MOST READ MOST TRUSTED MARCH 2016
HOW TO CHA CH ANGE YOUR YOUR
BRAIN PAGE 32
WHY WE BEND THE RULES
THE BOY WHO DIED FOR 101 MINUTES
PAGE 80
PAGE 52
LIV ING WITH THE LIVING THE WORLD WORLD’S ’S MOST PAIN PAINFUL FUL DISEASE PAGE 40
10 KIDS AND ONE EPIC HOCKEY ADVENTUR ADVENTURE E PAGE 86
ALL ABOUT ADDICTION A DDICTION .................................... 21 LAUGHTER, THE BEST MEDICINE ...................... 51
................................ ........................ ........ 13 DEPARTMENT OF WIT ................
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SENSITIVE TEETH? YOUR COLGATE REPAIR CREW IS HERE.
We’re not your ordinary ordinar y sensitivity toothpaste toothpaste..† We’re on the job, sealing exposed nerves and helping repair sensitive teeth.††
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Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste provides superior sensitivity relief vs. ordinary sensitivity toothpaste containing 5% potassium nitrate (equivalent (equivalent to 2% potassium ion). i on). ††With regular use. Toothpaste also fights cavities. Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmoliv e Canada Inc. Inc . * TM Reg’d/M.D. †
Contents MARCH 2016
Cover Story
32
Inside Out Shedding light on the inner workings of the brain. DANIELLE GROEN, RUDY LEE AND SARAH
LISS
Inspiration
40
The Butterfly Effect Jonathan Pitre, 15, lives with a rare condition that leaves him in constant agony—and he’s DAVE CAMERON using his story to help others. DAVE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAUDE CHAUVIN/ MADORE PRODUCTION; (ASSISTANT) PHIL BERNARD; (MAKEUP) AMÉLIE THOMAS; (TALENT) MICHEL VALIÈRES; (ICONS) ISTOCKPHOTO
Humour
48
Bed Hog Dog How our pets’ comfort trumps a good night’s sleep. BILL BAROL F R O M F A S T C O M P A N Y Drama in Real Life
52
Dead for One Hour and 41 Minutes After a toddler tod dler is i s found unconscious unconscio us in an icy ic y creek, the fight for his life begins. DEREK BURNETT Environment
58
Predator vs. Predator Disappearing sea ice in the North is shrinking polar bear numbers and swelling killer whale ranks. Can the Arctic sustain both? SHARON OOSTHOEK FROM CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC
A C . O T O H P I R C A M / I R C A M E K I M
Memoir
66
Arson in East York When Alison Motluk woke up to find a fire raging on her front porch, she felt terrified. By the time the ashes settled, she was surrounded by her community. FROM TORONTO LIFE
© ADDITIONAL MEDIA IN OUR TABLET VERSIONS
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188 | No. 1,127 MARCH 2016
Family
4 Editor ’s Letter
72 Here I Go Again
on My Own
6 Contributors 7 Letters
My true story of how leaving home—and growing up—can take a lifetime. MIJI CAMPBELL
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FROM SEPARATION ANXIETY: A COMING OF MIDDLE AGE STORY
Science
80 The Liars’ Club Why even the most honest among us bend the rules now and then. JENA PINCOTT FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
Editors’ Choice
86 The Great Northern
Hockey Adventure For 10 Nunavut boys, travelling south to play in a hockey tournament isn’t just a road trip. It’s a chance to prove how good they are. DAN ROBS ON F R O M S P O R T S N E T MAGAZINE
READER FAVOURITES
9 Finish This Sentence 16 Points to Ponder
105 Brainteasers
51 Laughter, the Best Medicine
107 Trivia Quiz
71 @ Work
108 Sudoku
84 As Kids See It 100 Life’s Like That
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103 That’s Outrageous!
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109 Word Power 112 Quotes
K C O L D E W E K O O R B
VOICES & VIEWS
10
Money
26
Handy tips to prepare for tax season. LISA COXON
Safe Haven Michael Battista and Gareth Henry help LGBT refugees gain asylum in Canada. S A R A H L I S S
Culture
30
Sunny Disposition Eternal optimist Neil Pasricha finds a formula for positivity with The Happiness Equation.
Department of Wit
13
Paying Your Dues
True Fantasy Unicorn-related articles found in real scientific journals.
SARAH LISS
DAVID NG F R O M M c S W E E N E Y S . N E T
The RD Interview
14
GET SMART!
Voice of Authority Peter Mansbridge on acting aspirations and what makes for good news. C O U R T N E Y S H E A
101
13 Things You Should Know About Credit Cards DAINA LAWRENCE
104 Rd.ca/connect ART OF LIVING
18
March website highlights.
Cultivating Compassion With some simple changes, a kinder, gentler culture could be within reach. B RA ND IE W EI KL E P.
Health
21
Changing Habits How to recognize and reduce your addiction risk. SAMANTHA RIDEOUT
Health
24
Case History A medical mystery resolved. S YD NE Y L ON EY
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Editor’s Letter Mind Matters MY FIRST EXPERIENCE with
the perplexing inner workings of the brain was in the late 1960s, when my grandfather suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated on one side of his body. I remember visiting him in the hospital and being struck that I, at age 12, could squeeze a rubber ball harder than he could. Slowly, he regained use of his limbs, allowing him to once again walk, mow the lawn and even drive, but his throat remained paralyzed. My grandfather never spoke again. Some of the damage to his brain was reversible, some not. In the 1980s, I read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. It’s a gripping collection of anecdotes about people with a variety of unusual neurological ailments. I still think about the patient who couldn’t recognize his own leg and was convinced someone had replaced it with another appendage. He was so disgusted by the “fake” limb that he threw it out of bed—and was surprised when the rest of his body followed suit. Another case featured a subject with perfect vision whose brain would only “see” what was on her right-hand side. To this day, the human brain remains deeply mysterious, and researchers continue to make strides in understanding our most essential organ. The cover story, “Inside Out” (page 32), includes compelling firstperson stories and the latest medical insights. Whether patients are using light therapy to cope with traumatic neurological injuries or retraining their brains to manage chronic pain, our mind’s ability to heal is extraordinary. Send an email to
[email protected]
Z I Z A R E G O R
Published by the Reader’s Digest Magazines Canada Limited, Montreal, Canada
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VOL. 188, NO. 1,127 COPYRIGHT © 2016 BY READER’S DIGEST MAGAZINES CANADA LIMITED. Reproduction in any manner in whole or in
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Contributors JOREN CULL
(Illustrator, “True Fantasy,” page 13) Home base: Toronto. Previously published in The New York Times and The Walrus. I don’t believe in unicorns,
but I believe in the power of imagination. If you have enough faith in something, it can influence your life as much as anything “real.” My favourite mythological creature is probably Prince. 1999 is
such a good album, one of the best of the ’80s.
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Home base: Vancouver. Previously published in The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s. I was surprised to learn that credit cards often cover
products beyond manufacturers’ guarantees. My most memorable credit card purchase was the ticket to Ireland I bought after finishing high school. I have returned there almost a dozen times since.
GRAEME BAYLISS
(Photographer, “Safe Haven,” page 10)
(Writer, “On the Road” page 103)
Home base: Toronto. Previously
Home base: Toronto. Previously published in The Walrus and Maisonneuve . This story made me con-
a major donation and sponsorship. I was grateful that I was there to capture the moment and their feelings of accomplishment and happiness. When photographing people, I try to be kind and relatable. It helps elicit real smiles and emotions. |
(Writer, “13 ings You Should Know About Credit Cards,” page 101)
BROOKE WEDLOCK
published in Chatelaine and Reno and Decor . Just before our photo shoot, Rainbow Railroad received
6
DAINA LAWRENCE
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sider lobbying for more unmanned robot cars. When it comes to driving, hell really is other people. We’re drawn to outrageous stories. We like to be reminded that, no matter what havoc we’ve wreaked behind the wheel, it can’t compare to the stupidity of driving a motorized picnic table.
Letters READERS COMMENT ON OUR RECENT ISSUES
TOTAL RECALL
I can still vividly remember being in Grade 4 and learning “In Flanders Fields” for the first time. I had an awesome teacher who told us the story behind the poem, and I grew up picturing the “crosses row on row.” I hoped John McCrae’s words would never be forgotten. Thank you for bringing back those memories with your story “The Power of Remembrance” (November 2015). SHARLENE REID, P o w e l l R i v e r , B . C .
THE WAY I SEE IT
K E Z S A I C A M O K I M
I recently read your article “One Life to Give” (December 2015), about Free the Children founder Craig Kielburger. I disagree with David Jefferess’s statement, “If you go to a We Day, you learn very little about the causes and conditions of suffering in the rest of the world.” As an educator
who has taken students to We Days in Winnipeg, Calgary and Saskatoon, I’ve watched young people develop an understanding of the factors that can help eliminate global poverty: access to education, clean water, health care, viable incomes, etc. We Day also showcases successful youthcreated projects, giving kids a rd.ca
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READER’S DIGEST
sense of empowerment and inspiring personal action. KELLY WATERS, B a t t l e f o r d , S a s k .
ONE HAPPY CUSTOMER I wanted to let you guys know that buying my first Reader’s Digest back in the 1950s was probably the best thing I’ve ever done! I’ve read every single issue since then, and the magazine is the only thing I’m excited to receive in my mailbox. I especially like your Finish This Sentence page! NAJAT DRAXLER, O t t a w a
to get started. These days, I find it very calming—it’s sort of like mediCARRIE CORMIER, S u r r e y , B . C . tation. My husband and I each got two books for Christmas last year. We spent an entire day in late December colouring and watching Harry Potter movies. It was a great “staycation.” CINDY DAVIDSON-PICKETT, Trenton, Ont.
I love my colouring books. I’m dating each page as I finish it and jotting down important things that have happened that day—like a diary. CATHARINE LINN ATKINS MIDDLETON,
NOT JUST FOR KIDS Our story about adult colouring books, “Fine Lines” (December 2015), generated many responses on Facebook. Here’s what readers had to say about the international trend.
I had a brain tumour removed a little over a year ago, and my very considerate son thought colouring might help provide some fun mental exercise. When I received two books a few months back, I couldn’t wait
Barrie, Ont.
I have three colouring books. They sit on my coffee table. When I get anxious, I look at them and think, If I had to use them, I’d go crazy! So I turn on the TV instead. Seriously, my books are more anxiety inducing than calming. MARY JO WELCH, B r a n d o n , M a n .
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FINISH THIS SENTENCE
I’m finally ready to… …finish school and help
…retire with gusto
my family back home in the Philippines. ONTHOY JIMENEZ VILLAMO, TORONTO
in Lillooet, B.C. PATRICIA WAYNE,
…grow older gracefully!
CALGARY
MARY SCHREINERT, GODERICH, ONT.
...give up
sugar and processed foods for good. CHARLIE POND,
…let the love in! KATHARINE ANGELINA LOVE, TORONTO
HAMILTON
become the best darn mama I can be.
…put years of addiction behind me and
SAMANTHA JOLENE, CAT LAKE FIRST NATION, ONT.
Visit the Reader’s Digest Canada Facebook page for your chance to finish the next sentence.
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VOICES & VIEWS
Michael Battista and Gareth Henry help LGBT refugees find asylum in Canada
Safe Haven BY SARAH LISS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BROOKE WEDLOCK
!
years old the first time he had to uproot his life because of who he was. Growing up in St. Mary, a rural enclave on Jamaica’s northern coast, he realized his attraction to other boys might endanger him, especially in his small community. In Jamaica, acts of male homosexuality are punishable with up to 10 years in jail. In 1993, brave but bewildered, he left his sister, mother and grandmother and set out for the nearby city of Kingston. Once there, Henry immersed himself in activism. He became a founding member of J-FLAG (the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, AllSexuals and Gays), and when the head of that organization was stabbed to death in a homophobic 10
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GARETH HENRY WAS 15
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attack, he volunteered to replace him. “I was in my early 20s, a naive little boy, and I said, ‘Okay, I will.’” The increased visibility made Henry a target, and in 2007, police beat him in front of 200 bystanders. He went into hiding soon after, but his aggressors tracked him down and threatened to kill him. That’s when Henry knew he had to flee again—this time, at the age of 30, beyond his country’s borders. Henry arrived in Canada in early 2008. Because of his profile as an international gay- and lesbian-rights advocate, he was granted asylum. But even as Henry adjusted to his new life, his mind turned to others who weren’t as lucky. “I had a place to live, I had support—which
When Gareth Henry (right) was claiming refugee protection in Canada, immigration lawyer Michael Battista represented him.
READER’S DIGEST
is what I hoped there would be for every refugee,” he says. That’s when Henry connected with Rainbow Railroad. Started in 2006 by grassroots activists, the Toronto-based group was worried about state-sanctioned violence against members of the international LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. The organization’s goal, says founding member Michael Battista, was simple: “to help people make it from a place of danger to a place of safety.” Applicants must be living in a country where homosexuality is criminalized; from there, volunteers cross-reference details with contacts on the ground and members of local LGBT groups and, in many cases, follow up with interviews over Skype. Rainbow Railroad then provides funds, guidance and information to persecuted individuals looking for refuge in countries with a progressive stance on LGBT rights—primarily in Western Europe and North America. Things moved very slowly for the first two years of Rainbow Railroad’s existence, according to Battista. But Henry’s arrival as a volunteer in 2009 marked a turning point. “We started working with him to identify those most at risk in Jamaica, and he was very effective at referring people facing real threats thanks to his on-theground connections.” By 2013, Henry had helped 36 individuals from the 12
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Caribbean gain asylum in Canada, just as he had. Rainbow Railroad has expanded dramatically since its inception. In 2014, the group handled more cases than ever before, funding the airfare and travel of 33 individuals from Jamaica, Nigeria and Uganda. (It also provided basic supplies to asylum seekers in hiding prior to emigration.) In 2015, staff fielded 281 pleas from would-be claimants that flooded in through various channels, including email, social media and community organizations. Rainbow Railroad is currently working on creating safe “routes” throughout the Middle East and South and Central Asia. While the organization offers vital financial and administrative assistance, it’s often the psychological and emotional support that means the most to asylum seekers. That’s also at the heart of why Rainbow Railroad is so important to Henry. “What they’re going through is my lived experience,” says the man still shaken by the murder of 13 friends during his four years with J-FLAG. Henry, who knows first-hand the sacrifices that can be involved with daring to live fully, dreams of seeing Rainbow Railroad bridge continents. “I want to build safe houses around the world, create resources, help LGBT people get a second chance at life. I want them to be able to be their authentic selves.”
DEPARTMENT OF WIT
Unicorn-related articles found in real scientific journals
True Fantasy BY DAVID N G FROM MCSWEENEYS.NET ILLUSTRATION BY JOREN CULL
“Beheading the Unicorn: An Adventure in Surgery” Jo u r n a l o f t h e A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e of Surgeons
“Child Psychiatry Perspectives: If You See a Unicorn, You Are Obligated to Report It” Jo u r n a l o f t h e Am e r i c a n A c a d e m y o f C h i l d & Adolescent Psychiatry
“Polymyositis: Not a Unicorn or Mythological Beast… but Maybe a Duck?” Neurology: The Official Journal of the A m e r i c a n A c a d e m y o f Ne u r o l o g y
“How to Show That Unicorn Milk Is a Chronobiotic: The Regressionto-the-Mean Statistical Artifact” Chronobiology International
“Unicorn Tapestries, Horned Animals and Prion Disease” Emerging Infectious Diseases
“Rats, Cats and Elephants, but Still No Unicorn: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells From New Species” Cell Stem Cell
“Never Play Leapfrog With a Unicorn” Critical Care Medicine
© 2015 BY DAVID NG. M C SWEENEYS.NET
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THE RD INTERVIEW
Anchorman Peter Mansbridge on public broadcasting, acting aspirations and what makes for good news
Voice of Authority BY COURTNEY SHEA ILLUSTRATION BY AIMÉE VAN DRIMMELEN
Looking back, 2015 was a pretty huge year for news. Did it feel that way for you? It was well-rounded. You had the war stories with Syria and Iraq and the emotional reaction to the refugees, which connected with people all over the world. Domestically, you had the election, which we knew was going to be big, but then it was much bigger than we’d anticipated. A change of government, a new leader who is young and engaged— And also very handsome. Ha! He seems to have that going for him. This month you have a cameo in Disney’s Zootopia , voicing a moose named Peter Moosebridge. How did that come about? I got started in this business at age 19— 14
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I was working at an airport, and someone heard my voice over the PA system and offered me a job at the local radio station. With this film, I was at an airport—once again. I was going through security in Toronto on my way to Vancouver, and the guy behind me said, “We were just talking about you in a meeting!” Turns out, he was the Canadian vice-president of marketing at Disney. Zootopia is a children’s movie with a good message about fairness and equality. I only have two or three lines. I was excited to do it for my grandkids. Last year you appeared on an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. Has Canada’s most venerable newsman caught the acting bug? No, no. I’m married to an actor. I think she’s kind of jealous that I have a part in what will be a huge film—I feel it could be the next Frozen . When I came home and told that to my wife [Cynthia Dale], she was not impressed. During times of upheaval, do you miss hopping on a plane and going to the story? I still go on the road as often as I can. I was in Paris right after the attacks. Part of me loves that. I was a reporter for 20 years. I was okay, but I wasn’t great. I understand where I’m best used.
It’s like a good hockey team, where the coach and the manager know where to put their players. When you were inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame last November, you said that public broadcasting isn’t about being popular, it’s about being relevant. Can you explain that distinction? Newscasters are constantly tempted to cover what’s popular—watercooler stories and all that. The public broadcaster is there to deal with what’s important. There are things about the day that are funny—you don’t want to give viewers the sense the world is going to end when the newscast does—but it’s a question of where you dwell. How do you feel when you see someone in the vein of Kim Kardashian being described as a newsmaker? Let’s put it this way—she’s never been a newsmaker on my program. So it’s safe to say we won’t see you sitting down with a reality TV star any time soon? I don’t think so. I’d like to interview Justin Bieber. We’re both from Stratford, Ont. He comes home a lot more than most people realize. You hear his jet—it’s the only jet that comes into the Stratford airport. Zootopia is out March 4.
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Points to Ponder BY CHRISTINA
It’s critical that someone who was not initially imagined to be an ideal Rhodes Scholar be named a Rhodes Scholar, especially in a time of reconciliation.
I found it quite irritating that I wasn’t trusted to communicate the messages from my own work, that the only person who could effectively convey the messages from my work was a communications expert.
BILLY-RAY BELCOURT on becoming the first Aboriginal person in Canada to receive the prestigious fellowship
I am not a doomsayer, but I do believe we have to acknowledge the doomsday-type consequences if we do not act in time to prevent them.
My pre-surgery routine is having a major fall or accident.
The late environmentalist and e n t r e p r e n e u r MAURICE STRONG on climate change
If they start to censor beauty pageants—how pathetic is that? M i s s W o r l d C a n a d a ANASTASIA LIN,
to CBC News,
on being declared persona non grata by the Chinese government for her political beliefs
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; ) 5 1 0 2 , 3 P A L A SS I O 2 . V . O 5 1 N ( 0 2 L I , 6 A 2 M . V D O N N A ) E N B I L O ( L ; G 5 1 E 0 H 2 T , ) 3 T 2 R . V U O O N C L ) E C B ( E : D KRISTI MILLER, molecular S U H g e n e t i c i s t i n t h e D e p a r tm e nt o f E ( T ; O ) F i s h e r i e s a n d O c e a n s , on how it felt U 5 1 Q to be forbidden to speak to the . 0 2 M , media under the Harper government 2 O 1 C . . V N I O L N A I ( S L I A T A S M A D N N A A ) E N B O l y m p i c b r o n z e m e d a l s k i e r I L O ( L ; JAN HUDEC, who has had eight 5 G 1 E k n e e s u r g e r i e s , in the Toronto St ar 0 H 2 - T 0 1 ) R 9 1 E L Y L A I M W ( E ; T T A E G N . E G H N T O © R ) T S T E R C U I O R C U L A E M B ( ) : G S N O O T R O T H S P (
E N I Z A G A M T F O U ) S R E T E P ( . ; 5 1 5 1 0 2 0 2 , , 6 1 0 . 2 V . O V N O ) N ) H T Y E D S E ( ; N N M E O K . ( C : K S O E O T B O E U C Q A . F N ) A S E N N N E Y R H ( B ; L 5 1 E 0 G I 2 N . V © O ) N T ) U Y O N H O D H N I T N L ( A ; ( T ; ) R 5 O 1 P 0 S 2 , N I 5 . T V C O E N P ( S S E ’ R N A 5 1 E 0 L 2 C
I’ve had to practise acceptance. I believed I didn’t deserve to live, and now people are calling me a hero. SHELDON KENNEDY, f o r m e r N H L p l a y e r a n d
survivor of childhood sexual abuse,
in The Walrus
I was refuted and shunned by most of the outstanding surgeons in the States. The late radiation oncologist DR. VERA PETERS on the backlash her research received as she worked to revolutionize treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma and breast cancer in the 1950s
Despite our differences, somehow, impossibly, unexpectedly and delightfully, we have become friends. Hostage-turnedh u m a n i t a r i a n AMANDA LINDHOUT
A c t o r a n d a u t h o r JOEL THOMAS HYNES, w h o s e u n c l e , musician Ron Hynes, struggled with addiction before his death in November 2015
on her
friendship with Omar Khadr
We could spend an afternoon eating A lead paint and rubbing asbestos © ) M ) on each other. Anything we did— Y T D U E O because it hadn’t been done before N H N E D K N —was the most brilliant TV ever. ( I : L ( S ; O ) T 2 1 O 0 H 2 P (
A few years back, Ireland declared binge drinking and drug abuse to be national emergencies, and I can’t help but believe the same applies to our beautiful little island, too. Newfoundland and Labrador needs help. We are crying out for real leadership. We are fu**ing DYING for proper facilities to treat our addictions and mental illnesses.
STEVE ANTHONY on being a VJ in the
I grew up with comic books and newspaper funnies—Jack Kirby and Charles Schulz—but when I saw the big, wondrous and iconic New Yorker cartoon collections of the mid-century, it was like discovering gold. C a r t o o n i s t SETH,
early days of MuchMusic, in Elle Canada
in the New Yorker
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ART of LIVING With some simple changes, a kinder, gentler culture could be within reach
Cultivating Compassion BY BRANDIE WEIKLE
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!
IN A WORLD FILLED with
headlines about mass shootings and terrorist at tacks, it’s easy to wonder, W hat’s wrong wit h people these days? That’s a fair question. One study that was released by the University of Michigan in 2010 seems to suggest we’re collectively becoming less considerate. After surveying college students, lead researcher Sarah Konrath discovered a 40 per cent decline in empathy—the ability to relate to the feelings and perspectives of others—over the previous 30 years. Konrath and her team attributed this trend to an overall spike in narcissism, individualism and material self-interest and linked it to a waning inclination to show concern for others and adopt their perspectives. While this rate of decline appeared to be relatively stable between 1979 and 1999, it nearly tripled after the year 2000. That study started a public con versation about whether we’re collectively becoming more heartless in general. But before you bemoan the collapse of civilized society, fear not: experts say we can take steps to reverse this trend. Make Time to Connect In their 2010 book, Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential—and Endangered , American psychiatrist
Bruce D. Perry and journalist Maia Szalavitz suggest our culture faces a crisis of disconnection. Between 1985 and 2004, they report, the proportion of people who claimed they had no confidants at all jumped from 10 to 24.6 per cent, while 80 per cent of respondents said they’d only confide in family members. According to Mary Gordon, the founder and president of the Canadian not-for-profit group Roots of Empathy, the pace of modern life is partly to blame for waning levels of consideration. We may be in touch with our friends through quick texts and emails, she says, but “face to face, someone can smile at you, touch your arm, give you a hug or have a laugh with you— all things that release endorphins.” With fewer in-person interactions, it’s hard to decipher what might be going on in the hearts and minds of those around us, knowledge that informs our behaviour toward one another. To remedy this, make your social life a priority, says Gordon. She recommends going for lunch with a friend or colleague instead of eating at your desk. At the Roots of Empathy office, co-workers walk the stairs together for exercise, and from time to time, the group organizes staff bowling trips in an effort to strengthen collegial connections. If your weekends are too full rd.ca
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READER’S DIGEST
of family obligations to contemplate a dinner party, she suggests doing something simple, like grocery shopping with a friend and grabbing a coffee afterwards.
sistic,” she says. They may just be reacting to adverse factors in their environments. If someone is curt or critical, she offers, “try saying something kind, like, ‘It’s chaotic in here. It must be challenging.’ If we demonstrate empathy, we’re far more likely to receive it in return.”
Be Mindful of Stress Levels “Life has become more stressful, and any kind Feed Your Sense of stress may minimize our empathetic of Wonder capacities,” says Gor A growing body of don. If you’re preocevidence points to a cupied by worries that connection between you might lose your empathy and experi job, for example, it’s ences that inspire easy to develop a kind awe, like taking in the of tunnel vision. view from a mounLoren Martin, an taintop or marvelling “People aren’t assistant professor at undersea life while deliberately in the department of scuba diving. Some being selfish,” says new research that was psychology based out Gordon. They may published by the Jourof the University of Toronto Mississauga, just be reacting to nal of Personality and Social Psychology in has studied the relaadverse factors tionship between anx2015 found that being in their iety and compassion. exposed to wonder environments. Based on his research, helps us focus on the he posits that stress world beyond ourmay interfere with selves and keeps us “higher-order cognitive empathetic attuned to the welfare of others. behaviours”—like being able to apSo try embarking on that rainforpreciate the perspective of others. est tour you’ve always contemGordon suggests we remember plated. Not only will it feed your that link in our everyday interac yen for adventure, but it may ultions. “It’s not that people are timately wind up strengthening deliberately being selfish or narcis- your sense of compassion. 20
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HEALTH
How to recognize and reduce your addiction risk
Changing Habits BY SAMANTHA RI DEOUT
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E L I F R E T S A M
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE
become addicted—to alcohol, gambling, sleeping pills—while others who use the same substances or engage in the same activities don’t fall prey? It’s a puzzle that seems to involve genetics, environment, personal history and temperament. One of the personality traits under investigation is “sensation seeking,” which denotes an appetite for new, varied, intense experiences— and a willingness to take risks to get them. This characteristic increases the likelihood of substance abuse, but it’s also associated with hobbies
such as scuba diving, mountain climbing and travelling to far-flung places. Some experts encourage sensation seekers to focus on these healthier habits as an addictionprevention strategy. A tendency to act based on instincts or immediate desires rather than longer-term outcomes is known as impulsivity. Health researchers around the world have observed that people who are dependent on certain drugs—including cocaine and alcohol—frequently have abnormalities in parts of the brain that are connected with restraint. “What’s rd.ca
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and other substances can offer temnot clear at this point is to what extent the impulsive personality trait porary stress relief. Ironically, drinking can aggravate anxiety over the pre-exists and predisposes someone toward drug use, versus how much long run by, among other things, interfering with the of it is caused by the drug use,” says Karen normal functioning of the brain’s neuErsche, a lecturer on Around drug addiction at the rotransmitters. Finding other ways to University of Cambridge in England relax—talking to friends, exercising or who is exploring this question. In the case eliminating stresof Canadians meet the of alcohol, experisors, for example—is criteria for alcohol abuse ments suggest that a good way to avoid or dependence at some point in their lives. abstinence helps repotential problems. Personality alone grow damaged neurons and reverse doesn’t determine who is prone to addiction, but if impairments to self-control. Also among those who run a yours puts you at a greater risk, it won’t hurt to make health-related heightened risk of addiction: anxious people. This is because alcohol decisions accordingly.
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per cent
News From the World of Medicine Standing Desks Linked With Sedentary Off Time In a British study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise , 40 office workers were given workstations that allowed them to either sit or stand. After three months, the subjects were more sedentary in 22
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their leisure time than before, but their sitting time still decreased from 10 hours and five minutes a day to nine hours and 21 minutes. The researchers recommended finding ways to be active outside of work, to avoid cancelling out the effects of sitting less on the job.
O T O H P K C O T S I
Sleepwalkers Often Feel No Pain After Accidents After studying 47 people who had hurt themselves at least once while sleepwalking, researchers in Montpellier, France, found that 37 of them didn’t experience pain until they woke up. One man climbed onto his roof, fell off and broke his leg but didn’t awaken until morning. Paradoxically, sleepwalkers were more likely to experience chronic pain and migraines in their waking lives. This suggests a relationship between sleepwalking brain activity and malfunctioning pain perception, the researchers said.
Talk Therapy Better Than Light Treatment for SAD Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is depression triggered by the shorter days of winter. Light therapy—sitting next to a bright box that simulates the sun—is considered the goldstandard treatment. However, a University of Vermont study of 177 sufferers found that, when it comes to preventing SAD from returning, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is more effective. Once patients learn coping strategies through CBT, they keep them for life.
Degree of “Chemo Brain” Depends on Drug Taken One of chemotherapy’s potential effects is long-lasting mental cloudi-
ness. A recent JAMA Oncology paper compared breast-cancer patients who received anthracycline-based therapy to those who took other kinds of chemo drugs. The women—participants in a study by Stanford University in California—reported cognitive dysfunction, but the anthracycline patients performed significantly worse on verbal memory tasks.
TEST YOUR MEDICAL IQ Black carbon is…
A. An air pollutant emitted by
vehicles B. A toxin found in diseased
potatoes C. A noxious fume produced by
malfunctioning home-heating systems D. A suspected carcinogenic
component of mobile phones Answer: A. Black carbon is an
air pollutant associated with respiratory and cardiovascular health problems, as well as climate change. In Western countries, vehicles are the main source, especially those with diesel engines. To minimize exposure, individuals can avoid walking near heavy traffic, while governments can pass regulations to improve air quality.
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HEALTH
Case History BY SYDNEY LONEY ILLUSTRATION BY TRACY WALKER
THE PATIENT: Olivia,
a 24-year-old
university student THE SYMPTOMS: Hiccups, headache
and vomiting THE DOCTOR: Dr. Anthony Traboul-
see, a neurologist at UBC Hospital in Vancouver
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THREE YE ARS AGO, Olivia
began hiccuping—and couldn’t stop. e bouts, which lasted up to an hour, would dissipate for a similar amount of time, then reappear. Her head ached. A couple days later, she started vomiting. A hospital visit resulted in anti-nausea pills, but the queasiness didn’t stop. Because throwing up can signal a brain tumour, her next trip to the ER two days later led to a CT scan (the results were negative), and a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. 24
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A couple days after that, Olivia’s vision blurred, and she had trouble getting out of bed. Still stumped, doctors put her on antibiotics in case her problems were the result of an infection, then monitored her in the ICU. By the next morning, the patient couldn’t see and was paralyzed from the neck down. “She was fully awake and aware and very frightened,” says neurologist Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, who was called in after an MRI revealed evidence of inflammation, swelling and damage along Olivia’s brain stem and spinal cord. The other doctors suspected acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a brief, intense inflammation in that area, resulting from a bacterial or viral infection. But ADEM is more common in children and is often mistaken for multiple
sclerosis—which is itself often confused with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Traboulsee suspected this last condition was the culprit. Much like MS, NMO is a relapsing inflammatory disease that occurs when a person’s immune system attacks the cells in their central nervous system. It affects the optic nerves and spinal cord, and sometimes the brain.
Without treatment, most NMO sufferers wind up in nursing homes. The disease is rare—while about 100,000 Canadians have MS, only about 1,000 have NMO, Traboulsee estimates. “It’s more aggressive than MS, like a forest fire raging through the nervous system,” says the doctor. Symptoms can include blindness, weakness or paralysis, spasms, vomiting, hiccups and loss of bladder or bowel control due to spinal cord damage. In Canada, the only lab equipped to do the blood test required to diagnose NMO is in Calgary. It generally takes two weeks to get the results. Traboulsee sent the patient’s blood to the lab but didn’t wait to hear back. “It’s like when someone is drowning,” he says. Without treat-
ment—ideally within 48 hours after symptoms appear—most NMO sufferers wind up in a nursing home. The doctor immediately started Olivia on a plasma exchange to target the inflammation. A day or two later, she could see shapes and wiggle her fingers and toes. He added in chemotherapy, and Olivia’s recovery was quick and dramatic. “The plasma exchange removes the sparks, but the chemotherapy puts out the fire by removing the abnormal immune cells that are creating the destructive antibodies in the first place,” Traboulsee explains. After a week of receiving the combined treatment, Olivia regained her sight and could walk again. She’s now on long-term preventive treatment and takes azathioprine, an immunosuppressant, twice a day. There have been no relapses since the initial attack. (When it’s not treated, NMO has a 100 per cent rate of recurrence.) Olivia was able to finish her degree and hopes to someday get married and start a family. “Like with any rare illness, the key is early treatment and preventive care so people can lead normal lives,” Traboulsee says. But not every doctor is aware of every rare disease. “Because NMO is frequently misdiagnosed and can be suddenly severe, patients are sometimes written off. We can rescue them and give them their lives back.” rd.ca
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MONEY
Handy tips to prepare for tax season
Paying Your Dues BY LISA COXON ILLUSTRATION BY IAN PHILLIPS
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be confounded by the idiosyncrasies of personal finance: Albert Einstein once purportedly claimed that “the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” So, if you’re having a hard time trying to make sense of your T1s and T4s, you’re not alone—especially if you’re ful ly or semi-retired. As we age, our forms of income change, which can 26
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affect our returns. Here, some pointers to help you master your taxes. Plan Ahead Year-round organization is key, says Cleo Hamel, a senior tax specialist in Calgary. “You don’t know how much your expenses will be unless you’re keeping track of them on a monthly or bimonthly basis.” Mark key expenditures on a
calendar, keep a folder to hold your paperwork and hang on to receipts for medical items such as prescriptions and dental work. Don’t throw away any of your charity donation receipts—they can be claimed within a five-year period.
Understand Your Income Over 65 and working part-time? If you receive old age security (OAS), you need to be mindful of any supplementary money coming in. “Once a person’s income exceeds approximately $71,000 a year, the government starts to claw back some of the [OAS],” explains Junaid Usmani, a chartered accountant in Mississauga, Ont.
Divide and Conquer Pension splitting is a great option for married or common-law senior couples. It allows the higher-earning individual to share up to half their pension income (excluding the Canada Pension Plan) with their lowerearning spouse. The goal is to level out both partners’ incomes so one isn’t taxed significantly higher than the other. Consider consulting an accountant early in the year to make sure the spouse who makes less isn’t bumped into a higher tax bracket.
Snowbirds Beware If you prefer to spend the chillier months down south, tax returns
can get tricky. “You have to be compliant in both countries,” warns Hamel. Here’s an example: if you own property in the United States that you live in for half the year and rent out the rest of the time, you likely need to file a U.S. tax return, as well. If you have residential ties to Canada (i.e., you own a home and/or keep bank accounts in this country), you’re likely still considered a Canadian resident. Usmani adds that it’s crucial to identify all of your assets outside of Canada or you could face penalties of up to $2,500 a year for failing to report.
Mind Your Investments Contributing to investments such as an RRSP provides a tax break, but withdrawn money is considered taxable income. By the end of the year in which you turn 71, you need to have done one of the following with your RRSP: withdrawn the funds, converted them into a RRIF or used them to purchase an annuity. But don’t wait until the last minute to do so. “When the calendar turns from 2016 to 2017, if you still haven’t done anything with your RRSP, it’s considered withdrawn,” says Hamel. “And you’ll be hit with a tax bill.” rd.ca
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Is Everything OK?
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How Joint Accounts Help Maximize Deposit Insurance If you have a spouse, do you share a joint account? If you do, there are many couples in your situation. Convenience tops the list of reasons why. Each spouse can deposit money into one fund and have a single, dedicated account for paying the mortgage, utilities and other living expenses. If that were not enough of a reason, here’s another incentive to add a joint account to your individual bank account: Safeguarding your money. By opening a joint account, you can help maximize your deposit insurance coverage should your bank ever fail. While the CDIC coverage limit is $100,000, you can increase that amount if you diversify the t ypes of deposits you maintain. Joint deposits, for example, are protected separately from accounts held in just one name.
Consider this simple example. Brenda is married and holds $150,000 in her own savings account. If her bank failed, her account would qualify for $100,000 of insurance coverage, while $50,000 would not be protected by CDIC. Now, let’s say Brenda opened a joint account with her husband Bill and moved $50,000 over to this new account. By diversifying accounts, the couple would then have an additional $50,000 covered by CDIC. So, the entire $150,000 would be protected in the event of a bank failure. Bill also holds $150,000 in his bank account, so collectively, Bill and Brenda have $300,000. Here, to maximize CDIC coverage, Brenda could hold $100,000 in her own name, Bill could hold $100,000 in his own name, and together they could hold another $100,000 in a joint account. Doing so would mean all $300,000 would be protected since all three accounts would qualify separately for up to $100,000 worth of coverage.
For more information, talk to your financial advisor or consult cdic.ca
CULTURE
Eternal optimist Neil Pasricha finds a formula for positivity with The Happiness Equation
Sunny Disposition BY SARAH LISS
Neil Pasricha has made it his mission to proselytize about looking on the bright side. The Toronto-based author crystallized his philosophy in 2010’s The Book of Awesome , a celebration of the little things that make life worth living. He’s expanded his upbeat empire since then, putting his ideology into practice with this new book that strives to teach readers how to “want nothing… and have everything.” March 8. This month’s hottest books, music, movies and TV SH YLOC K IS M Y NA ME
WHAT’S LEFT BE HI ND
THE COYOTE’S BI CYC LE
Howard Jacobson
Gail Bowen
Kimball Taylor
In this bold reimagining of The Merchant of Venice , novelist and Shakespeare scholar Jacobson uses the character of Shylock— presented in contrast with a modern-day foil—to explore ideas around Jewish identity. Feb. 9.
For the past 25-plus years, the Saskatchewan mystery novelist has enthralled readers with the adventures of her sleuthing heroine, Joanne Kilbourn. In Bowen’s latest Kilbourn chronicle, a wedding is the setting for a murder. March 1.
This lyrical work of in vestigative journalism follows 7,000 blackmarket bikes that were smuggled across the border between Tijuana in Mexico and the United States—and the elusive underground figure who orchestrated the feat. March 1.
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S E R U T C I P T N U O M A R A P © ) E C N I R P
E L T T I L E H T ( ; S L E I N A D D L O R A H ) N N Y L (
YOU AND I
FU LL C IRC LE
Jeff Buckley
Loretta Lynn
Buckley died in 1997 at the age of 30, leaving behind a single album and an outsized legacy. Nearly 20 years later, a trove of unreleased early recordings has been discovered. These rarities comprise You and I , a gift for fans new and old. March 11.
A decade or so ago, Lynn earned a Grammy for Van Lear Rose , her collaboration with rock maverick Jack White. On her latest, the country legend returns to her roots with twangy tunes recorded in Johnny Cash’s old studio. March 4.
THE LITTLE PRINCE
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved character comes to three-dimensional life in this richly detailed and sweet animated film, featuring the voice talents of A-listers such as Paul Rudd and Rachel McAdams. March 18.
WHISKE Y TANGO FOXTROT
Based on the experiences of war correspondent Kim Barker, this dramedy sees comedy queen Tina Fey getting serious-ish as a journalist embedded in Afghanistan who balances the chaos of her days with wild parties at night. March 4.
THE FAMI LY
The brainchild of Scandal writer Jenna Bans, this gripping new series centres around the town of Red Pines, Calif., and what happens when the mayor’s son—missing for more than a decade and presumed dead—suddenly reappears. Premieres March 6. rd.ca
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COVER STORY
The
BRAIN, as the body’s command centre, handles a host of functions essential to our survival. But for most of us, the mind remains an awesome mystery. Here, researchers and patients shed light on what it’s like to dig around in that most remarkable of organs.
INSIDE
OUT BY DANIELLE GROEN, RUDY LEE AND SARAH LISS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAUDE CHAUVIN
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M O C . N O I T C U D O R P E R O D A M ) Y C N E G A O T O H P ( ; S O T I R R E C A L R A C ) T N E L A T ( ; S A M O H T E I L É M A ) P U E K A M ( ; D R A N R E B L I H P ) T N A T S I S S A (
READER’S DIGEST
“Positive experiences with a stranger are transferred to members of the group and increase their empathy.” Lead researcher
GRIT HEIN
What It’s Like to… Learn Compassion In a 2015 Swiss study, participants saw electrical shocks delivered to members of their own social circles, as well as people from a different group. According to brain scans, when observers witnessed a stranger suffering pain, they were less likely to register acti vation in the area that corresponds to empathy than when they saw the same thing happening to someone they recognized. But when participants believed they’d received help from that other group (in this case, they observed that one stranger had paid to cancel a shock that a member of their party would otherwise have received), the empathy gap began to shrink. Just a few positive experiences with a member of the other group were enough to significantly increase compassionate brain responses. Even if you feel indifferent to someone, a few constructive interactions can help boost feelings of compassion. THE TAKE-AWAY:
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The frontal lobes, located just behind the forehead, provide us with the ability to make decisions, pay attention, use reason, form habits, take charge of impulses, empathize with others and move our bodies.
What It’s Like to… Lose Your Sight and Transform Your Brain A cognitive-neuroscience professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rebecca Saxe specializes in theory of mind—essentially, how we think about others. While studying what blind people knew about vision, she and her colleagues made a discovery: parts of the brain designated for sight, which lie dormant in visually impaired individuals, could find a new function in language processing.
“In 1994, neuroimaging done on blind people who were reading Braille showed that the visual cortex had not entirely atrophied. Reading
O T O H P K C O T S I
Braille presents a spatial problem, and that’s what vision is. If you’re blind, you have all of this available cortex that’s great at distinguishing spatial relations, and you have a problem that requires that skill. “Then we scanned blind subjects as they performed a task involving sentence comprehension. When you hear a sentence, there’s neural activity that quickly spreads through the left hemisphere. Our data showed the visual cortex responding to language. That was one of the most surprising findings. The brain responses were what you’d expect from a sighted person looking at a bright image, but they were generated by a blind person listening to a sentence. It was one of the most dramatic examples of plasticity I’ve encountered: a brain region taking on a set of completely new functions from what’s typically its job.” Says Saxe, “When adults have a stroke or other devastating brain damage, they can’t talk anymore. If we could get other brain regions to take on some of the missing functions, that’s the holy grail of stroke treatment.” THE TAKE-AWAY:
In the rear portion of our cerebral cortex, the occipital lobes are the hub for perception, used in visual processing, colour recognition, depth perception and motion detection.
What It’s Like to… Recover From a Serious Brain Injury Dr. Norman Doidge is a Torontobased psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and author whose books focus on the brain’s ability to change its own structure and function. In 2015’s The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries From the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity , he discusses the recovery of Gabrielle, who treated her brain with a novel form of light therapy. “In December 2011, a woman named Gabrielle introduced herself to me at a lecture in Toronto. She’d had a life-threatening tumour in the region beside her brain stem. It was cut out, which saved her life, but the process left her with disabling symptoms: she had nausea, balance problems, trouble swallowing and difficulty walking. She was chronically exhausted. She had read and written music all her life, but she’d developed an extraordinary hypersensitivity to sound. rd.ca
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“We know that specific frequencies of red and infrared light can support small intracellular structures called mitochondria, which use that energy to activate dormant cells. “With her own doctor, Gabrielle worked to heal her brain, using therapeutic pads of 100 or so flat LEDs over the back of her neck. After three weeks, with several weekly treatments, she could concentrate and multi-task. I saw her 11 weeks later, at a Beethoven concert, listening to thundering music—before, she could barely tolerate Muzak in an elevator. I saw her walk across the room assertively, and I knew she was on the mend. “She’s still not 100 per cent: Gabrielle did have a part of her brain cut out. But she got her life back. Before, she did maybe a one-hour activity and then she’d have to stay in bed for several days. Now, she’s rejoined her choir. She can dance.” Says Gabrielle, “For people with brain injuries, there’s hope. You’re not stuck with getting used to a new normal—you can get your old normal back, too.” THE TAKE-AWAY:
Found at the base of the skull, the “little brain” (that’s what “cerebellum” means in Latin) is responsible for our coordination, balance, equilibrium and muscular activity.
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What It’s Like to… Be an Insomniac Canadian writer R.M. Vaughan is a lifelong insomnia sufferer and the author of Bright Eyed: Insomnia and Its Cultures . In his quest to fully understand his condition, he found some interesting strategies for learning to embrace it.
“I’ve been an insomniac since I was about 10. It manifests as an absolute inability of my brain to shut off. I also have a disorder called restless leg syndrome. Still, every evening, I am an optimist, that guy who thinks, Tonight will be the time where I just conk out. It never happens. “Yesterday, for instance, I drifted off to a point where I was nearly asleep. Then it was as though someone snuck into my room with a big needle full of adrenalin and jabbed me with it. Even though my brain was only half awake, I was kicking, my muscles constricting and releasing. I thrashed about for a few hours, then my body eventually exhausted itself and I got about an hour and a half of sleep. Then I woke up again, and the cycle continued for the rest of the night. That’s typical. “I spoke to a doctor in Iceland who claims people there don’t suffer from seasonal affective disorder. Their country is plunged into darkness for a good part of the year. But he wasn’t talking about medication.
He wasn’t talking about behavioural therapies. He was talking about collective action built up over centuries of people living under these conditions and thriving. This is a culture that has developed a whole language around the darkness of winter— they use words like ‘cozy’ instead of words like ‘bleak.’ And it’s a culture that prioritizes communities and families. During the darkest times of the year, no one’s ever alone. It’s not necessarily a party; you’re just not alone. Insomniacs carry a rage about why we are so apart from the world, but I think Iceland gives us a new way to look at chronic conditions so people who have neurological disorders don’t feel so alone.” Says Vaughan, who is based in both Toronto and Berlin, “If you live in a city where people don’t go out for dinner until 10 p.m., insomnia can seem like a sort of strange benefit—and one that can help you acclimatize.” Finding a context in which your setback becomes a strength can help you cope—or even thrive. THE TAKE-AWAY:
Shaped a bit like a dandelion, the brain stem links up the spinal cord with our cerebrum. It is responsible for nervous system functions such as breathing, swallowing, perspiration, arousal, sleep and reflexes.
What It’s Like to… Build Strong Memories In a 2015 study, psychologists from New York University asked participants to identify images from two categories, animals or tools. After a delay, they were presented with new animals and tools—only this time, they received a shock after viewing pictures from one category, designed to make those images more memorable. The researchers anticipated that, when participants’ recall was later tested, they’d remember the category of images paired with the shock (say, the tools) better than the one without it. The surprise was this: their recall was also strengthened for the pictures of tools they had seen before any of the shocks were delivered, suggesting that our brains are able to update previous memories with essential new information. Says lead researcher Joseph Dunsmoor, “We knew from past research rd.ca
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that emotional events are better remembered than trivial or boring ones, but what we didn’t know was that emotion appears to reach back in time to improve the chances that we’ll recall trivial things.”
psychologist Melanie Noel, is using an innovative approach to help patients like Katya Dittrich deal with severe chronic pain. In their intensive sixweek program, the brain holds the key to living a functional life.
THE TAKE-AWAY: Emotional experi-
Nivez Rasic: “We
ences can even strengthen memories that initially seemed unimportant. Perched on either side of the head, beneath the temples, the temporal lobes are responsible for organizing and processing what we see and hear. They’re also involved in learning, memory formation, language acquisition and emotional responses.
see young patients who not only have severe pain but disability from their pain—they’re having trouble functioning. They get daily physiotherapy to try to improve their function, daily psychological counselling and group sessions that address different aspects associated with pain—anxiety, sleep, fear. It runs seven hours a day, five days a week. “Some of these patients have had pain for such a long time that they have an altered perception of what it is. Their brains have to get used to the fact that when they do exercise— whether that’s riding a bike, walking on a treadmill, playing soccer—what they’re feeling is normal sensations associated with exercise, not pain.” Melanie Noel: “We
What It’s Like to… Use Your Mind to Combat Chronic Pain At the Albert a Children’s Hospital, a team of experts, including clinician Dr. Nivez Rasic and clinical 38
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can tell patients are better when they’re able to go to school or hang out with friends, and now we have fascinating neural imaging data that parallels that. It shows we’re actually affecting the way areas in the brain are talking to each other. Our treatments are able to alter the connections in the brain. “As pain becomes chronic, some patients may become conditioned to
“Just teaching people to think about pain differently can alter not only the level of pain they’re reporting but the brain itself.” Clinical psychologist MELANIE NOEL
avoid doing things they did before. For kids, and for adults, too, there’s often a sense of fear: ‘I don’t want to walk down the street because it hurts, and that’s scary.’ We’re changing that through our treatments on a neurological level. Just teaching people to think about pain differently can alter not only the level of pain they’re reporting but the brain itself.”
“The program had a lot of pain psychology. We had quote books where we wrote down things to help us reframe what we were feeling. One that still works for me is: ‘You are enough. You are so enough. It’s unbelievable how enough you are.’ Even just knowing I wasn’t alone, that it wasn’t something I’d made up in my head, that helped. “The point of the program was to give me tools and knowledge so I can handle my pain. In December 2015, I did my first race with little to no nerve pain. I came in dead last, but I felt like I’d won the World Cup. People have different strategies—I listen to music before a run, I get my brain stuck on a song, and I use that to distract myself. Before I went into the program, my pain level would be 10 out of 10. Now it’s around a three, on average.” Says Noel, “We often think of pain as a physical thing we can’t control, but the way we think and feel about it can change our experience. And the earlier we intervene, the more likely it is that we can prevent chronic pain from being a problem in adulthood.” THE TAKE-AWAY:
Katya Dittrich, age 14, patient From age nine, Dittrich suffered from knee pain that grew worse over time. By the time she turned 11, the young biathlete could barely walk and needed morphine to sleep at night. A rheumatologist referred her to the pro gram, which she started in May 2013.
“You know that feeling when your foot falls asleep and you have to shake it to wake it up? It’s like that, all over my body. And if I stubbed my toe when my nerve pain was active, it’d be 10 times worse than normal.
Located near the top of the brain, just above the occipital lobes and behind the frontal lobes, the parietal lobes control cognition, processing information, pain, spatial orientation, speech and facial recognition.
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Jonathan and his mom, Tina Boileau, are advocates for “Butterfly Children,” who suffer from epidermolysis bullosa.
INSPIRATION
Living with a rare skin condition makes every action—from eating to sleeping—an agony for Jonathan Pitre. Sharing his story to help others has turned out to be the easiest thing of all.
The
Butterf l y Effect BY DAVE CAMERON
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IN A STARK WHITE EXAMINATION ROOM at
Toronto’s Hospital for
Sick Children (SickKids), a medical team has gathered for a new experimental skin-care procedure. A dermatologist, three residents and a nurse throng Dr. Elena Pope as she applies a translucent membrane to her patient’s raw flesh. The nurse snaps some photos.
“Does it hurt?” asks Pope, the institution’s head of pediatric dermatology. “Just when you touch,” answers 15-year-old Jonathan Pitre before exhaling audibly. Standing at his side with arms crossed, his mom, Tina Boileau, never averts her gaze from her child. Jonathan is one of about 3,500 Canadians living with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a genetic condition in which the two layers of skin—the epidermis and dermis—fail to anchor together because they lack one of several key proteins. EB sufferers are nicknamed Butterfly Children, since their skin is as fragile as that creature’s wings—the slightest friction ca n cause a painful abrasion that won’t heal properly, if at all. Jonathan has the most severe form of the condition; 60 to 70 per cent of his body’s surface is chronic wounds, which can lead to a host of fatal complications. The average life expectancy of someone with his subtype of EB is 25. On this December morning in 2015, the teen is bound in gauze from neck to waist, and from the thighs down. His exposed skin is a patchwork of red and purple sores. Over the three 42
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worst lesions, Pope carefully places strips containing amnion, an antiinflammatory placental membrane that provides growth factors to promote healing. The hope is that the amnion will help repair Jonathan’s skin and reduce his discomfort; if it works, additional applications can be used to close more of his wounds. The problem is, to test these treatments, Jonathan must submit to the thing that hurts the most: contact. As Pope continues the treatment, Jonathan whimpers and looks over his shoulder at the group. A bead of sweat clings to his cheek. The doctor asks if he wants a moment. “You have to do it, so do it,” he says. Above his head hangs a painting of a boy on a unicycle juggling apples. He glances up at it as though seeking advice on how to defy probability. FOR PEOPLE WITH EB, lesions
can occur inside as well as outside the body. When Jonathan was born, blistering in his airway impeded his breathing, and doctors were forced to intubate. He spent the next month and a half in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of
“He looks delicate,” says Tina of her son, “but he has the heart of a lion.”
N E Z I T I C A W A T T O
/ R E V I L O E I L U J Y B Y H P A R G O T O H P
Eastern Ontario. He was diagnosed with a recessive dystrophic form of the disease, which means both his parents carry the gene. It also means his condition will deteriorate. In the coming years, his compromised body will be at increasing risk of cardiac problems, organ failure and skin cancer. “With EB, every child is different,” says Pope. “He may beat the odds. It’s hard to predict.” Jonathan weighs 72 pounds— about half the average of a boy his age—and that includes the gains he’s made since a gastrostomy tube was inserted last November,
which allows him to re ceive the nutrients he wasn’t getting orally (eating inflames sores on his gums and in his throat). Chronic scarring has reduced his appendages to stubs, and the buildup of scar tissue has fused his digits and made them appear webbed—a condition called syndactyly. He’s already had three surgeries to separate the contracting fingers from one another. Over the past two years, his compromised mobility has led to osteoporosis, and while he can walk down the hallway at home, he depends on a wheelchair to carry him greater distances. rd.ca
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READER’S DIGEST
Ironically, as the disease has become more physically debilitating for Jonathan, it has also been a source of empowerment—for himself and others. In 2012, Pope invited the then-12-year-old to participate in a panel at the Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association (DEBRA) International Congress, held in Toronto. With typical candour, Jonathan talked about his condition before an audience of nearly 150 that included EB patients and researchers from around the world. “It was life-changing,” Jonathan says of the experience. “It was the first time I’d ever met someone else with EB. It made me feel like I wasn’t alone anymore.” Moreover, he realized the effect of his public speaking: “Sharing my story made me feel like I was making a difference. It made me redouble my efforts.” Since the congress panel, those efforts have included becoming an ambassador for DEBRA Canada. The organization, of which Tina serves as president, has adopted the slogan, “The worst disease you’ve never heard of.” The group is trying to change that. In October 2014, the O t t a w a Citizen —based 30 minutes from Jonathan’s hometown of Russell, Ont.—ran a profile of the teen. Within a matter of days, the story was picked 44
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up by other North American outlets and generated more than $100,000 in donations to DEBRA, giving him faith that telling his story might indeed produce results. BACK AT THEIR TWO-STOREY home
in Russell, Jonathan stands hunched on a rug in his mother’s room. Tina sits cross-legged at his feet cutting a strip from a roll of silicone. Jonathan has an angry-looking oval wound on his calf, as though he’s been bitten by a lamprey eel, and when Tina applies the silicone, he gasps sharply. Changing Jonathan’s dressings is an exhausting three- to four-hour process that takes place three evenings a week. “Ow,” he says. “Ow, ow, ow.” The string of ows turns into an extended, keening howl. Jonathan’s Boston terrier, Gibson, whines from the other side of the closed door. “Sorry, buddy,” says Tina. As Jonathan’s moan peters out, she prepares the gauze and stretch bandage that will secure the silicone to his leg. Jonathan turns his attention to sports highlights on the TV. The Ottawa Senators fan has an eye on becoming a sports broadcaster, a career that would suit his confident, unembellished manner. He scoffs at a soccer clip. “They’re babies,” he says. “Always throwing themselves on the ground, even when they’re just touched.”
A glist ening sore larg er tha n a Tina asks her son to turn so she can study his backside. Then she re- dinner plate covers most of his back, moves a needle from its antiseptic and Tina begins to tackle it. With her sleeve and pops a blister behind his brother’s next howl, Noémy sits up right knee. Jonathan shudders. She and crosses her legs. Jonathan’s body can’t always know if an area of skin is flexed, the tendons in his neck will be particularly sensitive, and strained like guy wires. Every beat of it’s a challenge to be gentle enough. his heart ripples the thin white skin Sometimes when Jonathan lets out a over his ribs. gasp, his mother takes a corresponding deep breath. Then, as he weeps, IN THE ABSENCE OF effective thershe busies herself with scissors and apy or a cure for EB, caring for Jonasilicone, getting a few than requires constant more strips cut to size. vi gi l a n ce. Av o i d i ng “I’m hurting him,” potential pitfalls— “That’s what Tina says of the dressthings as mundane as moms do: we ings ritual. “It’s not zippers and oral hyquality time.” giene—is perennially help our kids But it’s family time important. A zippered through the nevertheless. At one sweater might be easipoint, Noémy, Jonaer for the teen to get bad and the than’s 13-year-old in and out of, but the sister, comes in and good,” says Tina. metal can rip his flesh. stretches out on the B r u s h in g h i s t e e t h bed. The curly-haired safely is a challenge, girl pushes up her glasses and opens but not brushing leads to infection. a trivia game on her iPhone. In Jonathan’s world, staying healthy “Whose laws deal with gravity and means risking further agony. motion?” she asks. EB sufferers experience contact “Newton,” Jonathan answers. with their skin as stinging pinpricks. “How’d you know that?” “The pain,” says Jonathan, “is basicNow wrapped to the waist, Jona- ally indescribable.” To mitigate his than rests on a stool and scrolls suffering, the teen takes analgesics, through photos of Gibson on his including methadone, but they’re iPhone. Balanced in his lap is a plush often inadequate. His doctors are wolf named Aurora. “As much as it’s struggling to come up with the childish, I do what I have to do,” he right combination of medication to says. “EB kids like soft things.” provide as much relief as possible. rd.ca
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SUPPORT THE CAUSE On
Facebook (facebook.com/ ButterflyChildJonathanPitre), Jonathan Pitre shares updates with an online community of more than 2,000. DEBRA
Canada’s website (debracanada.org) has additional information about EB, as well as a secure donation portal. Funds raised support awareness campaigns, as well as EB patients and their families. The
first annual Jonathan Pitre Golf Classic (classiquejonathanpitre.com) will be held on July 22, 2016, at Falcon Ridge Golf Club in Ottawa.
Where modern medicine falls short, Jonathan’s imagination—his “secret weapon”—comes into play. “I slow my breathing and try to meditate,” he says. “I imagine a flame, and I throw the pain into the flame.” Until 2014, the painkillers and mental exercises enabled Jonathan to regularly go to school in the neighbouring town of Embrun. These days, he misses class when he’s too tired from his bathing routine the previous evening; his attendance is also interrupted by trips to SickKids in Toronto. With the help of school staff and his teaching aide, he keeps up with his studies from home but still worries about falling behind his peers. Jonathan was able to participate in gym—his favourite class—until 46
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four years ago. His earliest friends knew to be gentle with him, but not everyone followed suit. Between Grade 5, when he switched to a new school—leaving behind his close pals—and high school, there was bullying and name-calling. “My wounds smell,” Jonathan says with a shrug. “Of course, they do— they’re wounds.” T h e h a r a s s m en t h a s l a r g e l y ended now that his classmates have adolescent preoccupations, but it still affects him. “I was shocked by the bullying when I was little,” he says. “Now I’m mostly sad that I don’t have friends anymore.” W h i l e J o n a t h a n ’s f r e q u e n t seclusion at home allows him fewer opportunities to socialize in person, his online network continues to grow, thanks to his role at DEBRA. And even as he admits to his outsider status, he maintains his favourite people in the world are Noémy and Tina. “There’s being a mother and caring for a child, and then there’s Mom,” he says. “I wouldn’t be able to go on without her.” “My life has been dedicated to making sure he’s got the best I can possibly give him,” says Tina. “His health has gotten progressively worse over the years. I plan to keep doing what we’ve been doing and taking every challenge straight-on. That’s what moms do: we help our ki ds through the bad and the good.”
“WE’RE AT THE BABY stages
of exciting research,” says Pope of the work being done in the field of EB. Among the therapies showing promise are stem-cell injections, which in volve introducing bone marrow cells into the blood, and gene therapy, where the patient’s own genetically corrected skin cells are grafted onto his or her wounds. Clinical trials are under way, and Jonathan is committed to doing his part to find medical solutions—even though a breakthrough might come too late for him. In the busy waiting area at SickKids the morning of the amnion treatment, a toddler is splayed across two seats, playing with a plastic truck and burbling out engine sounds. This is the same lounge where Jonathan waited for a graft treatment last August, when his back was scrubbed of “non-viable” tissue, followed by the application of cadaverous skin to shrink the wound. On that occasion, Jonathan
wa s ash en -faced and withdrawn. Pope thought he looked scared— just like any kid undergoing a major procedure. Still, she considers him exceedingly resilient, particularly in his choice to become an advocate for awareness rather than giving in to self-pity. “Jonathan’s subtype of EB is the most devastating medical condition we have,” says Pope. “It affects the whole body and causes such a significant amount of pain— and there’s no cure.” Jonathan eyes the toddler’s truck as it crashes to the floor. When asked if he’s afraid of dying, the teen is quiet for several seconds. He’s searching for the right words. “I want to have a regular life and to grow up to be an adult,” he says. A few more beats: “Yes, I’m scared.” The admission seems to hearten him. “It’s supernormal to think about what’s ahead. But I’m still here. That’s the way I think of it. I’m still here.”
ART WORKS Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. SCOTT ADAMS, cartoonist
If we’d known we were going to be the Beatles, we’d have tried harder. GEORGE HARRISON
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HUMOUR
How our pets’ comfort trumps a good night’s sleep
DOG BED HOG B Y B I L L B A R O L F R O M FAST COMPANY ILLUSTRATION BY DREW SHANNON
ONE NIGHT IN 1998, my
wife and I fell asleep with our six-month-old Labrador puppy, Mojo, on the bed between us. When we woke up the next morning and discovered there hadn’t been any disastrous consequences, a thought balloon bloomed over our heads: dog snoozes on bed, snuggles with humans; kind of nice. The reason I remember this: it was the last good night’s sleep I ever got. There are no hard numbers on how many people “bed share” with their pets, but two studies presented at 2014’s annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies confirmed what any animal-loving idiot like myself can tell you: there are 48
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a lot of us, and we are walking around like zombies. In one survey of 298 patients at a family-practice clinic, about half reported sleeping with pets (more dogs than cats). Within that group, 63 per cent of respondents who shared a bed with a pet more than four nights a week had poor sleep quality. I’m no sleep scientist, but these figures seem low. Then again, I’m usually pretty foggy. At my annual physical, my doctor asked how I was sleeping. “Not well,” I told him. I suspected the dogs were to blame. “You have your dogs in the bed with you and your wife?” “Yes,” I told him. “What kind of dogs?”
READER’S DIGEST
“Labradors,” I said, hearing how ridiculous it sounded. He blinked and asked incredulously, “Labradors? Plural?” “Yes,” I said in a meek voice. That’s right. My wife, Jennifer, and I share our king-size bed with 11-year-old, 27-kilogram Roxy and five-year-old, 25-kilogram Scout. (Mojo went to her reward several years ago. She was well rested.) Roxy and Scout are small as Labs go, but their lust for a good night’s sleep is outsize. They don’t mind colonizing a disproportionately large swath of our mattress to get it. If you were to watch a time-lapse video of a night in our bedroom, you would see Roxy and Scout sprawled peacefully across the vast middle of our enormous bed, the area that would correspond to the Midwest on a map of the United States, while Jennifer clings precariously to the Atlantic seaboard and I try to avoid plummeting into the Pacific. I KNOW OUR arrangement
is bad for me. The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston reports cheerily that “a lack of adequate sleep can affect judgment, mood and the ability to learn and retain information, and may increase the risk of serious accidents and injury. In the long term, chronic sleep deprivation may lead to a host of health problems, in-
cluding obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even early mortality.” Yet, night after night, my wife and I—two adults who train our dogs rigorously, insist on their good citizenship and are otherwise firmly unsentimental about our status as pack leaders—decline to kick the canines out of our bed, and we wake up grouchy and stiff. As do many of the friends and acquaintances I informally polled for this story. One, who sleeps with an 11-kilogram wheaten terrier, likens the experience to trying to share a bed with a piano bench. Another was at least willing to do something about it. One recent night, when her two-year-old Great Dane jumped on the bed at 2 a.m., she says, “I put up with it for about an hour. Then I moved to the couch.” Don’t misunderstand. I don’t discount the satisfaction of curling up next to a slumbering dog—or, I guess, cat. It’s hard to ignore the elemental comfort of Roxy’s muffled snores or the whispery exhalation of Scout’s breath. The sounds say the day is done and the pack is together and safe. Even if tonight, at about 3 a.m., when I’m feeling less broad-minded, I give Scout a vicious shove that doesn’t wake her up—even then, I will sleepily but deliberately act against my own physiological best interests and allow her to stay right where she is.
FAST COMPANY (FEBRUARY 25, 2015), COPYRIGHT © 2015 BY MANSU ETO VENTURES, LLC, FASTCOMPANY.COM
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Laughter THE BEST MEDICINE
BOOK REVIEW
[Sees girl reading The Catcher in the Rye ] “Ah, I love that book. The way he just [clenches fist] catches all that frickin’ rye.” @DAVID8HUGHES
THE BEST JOKE I EVER TOLD BY D.J. DEMERS People always tell me, “Everything happens for a reason.” But they can never name the reason, so basically they’re just telling me, “Everything happens.”
A REAL GROANER
Demers performs stand-up across North America. Find out if he is performing in your city at djdemers.com.
LACE IS MORE
Did you hear the one about the kid who started a business tying shoelaces on the playground? It was a knot-for-profit. ANDREW FERGUSON, S a u l t S t e . M a r i e , O n t .
A D U F H P E S O J
EPILOGUE Q: What did E.T.’s mother say to him
when he got home? A: WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN?
reddit.com
One night, a guy walks into a bar. He’s ordering some drinks when he notices there are two large pieces of meat stuck to the ceiling, and he asks the barman why they’re there. The barman says, “It’s part of a little game. You’ve got to try to get those down from the ceiling without using a chair or a pool cue or anything else. If you manage, I’ll give you $200. But if you don’t succeed, you’ve got to give me $200.” The guy eyes the ceiling for a while, then turns to the barman and says, “No, I’m not going to try it.” The barman asks, “Why not?” “I can’t do it,” the man says, shaking his head. “The steaks reddit.com are too high.” Send us your original jokes! You could earn $50 and be featured in the magazine. See page 8 or rd.ca/joke for details.
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When a toddler disappears in an icy creek, finding the unconscious boy is only the first step in the fight for his life
Dead for
One
Hourand
41 Minutes BY DEREK BURNETT
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DRAMA IN REAL LIFE
Gardell Martin, age two, beside his home in Mifflinburg, Pa.
READER’S DIGEST
IT’S MARCH 11, 2015, and sun pours over the ridge that borders
Doyle and Rose Martin’s rural property outside Mifflinburg, Pa. Yesterday it rained all day, melting the better part of the long winter’s snow, and what the rain left behind, the sun is taking care of today. Water runs down the surrounding slopes, swelling the normally humble creeks until they nearly jump their banks. The stream that cuts through the Martins’ yard is usually ankle deep and sluggish, but today it courses angrily beneath the footbridge at startling speed, up to an adult’s waist and frigid. The Martin boys will not squander such a lovely afternoon. After Rose brought them home from school, they hurried outside to ride bikes and gather sticks to build a fire. They are independent kids; the Martins have seven under the age of 17, with another on the way. In keeping with their own upbringings, Doyle and Rose expect their children to learn self-reliance and responsibility, the older ones looking after the younger. Today, Gary, 11, and Greg, seven, are playing with little Gardell, who is not yet two. Doyle, a trucker, is out on the road. Rose is working in the kitchen, where she can keep an eye on the boys through the window. Suddenly Greg bursts through the door, his face streaked with tears. “I can’t find Gardell!” he screams. “He was just with me!” Rose and her two oldest, Gloria and Grace, charge outside, hollering Gardell’s name. Just to make sure, they check the two outbuildings, 54
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but everybody is thinking about that raging creek. Rose dials 9-1-1, and the girls call their father. The property echoes with frantic shouts, as mother and children scramble along the banks of the stream, concerned about the speed of the icy grey water. RANDALL BEACHEL IS STANDING at
his kitchen sink when he looks out the window and sees Grace and Gary running alongside the stream where it exits the Martin property. Something isn’t right. Grace is barefoot, no jacket. They’re yelling. He steps outside. “What’s wrong?” he calls to Gary. “We can’t find my little brother!” Randall’s heart sinks. He runs back inside, tells his wife, Melissa, what’s going on, and pulls on his shoes. Together they rush outside, hop into their truck and drive down the road to where the creek crosses through pasture land some 200 metres downstream of the Martins’
N E H O C N I T S U D Y B Y H P A R G O T O H P
place. They exit the vehicle and pass through two fences. Randall holds the strands of electric wire, ignoring the shocks, as Melissa climbs to the other side. When they reach the wate wa terr ’s ed ge, ge , Mel Me l issa is sa goes go es dow do w nstream and Randall begins following the brook bro ok back bac k toward the t he Martins’ Mart ins’, scanning the water’s surface. After a moment, he spots a tiny pair of navy-blue boots sticking out from the underbrush. A step or two further, and he sees the whole picture: the little boy, still clad in a hooded snowsuit, seemingly suspended on his side in the middle of that rushing stream, his face turned away from the current. Randall plunges into the creek, gasping involuntarily—the water temperature is around 0 C—loses his footing and stumbles into a deep hole. He recovers, recovers, then pulls the limp little body off what turns out to be a grassy underwater knoll. He staggers back to dry land, hollering, “I found him!” as he flips Gardell over to see if he can drain the water from the boy’s mouth and lungs. An ambulance is coming up the road. Randall raises an arm to hail it. When Wh en a para pa rame medi dicc race ra cess acro ac ross ss the field, Randall hands the little boy off and watches as the rescuer rushes back toward the ambulance, performing chest compressions as he goes. By the time Randall reaches the road, the medics have torn off
Gardell’s clothes. One of them has placed a mask onto the little boy’s face and is hand-pumping air into his lungs; the other is rhythmically pressing the tiny chest to force blood through the body. That’s all Randall sees before the vehicle turns and speeds toward town. Rose never gets so much as a glimpse of her son. She learns that he’s being taken to Evangelical Community Hospital in nearby Lewisburg. Moments later, her sister and brother-in-law arrive at the house, and together they race toward the hospital. As they rush into the emergency room 15 minutes later, Rose is told they’re transporting Gardell by Life Flight to a trauma centre. Through the windows of the waiting area, she can see the chopper on the heliport, its interior illuminated, medical workers hunched over what must be her boy’s body. Her brotherin-law is an EMT, and he can tell that they’re still doing CPR—after all this time!—but he says nothing to Rose. Michael Lesher, Lesher, the paramedic who carried Gardell to the ambulance, heads back to the station. The CPR has gone on for more than an hour; typically rescuers give up after less than half that time. If he survives, Lesher says to himself, it will be a miracle. A moment later later,, the aircraft aircraft lifts off. Rose watches through the window, tears stinging her eyes. rd.ca
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DR. FRANK MAFFEI IS preparing
for his evening rounds in the pediatric intensive care unit at Geisinger Medical Center’s Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, 27 kilometres from Lewisburg. He gets a call from the ER downstairs: a toddler is on his way via Life L ife Flight, full f ull cardiac arrest. Worse Wor se:: CPR CP R has ha s been be en ongo on goin ing g for fo r more than an hour, to no avail. Still, Maffei and his colleagues are ready. Upon Gardell’s arrival, four residents line up on his left side to continue CPR: each does two minutes of chest compressions, then moves to the back of the line—a strategy that preserves energy. It’s critical to get Gardell warmed up, so even as his limp little body jiggles
“I never felt hopeless,” says Maffei. “I thought, We’ve got a shot to save him.” 56
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and jolts under the force of the chest compressions, other doctors and nurses carefully insert an IV and two catheters to send warm fluids into his body, which is at only 25 C. A resident turns turn s to Maffei. “At what point are we going to stop?” “We’ll stop if we warm him to 32 C and he’s still unresponsive,” Maffei says. “What about a pH?” The resident is referring to the acidity of the blood, which spikes when wh en a person per son stops sto ps breathi brea thing ng and an d a heart stops pumping; a pH lower than 6.8 is usually considered incompatible with life. Maffei hears himself answer, “6.5.” It’s an ambitious call. A few minutes later, the pH comes back at 6.504. No heartbeat, no breathing and a low pH: the boy is dead. Objectively, Maffei knows that it’s all over. He’s been a physician for 25 years. Yet he can’t shake some strange notion that Gardell is still in there. “Keep going,” he says. It’s now after 8 p.m., and the toddler remains unresponsive. The doctors move him to the operating room and prepare to put him on a heart bypass machine. They’ve got his temperature up to 28.6 C, but the machine will allow them to warm his blood externally and recirculate it, speeding the process. A surgeon stands scrubbed and ready to cut into the little boy’s chest.
“Let’s just do one more pulse check,” Maffei says, laying his fingertips against Gardell’s femoral artery. To his amazement, there is a pulse. His colleague Dr. Rich Lambert checks the brachial artery—there is a weak but strengthen streng thening ing pulse puls e there. Excited, they stand in the OR, monitoring Gardell’s cardiac activity for more than an hour, then transfer him to pediatric intensive care. Maffei steps out into the waiting area to meet Rose. “Gardell’s alive,” he says. “However “ However,, we have to underun derstand that he’s alive after essentially being dead for an hour and 41 minutes.” He needs to manage her expectations: Gardell’s oxygen-starved brain could be forever damaged, but it’s too early to tell. They have to see if he’ll wake up—and what function he’ll have when he does. The following days are critical. IN THE EARLY HOURS of
March 12, Doyle reaches the hospital. He and Rose are sitting over their son’s bed. “Gardell,” Doyle says as he always does when he returns home, “I came back from trucking to play with you. Do you want to play?” And An d to the th e asto as toni nish shme ment nt of al l, the boy opens his eyes and turns his head toward his father—the boy who, a few hours before, was dead. Gardell stays in the hospital two more days, under light sedation. He’s kept at a cool 32 C to prevent
SAVING GRACE So how did a boy who, by every measure, was dead for nearly two hours come back to life unscathed? The key to Gardell’s survival was the icy water. water. “Hypothermia imparts a degree of protection from the detrimental effects of low blood flow and low oxygen,” Dr. Frank Maffei says. The severe cold stopped Gardell’s heart, but it also saved his brain, just as you might put an amputated finger on ice until you can reattach it. At a higher temperature, temperature, the boy’s b oy’s brain cells would surely have died for lack of oxygen; in this case, they were able to survive unharmed in suspended animation—at least for an hour and 41 minutes. No one involved in the rescue has ever seen such an extreme case.
his brain tissue from swelling. He begins opening his eyes more frequently, obviously aware of his surroundings. The breathing tube is removed. He’s weaned off the sedation. On the fourth day, a Sunday, he returns home. Within a week of the incident, he’s playing with his siblings. “You would never know anything happened,” Rose says. Randall sometimes looks over at the Martin place and chuckles at the sight of the towheaded youngster kicking dirt around in the garden or chasing his brothers. “It’s truly a miracle,” he says. “Truly a miracle.” rd.ca
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A male bear, such as this one on Hudson Bay, can weigh over 500 kilograms.
ENVIRONMENT
Disappearing sea ice in the Canadian North is shrinking polar bear numbers and swelling killer whale ranks. In the era of climate change, can the Arctic sustain both?
A C . O T O H P I R C A M / I R C A M E K I
Predator vs.. Predator BY SHARON OOSTHOEK FROM CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC
M © Y B Y H P A R G O T O H P
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A
lone polar bear ambles along the western shore of Hudson Bay, just outside the town of Churchill, Man. Every few minutes, she stops on the rocky beach, stands on her rear legs and peers across the bay’s open waters. Something out there has caught her attention.
It’s late August 2011. Months will pass before the increasingly unpredictable sea ice forms, providing a platform from which to hunt seals and fatten up after several lean months on land. It’s not ice, however longingly anticipated, that has the bear scanning the cold, grey water. About 300 metres from shore, seven triangular dorsal fins betray the position of a group of unusual visitors to the bay: killer whales. Perhaps the polar bear is just as surprised to see the whales as the tourists, whose Zodiac idles about six metres from the pod. The boat’s driver—a lifelong Churchill resident—is astonished. “Oh, man, I can’t believe I’m looking at orcas!” Remi Foubert-Allen shouts over the noise of an outboard motor. “Look at the male’s dorsal fin. It must be seven feet!” He knows something most people don’t: until recently, killer whales have been a rare sight in Hudson Bay. Jobie Attitaq, an Inuit hunter in Arctic Bay, Nunavut, has observed the same thing on the northwest coast of Baffin Island, 1,600 kilometres from Churchill. “In the late 1990s, we started to notice killer whales were 60
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coming around to Admiralty Inlet and even into Adam Sound and right here into Arctic Bay,” says Attitaq, chair of the hamlet’s Hunters and Trappers Organization. “We never experienced this before. Now we get them often.” In fact, killer whale sightings in Hudson Bay and the wider eastern Canadian Arctic have increased since the year 2000, leading scientists to consider the rise of a new apex predator in the North. They say disappearing sea ice is opening up new hunting grounds for killer whales. At the same time, the vanishing mass is narrowing habitat for the North’s long-reigning monarch: the polar bear. Steve Ferguson, a biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is among those trying to figure out exactly why the whales are there and what their presence means for the Arctic ecosystem. He believes the creatures are moving north as climate change opens up previously inaccessible hunting areas that are rich in belugas, bowheads, narwhals and seals. Ferguson’s research indicates that sea ice in Hudson Strait FIVE YEARS LATER,
was once onc e a choke cho ke point, poi nt, prevent prev enting ing orcas from accessing Hudson Bay. Killer whales generally avoid ice because they can injure their tall dorsal fins as they swim underneath. But, beginning consistently in the 1960s, declines in the area covered by summer sea ice in the straits have likely allowed for killer whales from the northwest Atlantic Atlantic to find their way into the bay. Figures from the Canadian Ice Service support that conclusion. Between 1968 and 2010, summer sea ice concentrations in Hudson Bay and in Hudson and Davis Straits have declined by 10 to 20 per cent a decade. In Hudson Bay alone, that accounts for a loss of over 16,000 square kilometres. In Baffin Bay, where ice has dropped by 10 per cent a decade, the total reduction exceeds 18,000 square kilometres— more than three times the size of Prince Edward Island. Working Working with Ferguson, Winnipegbased wildlife biologist Jeff Higdon has pored over old whaling logs and interviewed Inuit hunters to create a database of orca sightings in the region. European and American whalers kept detailed accounts of their activities; there’s no mention of these awesome predators in Hudson Bay until well into the 20th century. “The first record I know of for the area was in the 1940s,” says Higdon. But sightings picked up starting in the late ’60s, with seven reported that decade. The numbers ticked up
in subsequent decades, then soared to 84 in the aughts. From 2010 to 2014, there were 24 sightings. Scientists with Fisheries and Oceans started paying closer attention in 2005, which probably boosted recent numbers, but a trend is clear.
POLAR BEAR NUMBERS WILL DROP WHETHER GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ARE REDUCE REDUCED D OR NOT.
A simila sim ilarr pattern patt ern is evident evi dent in the wider eastern Canadian Ca nadian Arctic. Killer Ki ller whales whales have have been been summe summertim rtime e visito visitors rs to Baffin Bay and Davis Strait since at least the late 1800s, but Inuit hunters say they now see them more regularly and in larger numbers. This region has gone from 25 reported sightings in the 1960s to 79 in the decade from 2000 to 2009. From 2010 to 2014, there were 62. The fact that orcas are coming back year after year, and in greater numbers, tells Ferguson the hunting must be good. “They are doing well and reproducing,” he says, adding that he wouldn’t be surprised to see sightings continue to increase. Polar bears, on the other hand, appear to be facing a less promising future. rd.ca
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FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED
thousand years, polar bears have reigned supreme as the Arctic’s top predator. They’re uniquely suited to a frigid environment, expert at hunting ringed and bearded seals. But Arctic temperatures are rising at twice the rate of those of lower latitudes, and their habitat is changing drastically.
THE ORCA— ORCA—AN AN ESPECIALL ESPECIALLY Y SKILLED SKILLED PREDATOR—MAY LEAVE LEAVE ITS MARK MARK ON THREE ALREAD ALREADY Y THREATENED THREATENED SPECIES. SPECIES.
Polar bears have survived warming periods in the past—even to the point of crossbreeding with barren ground grizzlies whose territory overlaps theirs in the southern Arctic. Charlotte Lindqvist, an evolutionary biologist at the State University of New York, Buffalo, published a study in 2012 showing grizzlies and polar bears have swapped DNA over the course of about five million years. Lindqvist suspects crossbreeding was more frequent during warmer periods as polar bear populations plummeted and grizzlies moved north. In fact, a handful of polar bear– grizzly hybrids have been confirmed in the Arctic over the last decade. But 62
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this time, even hybridizing is unlikely to have much of an impact on their survival, says Andrew Derocher, a polar bear researcher at the University of Alberta. Simply put, climate change is happening too fast for them to adapt, he says. “The concern over polar bears stems from the fact f act the worst is yet to come,” come,” says Gregory Thiemann, a polar bear researcher at York University in Toronto. “We haven’t seen catastrophic declines yet, but based on a clear understanding of the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions, sea ice and polar bears, this is coming.” Current estimates peg the global population of polar bears at between 20,000 and 25,000, a relatively relatively healthy number. But scientists generally agree the animal’s future isn’t bright. A United States Geological Survey study released in July 2015 confirms that the most significant threat is declining sea ice. It also predicts polar bear numbers will drop whether greenhouse gas emissions are reduced or not. While the study suggests the heavily iced Canadian Arctic Archipelago could be a last refuge, that’s only if global average temperatures increase by no more than 2 C. Accord Acc ordin ing g to anot an othe herr study stu dy pubpu blished in the November 2014 issue of the scientific journal PLOS ONE , more extreme warming trajectories indicate polar bears could face mass starvation and reproductive failure
The first-known first-known photo of killer whales in Hudson Bay, taken in 2007.
across the entire Arctic Archipelago by the year 2100. “If we can’t keep them in the Canadian High Arctic and northern Greenland, we are not going to have them in the wild,” says Derocher, one of the study’s co-authors. The issue is that polar bears are adapted to hunt seals from ice platforms: “I’ve seen them try for seals in open water,” he says, but they simply don’t have the right physiology. “I’ve never seen them succeed.” ceed.” They can supplement their diet while on land land during during the the summe summerr with with seabirds, eggs and the odd caribou carcass. And even when summertime pickings are slim, polar bears are able to tolerate long months without food. But here’s the crux: the bear’s survival depends on its ability to feed on highcalorie seals when the ice returns.
Al A l rea re a d y , s om e p o p u l at i o n s a re experiencing declining weight and increased mortality linked to disappearing sea ice. At least killer whales in the Arctic are unlikely to eat polar bears’ lunch. Inuit hunters have seen the whales hunting seals, but there are more than enough of them to go around, says Paul Irngaut, director of wildlife wildl ife and a nd environment envi ronment for f or IqaluitIqalu itbased Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., an organization that represents the Native treaty rights of the Inuit of Nunavut. Ferguson, Thiemann and Derocher all agree. In the short term, the whales may even be a boon for fo r polar pol ar bears. Orcas are messy eaters, leaving behind large chunks of carcass after a kill. Polar bears have been seen feasting on the remains that wash ashore. That’s not to say killer whale rd.ca
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A female bear patrols Churchill’s rocky coastline.
appetites won’t have an impact on the Arctic ecosystem. As a University of Manitoba PhD student, Cory Matthews analyzed stable nitrogen isotopes from the teeth of two killer whales found dead in Hudson Bay. His results, published in 2014, suggest they are eating belugas, bowheads and narwhals. A new predator—and one that is especially skilled—may leave its mark on these already threatened species. While all three species know a predator when they see it, they have little practice in evading one that moves quickly and hunts in pods. Killer whales’ preferred technique is ramming prey from below, but they’re highly adaptable. They’ve been observed covering bowhead blowholes 64
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and keeping mothers down long enough to take their calves. They’ve also been seen biting off tails and fins before going in for the lethal blow. Under normal circumstances, belugas, bowheads and narwhals take refuge in sea ice. But circumstances are not normal in the Arctic, and their hiding places are fast disappearing. When ice is not available, they head for shallow water, perhaps hoping the risk of beaching will dissuade orcas from following. predict what impact killer whales will have on any one of these whale species, that doesn’t stop him from worrying. As sea ice melts, orcas will have access to wider hunting grounds, putting their WHILE FERGUSON CAN’T
prey at greater risk. “I think they are going to be in trouble,” he says. Ferguson also worries what fewer belugas, bowheads and narwhals could mean for the subsistence hunt in Inuit communities. While nobody is getting rich hunting these whales, they are an important part of Inuit culture. That includes the sense of community that comes from hunting together and sharing the kill. The whales’ blubber and skin are also significant sources of nutrients that are otherwise hard to come by in the Arctic. They contain high levels of retinol (a form of vitamin A), vitamin B, vitamin C, polyunsaturated fats and protein. While technically Inuit could substitute with orca blubber, people know what they like to eat, and it’s not killer whales. Besides, says Attitaq, the creatures can hold a grudge: “Killer whales are good hunters. They will never forget who made the bad choice to harm them, and they’ll come back to harm you, so we don’t hunt them.” For now, at least, Attitaq doesn’t believe the traditional hunt is
threatened by killer whales. In fact, the opposite may be true. When orcas herd their prey, which flee to shallow water, Inuit hunters can more easily make a kill. Certainly the killer whales swimming around Remi Foubert-Allen’s Zodiac were having exactly that effect on the belugas. Their smooth white bodies could be seen plainly beneath the surface as they crowded close to shore. Maybe the orcas weren’t hungry, or maybe they were distracted by the boatload of enthralled tourists bouncing across the waves. Whatever the case, on that day at least, no one witnessed a demonstration of the animal’s potential as the North’s new top predator. Yet, as Ferguson points out, the Arctic is changing quickly, and scientists need to pay close attention to what is going on. “[Polar bears] have evolved to adapt to sea ice. That’s their habitat,” he says. “In the end we may lose ice-adapted sp ecies, and others may move in. It might look good. Yes, it’s biodiversity. But we’re losing the originals.”
©2015 BY SHARON OOSTHOEK. FROM CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC (DECEMBER 2015). CANADIANGEOGRAPHIC.CA
IN THE BEGINNING
A year from now you’ll wish you had started today. ANONYMOUS
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MEMOIR
When Alison Motluk woke up to find a fire raging on her front porch, she felt terrified. By the time the ashes settled, she was surrounded by her supportive community.
ARSON in
EAST YORK FROM TORONTO LIFE ILLUSTRATION BY BYRON EGGENSCHWILER
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IT WAS A NOISE ON MY PORCH
that woke me: a thud, maybe
something falling over. It was just after 3 a.m. on a sticky night in September 2015. I opened the shutters of our bedroom window and found myself staring at what looked like embers, floating lazily up from below the porch roof. I told myself I must be imagining things as I sprinted down the stairs to check. But, inexplicably, there it was: a huge yellow-orange blaze, filling up the entire view through the living-room window of our two-storey 1920s brick house in Toronto’s east end. I remember the loud, galloping sound of the flames. The campfire smell of burning Muskoka chairs. The way the whole room was lit up with a warm glow.
For a moment, I stood there baffled. How could there be such a big fire? Had we left something combustible outside? Was there a heat source I didn’t know about? It made no sense. That was the last pensive thought I had for a few hours. My survival instincts kicked in quickly and fiercely. I yelled up the stairs, “There’s a fire! Get out of the house!” My daughters, aged 12 and 14, raced down and past me, quick but coolheaded. My husband was more skeptical. A fire? What fire? There was no smoke, no blaring alarm. Then he saw the flames. WE RAN OUT THE back
door and around to the front, where we stood on the sidewalk in our bare feet. From there, my younger daughter spotted a second, smaller fire, licking the front steps of a house a few doors down. All became clear: it 68
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had to be arson. It turned out there were six attacks in our neighbourhood that night within a 40-minute span—some igniting the interiors of cars, some lighting up garbage bins, some, like ours, on porches. All were set right next to homes. I grabbed my phone and hadn’t even finished my call to 9-1-1 when a fire truck rounded the corner and stopped a few doors down. Later I learned that the crew had been called by a neighbour, but at the time, the sight of that vehicle stopping short put me in a frenzy. I ran over, waving my arms and calling to the firefighters that there was a much more serious fire—ours—just up the street. One of them jogged over. As I turned to point at our inferno, I realized that the flames had diminished. Only then did I see my husband standing on the porch—barefoot,
shirtless, in his underwear—waving our lawn sprinkler over the ebbing flames. He, too, had leaped into sur vival mode, grabbing the kitchen fire extinguisher. After that was spent, he’d dragged the hose from the back. “You should let us take over now,” the firefighter told him gently.
I ALLOWED MYSELF TO WONDER HOW CLOSE IT HAD COME. ONE FIREFIGHTER TOLD US WE WERE VERY LUCKY.
WITHIN MINUTES, BOTH fires
were out, leaving blackened remains. Things grew quiet, and we continued to stand out front. A neighbour two doors south had come to see what was happening, and she stayed with us to commiserate. Another, from several houses north, came over to find out how we were. She could hear our throats going dry, from the talking and from the stress, and she brought us all water. Firefighters hauled some stuff off our porch: the carcasses of our Muskoka chairs, the burned skeleton of our exercise trampoline and the storm-window glass that had shattered from the heat. The
empty porch was charred and raw, the brick was black, the ceiling blistered. Right above it, I knew, was the master bedroom, where we’d been sleeping just an hour before. I stared through the lone remaining pane of 1920s glass, into our living room. I allowed myself to wonder how close it had come. A firefighter told us we were very lucky. And that’s exactly how I felt. About an hour later, aft er the fire crews and police officers had left, we sa id good nig ht to our neig hbours and went inside. We all sat in the living room, on the other side of that flimsy glass. The smell of smoke was still heavy. I poured two stiff gin and tonics, and we talked through what had happened, what could have happened, and what miraculously had not happened. to survey the damage and take pictures. Soon another police officer knocked on our door. He took our statements. He said he was sorry about what had happened and that they’d do their best to find the person who’d set the blaze. (So far, no luck.) It helped that the incident had been random, I told my Facebook friends in an early-hours post. It helped that the fire hadn’t spread into the house. It helped that we’d acted decisively and without panic. Most importantly, it was oddly FIRE INSPECTORS CAME BACK
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exhilarating to witness that, although our world can’t be free from danger, we can build a society largely able to cope. Everything, I realized, had worked as it should. The firefighters were quick and adept. The police were kind and respectful. The neighbours were supportive and warm.
After the officer left, I made myself another drink. It was 5:45 a.m. Soon I would watch the sun come up. The girls would go to school. My husband would go to work. And I would call the insurance company, exhausted and a little sad, to begin rebuilding what we’d lost.
DON’T PLAY WITH FIRE By Lisa Coxon
If a fire breaks out in your home, every second counts. Blazes progress quickly, and temperatures can soar to 900 degrees Celsius in about three minutes. To protect yourself and your loved ones, have a plan in place before disaster strikes. EARLY DETECTION IS ESSENTIAL
Prevention is the first and most effective step in managing house fires: be sure to install working smoke detectors on every floor and carbon monoxide alarms outside sleeping areas, and test them monthly. “Change the batteries annually,” says Stephen Welowszky, division chief of public education with Toronto Fire Services. Family members of seniors should take extra precautions, he notes. Consider devices specifically designed for hearing-impaired individuals that emit a strobe light, as well as pager-like options that vibrate if the alarm sounds while you’re asleep. CAUTION IN THE KITCHEN In
the period between 2009 and 2013, cooking caused an average of 1,357 fires a year in Ontario, according to the province’s Office of the Fire Marshal
and Emergency Management. In the case of a grease fire, don’t put water on the flames—this will cause them to flare up violently, warns Welowszky. Turn off the heat and smother the blaze with another pan, if possible. EXTINGUISHER ABCs Fire
extinguishers come in different types, indicated on their tags: A, B, C, or ABC. Type A is for combustible materials like paper and cardboard; type B is for flammable liquids, such as cooking oil; and type C is for electrical and appliance fires. Welowszky says type ABC is best for households. MAKE AN ESCAPE PLAN Know
two ways out of every room and off of each floor (windows count), and rehearse this drill regularly with all members of your household.
© 2015 BY ALISON MOTLUK. FROM TORONTO LIFE (DECEMBER 2015). TORONTOLIFE.COM
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@ Work DETAILED LABELLING
POWERPOINT OF CONTENTION
ALL TOGETHER NOW
No one ever says, “Boy, that ‘I Have a Dream’ speech could have been a lot better if Martin Luther King Jr. had used PowerPoint.”
Conference calls are great if you want to hear 15 people say “What?” from the bottom of a well. @BAZECRAZE
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t invent PowerPoint. There’s no “I” in “team,” but there is one in “PowerPoint,” so you should make it yourself and leave me out of it. meetingboy.com
M O C . D E E F Z Z U B
THAT’S A BAD SIGN
Seen on a New York subway poster: “Se habla Español /Russian.” AARON FERNANDO,
via Internet
Spotted on a restaurant’s website: “Glutton-free menu available.” EMILY PAYNE,
via Internet
SAD SIMILES SUPERVISOR: This project isn’t
Read on a pharmacy marquee: “We sell beer and wine! We can flavour your child’s liquid Rx!” Consumer Reports
something we can finish off quickly. It’s like an onion. It has layers we have to peel away one by one. CO-WORKER: And it will make us cry a lot. notalwaysworking.com
Are you in need of some professional motivation? Send us a work anecdote, and you could receive $50. To submit your stories, see rd.ca/joke.
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FAMILY
My true story of how leaving home— and growing up— can take a lifetime
Here I Go
Aga i n on My
Own BY MIJI CAMPBELL
F R O M S E P A R AT I O N A N X I E T Y : A C O M I N G O F M I D D L E A G E S T O R Y
L L E B P M A C I J I M F O Y S E T R U O C S O T O H P
THREE MONTHS BEFORE I
was born, my mother was putting linens away in the back bedroom closet. Standing tiptoe on a wooden stool, she stretched her pregnant frame to stack the sheets on the highest shelf. Suddenly, the stool tipped. She fell, twisting to avoid landing belly side down, wrenching her knee, ripping ligaments. My mother spent the rest of her pregnancy with her leg in a plaster cast from waist to ankle, worrying about this baby that seldom moved. On the day I was born, the nurse had to ask the doctor what to do first: birth the baby or remove the cast. They cut the cast away, and I arrived shortly after. My mother waited for surgery that would leave a scar in the shape of a cross on her knee. This became the working model for our relationship: my mother would protect me from all bumps and falls, with considerable contortion, pain and self-sacrifice, and I would never, really, leave the womb. as I run through the dimly lit underground parkade to my car. In darkness pierced by headlights and street lights, I drive the 20 blocks to my parents’ place. Sanctuary. I am 24 years old. It is 1984, and I am teaching English at the Calgary high school I’d attended six years earlier. MY FOOTSTEPS ECHO
One month previously, I had left home. My two older sisters had moved out, in their turn, and now it was my time to go. When I saw the apartment, I knew it was the place for me. This is independence, I thought, as I signed my cheques for the damage deposit and first month’s rent. I was going to love this life. The first night, I snuggled under my new sheets and waited for my first sleep as an independent adult. I turned from one side to the other, flipped my pillow to its cool underside. Took a sip of water. Glanced at the clock. Why couldn’t I fall asleep? The next night, same thing. And the night after that. 2:35 A.M.
In just four hours, the alarm will wake me up. That is, if I ever get to sleep in the first place. The familiar anxiousness begins. Hot prickles reach across my scalp and down my forehead and cheeks. Breath comes in shallow scoops. My heart races. My stomach lurches. After a string of sleepless nights, I mention my problem to some colleagues. They give stock remedies: hot bath, warm milk, good book. Finally, I confess to my mother. “Just come home to sleep,” she says. It’s a strange double life. Each night, I give sleep a try. After a couple hours, I drive to my parents’ house. rd.ca
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I unlock the back door, tiptoe down the hallway, crawl into my childhood bed and instantly fall asleep. Each morning, I rush back to my apartment to shower, get dressed and go to work. My father is mystified by my boomerang home. “What are you afraid of? Bears?” I try to explain that I’m not afraid of anything. I just can’t sleep.
I TAKE ONE TINY WHITE PILL THAT NIGHT. STILL NO SLEEP. I DON’T GO TO WORK THE NEXT DAY. I CALL THE DOCTOR.
Eventually, it becomes clear that this not sleeping thing isn’t going to pass. I go to our family doctor. He gives me sleeping pills for 10 days to break the cycle. When the prescription runs out, sleeplessness returns. I go to see a new doctor and tell her about my insomnia issues. She assures me everything looks fine, physically. She asks about family, relationships, work in general. “Have you always wanted to teach?” That is a tricky one to answer. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but that sounds flaky. Teaching is my reasonable, responsible career choice. 74
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“Are you enjoying your job?” the doctor asks. “Absolutely! It’s great. It’s fun, but quite busy. The first year can be a little intense.” She nods and smiles. Then she launches into a lecture about personality types. Type As are ambitious, goal-oriented, competitive and self-critical. Type Bs are relaxed, non-competitive and tend to go with the flow. “Would you say you’re more of a Type A?” “I guess,” I answer hesitantly. Where is she going with this? “I’m wondering if you might be depressed.” Depressed? Depressed is Charlie Brown talking to Linus. A person might say “I’m depressed” after a tough week, a sad breakup, a bad haircut. Being depressed all the time is for people with horrible hardships or sad childhoods. “I’m not depressed. I just can’t sleep in my apartment.” Patiently, the doctor explains how lack of sleep, over time, can lead to depression. She prescribes an antidepressant that will restore my brain’s chemical balance. Dutifully, I take the prescription and drive to the drugstore. The plastic vial is tagged with stickers about alcohol, drowsiness and heavy machinery. The pharmacist dispenses even more warnings, which I
The author with her mother, Pat Campbell, in 1960.
miss in my rush to get out of the store. To appear normal. I take one tiny white pill that night. Still no sleep. I don’t go to work the next day because I feel spaced out on top of the usual tiredness. I call the doctor. She increases the dosage. I return to my parents’ house to be “sick”—I’m waiting for the antidepressant to work. Mom doesn’t like the way our pri vate pact around not sleeping is compromising my day job. Insomnia can be beaten, she believes, if you deny it’s a problem. This approach has kept her from sleeping soundly for years. I can’t wait three weeks to get to the other side of “mood improvement” if it means wandering, zombie-like, through every day. I flush the pills down the toilet. I am not depressed. There is nothing wrong with my brain. I take a multivitamin instead. After five consecutive sick-leave days, I go back to work and pour all of my energy into teaching. Nightly, I return to my beloved apartment, make supper and plan my lessons for the next day. Macbeth’s grief over his own lost sleep has never seemed so poignant. “Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care....”
What had I done to murder my sleep? Bedtime. Time for my high-wire act. I stand on the platform, close my eyes and take a step. Within a few brave strides, I falter, lose my balance and fall to the net below. “Just come home to sleep.” I’M SITTING IN MY car
in front of a three-storey home. It’s a warm, blue-sky afternoon in June. I have rushed from school to get here on time. This is the first time I am seeing a psychologist. I try hard to sound like I don’t need one. I speak quickly, using bigger words than usual. My life sounds perfectly normal when I lay it out. Terrific job, excellent parents, nice friends, new apartment. A bit of a sleeping problem. She wants to know more about t h i s , s o I f i l l he r i n , s ho v i n g my night fears under this rational daylight. I condense six months of rd.ca
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The Campbell family (and dog Haggis) in 1966 at their home in the Calgary suburb of Kingsland.
frustration and shame into a breezy comic monologue: “So there I am, past midnight, pyjamas tucked into my sweatpants, speeding in my green Renault Le Car to sneak into my parents’ house.” The psychologist looks thoughtful and asks a few more questions. “How would you describe your relationship with your parents?” “My mom and I are really close. We’re a lot alike. Everyone says so. We like talking, meeting new people, teaching, shopping.” I pause. I know she is waiting for the rest of the answer. “I’ve never been close to my dad.” She nods and makes a few notes. “Has moving into your own apartment made you feel homesick?” “No. I really wanted to move out on my own.” “But you’ve never been able to sleep in your apartment?” “No.” 76
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Exposed, embarrassed, I decide to tell her. “I’ve always had trouble sleeping away from home. Even when my mom went out for the evening, I wouldn’t be able to sleep until she came home and kissed me good night. But that was when I was just a kid.” A pause. “Am I ever going to be able to sleep in my apartment?” The psychologist doesn’t answer right away. She shows me some breathing and relaxation techniques. She wants to see me again in a week. I swallow my disappointment. She hasn’t cured me. She gives one directive as I leave: “Do not go back to your mother’s house to sleep.” “IF YOU STILL CAN’T get
to sleep,” says the psychologist at our next session, “you might as well use the time productively.” The night shift begins. I set up the ironing board with the laundry basket beside it. I thread a needle, ready to sew buttons and stitch hems. I stack essays that need to be graded. I try to sleep for 45 minutes. No luck. I get up, snap on the light, do push-ups and sit-ups and scrawl in my journal. I proceed to the chores. I hear birds as morning light slants into my
apartment. My head aches. I lie down and drift into a half sleep. Soon it will be time to leave for work. Two hard weeks go by. I’m driving back to my apartment late one night. It’s pouring rain and I’m crying. I’m tired of trying to solve this on my own. Tired of being tired. I turn off the road leading into my parents’ neighbourhood. Sanctuary. THE HOUSE IS STILL. Rain
beats on the roof. I stare at the ceiling as I lie in my childhood bed. My mother sits beside me, yawning, waiting for me to fall asleep. I remember all the nights we have spent like this, like when I was afraid of the dark behind the heavy closet doors. Afraid of my sister Robin’s noisy breathing. Afraid of being the last one to fall asleep. The rain subsides. I hear the sporadic plunk of drops on the eaves. I’m still awake. Wide awake. Irre vocably awake. I get out of bed and make my way back to my apartment, curiously relieved.
activity.” I take up aerobics and swimming, but nothing changes. With the first of the back-to-school flyers, I begin to worry about my return to classes. If I can’t sleep, then I can’t teach. On a Sunday night in late August, my oldest sister, Kim, phones. This is rare—she and I aren’t in the habit of staying in touch. Kim had trouble sleeping, too. Like me, she relied on Mom’s bedside vigil as a child. Our mother in flannelette pyjamas, hair in curlers, moving from room to room, giving a benediction for our sleep through a sacrifice of hers. “I know why you’re not sleeping,” my sister says.
AFTER ALMOST TWO DECADES, INSOMNIA RETURNS, DRAGGING WITH IT EVERY PIECE OF MY DREAD FILLED BAGGAGE.
THE INSOMNIA PERSISTS through
the summer holidays, its jagged edges smoothed by late-night wine and mornings where I know I can stay in bed, dozing. “If you still can’t sleep,” says the psychologist at our next session, “you should increase your physical
KIM TELLS ME ABOUT the night, many
years earlier, when I’d heard her, then 12, crying in her room. She had just told Mom that she’d decided not to go to boarding school—which she’d been excited to attend—after all. I never knew my sister’s side of the story. rd.ca
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Campbell cherishes her childhood collection of Nancy Drew mysteries (even if the covers terrified her at the time).
“I cried myself to sleep, but I promised myself that someday I would be brave enough to leave.” Distanced by time and place and choice, my sister gives me absolution. “It’s all right to leave Mom.” That night I fall gently, effortlessly asleep. Next night, same thing. And the night after that. The insomnia has released me. AFTER ALMOST TWO DECADES —dur-
ing which I got married, had two sons, started writing professionally and, most recently, got divorced—insomnia moves back in, dragging with it every piece of my dread-filled baggage. I had almost forgotten about those long-ago 78
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months of exhaustion. They’d become a blip in my memory, a tale for Ripley’s Believe It or Not , like someone who’d had hiccups for a year. I consider my options. I think about ringing Kim or calling Mom. Of just picking up the phone and admitting it. I need to come home to sleep. I snap on the light, grab my pen. If I can’t sleep, I might as well use the time productively. The night shift begins. I write about things I don’t want to write about. “I am a woman who is afraid to be alone.” I hate writing this personal stuff.
S H T I F F I R G R E F I N N E J F O Y S E T R U O C
Write. This is not the kind of writing that counts. I should be working on magazine articles like “Six Survival Skills for Stressed Single Parents” or “Risky Business: Why Rebound Relationships Fail.”
I WRITE ABOUT HOW I HAVE BEEN AFRAID, ALWAYS. AFRAID OF NIGHTTIME. AFRAID OF BEING THE LAST ONE TO FALL ASLEEP. Write. “I am a 40-year-old woman who is afraid to be alone.” This is useless navel-gazing. Write.
I write about how I have always been afraid. Afraid of nighttime in my bedroom. Afraid of being the last one to fall asleep. Afraid of my Nancy Drew books, with their yellow spines and scary covers. But Nancy Drew was not afraid of anything. Suddenly, I feel myself smiling. She hears a knock on the side window, opens her eyes. A young woman is standing beside her Jeep. Slim and attractive, the teen has blue eyes and blondish-brownish-reddish hair one might almost call—titian. Flustered, the driver rolls down the window. “Excuse me, ma’am,” Nancy Drew says, “I saw that you pulled over rather suddenly. Do you require some assistance?” I keep writing.
© 2014 BY MIJI CAMPBELL. “ SEPARATION ANXIETY: A COMING OF MIDD LE AGE STORY ” IS PUBLISHED BY WRITINERANT PRESS. WRITINERANT.COM
COMEDIANS RAISE A GLASS TO ST. PATRICK
NyQuil on the rocks, for when you’re feeling sick but sociable. MITCH HEDBERG
I’m making wine at home, but I’m making it out of raisins so it will be aged automatically. STEVEN WRIGHT
One martini is all right, two is too many, three is not enough. JAMES THURBER
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SCIENCE
Why even the most honest among us bend the rules now and then
THE LIARS’
CLUB B Y J E N A P I N C O T T FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
WHEN I WAS IN
my early 30s, I would use an expired grad-student
ID to buy discounted movie tickets. (I’d peeled off the date sticker.) I’m buying a ticket I wouldn’t have otherwise bought, I’d tell myself. One must be resourceful in an overpriced city like New York, right?
T N E M E G A N A M H E R O F E V A C H A R A S ) T S I L Y T S P O R P ( ; O K N U J + U S A Y
If you also break rules sometimes, you understand this paradox. We think of ourselves as honest despite daily acts (one to two on average) of cheating, lying or otherwise innocuous rule breaking. We stand in the express line with too many groceries, play hooky from work, board planes before our seat is called or fib to give our kids an advantage. Researchers who study everyday transgressions believe character isn’t the real driver; situational forces are. We might break the rules under some conditions and in some mindsets, but not in others. THE CREATIVITY DEFENCE
A few years ago, Francesca Gino, a professor at Harvard Business School in Boston, and Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioural economics at Duke University in Durham, N.C., wondered if people with higher IQs were more likely to cheat. The duo found that smarts didn’t correlate with dishonesty, but creativity did. When Gino and Ariely posed ethical dilemmas to employees in an advertising firm, the copywriters and designers were more likely to break the rules than the accountants.
The more creative you are, the easier it is to embellish the reasons that you acted out of line. Test yourself. Why did you pilfer office supplies? You might say you worked through lunch or that businesses get the stuff cheaply. This is how creative types reframe an event. And a creative mindset, Gino found, is easy to induce in almost anyone, just by using subtle cues. When players in a dice game were primed to think more flexibly (by being exposed to words like “original,” “novel” and “imaginative” in a text they read), they cheated more often than those who weren’t given these prompts. “Working for an organization that stresses being innovative and original can increase our tendency to cheat,” Gino says. Ariely wonders whether we should discourage creativity in banking. THE STATUS DEFENCE
Picture two accountants alerted to suspicious entries in the books. The first takes the violation seriously. The second pooh-poohs it. Who has more clout? When Dutch psychologist Gerben van Kleef asked study participants at the University of Amsterdam rd.ca
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that question in 2011, most chose the second accountant. Powerful people break the rules—ergo, breaking rules makes one seem more powerful. “In its modest form, rule breaking is actually healthy,” says Zhen Zhang, an associate professor of management at Arizona State University. He found that relatively minor Ferris Bueller–style violations during adolescence—damaging property, playing hooky—predicted an esteemed occupation: entrepreneur. When young men, in particular, take risks that pan out, their testosterone levels surge. The hormone may underlie the “winner effect,” say researchers John Coates and Joe Herbert of the University of Cambridge in England, who, in 2007, tracked the hormonal activities of stock-option traders in London (again, all male) over their good and bad days in the market. The more wins, the higher the hormones, the greater the confidence boost, the bigger the risks, and so on. But, at a certain point, risk taking can become irrational, reckless or ruthless. This can cause “ethical numbing,” according to Zhang. Consider Steve Jobs: as Apple grew, so did lawsuits against it, like those over patents. Being wealthy takes a moral toll on both genders. Assorted studies found that the $150,000-plus-per-annum set was four times as likely to cheat as those making less than $15,000 a year when playing a game to win $50. Also, 82
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that the rich didn’t stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk nearly as often as drivers who were less well off—this held true even when people were roleplaying, that is, they weren’t rich in real life. That’s because environment—not any intrinsic personality trait—abets rule breaking, argues behavioural scientist Andy Yap. In 2013, Yap and his colleagues asked volunteers at the University of California, Berkeley, to sit in an SUV-size driver’s seat versus a cramped one, or an executive-size office space versus a cubicle, and then tested their responses to various moral scenarios. In roomier settings, people reported feeling more powerful and were likelier to steal money, cheat on a test and commit traffic violations in a driving simulation. THE BONDING DEFENCE
We aren’t born with an enlightened, universal sense of fairness for all, Har vard University professor of psychology Joshua Greene argues in his 2013 book, Moral Tribes. We evolved as tribal animals who followed the rules within small groups (us) but not with the rest of the world (them). We may be born with a crude sense of right and wrong, but our culture refines it. If your tribe downloads pirated music, sells dubious stocks or accepts bribes, you’re likely to go with the flow or cover up for peers.
THE LEVEL PLAYING– FIELD DEFENCE
Let’s say you saw someone tear through a red light. Or a colleague received a promotion after boozing with the big boss, while you toiled and got nothing. Chances are, you’ll experience a knee-jerk reaction: to get even, or at least to level the field. For a study published in 2014 that tested the fairness instinct, Harvard researcher Leslie John, along with two colleagues, told volunteers that others in the room were making more money than they were for getting questions right on a trivia test. Guess what happened? That group, which perceived itself as disadvantaged, cheated more than the one that believed that everyone received an equal payment. THE SOLUTION: SELF-AWARENESS
The real threat is the slippery slope— that minor transgressions can snowball into cataclysmic ones. Imagine Bernie Madoff or Lance Armstrong thinking, Just this once. Okay, once more. Eventually, they don’t think about it. Rule breaking worsens over time. Kids who cheat on high school exams are three times as likely in adulthood to deceive a customer or inflate an insurance claim compared with the non-cheaters, according to a 2009 study out of the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles.
Behavioural psychology offers a few antidotes. Keep yourself fed and well rested—we’re likelier to lapse when hungry or tired. Reflect on how your actions look through others’ eyes. In a renowned 2006 experiment at England’s University of Newcastle upon Tyne, a drawing of eyes mounted over a collection box at a self-service coffee bar helped enforce the honour system. When people sign an ethics pledge at the beginning rather than at the end of tax forms or job applications—that is, before there’s an opportunity to cheat—they are significantly less likely to be dishonest. The same goes when asked to recall the Ten Commandments before a test, which, Ariely says, works even among the non-religious. Most of us need to see ourselves in a positive light. In a 2013 study by Stanford University in California, when researchers used the verb “cheat”— please don’t cheat—participants still cheated because they felt distanced from the act. However, when the noun “cheater” was used—don’t be a cheater—not a single person did. The novelist Wallace Stegner summed it up in his 1967 novel, All the Little Live Things : “It is the beginning of wisdom when you recognize that the best you can do is choose which rules you want to live by.” To which he added: “It’s persistent and aggravated imbecility to pretend you can live without any.”
© 2014 BY J ENNIFER PINCOTT, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY (NOVEMBER 4, 2014), PSYCHOLOGYTODAY.COM
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As Kids See It
“I sent three of my dolls to check under the bed for monsters, and none of them have come back.” A FEW MONTHS BACK, my wife
MY GIRLS ARE identical twins.
showed a picture of herself at the age of seven to our three-year-old daughter. “Do you know who this is?” she asked. Our daughter gasped and said, “That’s me when I’m bigger!”
They have always been pretty good at sharing and are typically the best of friends. Now that they’re teens, though, they sometimes fight over clothing. While arguing about a particular item, Shea shouted at her sister, “Stop wearing my clothes!” to which Bryn quickly responded, “Stop wearing my face!”
reddit.com
SANDRA KIRKPATRICK, D a r t m o u t h , N . S .
AND ONE FOR THE KIDS Q: What did the zero say to the eight? A: Nice belt.
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Do your children make you chuckle? Share the laughter with us! A funny kid story could earn you $50. For details on how to submit an anecdote, see page 8 or visit rd.ca/joke.
S E I R V E
D N A N O C
Going green never goes out of style. The spring cleaning season is upon us! Clear that household clutter and organize your home for a fresh start to the year. By sorting through your clothing, accessories, and books, you will be able to really see what you can keep, toss and what you can donate to a nonprot or to our nonprot partners. When you donate your gently used goods to local and national nonprots at Value Village, you’re giving them a second chance. Recycling your items will help save the planet.
Value Village is committed to keeping 650 million lbs of reusable items out of landlls every year. For more information on whom your donations benet, and to schedule a free pickup, go to valuevillage.com/donate.
EDITORS’ CHOICE
The
Great
Northern Hockey
Adventure BY DAN ROBSON FROM SPORTSNET MAGAZINE
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For 10 boys from Nunavut, travelling 7,200 kilometres to play in a hockey tournament isn’t just an epic road trip. It’s a chance to find out how good they really are.
READER’S DIGEST
IT BEGAN WITH A RINK carved
from a frozen sea, with sheets of ice stacked side by side, giving shape to the game. They played almost every day, five to a side with no substitutions, in temperatures that regularly fell to -50 C. In the dark months, they’d pull their trucks up on a bank and skate by the glow of headlights. Sometimes their feet froze or their cheeks turned brown with frostbite. But they didn’t care, because it was hockey. This was where and how the game was played nearly five decades ago when it first came to Whale Cove, Nunavut, a community on the north west edge of Hudson Bay. And this is where the kids of Whale Cove still act out their hockey dreams today. It’s where Tyson becomes Toews, Simon turns into Kane, and Joe morphs into Crosby. David stops pucks like Price, and Steven snipes like Kessel. On a frigid October day in 2013, those stars piled out of Gordon Panika’s pickup truck and launched into a game observed by a new face. It was Andy McFarlane’s first fall in the hamlet of 350 people. The boys invited McFarlane, the Grade 8 homeroom teacher at Inuglak School, to play, and he ran home to grab his skates and stick to join their game. He lasted just 10 minutes before tapping out, faking a leg in jury. In truth, his feet were too cold, but he didn’t want to tell the boys, who could stay on the ice for hours. The temperature is one thing, but hockey is also played differently in 88
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Whale Cove. It’s full-time shinny, a finesse game built on speed and scoring and remarkable goaltending. Here, the local rink up the hill from the bay is the central hub of the hamlet. It was built in 1996 with natural ice that sets by late November. Every day after school, McFarlane watched his students drag their equipment uphill to play without coaches or parents telling them how. Self-taught and self-governed, they skated until the buzzer went and the older kids took the ice—a perfect utopia of puck. In the kids’ love of the game, however, there was also an unfulfilled pride. McFarlane first saw it in the pen-pal letters he had arranged for his class to send to his old charges back at Geraldton Composite High School in Greenstone, Ont., about three hours northeast of Thunder Bay. The students in the two schools—especially the boys—bonded over the timeless art of chirping each other about their hockey skills. The Whale Cove side
Y E L A E K N H O J Y B Y H P A R G O T O H P
Four Whalers drag their hockey gear to the rink, a post-school ritual in this hamlet, where snow-covered roads lead up from the endless ice of Hudson Bay.
put forth a declaration: “We would destroy you.” Ten days later, a reply came back: “Not a chance.” Empty words, because how do you know how good you are if you never get the chance to prove it? questions one is asked upon arriving in Whale Cove: “What’s your name?” and “Who do you help?” They were the first queries McFarlane faced when he showed up, ready for a new ad venture after nearly a decade of teaching in northern Ontario. He’d studied educational theories for THERE ARE TWO
Native communities and taught on a reserve, but nothing prepared him for an inquiry so direct, and so existential. “Who do you cheer for?” was the follow-up, to clarify, and this time he got it. “The Red Wings,” he said. But the other part stuck, too. Who could he help? And how? Some of the boys had been on regional teams, but a group of kids from Whale Cove playing as one team, that had never happened. McFarlane knew his students possessed the speed and skill to skate with any of the teens at Geraldton. They just lacked the opportunity and resources rd.ca
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to prove it. He wanted to give the players a chance to experience life outside of Whale Cove, to go on a journey, a high-school sports road trip. But it seemed impossible. The team’s flight to Winnipeg alone would run upwards of $8,000. Then there was the matter of the 16-hour train ride to Greenstone. The team didn’t have jerseys. Several of the players required new gear. They needed accommodations. They needed food. They had nothing to begin with.
McFarlane purchased airline points online with a credit card to cover the flights before a plan was set in place, risking that the expense might not be covered. He started a page on a fundraising site and tweeted it to all the hockey personalities he could think of—Theo Fleury shared it, as did Jordin Tootoo—and soon there was a following. McFarlane’s friends from Greenstone and Thunder Bay started to help chip away at the cost through individual
JORDIN TOOTOO IS THE ONLY PLAYER OF INUIT DESCENT TO MAKE IT TO THE NHL. THERE’S LITTLE MONEY HERE FOR HOCKEY.
Undaunted, McFarlane held tryouts for a 10-player school squad. The roster was selected on skill and school attendance. A group of 17-year-olds: Simon Enuapik Jr., the captain; David Uklaagak, the goalie; and Tyson Panika, the finesse player. A group of smaller, younger forwards: Joe Panika, the sniper; Hugh Enuapik, the quiet threat; John Voisey, the vocal spirit ; Adam Nattar, the talker; and Demitre Alikashuak, the source of all energy. The final two boys came from Grade 8: Steven Panika, the charmer; and Stanley Adjuk Jr., the wit. Together, they were the Whalers. 90
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and group donations. The story reached Toronto’s Breakfast Television co-host Kevin Frankish, who arranged for an interview via Skype with McFarlan e and some of the team. Then the money poured in, until all $20,000 needed for their big adventure was covered. That was how their journey first began. That was how 10 boys came to travel 7,200 kilometres as the Inuglak Whalers. THE WALLS OF TYSON Panika’s
bedroom were lined with action photos, posters and framed hockey cards.
The images weren’t just a tribute. They were the goal. “I lie in bed and dream of being them,” he said on a bright March day in 2014. It’s a dream many in Whale Cove share, but few—if any—will ever realize. Jordin Tootoo is the only player of Inuit descent, and the first from Nunavut, to make it to the NHL. Simply put, there is little money for travel, little money for programs, little money to develop into the kind of player who gets noticed by junior scouts. But the isolation has its ad vantages. Without constant coaching, hockey players in northern communities develop instincts for the game that other kids don’t have. There’s also little else to do besides play hockey. Whether that can translate into becoming the idol on a young kid’s wall, though, is where things get tricky. A chance was all Tyson needed. He’d slept little in the past week as his mind swirled with visions of the glory awaiting him on the Whalers’ first road trip, now so close at hand. In the kitchen, Tyson’s 12-year-old brother, Steven, tried to flip a puck around on the blade of his hockey stick, like he’d seen Phil Kessel—his favourite player—do. Gordon, the boys’ father and the team’s assistant coach, pushed them out the door and into his truck. The Panikas drove past neighbours waving from their porches, picked up
teammates and hockey bags at the school, and headed for the small airstrip several kilometres away. There, they were joined by more than two dozen family members, in the terminal that comfortably seats maybe 10. This wasn’t a typical kiss and run. Several of the boys had never made the trip south of Nunavut before. Parents were excited but apprehensive. The plane took off as the sun set. After a st op in nea rby Arvi at and refuelling in Churchill, Man., the scattered patches of light below slowly grew more frequent. “Is that Winnipeg?” Demitre Alikashuak asked, his nose pushed up against the small round window by his seat. “Is that…?” McFarlane sat across the aisle. “No, Demitre. Not yet.” Demitre searched and searched in the darkness, until eventually it gave way to a wide field of light. “Is that it?” he asked again, his voice rising. “Is it?” “Yes,” McFarlane said. “Oh, my God,” Demitre said. “Ho… lee… cow. Whoa.” He pulled up his iPod Touch and started to film. “Wooo!” he shouted. “Do you like what you see?” McFarlane asked him. “That’s a lot of lights, eh?” “Andy, I can’t believe it.” A DAY LATER, SOMETIME after
midnight, the boys were scattered across rd.ca
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Clockwise from top left: A nervous Stanley Adjuk Jr. (left) and John Voisey lace up before their first game in Ontario; John, ready for action; Andy McFarlane speaks to his team during intermission.
Winnipeg’s Union Station, curling up to nap through the boredom of waiting for a train already two hours delayed by a snowstorm. “This is the second day we’ve missed hockey,” Simon Enuapik Jr. complained to McFarlane. “We can’t miss hockey tomorrow.” The Whalers’ captain never went a day without playing, and he always had the attention of every member of his team—when he spoke, they listened. To Simon, the two things the boys did most—hunt and play
waiti ng, he worried about how it would all come together. DOZENS OF PEOPLE WERE waiting
when the team finally pulled into the station—nearly seven hours after the scheduled arrival. They’d missed the spaghetti dinner held in their honour. They’d missed their first game. But the fans cheered and whistled and waved banners as the Inuglak Whalers walked off the train. The welcome roars stretched into the following day,
THE WHALERS WEREN’T A TRAVELLING ACT. THEY WERE A TEAM. A FAMILY. AND FAMILY WAS EVERYTHING.
hockey—weren’t all that different. Each was a tradition and a necessity. Each was about precision and work and respect. Five a.m.—that was when the train finally pulled out. From there it was a 16-hour trek through the bush of northern Ontario. McFarlane thought about the adventure they were on and about the people of Whale Cove who had welcomed him into their community. This was his chance to welcome them to his. Now, en route to the place he considered his home, where his family and friends and a recently sparked relationship were
when the boys arrived at the arena to find the Whale Cove logo and all of their names painted on the ice. “Oh, they’re big,” said eighthgrader Stanley Adjuk Jr. as he stood outside the dressing room, staring up at the Grade 12s from Geraldton. Some of the Whale Cove boys looked nervous. They’d seen the crowd— every seat was filled, and more fans stood several deep along the glass— and knew all of Whale Cove was listening. Cecile Panika, mother of Tyson and Steven, was giving a live play-by-play for the radio station back home. Before the game, she rd.ca
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went around the room, letting the players greet their families, who had gathered to listen to their boys. Simon stared straight ahead, quiet and serious—focused on proving that this trip was more than a gimmick. The Whalers weren’t a travelling act. They were a team. A family. And family was everything, especially in Whale Cove. “I feel good,” he said. “I’m confident.” David Uklaagak sat with his goalie pads on and eyes closed, leaning
Two periods later, Tyson and his team slunk back into the dressing room, trailing 7 to 2. David stared down at his feet, shaking his head, dripping with sweat. “I’m not playing my game,” he said. He’d made several spectacular saves, but there was no stopping the onslaught. Simon glared straight ahead. He’d played more than anyone, with shifts lasting up to three minutes. He got up and called Tyson and Joe Panika outside. It was too hot in the room.
THERE WAS ANXIETY THAT THE WHALERS JUST COULDN’T MATCH UP WITH KIDS FROM NORTHERN ONTARIO.
forward as he listened to Eminem’s “Legacy” on his iPod. The 17-year-old had been a goalie for only two years but did a decent impression of his idol, Carey Price. While working every afternoon stocking shelves at the Coop to help his family, he still made it to the rink in time for practice. Tyson, the dreamer, had a huge smile and eyes the size of toonies. “Did you see the girls out there?” He knew of two things this opportunity afforded: the meeting of new girls and a chance to finally be discovered on the ice. The NHL, he thought, was just a step away. 94
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It was too hot in the arena—which was cold by arena standards—so they went outside the rink entrance and leaned against the wall, steam rising from their bodies as they commiserated over things gone wrong. The cool-off worked. Simon scored a hat trick in the third period, leading his team on a crowd-rousing comeback—but the Whalers fell short 9 to 7. In the room afterwards, Tyson sat on the bench looking like he might cry. He’d scored a single goal—not enough to be a superstar. His favourite stick had broken, and he had been left using a spare.
There was an undeniable anxiety that, for all the ceremony, the Whalers just couldn’t match up with kids from northern Ontario. Still, the fans packed in for the second game and screamed as wildly as they had the night before, particularly for Steven, whose small stature and outsized charm made him a big hit. He scored twice, but the Whale Cove boys lost 4 to 3. Later that evening, a Goalie David Uklaagak, focused as always. Geraldton player came over to the bed and breakfast where and covered themselves in body spray. the Whalers were staying to play Xbox. They entered the school together and He brought an extra hockey stick for strolled into the low-lit gym where Tyson, and the small gesture went students shifted awkwardly to a beat. a long way. In the third game of the Too shy to approach girls, they drifted series, Tyson scored four goals, and around in small packs. Eventually the Whalers won 8 to 6 in front of a a girl asked Joe to dance. He stared still-packed rink. After the game, they straight ahead, frozen. She asked poured into the change room like again. He smiled. “This is the last song of the night,” the DJ called out over they’d captured the Stanley Cup. The fourth game was a writeoff, the the speakers. “Let’s dance,” she said Whalers still drunk off winning and again. He breathed deep. “Okay.” They distracted by the school dance set for walked to the floor as the viral hit “The afterwards. No one really seemed to Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” played, mind as they dropped it 7 to 6. They ending the evening with music’s versigned autographs before rushing sion of a cold shower. home to shower and knot their ties, taken from McFarlane’s own collec- THE EXCITEMENT OF THE school tion. They used combs and pomade dance seemed to have exhausted the rd.ca
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(Above) The Inuglak Whalers patiently wait to play their first official game as a team; (below) Tyson Panika faces off against Geraldton player Tyson Nadon to start the series.
Whalers for the fifth and final game of the series the next day against the local French high-school team, the Château-Jeunesse Huskies, who scored three quick goals to open the first period. The Huskies’ goalie shut down the Whalers’ attack until Simon was able to get one back, but the opposition added another with just 10 seconds left in the first. Endings are supposed to be neat and tidy, and a sports story should close with a game-winning goal with
The Huskies went ahead 5 to 4 before the end of the second and added another early in the third on a power play. The goalie kicked out several remarkable saves to preserve the lead, and things began to feel desperate until Tyson tipped in a shot for his second hat trick of the series. It was 6 to 5, Huskies. Minutes later, Simon fired in a wrist shot, and Demitre howled, “Let’s go!” And the clock ticked down to the buzzer—6 to 6, overtime. It was
DAVID MADE A SPRAWLING PAD SAVE. THE FINAL MINUTE… 30 SECONDS… 20 SECONDS… 10 SECONDS.
0.7 seconds left on the clock. But that’s not always how it turns out. Sometimes you travel thousands of kilometres and lose. Sometimes you play a game every single day and sometimes the game is your life, but in the end, it will always be just that: a game. You post pictures of heroes on your walls as part of a goal that inevitably falls aside, because it has to. But then, sometimes, Joe scores and Tyson scores, and then Tyson scores again—and suddenly it’s 4 to 4 and nothing matters more to you, to your team, than winning this damn hockey game.
a back-and-forth affair. With two minutes remaining, David made a sprawling pad save. The final minute… 30 seconds… 20 seconds… 10 seconds. Then Tyson picked up the puck and cut up the left side, around a Huskies winger, around a collapsing centreman, past the Huskies’ blue line and deking past their defence—just a goalie and less than a second. And… 0.7 seconds left. Final score: 7 to 6. Whalers win. The team rushed the ice and the fans roared, and it all ended as it sometimes does, as it sometimes should. rd.ca
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But what did it all mean? Who did it help? Stanley Adjuk Sr., the mayor of Whale Cove, who came along to watch his son play, thought about that following the final win. “After this trip I’m sure many of them will think twice about what they want to do,” he said. “If they have that chance to go south, for education or something, take it. That’s my advice.” There’s heartbreak in that, too. The boys will always come home, he hopes—but the further they drift
They walked by people lying on the streets, and Demitre stopped to give one some food. David and Simon stopped to give another some of the cash they’d saved to buy new clothes. And so the Whalers did as Whale Covers do—“You would never see someone without a place to go in Whale Cove,” said David. They went to their first Leafs game. Two off-duty officers a few rows ahead learned of their stories. They called Joe and Simon down and gave them
MFARLANE CLIMBED BACK ON THE BUS TO REJOIN HIS TEAM. “ANDY, HOW MUCH FURTHER?… ANDY!… ANDY!” away, the further tradition slips along with them. “We’re going to continue to lose it,” he said. That’s the reality of a generation that is closer to the world outside the hamlet than any has been before. THE JOURNEY TO TORONTO came
the jerseys off their backs. And when the owner of a small sports store heard about the team over the Leafs broadcast, he thought maybe he had something to give, too. He sent a bag of new skates for the team to take back to the kids in Whale Cove who had none.
next—a two-day bus ride with players from the Geraldton team into a new world. None of the 10 from Whale Cove had ever been to a city so large— it was a place they had seen only on TV, watching the Leafs play. They stared at the cars and the people who passed—so many anonymous faces.
as the school bus rumbled back toward Greenstone. It was unusually quiet— the boys napped two to a seat. The teacher couldn’t know where their thoughts were drifting, but his mind was going home.
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MFARLANE CLOSED HIS EYES
There was a letter inside his mailbox in the office at Inuglak School. He had written it before he had left. The deadline for deciding whether he’d return to Whale Cove for another year fell during the long trip back. If he did stay on, his sabbatical from Geraldton would expire and he’d lose his seniority. If he returned to Ontario, he’d leave the Whalers. But his own life was waiting to move forward—his closest friends, a new girlfriend and a family down south. A 31-year-old man hits a point when the future begs to become the now. The bus pulled into the arena in Greenstone to drop off the Geraldton players. McFarlane walked away from the group, pulled out his phone and dialed. The principal of Inuglak
School answered. McFarlane told him about the letter. In a moment, it was done. He climbed back on the bus, where the team was clamouring for his attention. “Andy, do you want some chips?… Andy, how much further?… Andy, where’s Demitre?… Andy!… Andy!… Andy!” The teacher thought back to when he first arrived in Whale Cove, just another stranger drifting into their world. “What’s your name?” he was asked. “And who do you help?” The kids skated on a frozen bay, playing for hours in the cold when he could stay for only minutes. And so they would continue on in Whale Cove, without him. Playing as they always have—with and for each other.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE MAY 12, 2014, EDITION OF SPORTSNET MAGAZINE. USED WITH PERMISSION OF ROGERS PUBLISHING LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
DOGGONE IT! Why do dogs always race to the door when the doorbell rings? It’s hardly ever for them. HARRY HILL, comedian
We’ve begun to long for the pitter-patter of little feet, so we bought a dog. It’s cheaper and you get more feet. RITA RUDNER, comedian
We’re eating dinner soon. Don’t fill up on homework. – Dog mom ALEX BAZE, comedy writer
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Life’s Like That
“I’m having an ethical dilemma bringing him into a world of global warming.” YEAH, SAME
GREAT REVELATIONS
My worst nightmare is watching isolated footage of me at a concert I’m enjoying. @MOLLYMCNEAREY
Startling ideas uncovered by Tumblr users: Spoons are just little bowls on sticks . Let’s all take a minute to recognize the lack of creativity in the word “fireplace.” When you wait for the waiter, do you not become the waiter? Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon. Neil A. Now read that in reverse. Wake up, America. tumblr.com
INSULT AND INJURY
The most cutting thing you can say is, “Who’s this clown?” because it implies the other person is a) a clown and b) not even one of the better-known clowns. @SKULLMANDIBLE
PERMANENT REMINDER
Tattoos are great for preserving memories. Otherwise, I would have totally forgotten about that anchor. C o m e d i a n KARL
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CHANDLER
Send us your original jokes! They could be worth $50. See page 8 or visit rd.ca/ joke for more details.
R A N O K I R E L L I M A C N A S U S
GET SMART!
13 Things You Should Know About Credit Cards BY DAINA LAWRENCE
1
You can charge your way to a better credit score. A person with no history is often considered the same as someone with poor credit, says Jacob MacDonald from Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada.
2 O T O H P K C O T S I
Many companies offer extended warranties on merchandise— such as that new flat screen—for up to a year beyond the manufacturer’s guarantee. Restrictions may apply, so call your card provider to find out about exclusions.
3
Keep an eye on sales. Your pro vider might offer a price protection policy: if you buy an item at full ticket value and it goes on sale within 60 days, you may get reimbursed for the difference by your credit card company. You’ll need proof of purchase and a record of the new price.
4
Put your negotiation skills to use. If you’re having trouble making payments, ask about having your interest rate reduced. But do your homework first: compare rd.ca
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READER’S DIGEST
your card with others so that you’re armed with a bargaining chip.
5
The key to sitting front row at Cher’s next farewell tour might be in your wallet. Credit card companies often have pre-sale deals on tickets to events—from concerts to sports matches. You might have to upgrade to a higher limit or status (along with an annual fee), but the savings could be worth it.
6
Swipe cautiously. In 2008, an American study revealed that buyers were more likely to spend— or overspend—on luxuries when using credit or gift cards rather than cash. Shoppers have a harder time perceiving purchases on plastic as real money spent.
9
Each company offers different benefits, so you may get perks— like preferred rates or rewards—by switching from one provider to another. “But if you’re someone who struggles to pay your monthly balance, fancy travel rewards aren’t worth extra fees,” MacDonald says.
10
That said, loyalty matters. Unless there’s a reason you need to switch, stick with what you know. Your credit score is partly based on the length of time you’ve had your card—the longer, the better.
11
Work in smaller increments. Paying your fees weekly may help you keep better track of funds and facilitate reaching a zero balance every month, MacDonald says.
Access to credit gives our brains a buzz. Peter C. Whybrow, the director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, suggests thinking about the reasons why you’re shopping— and ensuring you’re not doing it just because it feels good—to avoid spending impulses.
7
A minimum payment should be just that. It’s the amount you must pay in order to avoid having your credit score harmed or your interest rate spike. With some cards imposing a rate of almost 30 per cent, you might want to consider a credit line (with prime rates around 2.7 per cent) for your next big purchase.
8
13
Frequently missing payment deadlines? Avoid late penalties by arranging to have your balance settled automatically every month. Call your bank or check online to set up the service. 102
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12
If you find yourself in debt, there’s help—and advice is often free. Non-profit organizations, like the Credit Counselling Society, can offer tips on how to pay it off or manage your creditors.
That’s Outrageous! ON THE ROAD B Y G R A E M E B AY L I S S
SMASH HIT
Some new drivers pass their road tests with flying colours. Others fail with flying glass. One October morning last year in Bellevue, Wash., a young woman was headed to her final in-car exam. When she got to the driving school, she attempted to park. Unfortunately, she missed the brake pedal, accidentally slamming on the accelerator instead. The vehicle careened through the front of the building, smashing its plate-glass facade and the rear window of the woman’s Audi, too. Thankfully, there were no injuries— except to the student’s pride. JOYRIDE
R E G N A R O L E R R E I P
Last November, some young men in Perth, Australia, gave new meaning to the phrase “out to lunch” when they were spotted cruising the streets on a pair of motorized picnic tables. Police were understandably perturbed by the atypical transpor-
tation method—the vehicles were unlicensed, unregistered and unsafe. On the plus side, they handled well: despite its primitive steering mechanisms, the puttering furniture manoeuvred through a busy city intersection with ease. MAN VS. MACHINE
In November 2015, police in Mountain View, Calif., pulled over a car for moving too slowly: more than 15 kilometres an hour below the speed limit. But when the cop strolled up to the door, he found there was no one inside to reprimand—the vehicle turned out to be a self-driving Google prototype. The much-publicized incident became a boon for the tech giant’s marketing department. Call it another innovation of our high-tech age: there is now literal truth to the saying, “The engine’s running, but nobody’s behind the wheel.” rd.ca
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MORE GREAT READS THIS MONTH
Rd.ca/connect FOOD
8 Great Grilled Cheese Recipes Gourmet twists on a classic sandwich, courtesy of top Canadian chefs
HEALTH
Simple Tips to Slow Aging A seven-day plan to cut your risk of disease and effectively manage the health conditions you may already have
TRAVEL
5 Memorable March Break Getaways From exploring ancient caves to walking on the ocean floor, these family-friendly destinations offer activities that are anything but average
/ r e a d e r s d i g e s t c a n a d a @readersdigestca O T O H P K C O T S I
/ r d c a n a d a / r e a d e r s d i g e s t c a Newsletter
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Brainteasers Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind stretchers, then check your answers on page 108.
CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK
(Easy)
A cube with sides that measure a whole number of centimetres has a smaller 1 cm³ cube cut out of one corner. If the illustration to the right is to scale and the rest of the cube is intact, what volume of the cube remains?
COVER-UP
Y B G I R N E R R A D
1 cm
(Difficult)
Cover six of the numbers in the diagram with the operators below (+, −, ×, ÷) so that the resulting expressions (evaluated left to right and top to bottom, without following the order of operations) come to the answers indicated. Numbers may be adjacent to each other in the final grid to form multipledigit numbers.
3
3
4
6
1
2
4
0
9
5
6
4
= 12
7
3
4
8
1
2
= 36
3
7
2
7
37
3
0
19
12
160
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= 48
= 30
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READER’S DIGEST
MYSTERY NUMBER
(Easy) If the last column follows the same logic as the first three, what is the missing number in the final cell?
2
3
5
7
4
9
25
49
16
81
625
2401
22
93
655
?
(Moderately difficult) Find the three numbered sticks in the left-hand diagram that overlap each other in the way shown in the example triangle; that is, each stick should have one end over—and one end under—one of the other two sticks. PICK-UP STICKS
1
2
4 3 5
N
SUB HUNT
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K C I R E D O R ) T N U H
N E R R A D ) S K C I T S
6
(Difficult) Four hidden submarines must be located. The numbers in the grid represent sonar stations that tell how many sea squares at any distance directly north, south, east and west are occupied by submarines. The submarines are each three sea squares long and fully inside the grid. Can you find all four of them?
F O L L A B M I K
B U S ( ; Y B G I R
8
7
M O C . S E L Z Z U P H T A P
W
8 5 2 S
E
P U K C I P ( ; I S E N A D L E C R A M ) R E B M U N Y R E T S Y M (
Trivia Quiz BY PAUL PAQUET
“Pescatarians” are semi-vegetarians who eat something fleshy. What is it? 1.
2. Who
was nominated for an Oscar in the supporting-actor category for The Godfather , despite having had more screen time than leading-actor winner Marlon Brando?
8. Which
chemical element becomes a gas at temperatures higher than -268.9 C, the lowest known elemental boiling point? 9. Which
sport’s hall of fame features Johnny Weissmuller, also notable for having played Tarzan in many movies?
3. What
1980s Alan Thicke show was the first American sitcom to gain a sizable viewership in China?
10. What
4. What
11. The
was the stage name of the world-renowned French playwright who was born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622? 5. Which
Beatle decided to “Act Naturally” when he starred in the notoriously terrible film Caveman ?
actor plays a stranded astronaut in both Interstellar and The Martian? 19th-century chemist Alfred Nobel considered naming one of his inventions “safety powder,” but it wasn’t actually very safe. What was it? 12. Which
was the first Disney movie with a direct-to-video sequel, namely, The Return of Jafar ?
6. Traditionally,
13. What
beverage gets prepared in a French press?
what is the signature spice used in Hungarian cuisine? 7. Who
is the only Canadian prime minister whose son also became PM? O T O H P K C O T S I
14. Which 15. Starting
from Genesis, what is the first book of the Bible named for a person?
food-company mascot was initially mistranslated into Arabic as the Intimidating Green Ogre?
1 . 1 . e . 3 1 . n i d d a l A . 2 1 . e . 1 1 . a u h s o J . 5 t n a i G n e e r G y l l o J e h T . 4 e f f o C t i m a n y D . 0 1 . g . 8 . n o m a D t t a M n i m m i w S . 9 . m u i l e H . u a e d u r T t t o i l l E e r r e i P . 7 . a k i r p a P . 6 . 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 R E W S N A . r a r t S o g n i R . e r è i l o M . s . o n i c a P l A . d o o f a e S . 1 : S n i a P g n i w o r G
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Sudoku
Brainteasers: Answers
(f rom page 105)
BY IAN RIENSCHE
CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK 63 cm3. The
original cube
was 4 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm, or 64 cm3. With the chip missing, it’s now one cubic
7 5
8
6 1 8
4
8 2
centimetre less. COVER-UP
3 4 6
3 1 5
7 6 8
2
3
4 7 9
4 0 7
2 = 48 5
4 = 12
4
1
3
2
37 3
0 19
2 = 36
7 = 30
12 160
MYSTERY NUMBER 2457. The
1
number in the
second cell of each column is the square of the first,
9 4
8 2 8 2
3
2 4 9 1 3
and the third cell contains the square of the second. The bottom cell contains the sum of the three numbers above it. PICK-UP STICKS 2
1
8
TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE…
You have to put a number from
4 6
7
1 to 9 in each square so that:
3 5
every horizontal row
and vertical column contains all nine numerals
SOLUTION 4 6 3 1 9 8 2 5 7 5 1 9 4 2 7 8 6 3
3 5 2 7 1 9 4 8 6
any of them;
8 9 6 3 4 2 5 7 1 7 4 1 8 5 6 3 9 2
each of the 3 x 3 boxes
has all nine numerals, none repeated.
6 2 8 9 3 5 7 1 4
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N
W
8
E
5
1 3 5 6 7 4 9 2 8 9 7 4 2 8 1 6 3 5
108
SUB HUNT
2 8 7 5 6 3 1 4 9
(1-9) without repeating
M O C .
2 S
R E L Z Z U P U K O D U S ) U K O D U S (
Word Power “X” and “Z” are among the shortest chapters in an English dictionary. Without peeking into yours, try to define the following words that start with these two rarely used letters. BY SAMANTHA RIDEOUT
1. xanthic—
6. zephyr—
11. zealot—
A: gummy. B: yellowish. C: calming.
A: pleasantly bitter taste. B: light breeze. C: inoffensive comedian.
A: tax dodger. B: arsonist. C: extreme partisan.
2. zeitgeist—
A: game-changing event. B: harmless ghost. 7. zygote— C: spirit of the times. A: fertilized egg. B: dormant virus. 3. xenon— C: cheekbone. A: chemical element with atomic number 54. 8. xeric— B: planet Jupiter’s A: disillusioned. red spot. B: dry. C: bull monster C: concerned with from ancient Greek appearances. mythology. 4. xiphoid—
9. zoolatry—
A: plotted on a graph. B: sword-shaped. C: notched.
A: study of animals. B: worship of animals. C: care of animals.
5. xilinous—
10. zymology—
pertaining to A: luxury. B: infinity. C: cotton.
science of A: muscles. B: welding. C: fermentation.
12. xenial—
A: forgetful. B: hospitable. C: resourceful. 13. zonk—
A: stun, as with a blow. B: trip and fall. C: squabble loudly. 14. Zoilus—
A: unnecessarily harsh critic. B: greedy capitalist. C: misleading public speaker. 15. xyloid—
A: silly. B: tinny. C: woody. rd.ca
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READER’S DIGEST
Answers 1. xanthic—[B]
yellowish; as, Not a fan of white wedding dresses, Ana settled on a gown with a xanthic tint. 2. zeitgeist—[C] spirit of the times;
as, Douglas Coupland’s Generation X was praised for capturing the zeit geist of the early 1990s. 3. xenon—[A]
chemical element with atomic number 54; as, Xenon gas is used as a general anaesthetic because it’s fast-acting and non-toxic. 4. xiphoid—[B]
sword-shaped; as, Yucca plants are known for their xiphoid leaves and lightcoloured blossoms. 5. xilinous—[C] pertaining to
cotton; as, After the air conditioning broke down, Angad wished his suit were made of a more breathable, xilinous fabric.
friend of zoolatry after watching him fawn over his cat. 10. zymology—[C]
science of fermentation; as, Before refrigerators, zymology offered a way to preserve food and drink. 11. zealot—[C]
extreme partisan; as, Despite the similarities between the two parties’ platforms, zealots on both sides opposed a coalition. 12. xenial—[B]
hospitable; as, The mayor implored the suspicious townspeople to adopt a more xenial attitude toward tourists. 13. zonk—[A]
stun, as with a blow; as, Seeing that Batman was distracted by an overturned school bus, the Penguin snuck up and zonked him with an umbrella.
light breeze; as, A zephyr animated the laundry on the line, creating a picture-perfect springtime scene.
unnecessarily harsh critic; as, Apart from a few predictably scathing reviews from known Zoiluses, Branwell’s novel was well-received.
7. zygote—[A]
15. xyloid—[C] woody; as, Heather’s
8. xeric—[B]
homemade wine had a xyloid taste from the grape stems she had forgotten to filter out.
6. zephyr—[B]
fertilized egg; as, In vitro fertilization involves creating a zygote outside the human body. dry; as, Trees from England don’t tend to thrive in the xeric climate of Arizona. 9. zoolatry—[B]
worship of animals; as, Meike teasingly accused her boy110
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14. Zoilus—[A]
VOCABULARY RATINGS
7–10: fair 11–12: good 13–15: excellent
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Quotes B Y C H R I S T I N A P A L A SS I O
The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.
I DON’T THI NK ANYO N E WA S E VE N THINKIN G ABOUT GHOSTBUSTERS A S A B LO CK B USTE R . IT J UST S E E M E D LI K E A F UN N Y MOV I E .
IVAN REITMAN
BRUCE COCKBURN
IT’S NOT A COACH THAT MAKES A TEAM. IT’S THE TEAM THAT MAKES THE COACH.
GLEN SATHER
Everywhere I go, particularly when there are people who know me or recognize me, I get the warmest hugs and happiest sighs, full of hope and relief. MARGARET TRUDEAU
My sheer existence is like a political act, I think, to a lot of people. It’s not to me. GRIMES, musician
PITY IS JUST ANOTHER FORM OF ABUSE. MICHAEL J. FOX
Should not a career be something splendid, wonderful, spectacular or, at the very least, something varied and exciting? LUCY M AUD MONTGOMERY
PHOTOS: (COCKBURN) © BRUCE COCKBURN 2015; (GRIMES) © JOHN LONDONO/COURTESY OF REQUIEM MEDIA; (FOX) © MARK SELIGER/NBC. QUOTES: (REITMAN) TIMEOUT.COM (AUG. 20, 2014); (COCKBURN) COCKBURNPROJECT.NET; (SATHER) T H E G L O B E A N D M A I L (DEC. 5, 2015); (TRUDEAU) T H E N E W Y O R K T I M E S (NOV. 7, 2015); (GRIMES) VICE.COM (NOV. 6, 2015); (FOX) T H E G U A R D I A N (OCT. 6, 2013); (MONTGOMERY) UPENN.EDU.
G & P 4 1 0 2 ©
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