Yes, I have my vaccination passport.
I’m proud to say I’ve kept my little yellow booklet safe since 1971. It’s approved by the World Health Organization and documents my smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, and typhoid vaccinations. I made sure to keep my vaccinations up to date so the countries I wanted to visit would let me in.
In 1989, I got another little yellow booklet, this time from Health and Welfare Canada. It documents these vaccinations: polio, tetanus, diphtheria, typhoid booster, Immune Serum Globulin (against hepatitus A, measles, chickenpox, rubella), rabies, Adenovirus (ADV, against Acute Respiratory Disease, or ARD), and Twinrix (against Hepatitus A & B).
I’m especially happy for my polio vaccination. When I was born, it had not yet been invented. My grandfather had polio and spent most of his life severely crippled.

He was not alone. Between 1949 and 1954, polio paralyzed about 11,000 people in Canada, many of them children; 1953 alone saw nearly 9,000 cases and 500 deaths.

Polio came to Canada in 1910, and stayed until 1994. The Canadian Public Health Association tells the story at cpha.ca/story-polio.
And now, my two Moderna vaccinations against Covid-19 are documented in a QR code on my cell phone. I am happy to show my new passport when required; I am glad to do my part in the fight against the novel coronavirus and its army of mutants.

Why would anyone hesitate to get this vaccination when its health risks are so few compared to those that come with getting Covid? It puzzles me. But I have learned not to argue about it. The disease of “knowing” seems to have gripped many of our minds.

I’ll let Mark Twain have the last word: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

SENIORS’ EMERGENCIES
This is a life-or-death topic: Medical Emergencies in Seniors. A video-conference is to offer life-saving information about the most common medical emergencies that seniors and caregivers can face, and how to handle them. The Zoom is planned for Wednesday, September 15, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
“Knowledge is power, and the more we know, the quicker and better we can act.”
So says the presenter, Jennifer Hobbs-Robert. She is senior advisor at the Jeffery Hale Community Partners in Quebec City, and has a Master’s degree in nursing. The JHCP is a community organization that promotes health and well-being among the English-speaking population in the Quebec City region.
To sign up and get the Zoom link, quickly contact Michelle Lepitre at ml@townshippers.org.
SEX TALKS
Two workshops entitled Talking about Sexuality are planned for the coming two Fridays via Zoom, from 12 to 1 p.m. The interactive lunchtime talks are led by Gabrielle Joncas-Brunet, consultant and educator for consent culture, sexual health, and gender diversity.
The topic on September 17 is Gender and Sexual Diversity, and on September 24, Emotional/Sexual Autonomy and Sexual Decision-making. Gabrielle will offer answers to your burning questions and explore what impacts our autonomy, our decision-making process, and how we can bring more intentionality and well-being into our lives.
To register and receive the Zoom link for the workshops, contact Michelle Lepitre in advance at ml@townshippers.org.
POET D.G. JONES
“For the mind in time / is a perishing bird, / It sings and is still.” That’s from “The Perishing Bird,” a poem by Douglas Gordon Jones, in which he likens human thought to an ecosystem that contains birds, bees and butterflies. The poem can be found in The Essential D.G. Jones, published in September 2016, some six months after he died. It was the last of his 12 books of poetry.
Jones was one of Canada’s great lyric poets, and he’s ours – a Townshipper who lived in North Hatley and taught at both Bishop’s University and the Université de Sherbrooke. He also co-founded the bilingual literary journal, Ellipse; the only literary periodical in Canada to offer reciprocal translations of both English and French Canadian poetry. He received two Governor General’s Awards, one in 1978 for poetry and one in 1993 for translation.
A “literary ramble” at the D.G. Jones Writing Cabin, 120 Houghton Street, is on Sunday, September 26, at 4 p.m., with the kind permission of his widow, Monique Baril-Jones. Leading the visit will be Steve Luxton, poet in residence at the Lennoxville Library. To join his half-hour talk, sign up in advance at bibliolennoxvillelibrary.ca/activities/ (scroll all the way down to “adult activities”), or call 819-562-4949. Participation is limited to 12 persons.
To see a video of Steve Luxton’s talk about Ralph Gustafson two weeks ago in Bury, visit artsunaean.ca.
CHURCHES
Anglican. Bishop Bruce Myers continues to offer Home Prayers at 4 p.m. (new time) Sundays on Facebook, and at quebec.anglican.ca (Worship Videos). Info: 819-887-6802, or quebec.anglican.ca.
United. Sunday services: September 19 is a Home Worship Service, and September 26 will be in-person worship (time and place TBD). Please bring proof of vaccines, and wear a mask while in the building. You will be asked to register as you enter, and ushered to your seat. Please bring your own sustenance/beverage to the service (no social time after). Offering plates will be at the door for those who would like to contribute. Paper and digital copies of the service will be available afterwards. Info: 819-452-3685; spiresta@hotmail.com; or United Eaton Valley Pastoral Charge (Facebook).
Baptist. In-person Sunday services are with Covid-19 protocols in place (distancing; masks can be removed when sitting down; wear masks when singing, etc.). The service is in French at 9 a.m., and in English at 11 a.m. Persons with flu symptoms are asked not to attend services. The pastor’s message is also available on YouTube: For the link, contact Pastor Michel Houle at 819-239-8818.
Do you have news to share? Call 819-300-2374 or email rawrites@gmail.com by September 20 for publication September 29 or by October 4 for October 13.