Photo Sharing

Daughter S in a self portrait showing off her beautiful blue eyes.

Her son Z looking positively luminous.

G'son O jammin' it out and looking good doing it. (This one is for Exquisite Emma)

On The Lighter Side.....

Back on Saturday morning we paid a visit to my Mom's to see my brother who was in town from up north. It's always a fun and interesting time because he is still firmly in denial of the fact he has problems with alcohol and so we try to catch him early in the day. Funny, because on one hand, there are a steady stream of caps being snapped off beer bottles, glug, glug, glug; and on the other, he always asks how my work here at the treatment centre is going. 'Well D___, your bed is still on reserve just in case you ever want to use it, bro.' He just laughs and tells me to go to hell. Good natured brotherly stuff.

His daughter Becky and her partner Sheila had come out from Toronto to see him as well and it's always a blast spending time with them. They're a great pair. They were married about 4 years ago soon after our provincial same sex legislation went through. Between our work schedules and theirs these opportunities to get together don't come nearly often enough.

During the visit Mom told us that our eldest brother has handed in his retirement notice after 40 years of teaching. He started out in a 2 room elementary school in a small northern town and is retiring from being principal of the regional high school after almost 20 years in that position. He could write a book about the variety of experience that has entailed. Good guy, good teacher, good administrator. Time to enjoy the grand kids.

Family Times

It's been a busy weekend spent with Owen and his Mom, Mom's friend Lynn and then at Saturday night's dinner both of Lynda's other 2 sons, plus one of their g'friends. Owen's Dad will be in Australia for another week working on a project. He finally had a day off for sight-seeing Sunday after a solid week of 16 hour days.

Owen and I coloured and drew pictures, counted, read, played with cars, planes and helicopters. Between times I shovelled snow. He decided again to sleep with his Gramma and I, and once again made it through the night. Owen and Milo are best friends except when Owen decides to cuddle up to Freedom. Then Milo and Freedom put on a play wrestling demonstration that is hilarious to hear and see.

It started snowing late Saturday afternoon and didn't let up until tonight. In total we had about 14 inches and it had me leery about attempting the drive to work tonight. The roads were lousy but funnily the worst part was getting off our own street - the drive took double the usual amount of time. Then I got to work and found our plowing contractor hadn't been here to do the job and almost got stuck in the driveway. Oh joy!! I managed to slide the car into a spot and will be moving it if he ever gets here tonight. The plus side of this is that the very cold weather is over for awhile - the milder temps brought the snow. That cold snap was a trans-polar airflow straight out of Siberia, btw, and it felt like it, too.

Back at work here for another week of nights so I've organized myself and reviewed the new admission's files. Very unusual but we have three new guys straight out of jail so there is some posturing going on, lots of street talk and gangsta stuff. (Knock, knock, knock.) 'This isn't jail, so knock it off' is the general message. Good house, growing in numbers finally.

Although I'll be sleeping during the actual ceremony I'm very much looking forward to Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. (Is anyone truly disappointed McCain didn't get in?) I can catch the highlights on the news or CNN when I get up that afternoon. Lots of good wishes to my Obama backing friends south of the border. Cheers to a brand new era in American politics.

Bad Blogger

Yep... that's me. I've been awol for a few days. See, in the past when bad news has been laid on the door step I've had a bad tendency to get wound up in it and promptly spew whatever it is here. I am improving somewhat...... in that I'm learning to let the initial shock of it wash over and through me before letting loose.

Despite taking some positive steps to get our various houses in order, life just keeps on happening and the happenings aren't of the 'good' variety. The latest blow happened Friday afternoon and Lynda had called me from work to clue me in on what was up. By the end of the conversation she was breaking up crying into the phone and I was sitting stunned and shaken.

Afterward while rummaging in the fridge looking for something to eat I noticed that once again we had no wine in the house. Like good husbands everywhere I jumped in the car to go get her some. Didn't miss my cue this time..... so, when she got home I poured her a glass and we talked out how we're going to handle this situation. Pick ourselves up and continue to muddle through as best we can - we have no choice really.

On a more positive note - We took the day Saturday to drive up to Lynda's mother's place for a long overdue visit. Driving was bad on the way there because of a snow storm but getting home was no problem. We had a few hours with her Mom and also had a visit with a couple of her brothers.

I haven't had a chance to get into the music and reading from the library but I rented a few movies and we watched a couple of them. 'Gone Baby Gone' was a decent story, well acted and produced. Not for the faint of heart though - there's a fair bit of violence and bad language. The other was the Coen brothers 'No Country For Old Men'. Maybe I need to watch it again but although I liked parts of it, it didn't sustain interest or hang together very well overall. Really don't understand how it earned a 'best picture' Oscar. The final 15 minutes had both Lynda and I going, 'WTF?!?' Tomorrow night I might watch the third one - 'I'm Not There' - 6 actors portrayals that provide a biopic of Bob Dylan. (I'm definitely on a Dylan kick, aren't I?)

The last 36 hours has seen a huge arctic air mass pushing in from the north and west bringing sharply colder temps. Tonight it's down to about -15C so I'm layered up like crazy and still having a hard time shaking the chill. Thankfully there is no wind to add a windchill factor to the equation. C'mon April!!!!!

Tonight I'm Grateful For....

.... standing amidst gently falling fluffy snowflakes this still, silent night and appreciating the beauty of the moment.

..... an hour long phone conversation with my daughter out in Vancouver. We did a thorough check in with where we are in our lives, talked about our joys, sorrows and high hopes. We laughed.... and told one another how important our relationship is.

.... a rare and unexpected email from my son. Wonders never cease; independent cuss.

...... a break in the lousy weather that allowed Lynda and I to walk the dogs after she arrived home from work. Walking and talking - a good way to start my day and wind down from hers.

.... an hour spent with the overnight counsellor reminiscing about the foolishness and insanity of our drinking and drugging days. Dumbfoundingly amazing that we survived our stupidity. Knee slapping funny to talk about though. 20/20 hindsight and all that....

..... friends - you know who you are.

Satisfied I have enough......

A Couple More Pics

Sarah was kind enough to forward this one taken during their Christmas visit here of 4 generations - Mother Mabel, me holding Zeph, and Sarah. That would be a thorn (me) surrounded by 3 roses.

This is one taken last week after a relatively rare snow storm in Vancouver. Check out the expression on Zeph - too funny. What a guy!

Busy, busy, busy......

.........so much so that I haven't read a newspaper or seen a newscast to know whats going on in the world - globally or locally.

Yesterday was Remembrance Day for our veterans of WWI, WWII and the Korean War so I took a time out to think of those who didn't come back from those conflicts and the millions of lives affected. I was also thinking about our young troops peacekeeping in Croatia and rebuilding/fighting the Taliban in Afganistan. Canada has lost over 40 troops to date in Afganistan.

On a happier note; today is Mom's 82nd birthday!!!! I'm hoping for some sort of a quick visit and maybe a meal between when I get up this afternoon and when I come in to work. The lot of us are meeting for dinner next Saturday in downtown Toronto; both my older brothers and their wives are coming from up north, our sister Linda and a niece or two - a rare opportunity to celebrate together. 'Mabel! Get down off that table! And put down that beer!'

We did get those couple of mild days but unfortunately the week was mainly grey and wet. Tonight the temperature has dropped again and it feels like it may snow a bit.

After work on Wednesday I stepped out of the house for a smoke just after sunset and noticed a column of small birds flying south. Wrens, finches, sparrows....I don't know but the column was about 50 feet in diameter and after watching for a few minutes I started trying to get a rough count. They were pretty consistent with only a few gaps and I figured there were 250-300 passing each minute and I stood there gawking at them for 20 minutes before they finally petered out. By then it was gathering dark and I wondered....'are they going to cross Lake Ontario tonight into New York state?...in the dark? It has to be 25 to 30 miles; I hope the little buggers don't tire and wind up drowning.' When I went back in the house step-son #3 said I'd just blown off 20 minutes of my life looking at a bunch of birds. Hmmm...20 minutes of awe and wonder. Damn right I did. Priceless.

Wool-gathering

Here it is, the wee small hours of Friday morning, back at work. I didn't work Tues or Wed nights so as to attend Shorty's funeral Wednesday afternoon. As funerals go this was a good one and aptly so - he was well loved. The clergy did a good job with a thought provoking talk about life and loss, celebrating a life while grieving. Five people gave brief eulogies including my daughter Sarah. If I'd tried doing that at her age (25) I'd have been a puddle. (good job!)

Still sorting out impressions of people who were there; a few I've seen fairly recently, most I hadn't seen for 15 to 20 years. Among them were high school friends and old room-mates. Time and circumstance have been much kinder to some than others. A motley crew raves on.

Following the ceremony and reception Lynda and I took Sarah to collect her things and had a quick dinner at an Indian restaurant in north Toronto. Sarah is vegan, Lynda is omniverous and I'm a carnivore - we were all happy. Great breads, spicy sauces, tender veggies and meats. We then dashed to the west end to drop Sarah at the airport for her flight home to Vancouver. She was to repack, get some rest and fly off to Hawaii with her new fiance Daniel for a week.

Yes, I didn't blog about that before - I wanted to talk to Sarah a bit more about her engagement before writing about it. Over dinner we heard about their early plans for the wedding. Then she pulled out her cell, rang him up and handed me the phone for a quicky introduction. What can I say? He sounds like he truly loves her ... she's happy and obviously loves him ... good enough for me!!

Tonight we meet up with my son Russ for dinner and a chat before he leaves town Saturday morning for Calgary. He thinks he can drive it in 3 days - I think he's pushing it. 1 day to Wawa, another to the Manitoba border and another straight across the prairies to Calgary. I dunno; it's an awful lot for someone who isn't used to driving much. That's what young people do though, isn't it? Push their limits to find out what they're capable of. Anyway, I'm looking forward to having some time with him - it doesn't happen often enough.

Work has been fairly quiet tonight with just a few restless souls getting up for a drink or a smoke; walking off the effects of bad dreams; having a quick talk with me. They sure aren't lingering outside - the weather has turned cold and wintery. Snow in the forecast - oh joy!!

Actually one of my occassional favourite winter moments is to pick a windless night when it's snowing, take a flashlight outside and point it straight up, tilt my head back and watch the snowflakes fall randomly about me in absolute silence. Mesmerizing; I could do it for hours if it isn't too cold. The visual is so strong that.. it's...difficult....to.....think.......a........complete.........thought.
Imagine that...............................bye.