 13 years now, and this is the first time Maggie Brown and I have every exchanged a hello, so Oliver is also proving a useful catalyst for my own social growth).

Moving inside he began with conversations with [[Ann]] and David. Then along came [[Karin]] and Haida. He then moved on to an extended conversation with fiber artist Lynn Douglas (he had seen a picture of her work earlier in the morning and wanted to discuss it with her).

In the middle of all this there was a casual shout out to his friend Lily from kindergarten.

Next it was into the seating area for a talk with Jenni Zelin (mother of Oliver’s occasional friend Noah) and CBC’s Laura Chapin.

Before leaving for the day Oliver stopped to discuss his podcast with Cynthia.

Meanwhile, I ate a bagel with smoked salmon.

Sigh.

Last year I set up a simple Drupal-based website for my friend [[Art Rhyno]]’s family’s newspaper, the Essex Free Press. Art’s wife Laurie Brett’s family is celebrating 110 years of ownership of the Free Press this year; for a family business to remain vital for so long is a testament to a lot of dedication, and they deserve a collective tip of the hat (send congratulations here if you like!).

Another client, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, will publish their 215th consecutive edition this year.

Perhaps we should narrow our business focus and work only for “venerable institutions?”

If you do the math, it’s clear that making the rounds of the New Years Day levees provides a good vector for the transmission of communicable illnesses: I must have shaken 100 hands on Sunday, and each of those had shaken 200 or 300 other hands already. I think this means, from an epidemiological perspective, that I’ve indirectly shaken hands with most of the people in Charlottetown.

It seems inevitable that some of those people are carrying bacteria or viruses, and that some of those bacteria or viruses made their way to me.

Or at least it sure seemed that way yesterday when I was parked in front of the couch with a wicked sore throat, chills, and a touch of headache.

Fortunately I seem to have bounced back today, which suggests that this is a short-lived disease, easily recovered from (I took G.’s recommendation and slept most of yesterday, which surely helped).

So as I type this I’m wading through a post-sickness delirium, not quite sure how to put together cogent sentences. But the end is near.

Reminder for 2007: Purell.

From my friend [[Leah Tremain]] comes a pointer to StoryCorps, a National Public Radio project “to instruct and inspire people to record each others’ stories in sound.” Neato.

On Monday night [[Catherine]] decided to go to the movies, leaving [[Oliver]] and I to our own devices. Unable to watch Frosty The Snowman another time, and without sufficient energy to properly engage the [[Little People]], of course we decided to record a podcast. This is the result.

We’re both particularly fond of the opening theme. There’s a big jump in volume about 1/3 of the way in — I think I hit the wrong slider in Sound Studio during post-production.

Oliver hits his stride with the telling of the apple picking story.

Our colleague [[Ian Williams]] from the New York Office gives the official U.S. position on the Zap Your PRAM delay; in part:

This was a fascinating thing to do, in my opinion. Tessa called it very Taoist. I’m so used to forcing things to happen, like the Jartaculars or other random events, that I would never contemplate calling anything off. The fire in my belly is self-generating and seemingly inextinguishable, and I’m always afraid that if I don’t make something happen, suddenly “not making something happen” would be okay, and then nothing would ever happen again.

Remember the levees? Parkdale Doris does.

By the way, if you’re near a computer in the early morning this week, you can listen to [[Steve]] hosting the morning show on CBC Radio One in Montreal (click on the ‘listen live’ link here) — 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time. Special bonus: they have they same horrible theme music as Island Morning.

As explained here, we’ve decided to delay the next episode of the Zap Your PRAM conference.

Yesterday — January 2, 2006 — was a weird day, with half the world acting as if it were business as usual, and the other half staying home to take a “day in lieu of” because the January 1 holiday fell on a Sunday. So my colleagues at [[Yankee]] were at work and the Charlottetown Mall was open, but I was at home recovering from the levees, watching Sesame Street and foraging through the almost-empty chocolates boxes for a hint of something with caramel.

But that was the morning after the day before. On January 1, 2006, as is almost a “tradition” now (2004, 2005), my compatriots G., J. and P. came by the house at 10:00 a.m. for an early cup of coffee and a review of the levee schedule. By 10:15 a.m. we were in the truck and off to start our day.

Highlights of our tour this year:

• For the second year in a row, Andrew Sprague was nowhere to be seen. Do they have levees in Saint John?
• Leo Cheverie was, however, in exactly the same spot in the Charlottetown Hotel where I shook has hand in 2005.
• As usual, Wes MacAleer was everywhere. That man has bonhomie in spades.
• Hon. Shawn Murphy and his Conservative opponent in the federal election, Tom DeBlois, always seemed to be within 20 feet of each other every time we saw them. I hope they shook hands at least once.
• [[Tim Banks]] trailed me the entire day.
• The apple cider at Fanningbank hit the spot. Gone this year was the book at the exit, the signing of which was always purported to earn one an invitation to the “garden party” mid-summer. P. said he thinks the “garden party” is open to everyone now, so earning an invite ceased to have any cachet.
• We ran into Hon. Pat Binns in the line at Charlottetown City Hall. He shook my hand, and said “Happy New Year, Peter.” Which makes me think he actually knows my name. Obviously this means I’m either being targeted for assassination, or that I will be running against Richard Brown in District 12 in 2007.
• Leaving City Hall we took on C., a new member of the pack. She was dressed like a space warrior, which added a certain futuristic quality to our group.

• The folks at the Queen Charlotte Armories outdid themselves this year: the chowder had an extra snap, the band was hot, the yellow and black curtain/bunting wrapping the hall was fantastic, and the place was packed. This is definitely the mid-levee-day highlight.

• The “moose milk” at the Havilland Club seemed to pack an extra wallop this year.

• New this year was a stop at the Town of Stratford levee (P., J., and C. are all Stratfordians and so they felt the special pull of their kin). This was held at the Monster Town Hall (which is actually quite a pleasant, airy space). Mayor Kevin Jenkins was there with his council, there was wine and punch in abundance, and a nice collection of snacks laid out.
• The strip over the river meant that we missed HMCS Charlottetown’s levee. Next year.
• Our strategy of arriving early for the Premier’s levee at the Confederation Centre paid off again: we were in line at 2:25 (the official start time was 3:00), and so our time in line was quick, and the mountains of tasty foods were fresh and waiting for us.

I almost decided not to go out this year — post-Christmas fatigue and all. But P. called the night before, G. was intransigent, and so I was wooed. I’m glad. See in 2007.

Here, as best as I can determine, is the schedule for the levees in and around Charlottetown for January 1, 2006. Last year the UPEI levee started at 11:00 a.m. — can’t get anyone on the phone at UPEI today, and the clerk at the Rodd Charlottetown told me it starts this year at 10:30 a.m., so that’s the time I’ve listed.

It is remarkable, by the way, how little organizations use their websites to promote this sort of thing. Many of those listed below have whiz-bang websites with nifty calendars of events that haven’t been updated since the summer.

If you know any of the missing times, please post a comment, or contact me so I can update the table.

Updates:

• Added Seniors Active Living Centre
• Added start time for HMCS Queen Charlotte
• Added times Town of Cornwall