Making It Up As I Go Along #569

What's in a Name

When I was young, I often thought about and pitied those people who shared names with celebrities. For instance, I always said that if my name was Michael Jackson, I'd for sure be telling people to call me Mike. Anything to separate from the embarrassment of the famous. 

And so it came to be... There appeared a singer with a temper. Why hello Chris Brown. 

I've had a few crank calls. Teenage girls giggling as they start and unable to get through their rehearsed speel without bursting into fits of laughter. 

I've even had a couple of work calls where detectives or airport workers pause and take a moment from the business at hand to ask me how Rihanna (the beaten girlfriend) is doing.

And I'm left remembering my youth... Wondering if I should follow my Michael Jackson advice. Should I be Christopher? Or borrow from the actor and become Topher? And then I think and realize that very few people actually even call me Chris. 

I think I can count a total of eight people in my life who actually address me as Chris. And one of those eight would be my mother... While six others would all come from the one family (my uncle Bert and his girls... One of their husbands). 

Not even my father calls me Chris. I'm... Son, or My Dear Boy or, when things get silly and mushy, Dad's Man. 

I think about as many people call me Christopher as do Chris. Mostly family friends who have known me since birth or a few other uncles and aunts. I believe Melissa would be my only Ottawa friend who calls me by the long version. And I've an uncle or two that will go by the Pooh Bear stories and call me Christopher Robin, from time to time. 

Being on sports teams, over the years, my last name gets quite a lot of play. And I have lived with the sports typical adding of an "er" to things. Browner has been a popular one and, possibly the most common name I've been called since day one. The sporting world has also given me Brownie, of course... But that isn't as common. And I sometimes gain the nickname of a more famous ball playing Brown. Having some softball teammates calling me Three Fingers (after the old time baseball pitcher, Mordecai Brown). 

There have been other variations on my last name as well. Browner Von Brownser, The Brown, Brun. I've gotten each of them over the years. 

Many people will also play off he who is perhaps the most famous Brown of them all. And they will call me either Charlie or, if feeling spunky... Chuck. 

From good friend, Del, I often get called Apu. He must, in turn be called Nelson by me (this all coming from an old softball team we played on where each member of the team got a Simpson's character name. He being Nelson for his sauciness. And I being Apu for my imitation of the convienience store clerk). 

I get quite a few friends who call me both names. As in "why hello there Chris Brown". And it's somewhat surprising to me that there are lots of people at work who call me Mr. Brown. Even those ten years my senior will call me this. It must come from my sophisticated air... I suppose. 

In the movie, Back to the Future, the actor, Christopher Lloyd (Lloyd being my middle name) plays Doc Brown. And now, because of this, I'm occasionally also addressed as Doc. Though that is more of a rare greeting I probably hear only two or three times through the year. 

My sister always called me Chrissy. Sometimes lengthening it out to Chrissy Brown in a tone that is more singing to me than addressing me in conversation. I've an aunt or two who have copied Edena in that. And my nieces always used to call me Chrissy when they were not far into talking ages. They later switched to Turkey... In keeping with the long time joking and teasing that we've had. Where I began calling the oldest, Fraser, Turkey. And she would laugh and tell me that she's not a turkey... "You're the turkey!"  

So, in the end, with me now sharing my name with a famous meat head, I guess I've never seriously considered switching things up because, over the years, I've been addressed by so many different names that the switching never seemed necessary. 

I guess I'll need to get it put in my will, as to what I'm to be called at the end of my days. Otherwise, the headstone may have to be enormous. 

FRIDAY...

--- Work alone. Pretty busy day. Left me pretty tired afterwards. 

SATURDAY...

--- Quiet day in the office. 

SUNDAY...

--- Lots of snow. I'm left with a pretty boring day. Up. Breakfast... Shovel for half an hour... Afternoon nap... Softball... Nightshift at work. Get a Shwarma on the way in. 

MONDAY...

--- Take the night off work. I only had about three hours sleep prior to shift and my stomach is touchy today. So hang around the house and catch up on tv. 

TUESDAY...

--- Almost in trouble sleep wise again. Awake at 5:50 and stay awake about a half hour. But get back to sleep until 10:00. So that helps. 

--- Too cold for a walk. -17 feeling like -25. Ugh. I stay in and lounge. 

WEDNESDAY...

--- Bit of a drive in the country. Do a walk also, expecting that the temp warming by a good ten degrees over yesterday would make it nice. But I cut things short as jeans aren't good enough on their own, I'm getting cold, and only last about a half hour. 

THURSDAY...

--- Out walking for almost an hour and a half. Brought the camera with me so it was a slow pace. Got some squirrels and a few small woodpeckers. 

--- Getting fed up with my neck. A week or two ago, the right side was tight and sore. Now tonight, the left side flares. I suppose it's all from poor posture on the sofa during tv watching but I know sleeping on my stomach doesn't help. 

FRIDAY...

--- On a day I planned to clean around the house, I'm spending most of the day with a hot pack on the side of my neck. Conserving things for the shovelling of the driveway... As the snow falls all day. 

Making It Up As I Go Along #568

Two for one today...

Winter Lips
Winter lips
Splitting with a smile
Like a squatting fat man's pants

Dying Slippers
Sliding along the coldness
Wool and cotton foot huggers

Foreign wool clinging
Darned with motherly love
A grey mishmash reinforcing the blue
Holding fast those weak points of pressure

And yet more cotton fluffs out
A loss of feathery inners
More chinks in the wooly armour
A great gap opens
Slippers becoming more darned than knit
Perhaps this time now done.


THURSDAY...

--- Most angry day I think I've had at work. Was tired... Physically. Was tired of constant interruptions and nosiness. And then was hit by incompetence in relation to the glasses I got 14 months ago... Resulting in me needing to go to the optomitrist and shelling out the money I was originally told insurance would cover. I'll get back what insurance actually will cover. But it's still an unexpected, and unwanted expense. In the end, I killed a pen today... My throwing ability knows no bounds. 

--- Lasagna lunch at the cafeteria with Shannon was literally the only non-annoying thing of the day. 

FRIDAY...

--- Make it through today with all pens intact. Not going to lie... Some eye rolling did occur today at work... But I stayed in control... And didn't have to pay anyone any money. 

SATURDAY...

--- Awake around 10:00... Up around 11:00. 

SUNDAY...

--- Pre work softball. We lose 4-1. A very low score for indoor three pitch. I score our one run but only hit 1-4 in the game. Odd game all around. Good defence. 

--- Clear all night. Step away from the desk for ten minutes at 4:15 am or so... Come back to snow on the ground. Came quick. 

MONDAY...

--- Up around 11:00 but not out of bed until closer to 12:30. Watch a little tv. Shovel the driveway. Shovel Harley's driveway next door. Do a thirty minute walk.

TUESDAY...
--- Another walk today and hang about the house.  Laundry is about as exciting as it gets.

WEDNESDAY...
--- Too cold to walk.  Windchill into -20s.  

Making It Up As I Go Along #567

Schokee Winters

Ours was a stumpy dog.

Her West Highland legs only keeping her six inches above the land.  And with tangling wisps of fur down her sides, it would not be uncommon for those things of the ground to be carried along upon her underbelly.

In winter times, she would often return from the backyard with icy globs of snow hanging off of her.  Making her sides and belly like a beaded door of a hippy's apartment.

She was never much for a pause when returning from a bad weather day.  She'd fly through the door and want to scamper into the warm depths of the house.  Perhaps aiming for the carpet under the dining room table.  Maybe to run a mad lap or two, encircling the living room, dining room, front hall, and kitchen.

So she'd often have to be grabbed to a halt as she bounded into the sunroom.  And she'd wait in antsy fashion as you sat on the floor next to her, picking off the bits of icy snow as if they were burrs from fall bushes... clinging to sweaters after afternoon hikes.

There was an art to the picking.  A simple grab and tug would bring yelps of pain from her sooky mouth.  You'd, instead, have to try squeezing off the top of the snow.  Like pinching and twisting an apple off a tree.  Sometimes the snow would cling too tightly.  And you'd have to wrap your hand around each ball, bringing a quick melt to the situation, and then crumble the snow off onto the patio door mat below.

When enough was removed, you'd let her go.  And off she'd fly... a streak of white fluff with the clattering of nails upon the floor.  In later years, the flying streak would more resemble a jogging bathroom mat.  Sometimes she'd lose control when reaching the two small stairs leading from the sunroom to the kitchen, and the jog would halt right there... reset... and continue on sheepishly.

On stormy days she'd change her mind about trips outside.  Downstairs, she'd hound you to get up from in front of the TV and follow her to the door so she could do her business.  And, when the door slid open, showing the whipping snow as the winds howled across the yard... she'd stop... and sniff the cold... and sit on the mat for a minute... deciding she really doesn't need to go all that badly after all.

You'd force her out.  Tell her she needs to go.  And stand watching at the door as she'd leap and bound over the drifts, find her spot next to the shed, squat quickly... headlong into the wind so strong that her ears would blow back behind her.

In less than a minute her work would be done.  And the leaps and bounds back to the deck would have her scrambling for the door.  On those days, she'd much appreciate your consideration.  So a timed opening of the door would lift her spirits as the scramble would need no break... she'd continue on into the house... give herself a good shake... then wag her tail as she looked up at you... almost smiling.

Those times when you thought she'd need to take more time... when you'd venture to the refrigerator for a peckish look... she'd bellow to you with such a sharp yap of a bark that you'd quickly close the fridge and jog back into the sunroom.  She'd be padding down the door with one paw and, upon seeing you come, spin on the spot... doing a full 360 with excited relief as she anticipated the opening of the door.

On nice winter days, she enjoyed the outdoors.  And on days after a new, fresh powder had fallen, I couldn't help myself.  I'd scoop her into my arms and toss her out off the deck, watching as she'd splay out in mid air... before disappearing into the white with a frosty cloud lifting up into the air.

She'd then leap out from the crater her little body created.  Bounding through the snow in search of firmer footing.  And, when found, she'd turn and sneeze and pant with excitement.

Sometimes I'd shovel her lanes within the backyard.  One to her place next to the shed.  The wind always swept most of the snow away from that spot, so doing her business was easier there.  Another lane would go out towards the trees of the backyard.  I'd make a loop here and connected this area up with the side of the house under the dining room window.  This area was often sheltered from the wind and I figured it would be a nice little get away for her.

I'd cross the lanes, creating figure eights, straight aways for speed and blind corners where a little dog would not be sure of what lay just around the bend.

And once I was done, I'd go to the door, peak my head in, and call to her.  She'd come bounding up the stairs or you'd hear the thump of her leaping off a bed and along she'd come, happily wanting to see what the fuss was about.

Once outside, she'd sprint the snowy lanes of the backyard.  Wanting to see what was over here... and then heading on over there to explore that other end of the yard.  And, when she wasn't paying attention, I'd lay down in mid lane.  Hidden from her view I'd wait for her leaping exploration to come upon me.  Within minutes she'd reach me... hitting the breaks hard in the snow... stopping within inches of my face.  And with joy and excitement, she'd sometimes spin about and sprint off from where she came... kicking up snow in my face with the acceleration.  Other times... when she was getting ready for a break anyway... she's stop there next to me.  Jump slightly on the spot as she happily barked at me, and happily receive a rub on her back or under her chin from my mitted hand.

WEDNESDAY...

--- Dayshift. We learn of our new teams for January today too. I'm pretty happy with my matchup. 

--- Snowy day. Not many have been on the road in my neighbourhood when I leave. Maybe mine are the third set of tracks in the snow. And other roads are also touchy. What should be two lanes is one. And what should be three is sort of two and a half. In the end, about 25 cm falls. 

--- Shovelling after work is rough. Slept funny last night and my neck and shoulder are tight. Still, 30 min of shovelling straight from work and another ten minutes worth before bed. 

THURSDAY...

---  Still sore and stiff in the neck and shoulder. And that goes with a tight back from shovelling. I'm at work moving about like a Lego man. 

--- Cold out. Around -18 or so with wind. Still venture out to lunch with Shannon. 

FRIDAY...

--- Get some Wendy's on the way to work. And work is reasonable through the night. My back finally feels fine again and, by late evening, my neck begins to loosen. Shoulder is still half half though. 

SATURDAY...

--- When people show up to work at 4:15 on a Saturday morning... To work overtime... There is no other word to use other than loser. 

SUNDAY...

--- Lounge in the house after about four hours sleep. Go to softball in the evening. We win. I hit pretty well but have a few adventures in the outfield. Losing one ball in the doom's roof and having another hit on a line over my head. Doesn't hurt us anyway. 

--- Hate the silliness in hockey injury talks. Players never have a cold or flu. They have "flu-like symptoms". Same goes for concussions. "Concussion-like symptoms" is a concussion. Stop insulting our intelligence.

MONDAY...
--- A walk and lots of quiet time around the house.
--- Got stuff from Amazon today... not delivered via drones though.  Some good Black Friday deals were taken advantage of for Ken Burns Baseball, Deliverance on Blue Ray, and some flash drives for storage.

TUESDAY...
--- Out walking again.  Also a grocery run.

Making It Up As I Go Along #566

Once again... From the freezer... MAGNETIC POETRY!!!

Joy moments

Joy moments

Sing beneath light showers

As if almost alive

But essentially brings little things

Blossoming with every whisper

Of barefoot kisses

Which smile comfort songs

Where no friend lives

TUESDAY...

--- Alone at work and pretty busy with the phone. Seems a new call every fifteen minutes or so. Blah to the phone. 

WEDNESDAY...

--- Alone again and maybe the busiest I've been all year at work. Pretty much didn't stop all day with tires to deal with and shoe impressions as well. 

THURSDAY...

--- Back with a partner for the nights. Not so busy tonight. 

FRIDAY...

--- DNA work and then relatively quiet after that's wrapped up. A staff email out today about a bunch of things, including appropriate cell phone use at work. Appropriate seems to be basically only use it on break time. This doesn't say much for my department... With no official break times. And it seems only a few specific issues are being addressed. Personal phone calls at work... Texting... Internet time... All picked on. Drop by desk chats, smoke breaks, trips to the coffee machine... Go for it. I've said it before, I'll say it again... I should take up smoking. 

SATURDAY...

--- Awake way to early considering bedtime. Three and a half hours sleep should mean I can go to bed fairly early tonight I suppose.
--- See Toad Homes in the Lee Valley catalogue.  Now that's a neat ol' thing.  Basically a shallow clay pot turned upside down... with air holes and two entrances/exits (so cats can't corner the poor toads).  What does it say about me that, in a catalogue full of tools and manly instruments for building stuff, my eye is caught by a home for toads? I did have several of them in both my front and back yards this summer.  Perhaps I'll have to invest in their well being.

SUNDAY...

--- Nice winter day. Yes it's still fall but it's bright sun out with a coat of white over the land... And it's -18 with the windchill. So I stay in. 

--- Indoor ball ends in a tie. Good game. I play much better than last game... But I'm doubled off at first base cause I thought there was already two out. Still, hit the ball well and played solid enough at third. 

MONDAY...

--- Spending money today. Drop the car at Mazda for a fluid change, break check and snow tires installed. There goes $400. Have lunch with Melissa while waiting for the car, then get groceries after that's all done. More than a $500 day all told. Oh well. 

TUESDAY...

--- 35 minute walk has me encountering a fox. He's pretty curious of me but keeping his distance. And I see a nice arcing jump as he clears a stream. 

--- Bring in the BBQ from the back deck. We are due 30 cm of snow tomorrow so I figure get it in now. I left it out and covered all last winter but come spring, there were all kinds of mice poop and torn up foil inside. No need to make my BBQ a mouse retreat. 

--- Rogers continues to take over the world. It now basically owns the NHL... From a Canadian point of view anyway. Interesting talk of no more black outs or regional games (two things I've always hated in hockey coverage). But to reduce CBC to virtually nothing. And to cut TSN out entirely... That's not good. Rogers has always been third, by a lot, in how they present a hockey game. 

Making It Up As I Go Along #565

Paths
They lead the way
Haphazardly formed
Guiding you through woods
Marking the way along meadows
Taking you over rolling hills.

Those of Signal Hill and Cape Spear
Historically followed
By lighthouse keepers and soldiers
And now by you
Maintaining the wear
Stomping away growth.

Those of Tor's Cove
Leading you through wild grasses
Wandering around glacial rock outcrops
Bringing you to the sea
To sit with family
Watching masses of Spring ice drift by.

And those of homes
Of childhood wanders
Through the backyard woods
To secret forts
And bubbling brooks.

Of grownup meditations
Venturing off the manmade trail
Worn with grooves from tires
And continuing on towards the setting sun
Through long grasses slept in by deer
Following in their footsteps across a creek
Continuing into the underbrush
Seeing what they see
Wondering where they would pause
Imagining them up ahead
Looking back wondering
"What is he doing here?"

The path in Tor's Cove

MONDAY...

--- Holiday for many but it's work for me. Pretty busy day really. 

TUESDAY...

--- After work, go to get drinks and a meal with Laura and Janice. Go to Patty's Pub. Seems fitting as this was where I always went with Karl and he died a year ago today. 

WEDNESDAY...

--- Thai food at work. Fairly regular night shift. 

THURSDAY...

--- Up just before 1:00. Lounge around the house some before work. The afternoon nap just doesn't work if you only got up about an hour before the nap was to occur.

FRIDAY...
--- Average first day off.  Groceries.  Walk.  Catch up on some TV.

SATURDAY...
--- Out walking in the woods and along the power line corridor for an hour and a half.  Check out what the beaver has been up to... take pictures of the sunset... Do some tramping off trails, in the woods... following a deer path at dusk.

SUNDAY...
--- Rainy day keeps me inside until going to softball.  We lose.  I don't play as well as I should.  It's good to get out and I like throwing the ball around... but I'm starting to wonder if it's time to move on away from it all.  I generally get more enjoyment from things like yesterday's walk with the camera than ball games.  That all said, I also pay up for the winter season.  Not much else to do in January and February... I may as well keep it up.  But maybe the winter season will be my last for indoor softball.

Making It Up As I Go Along #564

First Snow
The snows come on a Saturday
Falling as I nap
Laziness upon the sofa
Weekend laziness
The type felt only at home

A rising stretch brings casual gaze
A glance towards the window
Finds white frosting atop the green
A thin layer atop the outside world
Brings me near to assure my wake

Over the stairs I bound
A child on Christmas morning
Rushing to see the sight
Out front the lawn is whitening
Beyond lawn the leafless birch
Camouflaged in the silent falling

It's church snow
Gentle and quiet
dancing slowly
Purifying the land
As it feathers down

And so it goes through the evening
No cars intrude the silence
Only a dog walker calmly stands
Waiting patiently as the pet
Sniffs and snuggles the cool white

Nighttime brings the streetlight
A spotlight upon the play
Revealing the continuing ground-ward dance
Bringing images of Christmas
Of that quiet night time
Between the excitement of evening family
And the silence of bed
Where pulses slow
"Silent Night" whispers distantly through the house
And the world continues to whiten
Slowly, Quietly, Peacefully

SUNDAY...

--- Dayshift is quiet. System was down for half the day for maintenance. 

--- Softball after work. I'm feeling not very mobile as my calf remains tight, but strong enough to go. And now my other Achilles' tendon area feels tight. I assume from working harder to compensate for the calf muscle. Still, I do fine in the field and beat out a single to first, with the bases loaded in the 8th. It drives in the winning run for an 8-7 game. 

MONDAY...

--- Days again. It's a fairly normal day at work really. Catch up with a few people I haven't seen in weeks. 

TUESDAY...

--- Up after 10:00. Take it easy resting up for nights. 

---  Hit the shoe impressions for night shift. Works out alright. 

WEDNESDAY...

--- Night is pretty quiet and easy going. I do some. Louis' Pizza for the night. So that helps.

THURSDAY...

--- Typical first day off. Some groceries and hang around the house catching up on the PVR. 

FRIDAY...

--- Eaves troughs installed this afternoon. I hang in the house while it gets done. 

--- Mom and dad have summer vacation booked. A family trip to England will be quite the adventure next summer. 

SATURDAY...

--- First snow of the year. It snows pretty steady from around 3:30 on. Less than 5 cm though. A 45 minute walk and hanging out around the house are it for today. 

Making it up as I go Along #563

Halloween
I have few memories of Halloween.  For instance, I wouldn't be able to name anymore than a few of the costumes I wore over the trick or treat years.  I think I was a dog two years in a row.  With a big, full body furry costume and a mask, fairly hood like, that was hard to see out of.  A big sheep dog or something of the like.  I think I spent much of the night, wandering neighbourhood streets, calling for friends to wait up... as I adjusted my face, in hopes of seeing where, on earth, I was.

I'm pretty sure, late in my trick or treat career, I did the unoriginal punk get up.  That consisted of moused hair, torn jeans, and a jean jacket.  I was a small enough kid that I got the candy... but I think I had some paused looks from those that opened the doors... wondering if I was holding to the spirit of the night or just in it for a sugar rush.

I think I also went in my Spider-Man suit when I was young.  The suit that mom made herself and that needed a coordinated effort just to get on... like deep sea divers or astronauts. The blue tights that made up the underneath of the costume... followed by the red material that snapped together under the crotch (in later years, the snap would come undone when I dropped into a squat).  And topped off with the skin tight Spider-Man mask.  Eyes barely able to look out... the smell of the material still embedded in my mind.

But I think when I trick or treated with the Spider-Man suit, it was too cold outside for the tights... and I was basically walking the streets in snow pants and a winter jacket... an arctic Spider-Man.

I remember the time when I was too sick to go out on the candy run.  How my teacher, at the time, made a trip to the house to give me a care package of halloween treats... done up much more special than the handful of wrapped toffees and rockets that would be hucked into bags by those tired adults that manned the doors.

I remember it seemed the neighbourhood was swarming with children in those days.  That twenty could all make their way to a door at the same time.  To the point where kids would be perched on the steps, awaiting to ascend to the mountain's peak of sugar goodness.  Little draculas and princesses having to cling to railing in order not to be toppled over by those coming back down from the summit.  Yes, back in those days, trick or treating was as a summit attempt of Everest. Where teams would get backlogged along the narrow path to glory.

And it seemed as though we were out all night.  It feels like we got out there just after supper and didn't return home until near midnight.  Though I'm sure that's just the memory from a small boy's point of view.  In reality, we must not have been out there more than a few hours.

I have no memory of how my gang of friends would come together at Halloween.  We always went around together... though I do remember I sometimes would lose one group and continue on with another.  Perhaps starting out with the kids I played with in the neighbourhood but losing touch with them among the summit throngs and running into some of my elementary school friends in the process.  But how I would start out those nights is a memory I simply do not have.  There would always be five or six of us together.  And I can't imagine leaving my home alone and trick or treating by myself until latching on to the gang.

Most Halloweens, in St. John's, were a battle against the elements.  Rare was it that a clear, still night supplied the backdrop for our adventures.  No, our journey was much like an Everest expedition in this regard much as the stairs to the front doors were summit climbs.

Gales would whip hats and wigs off clown heads.  Freezing rains would smear makeup down faces until, a mere half hour into the night, carefully made up vampires and zombies were dripping children... fragile and shaking with the cold.  And some snowy evenings would force Frankenstein monsters and cackling witches to don wool hats and mitts.  

This week in Ottawa was as those years back home.  Rains blown against the houses. Dead leaves plastered to the street and a few of the brave ghouls hunched and leaning against the wind as they wandered up the street.

I stood in the darkness alone.  Watching from an upstairs window.  Remembering Halloweens of years gone by.


SATURDAY...

--- Rainy cold day. Quiet at work for the most part. Then some hockey on tv in the evening. 

SUNDAY...

--- More days at work. And more quiet. Go to ball after work but don't play. Giving my calf an extra week since we have a full roster there anyway. We win 17-5. So I'm not missed. 

MONDAY...

--- Nights. Fairly busy. I am at the shoes for much of the night. Not bad. I get a shwarma for supper. First one in quite a while. 

TUESDAY...

--- Quiet second night. Plug away at some DNA work. 

WEDNESDAY...

--- Up around 10:00. Groceries. Walk. Some tv. Some hockey pool stuff. 

THURSDAY...

--- Halloween spent in the house. Rain and wind much of the day. I pity the kids... But since I didn't really prepare for them too much... And with bad weather and just me... I went lights out and in the basement. Something feels wrong about single guy alone at home handing out candy to children. 

FRIDAY...

--- Windy day. One of the windier ones I've seen in Ottawa. Do a walk about the woods and ponds. See some small trees down and 6-9 inches of water up on the ponds and creeks. It really was a lot of rain yesterday.  

Making it Up as I Go Along #562

Lake Encounter

Careful steps along the shore

Avoiding startled Kermits

Flopping through the clover

Seeking watery refuge

With eyes cast low my startle comes

Three heavy flaps

The sound of spreading clean bed sheets

Look up to the departing heron

Gracefully shy they drift away

Hundreds of quick yards

Looking to end encounters before they begin

Leaving you to the frogs below

But this day differs from the rest

The three flaps end with a quick perch

Across the froggy lagoon

Thirty foot buffer between we statues

Standing frozen I watch his moves

As spindle legs navigate rocky shore

Bridging the distance between us

One deliberate step after another

Fifteen feet stands between us

He stops and scans the pond

Watching for a meal while eyeing me

One leg tucks up into plumidge

One legged he watches my stillness

Yawning with the afternoon laze

Readjusting wings

He shifts weight into the wind

And there we stay

Neighbours finally meeting

With soreness creeping in my legs

And he still balancing against the wind on one

Time to leave I have a wish

To slip off without disturbing

Leaving him relaxing upon the shore

I deliberately climb the cover

Each slow and silent step adds distance

He curiously watches me off

On top of the ridge a final glance

While he turns back to the still waters

And so I walk away

As the breezes guide me home

With thoughts of my shy neighbour

And the half hour we shared

Getting to know each other

MONDAY...

--- Nights. Wendy's helps me along the way. 

TUESDAY...

--- Woke at 11:00 by a Nutri Lawn phone call. Oh well, who needs sleep?

--- Out for an hour and fifteen minute walk. Get startled with an encounter with a heron. Get within eight feet before he flies. Goes thirty feet away but then walks back to within fifteen feet of me and just accepts my presence. Stands on one leg. Yawns. Doesn't seem to mind me. And half way through, a second heron comes within about twenty feet before flying off. 

WEDNESDAY...

--- Hour long walk. My calf doesn't give me any trouble. Still feel a slight tightness in it from time to time but no real issue. 

--- Get some groceries and lay low around the house. Only watching about an inning of the World Series. I'm just totally getting turned off the Boston shtick. Troll beards... B Strong mowed into centre field for the Boston Marathon bombing... Obnoxious fans. Meh. Maybe I'll be better suited for the series when it shifts to St. Louis. 

--- Thinking of home today. Lots of family stuff going on there. 

THURSDAY...

--- Another long walk followed by down time around the house. Looks like the beavers are still around at the creek. Some new branches in the water since I was last there. 

FRIDAY...

--- No walk today. I've had three good ones in three days and today seems cold and windy. My calf is also feeling a little tight. So take it easy. 

--- Take an hour or so dealing with the laptop. Put the new operating system on and get my iPhoto files synced up some. 

Making It Up As I Go Along #561

 To be Unique

A dominant theme in today's society is to promote uniqueness and individuality. Though it isn't enough to promote unique individuals who stand out in a particular field of excellence anymore. Yes we worship athletes and movie stars, but now the promotion has become a much more selfish task. I'm, of course, speaking of... Self-promotion.

Social media enables people to shout their uniqueness to the world. Justin Bieber became one of the most famous people on the planet by posting YouTube clips of himself singing. This makes an interesting story. It also makes for a lot of copycats.

So many people promote themselves via Facebook or Twitter now. They come up with every hashtag imaginable to put on a photo they took... Fishing for the chance to be responsible for the next viral... Well... Anything.

So many aren't looking to be known as a great writer... A great photographer... Or something as simple as a great listener, advisor, or even just a great friend. These are things that all come without recognition. You aren't a great friend because twenty people comment about you on Facebook.

No, many people haven't even thought through the recognition they seek. They just seek recognition for recognitions sake. People want to be recognized as unique. And they'll latch on to anything to get that. The fact that every second person has tattoos in today's world is a sign of this.

Now I kind of like tattoos. There are lots of good ones out there and I know several people with tattoos that most certainly contain meaning for them personally. That said, there's a lot of garbage out there.

Chinese symbols tattooed onto someone with absolutely no knowledge of Chinese culture... That's not a sign of uniqueness... It's a sign of following.

Written grand statements? I don't know how many criminal profiles I've seen with tattoos stating "only God can judge me" or "Death before dishonour". It's silliness. Truth is anybody can judge anybody else. Everybody does judge on some level. But that's just a statement that sounds cool and deep. It's fake deep plastered upon skin to show the world that you really wish you could be seen as complicated. And no thief or cheat knows what honour is. No matter how much ink you drive into your skin.

Commercial uniqueness has been thrust upon us. That is to say, companies know we want to be seen as unique and they're selling it to us.

Dr. Pepper bombards us with ads proclaiming how, if you drink their soft drink, you will stand out from the common crowd. Dozens of people in the commercials parade around, repeating after each other how they're unique. Each sounding much as the one before.

This all said, I'm always somewhat torn about the subject of popular uniqueness. I'm sure everyone thinks they're unique. We are all individuals. And it is true, no two people are exactly the same. But for many, the qualities that make them unique are too subtle to be worth the self-promotion.  After all, why should anyone care if you can roll your tongue? Nobody should broadcast that they are able to dunk a basketball. And the fact that you can grow a big, shaggy beard does not mean that you should gain an increase in status among your peers.

So what I'm always torn about is the fact that I'm a private person. Yet I share photographs and have constantly posted a blog for years now. I'm always considering the notion that maybe I shouldn't share. I don't want to cheapen the things I enjoy by trying to sell them for popularity.

But I continue to post to the blog. And I continue to link to the blog via Facebook. I'm just not sure why I do it. And I do post pictures that interest me. And will even put a hashtag or two on ones that I think are particularly good or interesting.

I guess the truth is we all want some form of recognition. Some of us crave it on levels far greater than others. And some of us are far more willing to share virtually anything about themselves.  I know I'm far more glad that my mother didn't have access to media sharing when I was a child than I am glad to have such access now for myself to share with. Knowing the kind of child I was, I'd be horrified to have the adults in my life constantly showing their group of friends moments from my childhood via a technology as universal as the internet.

And I've seen other people who write. And many with blogs or personal websites do their writing for the wrong reasons. Or at least wrong in the sense of how I see it. I've seen too many who write with clichéd phrases. Who simply restate the same thoughts and ideas that are now so common you wish they never came up again. And I've seen people who pepper their websites or blogs with advertising. Who go after company freebies with a promise to review that company’s product. And I can't help but think, when I read these people, that they aren't being honest in their writing. They're saying what they think they should be saying. Or what will gain them more followers... Subscribers... Or advertisers.

I can't say I write about all of my life. There are plenty of things I keep as private. But I can say I've never written anything with the hopes for fame or profit. And I can honestly say that everything I have written has come from an honest place.

So in the end I continue to write and post pictures. And I shake my head at the silliness shared in this world as well as the levels of popularity such silliness seems to gain. I mean if I showed two pictures... One being concrete proof of the existence of Bigfoot while the other is of my neighbours child waving a stick in the air... I'm sure the stick-swinging child would garner twice the number of "likes".

And I guess I can take solace in the fact that my just thinking about stuff like this does indeed make me unique. Although sometimes uniqueness can be a lonely thing. It makes you wonder why we all seem to crave it so much.

WEDNESDAY...

--- Busy day shift. Always seems like our first day is busy, no matter which day it falls on.

THURSDAY...

--- Not as busy as yesterday. Not much out of the ordinary though.

FRIDAY...

--- Alone on nights. Quite busy getting stuff done until around 1:00 am. After that things slow some... Though never really stop.

SATURDAY...

--- Second night also alone. Less busy than last night but not by much. Steady go until midnight. And again, things slow after but don't really stop until about 5:00 am.

SUNDAY...

--- Sleep about 3.5 hours before the eyes pop open. First indoor softball game of the fall. On a new team too. Get injured in the first inning. Pull a calf muscle ranging to my right at third base. I finish the game but as catcher. And with a runner to go for me from the plate. Feeling like old Babe Ruth... A shell hanging on.

--- Leg tightens some in the evening but I don't think it's real serious. Reading on the net I'm guessing a grade 1... Maybe grade 2 calf strain. Ice, compression, elevation are suggested and it helps. And, unlike when I injured my shoulder, knee and thumb... Sleeping isn't interrupted with my calf at all.

MONDAY...

--- Calf is still tight when I wake and if I extend my stride too far, it shoots pain. Still, it is better than last night... And by the end of the night, it's not feeling too bad. I wouldn't be able to run or even walk too fast, but if it was at 30% this morning! it's likely jumped to 50% by tonight.

--- In the afternoon I hobble over to the dentist.  I had all four wisdom teeth pulled out of my gum almost twenty years ago... Today's visit seemed more torturous. Two cavities and some work to try to add some space between my back molars was set to take an hour. In the end, I'm there with mouth agape for almost two hours. And it felt like the drilling wasn't going to stop. He ended up giving me three fillings and needed to shoot me with the numbing agent a record three times per side. Six shots all total. My teeth are quite sensitive and it seemed like a shot wouldn't deaden things much more than for a half hour.  Still, I make it through. And despite the extra torture of this trip... The wisdom teeth trip was a much longer pain to deal with.  

TUESDAY...

--- Bit of a slow walk today. Leg still tight. Get the place ready for mom and dad.

WEDNESDAY...

--- Mom and dad get in this evening. Go to Boston Pizza for a meal and chat the evening away.

THURSDAY- SUNDAY...

--- Groceries. Go to Bearbrook Farm for some organic meats. They've for their own elk and bison and geese in pens with peacocks and other birds as well. A trip to Wakefield for the autumn leaves and a nice lunch. The calf improved. Not back to normal but walking limp free is ok now. Back tightens up by the end of the weekend though and Harley and family join us for thanksgiving supper on Sunday.

MONDAY...

--- Go to Captain Phillips with mom and dad. Really good movie.

TUESDAY...

--- Bring mom and dad to the airport and pick up Dave at the same time. We go to Captain Phillips for my second time in two days. Same time...cinema... Ticket seller... And seat.

--- Get Del in the evening. Hang around the house with some Louis' Pizza.

WEDNESDAY...

--- Movie afternoon again. Gravity is quite good too. Not at Captain Phillips level but real good.

THURSDAY...

--- Four movies in four days. This afternoon it's Prisoners. Another good one but likely the third best of the three movies.

--- Drop the boys to the airport tonight. Some quiet times to follow. Catch up on the PVR.

FRIDAY...

--- Dayshift. But I don't go in. Decompression time is needed after a very busy week of visitors. Good times with people around... But it's tiring non-the-less. And 4:30 wake up was not a goal of mine today.

SATURDAY...

--- Another day off to basically do nothing. It rains much of today and I'm cozy inside. Hockey and baseball on tv all goes against me. But the PVR catch up is now under control and I've got much more free space to work with again.

Making It Up As I Go Along #560

Old Age Houseflies

The houseflies lay about dying.

Conserving energy upon ledges

Turning old age grey before your eyes

Crumpled on the floor

Disintegrating upon your fingers

As you retrieve fly dust

And brush it into the trash

Ladybugs bombard the backyard

Pinging upon the window

Clinging to the backdoor screen

Taking aim upon the breeze

Missiling from behind

A bull’s-eye upon your earlobe

Holding tight as you pry it off

The coming winter brings desperation

The insect world in chaos

The holiday is over

Tomorrow they’ll be gone.

TUESDAY...

--- Days at work. Fairly busy. Lots of shoe impressions to get through. I'm alone today too.

WEDNESDAY...

--- Still alone. Less busy than yesterday though.

THURSDAY...

--- Fairly busy night until midnight or so. Then settles down.

FRIDAY...

--- Do a walk before work. Too nice out not to. Fairly slow night as well. Get some groceries after work. I'm the only customer in the place when I go. Just me and the clean up crew.

SATURDAY...

--- Quiet around the house. Prepare for the hockey pool and watch some tv.

SUNDAY...

--- Go for a walk. Should have brought the good camera as there's a great view of a woodpecker and some hawks fly close by as well.

--- Hockey pool draft takes much of the evening. Then Sunday night tv. Breaking Bad is done. A good finale.

MONDAY...

--- Go for a few groceries. Do a walk with the camera after that. Get some good pictures of a chipmunk.