It was dangling in the front of her mouth for a week or more. Finally, in the midst of a tickle fight in the middle seats of the van with two teenaged friends out it came.
It's two months since I began running. I ran 34 kilometres this week, up from the 10 or 11 I ran my first week. In the past month I've been running a lot more on the trails, now that the snow has pretty much gone, and that's been really enjoyable. I no longer spend my time running concentrating on the good I'm doing for myself and on the running itself. Instead I'm enjoying the scenery, the changes in the natural world, the sights and smells, and the meditative experience of just trucking along.
Look at the green! Every year it astonishes me. Chuck remarked that it seems particularly green this year but I suspect it has something to do with our retinas being burned by the bright orange walls inside the house. After supper it's still bright outside, and today it was still actually warm. So the kids and dog headed outside for some crazy running around and playing with sticks.
Poonybug is the name of the pear sapling we planted the spring after Noah was born. Noah thinks of it as his tree and named it a few years ago. It's now big enough for Fiona to climb. Just like children, trees grow.
May Days is a long-weekend community celebration here. Basically an invitation to the community to come out and play. There are dances, actual sporting events like a bike race and ridiculous events like canoe-jousting, three-legged races and potato sack races, there's an outdoor market, game tents like fish ponds, carnival food like ice cream, elephant ears and cotton candy, outdoor entertainment, a parade, raffles and the honouring of community citizens for their volunteerism. And dozens of other events.
Years ago at the Nikkei Centre we were given a kaleidoscopic origami creation made by an elderly local Japanese-Canadian lady. "Traditionally" the ladies around here made them from salmon tin labels, I suppose since prior to internment in this area many of the internees worked in the fishery and in canning plants. The one we were given has lingered on our mantel ever since. Yesterday Sophie carefully unfolded it to figure out how it was made. Then, not having salmon tin labels, she used 34 sheaves of drug-company doctor-notepad paper to create her own.
"Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles ...."
The sad truth is that aside from the addition we put on 12 years ago and a kitchen renovation 3 years ago, our home and furnishings have been "unimproved" for fifteen years. The carpet, deck, walls, the stuff that was old when we moved in, is now rotten. Our appliances are not so happy. The washing machine does a terrible job unless it's only half full. The dishwasher is almost in the "why bother" phase, as half the dishes need to be hand-washed when they come out.
We had sunshine a few times today. And snow up on the ridges. And rain here several times. And hail.
Last night I was putting Fiona to bed when she commented on the rhythmic shrill cheeping coming from the basement. At first she thought it was some sort of electronic alarm. "Oh, it's just a chick," she said, after listening again. I almost thought nothing of it. We can often hear the chicks from upstairs. But the fact that Fiona had noticed this particular cheeping as unusual made me wonder.
For now they're either named 10, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20 and 22 or else Pip, Peep, Poop, Chip, Cheep, Choop and Lamarr. That's Lamarr/22 in the bottom right. He's the smallest, having just hatched out last night, while Pip/10 is the hulking thing in the middle. They'll get their permanent names as they feather out and exert their personalities.
One colour at a time, one coat at a time, one wall at a time.
My home improvement quest continues. The carpet in the piano room is all gone. Thank goodness! It went off to the dump today, and for once I don't feel guilty about landfilling something. That carpet was evil, and good riddance!
I had to wait a few days to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but it seems clear now. I am not a penguin anymore.
Yesterday just before the choir concert we noticed that Egg 12 was moving about and peeping. By bedtime it had a small crack and pip hole. We were pretty sure that we'd have another chick by morning. And indeed ...
