Connect with us
[the_ad id="89560"]

Community

Words that make me stop in my tracks

Published

6 minute read

By Glenn Kubish

I stop for words on the street.

Like the day a couple of summers ago on the 103 St bike lane in Edmonton when page 70 from Shaw’s Pygmalion lay face up on the asphalt.

Liza Doolittle Day!

I picked up the loose page and, standing over my bike, read the scene where Henry Higgins tells his mother he has picked up a girl.

Mrs. Higgins: Does that mean that some girl has picked you up?
Higgins: Not at all. I don’t mean a love affair.
Mrs. Higgins: What a pity!

I remembered how Shelagh shared her love of musicals when we met. Camelot. My Fair Lady. She taught me that West Side Story was Romeo and Juliet.

And like the day last summer in the north end when I pedalled across scattered pages from the Book of Psalms.

Old testimony

I stopped and retrieved Psalm 33: “The Lord frustrates the purposes of the nations; he keeps them from carrying out their plans.”

I smiled. Still in the news that week was criticism of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s retreat to St. Paul (not the city) as controversy swirled around his government’s practice of separating immigrant parents from their children.

“…There’s a sense I feel as an urban bicycle rider of reading the city as I pedal across its pages of blocks and along its illustrated parks. To combine that figurative reading with a literal reading is delicious…”

“I would cite to you the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes,” said Sessions to a room of law enforcement official in Indiana (Lord, I can’t go back there).

In Sessions’ retreat to the altar, critics caught the whiff of theocracy. In the sudden appearance of the Psalm 33 on the 82 St service road, I fancied I heard the Lord’s judgement of Sessions.

And like today on the 83 Ave bike lane on my way to Coffee Outside. There by the curb lay more words for the picking.

Paper chase

I doubled back for the stapled pages.

Hit return, retrieve

It was an academic paper from an unnamed student in Education 395 who wrote an abstract of an attached 12-page article, “What Do You Lose When You Lose Your Language (1996),” by Joshua Fishman. I put the article in my pannier and pedalled on.

Tonight, I read the article. Fishman, who I now know was an American linguist who taught the sociology of language, argues that language provides to a community a sense of sanctity, a sense of kinship and a sense of moral imperative.

“[L]iteracy,” Fishman writes, “provides a community or it creates access to communication across time and space. We can talk to people who are no longer alive through literacy.”

Fishman died in 2015. I met him today in Garneau.

Hello from Edmonton, Prof. Fishman

There is something unavoidable about stopping for words when I’m on my bike.

It’s easy. I’m already outside. Stopping for words would never work in an automobile.

Stopping strikes me as a duty. I was raised to revere books. I still do. The experience of reading a book is the experience of reading sound made to stand still in shapes on a page. Reading is still a time-defying thrill. It’s painful to see printed words that are, essentially, time machines into the past, blowing forlornly down the street.

There’s a sense I feel as an urban bicycle rider of reading the city as I pedal across its pages of blocks and along its illustrated parks. To combine that figurative reading with a literal reading is delicious.

In the end, I enjoy the serendipity of it all, especially in this world of recommendation algorithms that tell me if I read this book, I will like this one. When I encounter printed words on the street, I hear the wind say: take what blows in and make something from it!

Of course, I may be reading more into things than I should.

 

Originally published at http://glennkubish.blogspot.com on April 20, 2019.

Glenn Kubish, Author

Before Post

Todayville is an independently-owned digital media company. We specialize in helping community groups, local businesses and organizations tell their story. Our team has years of media and video production experience. Talk to us about advertising, brand journalism stories, opinion pieces, event promotion, or other ideas you have to make our product better. We also own and operate Todayville Red Deer and Todayville Calgary.

Follow Author

Community

Support local healthcare while winning amazing prizes!

Published on

When you purchase tickets for Red Deer Hospital Lottery and Mega Bucks 50, you do more than just play—you become part of something bigger. You help bridge the gap between what government funding provides and what your hospital truly needs to deliver exceptional care.


Your support helps fund state-of-the-art equipment that doctors and nurses need right now to care for patients across Central Alberta. While plans for the hospital expansion move forward, healthcare doesn’t wait. Patients in our community need access to life-saving technology today, and your generosity makes that possible. 


This year’s lottery will fund essential new and replacement equipment, ensuring your hospital can continue to serve the 500,000 people who rely on it. When you purchase your ticket, you’re investing in innovation, excellence, and a healthier future for Central Alberta. 
SUPPORT TODAY

Step into your Million Dollar Dream Home
by Sorento Custom Homes

Sorento Custom Homes, known for their fine craftsmanship, has continued the tradition of building an exceptional Hospital Lottery Dream Home, located at 128 Emmett Crescent in Red Deer’s Evergreen neighborhood.  This gorgeous bungalow features 2,824 sq ft of developed living space and showcases a tall, vaulted ceiling.

This outstanding home features a screened deck off the dining room, a large family room on the lower level, and of course, a beautiful primary suite. Sorento’s ensuites are always something to behold, and this one features a clawfoot tub. There’s an office on the main level, two bedrooms below, and a large fitness room that includes a two-person infrared sauna.

BUY NOW!

CHECK OUT OUR GREAT TICKET PACKAGES

1 for $20 • 8 for $100 15 for $150  30 for $250

BUY NOW!
MEGA BUCKS 50
Win half of an increasing jackpot of up to $500,000

DON’T FORGET!

$10 EACH | 10 FOR $25
25 FOR $50 | 50 FOR $75

GET YOUR TICKETS!
Thank you so much for your support, and best of luck in the draws.
CALL RED DEER & AREA OR TOLL FREE
403.340.1878      1.877.808.9005
Red Deer Hospital Lottery
Red Deer Hospital Lottery
PO Box 1098
Red Deer AB T4N 6S5

Lottery Licence #724321 | Mega Bucks 50 Licence #724322

© RED DEER HOSPITAL LOTTERY 2025
Continue Reading

Community

The 2025 Red Deer Hospital Lottery is here! Lower ticket prices!!

Published on

Red Deer Hospital Lottery is back, now with a lower ticket price and a whole lot of CASH to be won!

There’s never been a better time to win big while supporting local healthcare in Red Deer.

Step into your Million Dollar Dream Home
by Sorento Custom Homes

Sorento Custom Homes, known for their fine craftsmanship, has continued the tradition of building an exceptional Hospital Lottery Dream Home, located at 128 Emmett Crescent in Red Deer’s Evergreen neighborhood.  This gorgeous bungalow features 2,824 sq ft of developed living space and showcases a tall, vaulted ceiling.

This outstanding home features a screened deck off the dining room, a large family room on the lower level, and of course, a beautiful primary suite. Sorento’s ensuites are always something to behold, and this one features a clawfoot tub. There’s an office on the main level, two bedrooms below, and a large fitness room that includes a two-person infrared sauna.

BUY NOW!

Purchase Your Tickets Now for Even More Chances to Win Cash!

If you purchase your tickets before 11:59pm on April 10th you will have a chance to win one of 5 additional cash prizes of $1,000. And of course, your early purchase will ensure you’re entered to win our Early Bird prize of $20,000 and our Second Chance Early Bird prize of $10,000. 

CHECK OUT OUR GREAT TICKET PACKAGES

1 for $20 • 8 for $100 15 for $150  30 for $250

BUY NOW!

P.S. Don’t forget the Mega Bucks 50, with winnings up to $500,000! 

MEGA BUCKS 50
Win half of an increasing jackpot of up to $500,000

DON’T FORGET!

$10 EACH | 10 FOR $25
25 FOR $50 | 50 FOR $75

GET YOUR TICKETS!

Thank you so much for your support, and best of luck in the draws.
CALL RED DEER & AREA OR TOLL FREE
403.340.1878      1.877.808.9005
Red Deer Hospital Lottery
Red Deer Hospital Lottery
PO Box 1098
Red Deer AB T4N 6S5

Lottery Licence #724321 | Mega Bucks 50 Licence #724322

© RED DEER HOSPITAL LOTTERY 2025
Continue Reading

Trending

X