Unofficial: Summer is over

My mostly self-imposed summer blackout is over. I’m back; I’m better… maintenance dose of anti-depressants aside, I feel right with the world again. There will be opportunities to post again soon even as it has been busy times. Worked a 29 day stretch there where I was at work for a portion of all those days.

Out first few admissions were packing up today and leaving our care – 4 of them. Kinda sad but like mothers sending their kids off to the first day of school, excited to see them step out into their worlds again. We’ve don’t all we can; they have the tools and supports to continue their recovery as they see fit.

Lynda and I enjoyed her youngest brother Darryl’s wedding Saturday to his fiance Ria. Beauty weather, good crowd, music, & speeches… a little slow dancing. Couldn’t get g’son Owen off the dance floor. Good times.

Be back soon.

 

Counting Down

Speechless Pause

Day by day we’re getting a little closer to Christmas and the end of another year. I just did a quicky browse through my posts for the year thinking I might re-post a few favourite pictures as a Top 10, or Top 5. Out of slightly more than 40 posts for the year I found only a few pictures I would put out there again. Is it because so few of them have people in them, I wonder? Less emotional connection perhaps. In any case I’ll try to pull a few together here and maybe post a couple that didn’t make it to the pages here. Lemme see:

Autumn Colours

Our four-legged Godsend, Milo.

Sunset Reflection

…a warm, bright place to work full of warm, bright people.

Mountain, Sun, Cloud

… a reminder of travels and the massive grandeur of nature.

I (heart) Tree

 I DO have a sentimental side…. see!

Caitlyn Isabel

A joyful addition to the family…. a wee, big blessing.

Visual Impact

Ridge banked by cedar

Our two-legged Godsend, Owen. Lynda’s nightly phone buddy has helped her keep her sanity.

pox upon hand

There I think that should be about 10. I’m actually surprised there are that many that still stand up for me. I’m adding one more (if I can find it) of the prettiest young lady I know.

Madison

 .. and the one fave lady in my life – unfortunate about the hand / arm placement but it was to see her having such a good time.

Auntie Lynda; 4 nieces

 I’ll likely be back again before Christmas but just in case that doesn’t happen I’d like to extend my best wishes for a very happy Christmas season to everyone.

Walking The Lakeshore

Having some time to fill I headed down to the beachfront for some fresh air and sunshine.

To the east

It didn’t take long for the camera / phone to come out and start snapping away.

To the west

It seemed funny to be in such a large park and it be practically deserted. I passed a few folks out for a brisk walk and a couple of dog-walkers but they were sparse. Mostly stacked picnic tables, leafless trees and empty walkways.

Due south

Good to relax, stretch the legs and powerwalk into the wind.

Rivulet in the sand (my fave)

I like the last picture because the water is transparent at this angle but really brings out the tonal range in the sand. Just a wee spring coming out of an embankment and making its way into the lake.

What’s new, hmmmm….?? well, we didn’t have an Xmas tree so we paid a visit to the Evil Empire (aka Walmart) and picked up a decent sized one along with a bunch of new ornaments. We spent a couple of hours around dinner time Saturday assembling the beast and adorning it. Good times. Then lolling about watching a seasonal movie – sort of paying half attention to it – and admiring the tree, decorations and lights. More good times…. and early to bed.

Mom got moved in with younger sis Linda on Saturday. I managed to stay out of this move as bro-in-law Mike had lots of help; younger, stronger help. We dropped over Sunday for our first look at the place and they’ve found a nice spot. I think they’ll all be happy there.

Light Wash

 Things to do, places to go, people to see……. later!

  

 

 

Wood, Trees, Leaves

Progress against the tide

It’s been a busy week here so far between work and working around the house before going to work. We had our yards cleaned up a couple of weeks ago as the willow and birch shed their leaves early. This past weekend though we had a long gusty rain storm that blew our neighbour’s maple leaves into our yard, completely carpeting it. How many leaves does a 70 foot maple tree have? About a kazillion.

FoxyFace

This one? Well, when you’re sorta daydreamy from a long period of raking you start to notice the small details around you. To most people I suppose this is just a board on a fence.

Line, Shape, Tone Jumble

Last night around dinner time the wind started blowing from the north and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees in 2 hours. Today it looks like we’ll get up to maybe 6 deg C and it’s still gusty as anything. Apparently there is supposed to be a big dump of snow today further north (which is fine; it can stay up there). We have a few threatening looking clouds whizzing by ourselves.

for Kel

This is getting to be an annual thing but…. as I raked there were continuous V’s of Canada geese going over. Probably around a thousand a minute spread across the sky, every which way you looked…. and Lord, they are noisy as they flew with all their honking. If they fly low enough you can hear the swishing of the air through their feathers, too. Our dog Milo just sits and stares with a very worried and puzzled look on his face. Speaking of…. here’s my boy now. 

 

Autumn Colours

 

Autumn Arrives

… with a thud.

Showing offWhat'dya mean I've changed?

Yes, so… a little catching up. We had nice summery weather over the Thanksgiving weekend – a beautiful run of temps in the high 20’s which I think set some records around here. It deteriorated come Tuesday and it rained for most of the rest of the week. Gotta take the bad once you’ve enjoyed the good I suppose. Now it has gotten lots cooler – around 7C at night and daytime highs of just 12 or 14C.

That puts Lynda and I at situation normal for the fall and winter months already. She continues in perma-hot-flash mode and complaining that she’s still too hot or reveling in the coolness. I’m chilled all the time and can’t get my hands and feet warm; already layering up and dreading the real cold weather to come.

Back on the TG weekend I saw my next oldest brother Dave and his wife Deb. Dave I see fairly regularly but I hadn’t seen Deb for 2 or 3 years. Good to catch up. Unfortunately it was at a memorial service for her father.

This past weekend our eldest brother passed through town to visit Mom so we slid over there to catch up with them before they take off south for the winter. Hadn’t seen Gord and Roberta for at least 2 years. Sucks that we’re all so spread out at points all over the map.

Had a bit of a shocker from Mom last week, too. She’s intending to sell her condo and move in with sister Linda and her new hubby Mike. They’ve got an agent searching for someplace suitable and have listed the condo.

Stepson #3 is moving his chip truck at the end of the week to a location closer to his home. Walking distance – YAY!!!! That means I won’t have to get up each morning and drive him to work = more time between the sheets for me!!!! Guess what Kel? Poutine has been his top seller through this season; closely followed by his ‘peameal bacon on a kaiser’ slathered with molten cheese.

straight as a die – jet contrail thru high cloud

 Me? I’m working on my head space which hasn’t been great lately. I was glad to get that trip out to see my kids and their families but it made me realize how much I miss having them around on a regular basis. Trying to make the best of my work situation too and sort out finances. Lots to do; lots to stay on top of. I’ll see which way the wind blows me.

**Note** I thought this had posted the other day but just found it in ‘drafts’. Looks like it dropped one of the photos too. Oh well – here tis anyway, as is. 

Who decides….

… which are weeds and which are flowers?

Queen Anne's Lace

 

gnarly barley

6 feet tall and about to bloom

 …. and on a completely unrelated note – while I was working last night one of the windows was shot out with a small caliber gun. Thankfully it was a triple glazed one and only the outermost one shattered.

fractured vision

Shades of Green

Wandering the yard….

 

 

 

 

 

dash of colour

Another wish….. that we could be surrounded by such vivid colour all year long.

Exploring

Our little corner of the world through a small boy’s eyes:

Our g’son Owen has been out for more frequent visits lately and now his big thing is stretching his boundaries. ‘Walks With Pops’ started when he found a suitable stick for walking a couple of weekends ago and he asked if I would take him out through the greenbelt behind the house. That led onward to the creek, checking both banks as far as we could go, and the train tracks. Left a penny on the tracks and marked the spot so we could find the penny later. Chucking big rocks into the creek to see who could make the biggest splash. Finding the best stones for skipping and seeing how many hops we could get. Testing his boots in the shallows at the edge of the creek. Collecting souvenirs – a patch of moss, a special stone, a fiddlehead fern, little things…. his pockets were chuck full.

Atop the bank

Oh, and me imparting a little wisdom about how the banks get undercut by spring runoff enough that the edges are dangerous to stand on. He’s a funny guy. We had been walking for about a half hour along a trail that followed the creek’s path when he turned and asked. ‘Are we lost?’ Well, you’re leading this expedition, O. Do you think you can find our way back? ‘Sure Pops… but I’m not ready to go back yet. Let’s keep going this way.” Okay buddy; lead the way..

 

I like the opinions he offers on what he sees, the questions he asks, the little things he takes note of. ‘Inquiring minds want to know’, doncha know.

 

Ridge banked by cedar

Lynda describes O as an old soul, and the embodiment of her father Victor. He certainly is a sight to see trudging along in his rubber boots and his ‘just the right size’ walking stick.

 

Our walk done, we sit to enjoy a drink of milk and a couple of cookies while filling his parents and gramma in on our travels. ‘We saw…. we did….. it was so cool when ….’

 

You’re not the only one who had fun, Owen. Thanks for one of the special times of my life. 

‘Spring Has Sprung,

the grass has riz,

I wonder where,

the birdies is?’

A little ditty my Dad used to recite each year. We don’t really have to wonder where the birdies are because we’re woken by all manner of birdsong each morning. About the only one I’m used to hearing and haven’t as yet is the Baltimore Oriole. I’ve seen robins, finches, grackles, sparrows, cranes, ducks, geese, buzzards, hawks, an eagle, a falcon (which almost nabbed a mourning dove from our yard; narrow miss) We’ve had a few warm spells that last a few hours before the north wind swoops back in and takes us back near zero. Saturday Lynda and I spent a good portion of the afternoon and early evening raking up the yards, spelling one another and soaking up the rays.

Maple-cicle

Here is something we had never seen before – taken a couple of Sundays ago. A small branch had broken off during the winter and once the sap began to run started to drip. It was still below freezing and the sap froze as it dripped. These icicles were as thin as parchment and, you know me, had to taste it to see how sweet it was. And it was, too.

A couple of months ago my work assignment changed from one of the local university buildings to a building on it’s associated college campus. having got to know some of the staff I approached one of the women in their career services department to critique my CV. (An ethical stretch to be sure but hey!, I’ve got boundary issues, don’t ya know?) Anyway she’s supposed to get back to me this week with her suggestions and it got me motivated to tackle the re-write once again. This work assignment is supposed to end in a couple of weeks and I haven’t any idea where I’ll be going. My supervisor is trying to hang onto me and has a spot in mind but the shift rotation is crazy awful…. can’t see it. I’ll take my chances and turn that one down.

Shadowy Man

The kitchen reno has turned into a marathon. Some special order porcellain back splash tile was picked and sent wrong resulting in another 2 week wait. It is supposed to be installed tomorrow and perhaps we’ll be able to sort the house out after that is done. Get the kitchen table back from the basement; arrange things to our liking, etc. Lynda’s youngest son has been here for the last couple of weeks and that is always a strain as he is quite a slob. She’s ready to pull her hair out. Thankfully he chose to go spend a night in his own bed last night so we all get a break from one another.

A Pennsylvania singer / songwriter by the name of Brett Detar had a post that I picked up on offering a free download of his first solo album. Here’s a link to a 30 second video containing a few of my photos that uses a segment of one of his songs. His material is hard to pigeon-hole; sorta folky / roots but with an edge. I like his vocals and overall instrumentation and production.

http://animoto.com/play/aH1oBy3GH2V0mO7AonD2Lg 

Time to clean up and face another day of work. Just checked the sobriety calculator and today is 2,825 days. Who’da thunk it? See you sooner than later I hope.

Long or Short…. of it

Not too sure how long I’ll be sitting here. My back has been grinding and seizing up for the last few weeks… then I guess I screwed it up yesterday raking, bagging and carrying the last of the nice, wet, heavy leaves. Gotta have a little lay down soon before working tonight. Heating pad, ibuprofen, rest, la-la land…..

Frosted

I’ve read a couple of memoirs lately by a two Toronto musicians (and writers) – Dave Bidini formerly of The Rheostatics and Paul Quarrington of Porkbelly Futures. Dave’s book recounts his adventure as a solo act touring the world following the Rheostatics break-up. He hit London England, Scandinavia, Russia, China, a couple of African countries and a few Canadian dates… the book’s title is ‘Around the World in 57 1/2 Gigs’. Paul’s book ‘Cigar Box Banjo’ is a blend of thoughts on music and life during his final year following a diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer, which proved to be terminal. A downer of a read this definitely ISN’T. He stayed busy writing the book, a screenplay, writing songs and recording right up to three days before he died early this year. Paul grew up not too distant from where I did and we were about the same age so he mentions a number of places I’m familiar with and events we both attended.

Now I’m better than half way through Bill Bryson’s ‘Notes from a Small Island’ recounting his tour of Britain before moving back to the States (having lived in Britain for about 20 years). He definitely appreciates the ‘best of Britain’ but doesn’t hold back on his criticism of what he sees as ‘the worst’ either. Next up – and how could there two such divergent choices, anyway? – is either the Dalai Lama’s ‘The Middle Way’, or Hunter S Thompson’s ‘Fear and Loathing in America: The Gonzo Letters II’. Have to see how I’m feeling later and make up my mind then.

Had an interesting email from cuz BJ in response to that last post regarding John’s advice. Noted dear cousin; I’m not committing myself to anything fast and foolish. More like sober consideration.

Also re Kel’s comment/ question….. would have been tracking down courses except my back has kept me from the computer. Pretty much anything ‘Human Services’-wise would do. There’s a post-grad Addictions specialty degree offered at the local university so I’ll look into their course load.

bye-bye peonies - hack & slash

Nap time for Bonzo…..