Making It Up As I Go Along #527

The Luv You Loonie

Sorting through my change at work

Preparing for a treat

When catching my eye on this day

A loonie done up sweet.

Writing across the queen’s gold face

And also upon the loon

The type of message that brings on smiles

And causes the heart to swoon.

Luv You written in felt tip

Luv You on each side

Such emotion for all to see

Such feeling with no place to hide.

Who wrote this on my loonie?

And for who was it meant?

Did they notice the message given to?

Or was it simply spent?

Was it written by a teen?

Hoping to make a parent smile?

Or was it written by a shy romantic?

Proclaiming love in a unique style?

Was this loonie a lucky piece?

Mistakenly used to buy a drink?

Could that person now be wandering?

With hopes to find it down the sink.

I couldn’t spend this loonie

Another paid for my treat

It sits now on my mantel

Awaiting my love to meet.

FRIDAY…

--- No work today.  Lay pretty low instead.  Bit of a walk and some TV.

--- Liking what the Jays are doing this off season.  The Marlins trade works well on the pitching and lead off hitter front… and now Melky Cabrera is a solid guy to come in and play left.

SATURDAY…

--- Quiet day at work.  UFC fights at Wild Wing with Phil in the evening.  A good time out.

SUNDAY…

--- Softball before work.  Goes ok.  Feeling better about my own game.  The last few weeks has been much better than the previous six weeks.  Still some frustrations around it though. 

--- Work is alright.  Again fairly quiet.

MONDAY…

--- Karl’s funeral today, though I do not go.  I decide I’ll remember him in my own way.  I think it will keep my memories of him in a better place this way.

TUESDAY…

--- Quiet times around the house.  Few movies and a walk.

WEDNESDAY…

--- See yesterday.  Same thing today.

THURSDAY…

--- Bring the car in for oil change and snow tires.  While I’m waiting, I go for an hour and a half walk in the area.  Good day for it.  Sunny and around 12 degrees… can’t go wrong with that.

--- Take it easy for the rest of the day after that.

Karlos

I didn't plan to share this with anyone else but after hearing from Karl's sister and thinking about her words, I decided to post it.  So this is what I wrote for Karl and gave it to him on our last meeting.  He was a good friend who will be sorely missed by many.

Karlos

Offering friendship when others claimed friends enough

Offering a tour of your town on bike

A Saturday route planned out with stops along the way

Stories told here about your youth.

Walks to the pub.

Over the Rideau

Searching the waters as we cross

Discussing black swans as if their sighting each time is treasure.

Winter’s cold bringing just enough chill in the getting there

To have a table for two invite us by the fire

Where mits and hats defrost

As soup and chicken fingers warm us

Summer’s heat with just enough breeze

To sit at the booth by the open window

Sipping Guinness with deep relaxed breaths

Welcoming the warmth of the season

Movie nights after pub meals

Leaving just enough room for popcorn

Talking softly of the movie to see

As butter fills the air and kernels poppingly proclaim that the film is about to begin.

Soft conversations on the walk home

Asking about the women I know

Hoping to hear of me finding the perfect one

And telling me secrets of darker days that can only be shared through trust

Honouring me with words of meaning

Telling me how in times of mania

When wild thoughts override sleep

That my presence brings calm

All I can do is be thankful

Glad for the friendship that we have shared

Happy to be appreciated by one so special

And hopeful that you understand the profound influence you have had on me.

Making It Up As I Go Along #526

With the loss of a friend, mortality is the main thing on my mind this week.  And it’s something I’m not interested in writing.  Which makes blog time fairly difficult.

So a few short snippets that have stuck with me over the years.  Some may be monumental in nature.  Others may be small… yet they’ve all engrained themselves in my memory or left me in awe.  In no particular order… the top five.

Places

Stonehenge…

This is a place I had long before read about.  And it’s a place I’ve seen on TV numerous times from as long as I can remember watching TV.  Seeing it in person was mind blowing.  But not for all the reasons I expected it to.

We were riding the bus to Stonehenge.  A tour bus taking us there before continuing on to a couple of small English towns. 

 As we ride I’m passively watching out the window of the bus.  By passively, I mean I’m not looking at anything in particular… just watching the countryside go by.  Then suddenly… there it is.  I go from sheep and fields of barley to Stonehenge.  Such a sight makes you snap out of the semi-trance of passive watching.  The place so built up in my mind simply appears as part of a country drive.

World Trade Center…

I would have been eight years old when we visited New York.  New York, to me, was Sesame Street.  I knew of the Empire State Building because Spider-Man swung from it’s tower in the cartoons.  I knew of the Statue of Liberty.  And I had heard of the World Trade Center simply because of how enormous these buildings were.

When we got to the site, I was dumbfounded by the height.  Standing just outside of the towers and looking straight up… following the unique vertical lines of windows to the blue of the sky.  Every building I had ever seen before these, you could count the stories based on the horizontal rows of windows.  Like rings on a tree, you could do the rings of windows and, at that point of my life, I doubt I ever was able to count higher than 20 stories. 

But the World Trade Center made such counting impossible.  The horizontal rings didn’t exist.  All you saw were these lines of windows that went on up forever.  And even had the windows been more traditionally laid out, I’d never be able to keep counting up so high. 

The other things I remember from World Trade Center are the elevator ride to the top (watching floor numbers light up, one after another, for what seemed to be forever).  And being on the top.  Seeing a sign warning you to throw nothing off.  Seeing all the fences keeping you far enough back from the edge that eight year old me would never have been able to throw anything over anyway.  Though us kids always heard the stories of pennies embedding themselves into the pavement if tossed from such a height.  And if the penny hit you first, it would cut right through you and still disappear into the concrete.  And I remember the cabs.  From the top of the World Trade Center, it was just great lines of yellow dotted roads.  Each dot being a taxi cab.

Mistaken Point…

Just did this one the past Fall.  Standing on top of 565 million year old fossils was incredible.  Having these ancient creatures beneath my slippered feet and all of this on the edge of the sea upon this plateau of old sea bed.  Being able to bend down and gently stroke the bumps of stone while knowing your fingers were tracing the remains of creatures that lived on the bottom of a deep sea more than 200 million years before the first dinosaur ever came into existence.  How could that not affect you?

Olympia…

The most inspiring part of Olympia for me was the ancient stadium.  This was the original Olympic Stadium where all the running races occurred.  All the tourists lined the starting blocks posing for pictures and running fifty feet or so.  But I just wanted to walk it.  Went the entire length of the stadium.  Well past where the chatting tourists stopped.  By the far end it was quiet with only the breeze in the trees and the chirp of birds to be heard.  To be in that place, quiet, and to look at the grass mounds realizing these were ancient stands that held ancient people cheering on ancient races.  It was special.

Cape Spear…

It’s my favourite place to be.  But my favourite time there is what makes this list.  I once drove to Cape Spear at 4:00 AM in order to view a meteor shower from the edge of North America.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky that night and dozens of people were perched in the parking lot of this most easterly point of North America.  We stayed more than an hour… watching dozens of meteors dance across the sky.  And as I prepared to leave, the orange glow of the not yet risen sun began to paint the eastern sky. 

There are other places that don’t quite make this list but have been special to me. Like Mykonos Island and it’s whitewashed maze of houses.  And being on a plane coming in to land at London… flying over top of the London Eye, Big Ben and Tower Bridge.  There’s the Greek hotel with a terrace overlooking a bay from high up on its mountain perch… where dad and I talked softly while watching evening turn into night.  And there’s Back Wester’ Shore… the great slabs of stone acting as giant steps to the sea just outside Joe Batt’s Arm. 

On any given day, perhaps some of these other places would be on my main list while one of my above five would drop down to this honourable mention list.  It’s just the way lists go. 

THURSDAY…

--- Day shift.  Ordinary day shift.

FRIDAY…

--- Lunch with Shannon at work is a good time.  Haven’t done it for a month or two.  Really tired in the afternoon though.  Odd of me, as I usually perk up after lunch.

--- Out to the movies tonight.  Wreck-it Ralph is some good fun.

--- Basically nap on the sofa after the movie.  Bed by 2:30 but slept a good hour up to then.

SATURDAY…

--- Night shift alone.  Pretty quiet night.  Kind of nice for some quiet time at work.

SUNDAY…

--- Softball before work.  Bit of Wendy’s to eat once I get in and work is fairly quiet again… though Keith is there with me tonight.

MONDAY…

--- Don’t sleep great.  About five hours or so… and sore and tired through much of the day after I’m up.  Do a half hour walk… but more slow for stretching the legs than fast for exercise. 

--- Watch Jaws again.  The more I see it the more I like it.  Getting to a point that this is one of my favourite movies now.  The acting of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw is first rate.  And the cinematography is really first rate.  Sure the mechanical shark doesn’t really stand up to today’s standards… but really, this movie is about much more than the shark.

--- Find out tonight that Karl has finally lost his fight with cancer.  No surprise because he really declined quickly over the last month but it’s still not easy losing a good friend.  I’ll miss him for sure.  Paddy’s Pub will never be the same.  Our walks from his apartment to the pub are among my highlights of life in Ottawa.  Only once did we not do a trip to the pub on foot.  It always gave a good ten minutes to chat on the way, catch up, check out the swans in the river from the bridge… and after the meal, with Guinness washing it down… sometimes a Dairy Queen treat would slow our walk back down to a leisurely summer evening pace.

TUESDAY…

--- Groceries, a good walk, and much reflection today.  Thinking of Karl as well as other friends and family.  Wishing many people were living closer to me on a day like this. 

--- Blue Jays trade makes for some much needed light hearted excitement.  Nice to see the Jays getting some high end players to try to compete with.

WEDNESDAY…

--- Quiet day.  Sleep for seven hours or so is not.  Do a walk.  It’s calm and sunny today.  And watch some TV… movies and Survivor and some rewind Olympic hockey.

Making It Up As I Go Along #525

Late Autumn Constitutional

Open wood creating stain glass cathedral light

Rays through branches

Reflecting brightly off a crispy orange carpet

The loudest creature here now

Territorial squirrels chattering less

Cawing crows taking a break

Your feet crunch leaves and kick them rustling ahead

Leaping frogs now leap no more

Thin ice covers their pools

Wisps of snow dot the layer

Kicked pebbles scatter over

Bigger rocks chunk through towards the bottom

Gone are the crickets

Long since digested by birds and mice

Away are the caterpillars

Burrowed beneath the leafy land

Yet there flutters a butterfly

Lonely crossings of browning stalks of wheat

Pity the butterfly as mitted hands swing through the arc

Of this late autumn constitutional

TUESDAY…

--- Second straight day with a walk going beyond the hour mark.  Got to wear mits now though… and layers, lots of layers.  It is a degree or so but still a thin layer of ice is on many shallow waterways. 

--- Got the PVR down to reasonable numbers now after a month of travel and house guests.  I went most of the month with 20 shows and 70% full.  At the end of today it’s 5 shows and about 25%.

--- Watch some US election coverage while the laundry is going on.  Such a circus down there.  

Making It Up As I Go Along #524

Late blog writing is almost becoming a habit these days.  But October was my busiest month in a long time.  Two weeks in NF running around with the parents.  Then two weeks of Ruby and Lee staying at my place with my work schedule still into consideration and a wedding to go as well meant writing was hard to come by. 

At least for me, I need to get my head in a particular place before I can write anything.  And alone time where things are fairly low key is really how my head gets there.

So here is the posting that was due on October 22.  And the next one will come, as scheduled, on Nov. 7.  So two in quick succession is the plan.

In a Galaxy Far Far Away… a Mouse

Disney frightens me.  I know it shouldn’t.  And I adored it as a kid.  My childhood trip to Disney World was otherworldly at the time.  I had constantly watched Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday’s.  Disney movies were my biggest events.  And Mickey Mouse was bordering on being my hero. 

Our trip to Disney got me a stuffed toy Mickey.  And this was, for many years, my most prized possession.  Had the 10 year old me been asked to pick one personal possession to save in the case of a fire… it was Mickey.  And that mouse was my sleeping companion for many years.  Even when I went on sleepovers at friend’s houses and stuffed toys were relegated to bedroom closets or book shelf ends… Mickey held his place. 

On more than one occasion, I would smuggle him into the bottom of my sleeping bag and, when the lights went out and we began to settle down for the night in the living room, my Mickey would make his way up from the base of the sleeping bag into my arms.

So what is it that now frightens me?  It’s the Disney purchase of Lucasfilms.  And the thought of Disney made Star Wars movies.

This shouldn’t frighten me at all.  The way the last three Star Wars movies were made can make a fan of the franchise question George Lucas’ sanity.  And his miss on the last Raiders of the Lost Ark movie also leaves one to wonder if George is in need of retirement. 

So perhaps Disney will work wonders on Star Wars.  But I keep imagining a brighter, friendlier, happier far away galaxy.  Where cartoon robots tell jokes in Robin Williams voice and wookies mistakenly kiss ewoks as one of each carelessly slurp either end of a long string of spaghetti. 

I know these fears aren’t rational.  Disney does its share of dark work.  Bambi’s mother died after all.  And the Fox and the Hound grew up with… uncomfortable… circumstances surrounding them.

I know it’s a fear of the unknown.  It’s fear of a loss of the familiar.  Star Wars isn’t Star Wars if the 20^th Century Fox banner doesn’t open things off with a fanfare of trumpets.  You can’t segue into battling star ships by way of a castle and Tinkerbelle.

But maybe things will work out.  The Galaxy Far Far Away… is a galaxy open to many films worth of exploring.  And Disney is likely more capable of  this exploration than Lucas currently is.

I guess I am left wishing more franchises left well enough alone.  Back to the Future suffered because of its sequels.  Only half of the four Indiana Jones movies are worth watching.  The third Spider-Man movie was horrendous.  And the Godfather went one movie too far as well. 

Looking at Rocky, Jaws, Alien, and Major League… we see more movie franchises that went beyond what they should have (although Rocky does have the odd distinction of having a 6^th episode that is likely its second best movie in the franchise). 

In the end, maybe things will work out fine and Star Wars will take on a James Bond quality where the franchise can go on for generations.  But more often, great movie franchises overstay their welcome.  And it would be a shame to see the original three Star Wars movies lumped in with half a dozen mediocre money grabs.

Perhaps Mickey will serve me well once again… we’ll just have to wait and see.

TUESDAY…

--- Days.  Pretty busy day.  Good supper by Ruby after work and it’s some wine and chatting afterwards.

WEDNESDAY…

--- Days again.  Straight to Lee Valley from work for more racks for the garage.  Then to the hockey game with Lee, Melissa, Nick, and Melissa’s dad.  Junior hockey… fun game.

THURSDAY…

--- Nights.  Busy night really. 

FRIDAY…

--- Up just after noon.  Really nice day… sunny and mid 20s.  See Bill, Alice and Elaine for a short visit to my place.  Then off to Gatineau to pick up Craig for a visit after his business in town.  Supper downtown and an evening in after that.

SATURDAY…

--- Breakfast is Subway… not super… likely be a long time before doing that again.  Bit of a walk in the woods and then I’m off to Nick and Melissa’s wedding.  Pick up Jamie and go with her… sit with Brenda and her husband as well… and it’s a nice evening.  I leave close to 10:00 to head home and spend some time with Craig.

SUNDAY…

--- Some shopping with Craig with a lunch at the Barley Mow. 

--- His flight is cancelled so it’s supper for four and the World Series on the tube.  Nice to see the Giants win.

MONDAY…

--- Up early bringing Craig to the airport.  Lazy times for a while after that.  Lunch with Ruby, Lee, Nick, Melissa and their parents.

TUESDAY…

--- Good sleep.  Get some stuff done in the garage… things are all neat and organized there.  Walk with Ruby and roast beef supper.

WEDNESDAY…

--- Work days… home for supper with Ruby and Lee while Ruby handles the ten trick or treaters.  Melissa comes for a visit as well.

THURSDAY…

--- Off to work and Ruby and Lee leave.  Have an interview about another possible position in another department upstairs.  Home to find the new neighbours moving in.  Just see them out the window as they start unpacking cars.

FRIDAY…

--- Night shift.  And all that comes with it… nap before work… and kind of busy at work.

SATURDAY…

--- Visit Karl before work.  He’s not doing so well now.

--- Work is long thanks to the clocks going back.  13 hour shift isn’t so fun.  Kind of quiet though.

SUNDAY…

--- Ball this afternoon.  Finally win a game and I don’t make an error while actually playing a few balls back at shortstop.  So that’s pretty good.

--- Drinks and snacks at Jenn’s after the game.  A good time to hang with the team… we don’t do that very often.