From the mind of Albert Einstein

Cool dude

OK, gotta admit this was cool, but he wasn't for sale - rent only. Had gone into this store to check out its antiques, which there were, and was greeted by this guy towering above, as you know any Predator would. If only I could take him home with me.

Sorry for this kind of post again

Hawthorne tree at the edge of the backyard.
Lilac at the back.Sorry to the ladybug and for this type of post.... again

Sunday: I could not waste this beautiful day by staying inside.

Rewind to Friday: I knew I had caught something when that sorethroat approached me Friday morning. By Saturday, my head felt at once heavy and light, my body excessively hot and cold. At some point I woke up and my hands were sweaty - not just the palms - my hands in their entirety. So today, after another sleepless night, I figured I should go outside, being that yesterday was like a rainy winter day and today was like summer. For one, I could breathe, and it was much warmer outside than in my house. I sat cross-legged in the patio chair, soaking in the sun and the air, when suddenly a ladybug alit upon my ankle. I didn't realize that she was a ladybug until the split second after I swept her off my ankle. I felt horrible, as on any other day, I would have lifted her up and placed her on a plant in the garden. All I can say is that when my head was feeling like it would both implode and explode at the same time, the reflex to move was stronger than the usual thought process. I apologize, whether it be for the accidental swatting of a ladybug today or for decapitating (technically not the right word) an earthworm whilst pulling weeds. I just hope that nobody hears me as they walk by the yard.

Oatmeal for breakfast, sun and fresh air for lunch, chicken soup for dinner. Regardless of how my body fares tonight, or the neverending worries which will resume tomorrow, today was indeed worth it.

Daydreaming

Blue sky night

Hmmm.... this one is from the other night also,

but didn't think it was that great, until I looked

at it again. I still can't believe the colour of the sky,

or that this tiny device could capture it so well.

Beautiful hue of blue

Beautiful hue of blue tonight.

I took this on my walk home.

Sunny Sunday

Sunny Sunday Sunburn, a bag of weeds, and these.... beauties.

Couldn't resist posting this

Another departure from what I was supposed to post, but I couldn't resist posting this, after doing my first cut of the lawn this year, using a push reel mower instead of my electric one. The grass was about 4 inches long, so I knew the electric baby wouldn't cut it. (ha ha ha) Surprisingly it took only 2 hours, instead of the 3 with the electric mower. Of course, the electric one involved maneuvering and moving the two extension cords, and constantly having to tighten the bolt on one of the wheels. The reel mower only required more energy on my part, going over areas a few times, and removing pine cones that jammed up in the blades.

Both before and after the first cut, I had, when weather permitted, attended to weeding the garden and yard, on my hands and knees, with my now rather distraught weed "stick". It must have appeared rather strange to see me in the midst of weeding, pulling out the cell phone to take photos of these guys. Now, why on earth would people call these beautiful little flowers "weeds"? Wild Violets they are, and I much prefer them to those bright yellow fellows - dandelions and buttercups, with which I am in constant battle. When I first moved here, the yard was just dirt, then grass by seed. So when the weeds started coming in, especially the dreaded yellow flowers - argh. It was a pleasant surprise to find the plain purple violets popping up . Each year, more varieties have come to rest here, and I willingly let them do so - as you can see from the photos. The cell phone camera just doesn't do justice to their colour.

ps: I don't use chemicals in the yard or garden, or fertilizer for that matter, and I do not coddle anything that grows here. I read plant labels, and, for the most part, follow the instructions. However, if something dies, it wasn't meant to be here. For this reason, I say that I garden, but I am not a gardener. By the same token, I have written poems, but am not a poet.

I know, I know, this post is quite a departure.

"Zen" quote of the day

"...cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one's self from one's surroundings. When that is done successfully, then everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all. "

Robert M. Pirsig

Argh

I have been staring at the blank page for several minutes now. I was almost inspired, by another blog, to post some poetry, but I'm just not there yet. Maybe someday, maybe not. We'll just have to see how it goes. Good lord, I might end up posting more random thoughts... argh.

Breakthrough

What the hell am I doing posting so soon? I couldn't resist, as I just had a major breakthrough. For the first time ever, whilst watching Star Trek (2009) for the umpteenth time (could be as many as 30), I did NOT cry in the opening sequence when George Kirk sacrifices himself. It is the score that always takes me over the edge - every single time. Up to this point, I have not been able to help myself. This is a huge step..... Apologies, this falls into the category of my personal life. Not supposed to go there. (Ps: I had to come back and add, because most people don't know me, crying and laughing are not common occurrences in this person, so to have been so moved by that particular scene in the first place was something that hadn't occurred in a long time.)

Speaking of movie scores and/or soundtracks....there are some good movies that fall slightly flat when their scores are weak (I can think of: Ladyhawke).... there are movies that I have bought the soundtracks for, but not the movie. Then there are some amazing scores - The Mission, Last of the Mohicans, Glory - where the music is as powerful as the movie itself. There are more, I just can't think of them right now. There are also movies where the score has a personality of its own but works seamlessly with the scenes - Nora Ephron and Ridley Scott movies are good examples of this. Please note that I do not have a great memory for such things, so the movie or the music has to be pretty damn good for me to remember it.

A zen moment?

Have you ever had a "zen" moment, wherein you felt totally at peace, and as one with the space around you? I have had two, almost three in my lifetime. The third one - the "almost zen" was on my mountain bike, speeding down a path, turning, then where the zen was lost - hitting a hole I didn't see, flying over the handle bars, ripping the skin off my knee, going to emerg. The second one was actually more than once - hitting backhands against the backboard at the tennis court - my arm, my hand, the racquet, the ball, the ground, the backboard, the air, were all one. The first, and the most complete, was swimming lengths at the pool - the zen moment didn't occur until the 70th lap (just over 1 mile) and continued for the next 20. Simply put, I was one with the water, I became the water. However, for the most part, that time has passed, and I must now find the zen that resides in me.

Meandering off Musings

I started this blog with the intention of leaning towards rather philosophical, witty or satiric content, however this has failed miserably, with the exception of the inaugural blog, which was a simple sample, or "getting my feet wet". Considering I didn't know what a "blog" was last year, and I didn't have a pc at home until just before last Christmas, I figured it was a good start. So now another term - "bloghopping" - that's what it's called. What I've found in my travels - a lot of sickly sweet family blogs, a lot of very touching and candid blogs by people in or with familial ties to the military, some very humourous blogs and some posted by very normal people suffering from depression in many shapes and forms. I am mostly amazed at how much people put thenselves "out there", whether it be with their personal feelings or artistic talent.

I do realize that I have aleady begun to meander off the matter of musings. All I can comment on that is: you'll know sonething is very wrong if I start off a post by saying "I went for a walk today...."

Not Wanted

Sometimes......don't you feel?

This is a sticker on a trunk that I purchased several years ago. It is a Canadian Pacific Steamships Limited "NOT WANTED" sticker which states the passenger's name, the steamship name (Empress of Britain), the sailing date (September 11 (no year)) and Destination (London England - Cumberland Hotel).

You can tell there used to be more labels or stickers, but these have long since been ripped off or worn. I did some research and found there were three "Empress of Britain" liners with this CP company. I'm guessing that this trunk most likely sailed on the third steamship which ran from 1956 to 1964. The first one was 1906 to 1923 (from 1914 to 1918 it was an armed merchant ship, then troopship) and the second from 1930 to 1940 (it was bombed by the Germans in 1940). It would be an intriguing story indeed if it were the second ship, but not likely to be.

It is a smaller wardrobe trunk with wooden hangers and very worn out fabric lined drawer/ compartments. It wouldn't have carried much, and is quite heavy just on its own.

What a tale it could tell.