Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Random thoughts, musings, orphan ideas needing a home, and other writings that just didn’t want to fit into any other category

Happy Father’s Day!!

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Hi Folks:

Today is Father’s Day, and as such today we celebrate fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, as well as all of those men (and women) who have stepped in as surrogates to fill the roles left open for them. We salute you all. Being a dad isn’t an easy prospect…nor is it meant to be.

Today is a bittersweet day for us as both Marcia’s father and Mike’s dad passed away last year, within a couple of months of each other. As such we were struggling a bit to come up with a way to honour our dads and all that they’ve given us over the years. We came across the following poem from Terri St. Cloud and it says it better, perhaps, than we could:

honoring you

honoring you

We do our best, every day, to do just that. Embrace those you love, today and every day. Let them know how important they are to you!!

With love and hugs,
Grandy and Grandalf

Hidden (photo by Marcia)

P.S. We live in a society where people are fearful of death, and (unfortunately) where the last act for most people is toxic to the planet on which they lived their entire lives. There’s an interesting TED talk on the subject, here: When I die, recompose me

Hugs With Brad

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Hi Folks:

Well, it’s only mid-June but we’ve already done eight hugging sessions this year! We started on April Fool’s Day, after all. As we’ve mentioned, this is our 8th year of doing this, and so far we’ve hugged ambassadors from 57 countries (that we know of), including 21 countries so far this year! Every hug is unique and special to us, but we continue to have new experiences, like our first 3-time hugger, random hugging experiences (two strangers hugging each other, spontaneous group hugs, someone making an image of someone they don’t know hugging us, etc.)

In our last hugging session on Sunday we had two women tell us that they had already been hugged by someone else! Curious, we had to check this out for ourselves, so one at a time we went down along Wharf Street, around the corner onto Government and there we met Brad with his own Free Hugs sign! Such a treat! Brad’s been traveling to different places around the world, and wherever he goes he creates his own Free Hugs sign. At the end of each session he leaves the sign behind as incentive for someone else to pick it up and continue the tradition. We’re not sure how long Brad is in town, but we’d be more than happy to see him again and share more hugs!

Today is Victoria’s Ska & Reggae Festival, and last year it was our busiest hugging session of the year. We had line-ups of people wanting to share hugs… it was wonderful! Looking forward to a repeat this year. 🙂 Tomorrow is Car Free YYJ; maybe we’ll bring our posters down there as well! 😉

Remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!!

Hugs,
M&M

Just Singing, and Hugging… in the Rain!

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Hi Folks:

Last Saturday was our fourth Free Hugs session for 2017, and it also marked a number of firsts! Our usual procedure is to arrive at the Homecoming Memorial, doff extraneous gear, coats, etc, retrieve our Free Hugs posters from their tube, then Marcia assumes her (most glorious) hugging position while Mike makes a few images. That done we wait for the first huggers to arrive. The intervening time has ranged up to several minutes, but in our last few sessions we’ve broken records for the time it takes for our first hugger. At our last session we had someone stop within seconds of getting ready, and we joked that the only way to beat that would be for someone to show up before we were ready. Well, it happened! Not only did we have our first hugger arrive before Mike had a chance to make any photographs, we had someone waiting in the wings so to speak as well! After that surprise we joked that the only way to beat that record would be for people to be there waiting for us before we arrived!!
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Hoppy Easter Hugs!!

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Hi Folks:

Hoppy Easter Hugs, 2017

Hoppy Easter Hugs, 2017

Saturday of this past weekend was the second chance we had to go out hugging this year, and the weather was perfect – both for those out and about enjoying the day and for us! We were out for about 2½ hours and hugged people from an additional 5 countries! So far this year we’ve met hugging ambassadors from 15 countries – 56 countries in total over the 8 eight years we’ve been doing this. In addition to the hugs we continue to appreciate the smiles, the waves, bicycle bells, car beeps… even the neighs of the carriage horses! And this past Saturday another first, as one man came running forward, arms wide, and jumped up into Mike’s embrace, allowing himself to be spun around and around!! We do so love our hugging sessions. Continue Reading →

Hugging Fools

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Hi Folks:

As two fools for spring (and pretty much everything else), we thought it was appropriate we hold our first Free Hugs session on April 1. Truth be told, we had hoped to be out earlier but had to wait on the weather…we certainly had a perfect day for it!!

This is our eighth year of hugging Victorians (and others). Yesterday we hugged people from 10 countries; so far we’ve hugged people from 56 countries (that we know of). Every hug is unique and special, and we appreciate the stories from those who stop to share.  We also wanted to offer a shout out to our first huggers of the day (who arrived within 10 seconds of our unrolling the posters), the mass of hugs we received from the group touring from China, the little boy who is a self-professed hugger, the dog hugs (and face lick), the honks and waves from passing motorists and the carriage drivers, our favourite pedicab driver, the air hugs from across the street (and those who crossed the street to get hugs), the cyclists who stopped for hugs, and the best compliment of the day, from the man who said, “Thanks for helping to tear down the walls between us.” It all meant a lot.

Last year was our biggest hugging year ever. We’ll do our best to top it this year! So if you’re over by the Homecoming Statue at Ship Point and you see us there, stop by for a chat, a wave, a handshake and even a hug! Or two… 🙂

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. (to Stephanie, good luck with your thesis!!)

Group Hug

Group Hug

Happy Holidays!

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Hi Folks:

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Festivus, Solstice or Saturnalia, the arrival of Sinterklaas or Grandfather Frost, Hanukkah, Mawlid Un Nabi, Kwanzaa or something entirely personal, we send you love. Create an amazing 2017!!
 
 

Free Hugs on Black Friday

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Hi Folks:

Free hugs on Black Friday – the ultimate irony? Perhaps not, but we had fun anyway. It’s true we had a certain resemblance to the Michelin Man with the layers we were wearing and Marcia had to trade in her signature sun hat for a set of ear muffins but she was still as beautiful as always.

Free Hugs on Black Friday
The cruise ship season is over and being a weekday afternoon it wasn’t as busy a day as some we’ve had, but every hug we share is unique and special to us. Our thanks to everyone who stopped by Friday afternoon, all of the people who offered hugs, honks, waves, bicycle horn beeps and greetings… and special thanks to the three people who pulled over just for hugs!

We’ve never before done a Free Hugs session in November. Depending on the weather we may do another one next month; it’s about time to get that red suit back from the cleaners anyway. Remember to hug someone you love today. Or a stranger. Or, preferably, both!! 🙂

Hugs,
M&M