Braggin' on my bro

It seems to have been one of those weeks. Days rush by and I'm not totally sure what I've accomplished. I've noticed a few patterns showing up though - for example, if your name is Marcia (or any spelling of that name), it's likely I haven't responded to your emails yet. It's not that I don't like your name, it's just a pattern I noticed when glancing through my inbox. I'll get to the Marcias today.

So since I have nothing to exciting to report, I'm going to brag on my brother instead.

A couple weeks ago, he performed a deed of daring do and rescued a couple of dogs that were stranded on a cliff face. While I will admit I'm glad I didn't find out about it until it was all over (he had an adventure with a cliff before and it quickly became one of those memories that I can visit in elaborate detail in my memory), I'm still busting with pride. His wife had to watch instead and I imagine her nerves suffered worse than mine. But still - "That's my brother!"

You can read the whole story complete with pics here, or CBC radio caught up with them and you can listen to their account of the adventure here (you'll have to go down the right hand column to the bit under features that says "There was a happy ending last week...).

That's my brother.

Spring is here

There's no denying it now. Spring has officially arrived.

How do I know?

Well, it's not the tulips, daffodils and cherry trees blooming outside my studio. It's not the pollen floating in the breeze. It's nothing to do with the calendar. It's not even the ads for allergy medicines popping up with the urgency of microwave popcorn.

No, it's even more subtle than that. I know it's really spring because I've eaten my last Cadbury Easter Creme Egg for the season.

-sigh-

Close the windows, lock the doors

I was at a meeting tonight that had to do with a very cool wilderness school that is not too far from here. Okay, actually it's in California but still within a day's drive. There was a slide show and a schedule and an introduction to the rangers and all the typical stuff. A few warnings about bears and the other critters that call the area home. And then this bit of information, "We ask everyone to lock the doors and windows whenever they are not in the cabin."

Sure? I can imagine a Goldilocks sort of situation happening. "This [wooden bare slat] bunk bed is too hard."

But it turns out that's not the real reason.

They recommend you lock the doors and windows because there are BANANA SLUGS in the area.


EEEWWWWW! Now let me explain - I'm okay with the concept of the slug (except when they go after my irises). And Banana Slugs are a highly decorative version of these slime-bepaved creatures. I'd even take their picture if I could get one to smile for me. But NOT crawling up the sides of my cabin to slither in the window above my bunk!!!


P.s. I'm even more alarmed at the number of banana slug sushi recipes that showed up while I was looking for the photos.


(They're public domain, by the way. At least the pictures are - not sure about the sushi recipes.)

Parents are people

For some reason my kids find this hysterically funny...



I think I resent that.

Birds and bees

Whew! I've been meaning to get a blog posted about our trip to, through and around Denver but it just hasn't happened yet. I've been waiting to get to that "now-I-can-laugh" stage (not that I wasn't laughing a trifle manically at the time) but apparently am still not quite there. I have a receipt sitting on my desk that's still capable of triggering a flashback.

In the meantime, we had an awesome Easter I'll have to tell you about, this whole economy thing is getting a little old, I was told no woman should EVER wear capris (which presents a personal dilemma), the robins are rampaging in my yard, meadowlarks are just plain showing off, the ravens are raucous, spring has progressed to planting and growing season and we have the weeds to prove it. Add to that the usual stuff of life and we've been as busy as a...

Demented drivers?

Today I had to run an errand on the way home so I drove over to the grocery store that was on the way there. It is a typical grocery store with rows of angle-in parking that alternate directions so you end up driving up one row and down the next all the while seeing that elusive empty spot one row over and over and over.

I'd found a spot and swung the van a little to the left to be sure I angled in properly. Just as I began the turn, a little dark blue sedan shoots backwards out of a left-hand parking space, I gasp and the driver stops in the nick of time. At first I thought their abrupt departure was because the truck beside them had blocked visibility. Then I realize that what I took for an older lady in a yellow sweater who was not looking was, in fact, a girl in her early twenties with blond curly hair in a yellow sweater who was not looking AND WITH A CELL PHONE STUCK TO HER LEFT EAR.

She gives me a dirty look but pulls back into the parking space so I can finish pulling into mine. And the pedestrian that has been poised for flight as this adventure unfolds gives me a smile and darts past the little blue car as fast as possible before the car decides to take off again.

After I'd finished in the store (about 20 minutes), I went back to my van and as I put it in reverse, I remembered the little adventure. Not wanting to be the idiot that pulls out without looking, I carefully check the lane behind me. Nothing. (Remember that - it's important.)

I check the other direction for pedestrians and shopping carts and then check the lane behind me again. Nothing. (Make a note.)

So I begin to back out and just as I'm reaching for the gear shift to put the van back in drive, I hear a little horn beep behind me. I look and there is a small dark blue sedan with a young driver leaned forward like she has just slammed on her brakes. She has blond curly hair, is wearing a yellow sweater AND HAS A CELL PHONE STUCK TO HER LEFT EAR.

My first thought? That she'd popped out of some weird space-time wrinkle. I was sure she had driven out of that hole in the ozone everyone keeps talking about. 'Cause she sure wasn't there when I looked. Wouldn't that just be ironic if she'd found a way to hit me over and over.

I gotta tell you, I was really nervous about making the turn out of the parking lot. And I kept my defensive driving skills on alert for any little dark blue sedans all the way home.

Catching the bus in Kenya

I went on a trip last weekend to visit my parents. It involves several flights to get there and several to get home again. Let's just say that it didn't go according to plan. Out of a five day trip I got to spend 36 hours with my parents. At some point I may give you the whole story but for now let me say that air travel has increasingly been reminding me of stories a cousin of my mom's used to tell from her missionary days.

She was a missionary in Africa and spent many years in Kenya. This was several decades ago and public transportation was an uncertain thing at best. You knew approximately when a bus should come through but not definitely when the bus would come through. You knew your destination but ultimately, you also knew that it was not something you should count on because chances were good you wouldn't get there on time. The bus would break down or be late or get stuck on a muddy road or run over a goat.

Her stories always convinced me that if I ever had to catch a bus in Kenya, I'd better pack a sandwich. I should have remembered that principal when I was packing for my trip, too.

More later...