Why do we celebrate with cake?

I've been to several celebrations lately and they all served cake, ranging from a lovely sort of spice loaf to a pure white, very sweet vanilla slab, deeply covered in equally sweet white icing.  I wondered why we've chosen to celebrate with cake?  Why not with pie?  Or pudding?

Because I'm lazy, instead of searching for an answer in my brain, I asked AI.  They (I'm not ready to give AI a gender) said: 

Abundance and prosperity: Historically, cakes were a luxury item because ingredients like sugar, fine flour, and butter were expensive. Serving a cake showed a family's wealth and status. The modern custom of serving cake still retains this association with celebration and abundance.

Togetherness: Sharing a cake strengthens social bonds and fosters a sense of unity. Cutting and distributing slices represents a communal sharing of happiness with friends and family.

The sweetness of life: As a sweet treat, cake has long symbolized the joy and goodness of life. Its presence helps evoke positive emotions and create a festive atmosphere.

Centrepiece of the celebration: The decorative and often elaborate nature of cakes makes them the focal point of a party. The act of gathering around a cake—singing and making a wish—is a cherished moment that creates lasting memories.  

Looks like AI is lazy too.   These are all true but still beg the question - why cake instead of pie or pudding?  So I did search my brain - I think it's  because if 50 people show up instead of the 30 you expected, you can just cut the pieces smaller.

Happy beginning of autumn!

Naked Ladies (BY DANIELLE)

 Because my husband had not yet inserted his hearing aids, I announced, rather too
loudly, “The naked ladies are back!” The priest in his cassock at the church across the
street and quite a few neighbours looked up and then down to the corner of the street.
Some context. Naked ladies are fall crocuses which appear in the fall without the
greenery that first comes up in the spring - without the blooms. They are a sure
harbinger of autumn. And so is the Roncesvalles Polish festival which appears at the
end of my street with the loudest polka bands and the smelliest porta potties for a
weekend each fall --that feels like a month. I am sure my neighbours (and the priest)
thought that the band had brought some lively female entertainment. But no. They were
still Rolling Out the Barrel but hadn’t added to the melee on the street in quite that way.
Now I am not one to complain (oh, please! I certainly am. I even taught kids how to do
it!) but my preference is definitely for the quiet fall flowers over the polka bands every
time. Meanwhile, once he has adjusted his hearing (probably turning it off all together)
my husband and I will stroll down Roncesvalles in search of what our neighbours tell us
are the perfect pierogies. I hope everyone is having a happy autumn weekend. The
weather is glorious, whatever your preferences.

Let's Hear It For "Joyspan" BY BARB

 

We have all heard/read (ad nauseum?) about "healthspan" how to live longer, eat healthier, exercise, engage in all those cognitive activities - but what if you do all of that, and yes, you should live longer, but what if life is just not that much fun? Or as the renowned gerontologist, Dr. Kerry Burnight writes:  "Joyspan, or the experience of well-being and satisfaction in longevity, matters because without it, long life is a drag.”

I will admit, finding the joy in aging, with our sometimes sneaky health issues , often appearing out of nowhere, requires some effort.  But as a group, we find invaluable support in dealing with whatever shows up as we try to embrace - and be thankful for -  each new day. However, Dr. Burnight identifies 4 non-negotiable actions we need to embrace to support and sustain our "joyspan" - here they are: 

1. We need to grow, through exploration, curiosity, and a willingness to learn new things.  "Exploration" - don't you just love that word!  Many of us are quite fortunate to be able to travel, and literally explore many corners of our world.  And Mahjong anyone? 

2. We need to adapt and change as our circumstances change, which is a normal experience in all of human life, regardless of our age. Yes indeed  - where to start?? 

3. We need to give something to others, no matter the size or value. In abundance, I'd say.........look at all the volunteering....

4. We need to connect, underscoring the scientifically proven importance of social engagement for healthy aging.  Too rainy to walk.....coffee instead....yes please! 

Here's to our individual and collective joyspan! 

From:  Joyspan:  The Art of Living and Thriving in Life's Second Half", by Dr. Kerry Burnight, 2025. 

Beauty in the eyes of this beholder…(BY DIANE)

 I recently had cataract surgery and am entranced by the clarity and depth of the world I can now see
without glasses. What beauty surrounds us, even in these trying days!
Speaking of beauty, I was looking around me this morning at our post walk picnic at B’s place and
thinking how beautiful all my wonderful walking friends are, both individually and as a group. I don’t
mean the movie star, glossy and toned kind of superficial beauty. I mean the beauty of character, lived experience, intelligence and compassion. We have, over time, shared every kind of life-story – joy and sorrow, comedy and drama, hope and loss. It is a balm to my soul to have the collective ‘shoulder’ of the group to lean on when I need it. And it is a joy to share the good times like this morning, when the weather is gorgeous, the baked goods are delicious, Pyper is feeling better and we are all together.
I like this quote from C.S. Lewis:
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
So, to all you beautiful TPW women, I thank you for making me realize that I am not the only one!

Stratford (BY PHILIPPA)

I love going to the Stratford Festival during the summer months and August 23 was a two play day for me which is the reason I was not out walking with the TPW group on Saturday.  Taking the bus is an easy way to get there (though if anyone has not heard my story of the evening bus that departed Stratford at 11 pm but due to a closure of the 401 Highway, didn’t arrive back in Toronto until 4:15(!) in the morning – be warned!)

 

The matinee was a performance Forgiveness: A Gift From My Grandparents (based upon the book of the same name).  It’s the story of Mark Sakamoto’s grandparents; his grandmother (on his father’s side) raised on the B.C. coast, then relocated during the Second World War to a Japanese internment camp in Alberta and his grandfather (on his mother’s side), born on the Magdalen Islands, and a POW in a Japanese prison camp.  You can see the problem: a Japanese/Canadian grandmother badly treated by Canadians and a Scottish/Canadian grandfather badly treated by the Japanese; the first with a son, the second with a daughter, who grow up and fall in love.  It’s a remarkable story about our history and the gift these two people who were so badly treated during their lives, were able to give to their children, that all Canadians should see.

 

The evening performance was a new play by Erin Shields called Ransacking Troy.  It has an all female cast of incredibly strong actors and, to quote the synopsis: “imagines a less testosterone-fuelled conclusion [to the Trojan War], in which the women of Greece – tired of waiting for their husbands to return from war – stage an intervention of historical proportions…Up against bloodthirsty warriors, mystical beasts and the capricious will of the gods, these women vow not to be mere footnotes in tales of men”.

It is funny (with the women’s descriptions of men) and smart (about the world they live in) and so powerful in the play’s understanding of our human predilection for warfare.

 

And how fitting is that for 2025 and the times we are in???