Lori coined a new word.

My new pair of dress shoes arrived today. They replace my 25-year-old combination wedding and funeral shoes that might have looked fashionable on the Lawrence Welk Show.

I slipped the new guys on and they felt very comfortable right out of the box. They look contemporary without being flamboyant. There’s no sign that a geezer will be driving them around wedding venues and nice restaurants.

I strode into the kitchen to show them off to Lori as she prepared lunch. She enthusiastically approved blurting out “they look nice–it’s great you’re getting youthanized!”

you•than•ize
verb
past tense: youthanized; past participle: youthanized
put a style or behavior to death humanely.
“older styles should be youthanized to save embarrassment”

I’m not entirely comfortable with the newly-minted homonym but I understood her intent. I think.

We visited Quebec City for a week recently through a Road Scholar program. We were steeped in history, food, art, and architecture of the older part of the beautiful city under the enthusiastic guidance of a group leader and two experts. Perfect weather and a diversity of experiences and restaurants made for a wonderful week. We had a few distinct impressions from the visit.

The people of Quebec City are proud of their city and quite devoted to it. They were all cordial to us visitors and to each other. It’s almost like a city with a small-town vibe. They mention being the third-safest city in the world.

Everybody we encountered, no matter what role or age was effortlessly bilingual. Their native language is French but they immediately switch to excellent English when they sense they’re talking with a non-native. They were unfailingly polite and friendly.

We had the sense that Canadians made more progress reconciling issues with treatment of what we call native Americans or indigenous peoples. Canada refers to them, perhaps more descriptively, as First Nations.

Winters in the city are apparently challenging with lots of snow and frigid temperatures. Quebec City has ordinances requiring building owners to shovel their roofs at least twice in the winter. It’s obvious why when walking along the old narrow streets surrounded by 17th and 18th century buildings with classic French and English style roofs ready to shed ice and snow unexpectedly.

All signs are in French. All temperatures, weights, and distances are metric. (Sigh. Some day the US might limp toward the far more rational metric system.) Google helps us foreigners contend plus the guides were adept at making mental conversations for our benefit.

All told, it’s a delightful city with wonderful people and it was a welcome respite from our American cranky and weary doldrums.