Open sesame

Dad’s Saturday Morning Special, for one stretch of time, was a can of kippers and a jelly

doughnut.

The kippers came in an oval tin with a special key on the bottom of the can. You twisted off the key, slotted the tongue from the top of the tin through the key and rolled off the lid.

Once in a while, Dad would unwind the lid for us kids and give us the key. Sometimes, if

we were really careful, we could hang on to the key long enough to make a collection. We took this accomplishment as a sign of power: only powerful people had keys and could conjure them up whenever the situation called for a key!

I still remember the shift in thinking that happened the day I was drafted as navigator for a family trip and handed the road map. Instead of metal, the map key was made of print enclosed in a little bordered box. This made no sense, until a symbol inside the box (I think we were looking for a provincial picnic park) helped me direct Dad to a place we had never been before.

When you have the key, you have the solution.

These days, my key ring pretty well sums up my life: it has answers and passwords for the house, the car, the shed, the church building and some for work. The ring has a special hook at home (this was an especially good solution to a household turned upside down by a two-year-old’s fascination with keys.) When life, and its responsibilities, become too much, I misplace my keys. I suspect some part of my psyche – maybe the two-year-old part!- is playing games with me.

Now, I know if it’s not pitched in the right key, I can’t harmonize. The right keys have to be keyed on this keyboard, if you are to make sense of all these letters. Do you recognize some of the keys that wind you as tight as clockwork?

We have thought it a worthwhile ambition here for a long time to enable everyone to acquire the literacy key, the “Open Sesame” to personal independence and originality. The key to understanding the world around us is reading, and it’s a key worth celebrating.

Family Literacy Day is always January 27. The Kentville Library* is celebrating January 26, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (join us for an afternoon of fun-filled activities. Work on our collage, get your face painted and lots more! Bring in a sample of your favorite cookies and try our favorites. We will be sampling and voting on the favorite cookie); the Kings County Family Resource Centre** celebrates January 22, 10 a.m. ‘til noon, with its annual Literacy Day Pajama Party (with story, songs and dance). * www.annapolisvalleylibrary.ca, click on “Calendar of Events” ** www.kcrfc.ca, click on “What’s New”