Category: Other and blather

It’s still summertime

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That hot spell we had this summer has faded well into the past (not unlike my last blog post), and now we’re into September, with the leaves on the horse-chestnut trees rusting and withering (I remember when they used to sign off with a brilliant rastafarian display, but now they all have some sort of blight) and the sunlight getting paler and slantier. Kids will be back at school next week. I think I can stop waiting for summer to resume.

G hasn’t had time to construct weird hangups about seasons and weather and the passage of time. The fact that it’s cooler out doesn’t seem to fill her with a sense of foreboding, nor even to stop her from wanting to go into the wading pool at the park.

Even if I am on the verge of hibernation, I recognize a usable patch of sunlight when I see one. The other day I drew the line at filling her little pool, but we set up finger paints outside instead. Just two colours this time; no real need for more, since she squidges her hands around in all available pots until they converge to a uniform, sickly colour.

I got a bucket of water ready for her to rinse the goop off her hands before going inside.

I guess she would have preferred the pool.

At least this pool is one she can empty by herself.

Happy Canada Day!

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This is about the extent of our Canada Day celebrations this year. There isn’t even any water in the pool (luckily for our flags). I did get G saying something that sounded like it was supposed to be “Happy Canada Day.” She’s an enthusiastic mimic.

It was somewhere close to 30 degrees out today; really nice and summery but not too hot to cycle because there was haze and some cloud cover. I’m tempted to pull a reverse Fat Cyclist and put in some sort of esoteric non-imperial unit for any non-Celsius speakers who may happen by, but I’ll look it up properly and tell you 30C is 86F.

There are no fireworks for us this year, although when the Colleges had their May Ball fireworks we could actually see them from upstairs in our house!  That suits us just fine these days. Younger people (and at least one slightly older person) we know went punting and drinking on the Backs (in the cold, I might add) to watch, but we were warm and sober and very close to our bed and to our bedtime.

The weather has been fantastic since just before my last depressing post, and we must have been busy since then, because that was 11 days ago. What a bad blogger! If I’d blogged more, maybe there would have been a record of what we’ve done all this time (aside from work).

Anyway, Happy What’s Left of Canada Day to all Canadians, and to anyone else who cares to celebrate.

Keep yer stick on the ice…

Doldrums

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Phooobooboo. We have had quite a week here. Which is to say: we’ve all been sick and it’s been really boring and not much has happened.

The weather has me practically hibernating, although it’s not really wintry, which is good because, in keeping with our family tradition, I appear to have lost my winter bike gloves.

The only possible blogging topic that’s made me feel at all animated has been the things I’ve seen on my bike rides to and from work, and I’m trying to avoid writing too much about that. I have a couple of ground rules for myself here, and that topic would break both of them. All of them. Wait. How many ground rules do I have? …ok, at least three. All subject to change if think I can justify it.

For now, one of those rules is to keep the strong language to a minimum, and to be honest, most of the fun of revisiting events from my commute that make me feel animated would be in combining all sorts of rude words in absurd, hyperbolic, oxymoronic, or simply moronic combinations.

Combined with my general animation shortage, this leaves me with not much to say for the moment.

I was going to just post a photo of our California poppies all twisted up and huddled against the cold, gloomy weather, but when I went to take the shot things were looking up.

Maybe not quite the summery weather I’m yearning for, but enough to mow the lawn.