06/02/2026
= You’ve Climbed Everest, My Son =
A visit to my parents’ house. Cleaning the bookmarks on Dad’s Microsoft Edge browser. Getting Mom’s Sony Bluetooth speaker to pair with her Samsung smartphone. Helping Mom pick out a new Logitech wireless mouse for Dad. Accompanying my father to the service centre so he could swap the SIM card from his smartphone and insert it into his simpler TCL flip phone.
With a cheerful heart, Dad pulled out five Queen Elizabeth II bills and said to me, “This is for your good work, Son.” Since I wasn’t exactly wealthy, I accept this $100 with great joy. With this, I buy refills for my v**e Vuse device, give my daughter $25 for her allowance, and save the rest for prudent future expenses.
Having devoted 16 years of my existence to writing, day and evening, during grueling weeks, my retirement money is within reach. I don’t intend to invest my assets so they grow excessively and create a new headache for me. I want to withdraw these assets while reflecting on the efforts made to earn these “bills of freedom.” “Prudence, not folly,” I remind myself.
My dear graphic design professor at Cégep of Sainte-Foy in 1989, Maurice, shared a phrase with us students that we will never forget: “Creativity has a shelf life; it fades abruptly to give birth to a career change.” Armed with my 10-year-old Sony camera and my sturdy Manfrotto tripod, let’s explore the vast lands of the Commonwealth as a starting point for meeting people rich in colour.
Text by Steve L. RODRIGUE — version 1.0.1 — Tuesday, June 2, 2026 — Québec City, Canada. — videographer Uriel Lu.