your nose are generally absorbed
by your body or simply evaporate.
In extreme situations, if tears are
threatening to overflow the banks
but haven’t quite reached disaster
volume, they may either exit
through your nostrils, or back up
and find the escape route at their
point of origin — they back up
into your eyes.
Do tears differ at different
stages of life?
Yes — and no. This is certainly
not a “scientific” article and
should not be seen as one. My
reading has taken me to many
different sources and I feel quite
certain this overview is sound.
What I have read has led me to
believe our tears do differ to some
extent depending on age.
Babies don’t shed many tears
in the first few weeks of infancy
because their bodies haven’t
developed the appropriate
mechanisms to produce tears.
Many babies don’t achieve this
ability fully until they are almost
a year old. Crying? Well, that’s
another story entirely.
At the other end of the life
cycle, it is commonly believed
that the ability to produce tears
is often reduced as a result of a
variety of medical conditions or
medications. At the same time,
emotional tears may be shed
more frequently by seniors simply
because some see more things to
cry about, or they just don’t care
anymore who sees them. Why
not, have a good cry!
Jock Mackenzie enjoys
learning as much as he
did teaching. This article
answers some questions for
one granddaughter, Emma;
to augment his findings,
he asked his 11-year-old
granddaughter, Avery, to draw
the accompanying illustration.
Live a little.
There are few things better than sitting under a dark,
starlit Canadian sky, warm from the crackling fire,
and enjoying the silence. Camping continues to be a
popular summer activity, though it can feel like a lot of
work to either tent or pull a full trailer.
Cees Stolk started Gnome Homes to make it easy to
get outdoors and enjoy camping with handmade,
Transport Canada–certified, teardrop trailers. They are
small enough to be towed by almost any vehicle, but
are packed with features including sleeping, eating,
and storage space. Choose one of four standard trailer
models and then add additional custom features that
best suit your needs. Since 2017, Stolk has produced
45 trailers and plans to build another 50 this year, a
number that may seem small, but — as Stolk notes —
“quality and craftsmanship cannot be mass produced.”
gnomehomesinc.com
news&views AUTUMN 2020 | 47