Pocketful of Memory Cards

“Go now. Our journey is done. And may we meet again, in the clearing, at the end of the path.”  - Stephen King

As I type this post, CBC Radio's Alya Ramadan is telling me the weather is a mixed bag in the BC Interior today.  Spring is as unpredictable as ever.  Temperatures rose to the 20's on Wednesday and Thursday last week, but dropped to single digits on the weekend.  Winter driving conditions returned to mountain highways as The Coquihalla and Roger's Pass received heavy snowfall last night.  I look to the west and I can see a ribbon of blue sky above the mountains but a curtain of ominous grey threatens from above.  It's five degrees and they're calling for rain later today. I don't know about you, but the weather has a much stronger effect on my mood and motivation than I would like.  Looking west again, that ribbon of blue is now a narrow wisp and the grey haze has almost taken over. Oops....there it goes.  It looks like it's snowing up there now.  My first thought is that I fear I'm not going to get much done today and my second thought is the post

LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow. A. E. Housman (1859 – 1936)

A few weeks ago, my hubby and I picked all of the wishes off the wishing tree in our front yard.  It wasn't something I really wanted to do, but we were getting into the rainy season and many of the wishes had become illegible.  Buds were also started to form on the tree branches and some wishes were flying off and going who knows where if I didn't pick them up right away. I worried that once the tree was in full leaf, it would be difficult to remove the hanging tags and the tree would soon look shabby. Yesterday, while cleaning up my office I examined the mound of watermarked, blurred tags sitting in a pile on my filing cabinet.  I decided it might be appropriate to recycle them - a much better option than throwing them out. I did feel the need for some sort of record of them, so I've written them here, the ones I could still read anyway.  They are exactly as they appeared, with the occasional spelling or grammar error and a description in brackets of any pictures dr

Ever since I bought my hubby some new fishing flies as part of the Fourteen Days of Valentines ,  I've been looking forward to today's fly fishing demo put on by Trout Waters Fly and Tackle . The demo was scheduled from 10 to 2 today.  Though the sun was shining it was quite chilly by the lake at Sutherland Park .  We didn't hang about for long, and as an absolute beginner I really didn't want to try to whip fishing line around in the park for fear of hitting someone, or getting hit by one of the other beginners.   I am very much looking forward to taking one of my hubby's fly rods out into the back yard later today and seeing if I learned anything.  It's been a while since I did any fishing - I was probably a teenager the last time.  With a little luck you'll see some photos of my hubby and I fly fishing in the not too distant future. 

I used to think I was pretty quick.  Lately it seems to take my brain days to sift through my experiences and make the connections it used to make in seconds. I hiked with the dogs to Paul's Tomb on Wednesday while listening to Q on my iPhone.  Jian Gomeshi played clips of Rita McNeil singing some of her hits and asked his guests to share their reactions to the death of the Cape Breton songstress Tuesday night.  It took me until this morning to realize the coincidence of what I was photographing at the time.   Thought I'd share some of the photos I took of a the red tailed hawk we saw, along with the Lyrics to Flying on Your Own .  Rita was a lovely singer/songwriter and by all accounts a lovely person.  She will be missed. You were never more strong girl You were never more alone Once there was two, now there's just you You're flying on your own You were never more happy girl You were never also so blue Once heartache begins, nobody wins

 Artist Nicole Young at SOPA's Under 8 show.   The top left painting is one of the two she has in the show.  Used the last jar of canned tomatoes from 2012 this week.    Writing, writing, writing... Breakfast with my daughter at the Greyhound bus depot The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day Sad to say I missed the peak of blossoms on this lovely cherry tree in a back lane off of Ethel near Raymer. The good news is there are still lots of cherry trees in the upper mission yet to begin blooming so I'll get another chance.

In the spirit of growth and renewal I've been focusing on different things this week.  This weekend I tended to things I'd been letting slide around the house, Monday took a voice lesson from an Opera singer, and this morning I tried to avoid photographing the same old same old at Cedar Creek Dog Park.

Though it's been a very grey April, there is much to be thankful for: I'm grateful the cherry and magnolia trees are in bloom.  It's a treat to come across the beautiful pink and white blossoms as you drive around the city. I'm grateful I had so many hits on  yesterday's  blog post.  I'm not sure why I did, but I'm grateful! I am grateful for the sunny evenings we've been having.  There's been an odd pattern over the past three or four days where it's cold and grey during the day and then right around supper time the sun breaks through and gives me a little lift. I am grateful for the inclement weather this weekend because I spent it catching up on my housework. I am grateful my home printer had enough ink in it to print out my latest version of the memoir.  It was just getting too time consuming to scroll through almost 300 pages of text.  There are definite advantages to a hard copy. I'm grateful to live in a country