Those First Few Steps

Some days, going for a walk with Holly in the morning is a difficult choice for me.  I might be having to contend with poor weather. I might be I'm either not feeling great or, through poor planning, I don't have enough time.  Whatever, it's those first few steps that are important.  Once I get moving with Holly, I can forget about most things and just enjoy getting out, walking, and looking around us.  It doesn't really matter where we walk - trail or street - as long as we're out there moving.  This morning, it was easy from every point of view.  I was both looking forward to getting out and the weather was perfect.  And, when you get back, you are rewarded with toast and coffee (or a cookie, if you're a dog) and you feel good for having gone on the walk. Who could ask for anything more?

Pack

You'd think I was moving to the cottage, not just going there for three days.  I started putting things aside for this cottage trip over a week ago.  Now, looking at all of the accumulated "stuff", I realize I've gone overboard once again.  Well, better to realize it now than when I get to the lake.  Time to lighten the load before I leave on Sunday!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the lake again, staying at the Ellis Camp (also known as "the wooden tent"), relaxing on the deck, boating around favorite parts of the lake, walking the old trails nearby, hearing the loons, and maybe seeing the odd eagle.  Rain or shine, it should be a great escape from the city. It's been two long years since my last trip to Northern Ontario.

Focus

No, I'm not writing about photography or paying attention.  This evening, I had my first experience as a member of a focus group that was set up by a credit union that I belong to.  When I was asked on the phone to participate a few days ago and learned that it would be about financial matters, like investing and mortgages and such stuff, I told them that they really had the wrong person.  I have a hard time making change let alone talking intelligently about things financial.  But, they screened me with a bunch of questions and said I was suitable for the focus group.  Personally, I thought they must have been desperate but, when they offered me an honorarium to participate, I said "okay".

Anyways, I went tonight and had no problem putting in my "two  cents worth" when my opinion was asked about something.  I learned there were no wrong answers.  They just wanted a range of viewpoints, about current and possible future products that might be offered by the credit union, from the dozen or so people there.  And, with some questions, they did get quite a range of answers.  With other questions, they got very similar answers from most people.

So, I did something different tonight.  Although I was a little nervous about attending this event at first, it was certainly a learning experience for me.  And, I realized that a lot of things to do with banking and investing are really interesting as you gradually learn more and more about these subjects.  My times, they are a changing ...

Discover

Exploring and dreaming can lead to discoveries, about yourself, others, and world around you.  All the world's great thinkers, explorers, writers, artists, inventors, and entrepreneurs have followed this path of discovery.  Most of them have left a lasting record of the steps they've taken along the road to discovery.  If you look closely at what they've left behind, you can sometimes trace these steps backwards to where they began, with a dream or an idea.  Sometimes, that first step never 'got off the ground' but, because it was recorded somewhere, we can learn from it.  History can teach us many valuable lessons if we only take time to study it.

Mark Twain said "twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do.  Explore, dream, discover".

Dream

The word 'dream' can be associated with many different things.  You might 'dream' of what you'd do if you won a million dollars.  You might wake up, having remembered parts of a pleasant 'dream'.  You might have 'dreams' akin to a bucket list.  I like the latter concept of a dream.  It allows you to articulate what you'd like to do in the future.  Just writing down those dreams is often the first and probably most important step in having them come true.  And, seeing one dream come true encourages you to have more and work towards them.  Dreams can give you reasons for making the most of your life.

Explore

Lately, I've been exploring the subject of portrait photography on the Internet.  I'm more comfortable doing nature photography.  I really enjoy every aspect of nature photography, whether it's done in the city or the country.  There are inexhaustible number of subjects you can make images of, under a wide variety of conditions and in every season of the year.

My forays into portrait photography have been limited, mostly, to photos of friends and family.  In recent years, I've had the most fun taking pictures of my grandchildren.  They're great because they're always changing and they're rarely camera shy or self-conscious, unlike many of us adults.  I often see major changes in their appearance within just one week.  I don't think I'll ever stop enjoying making a record of these changes.

But, I want to take better portraits.  And, I want to go beyond family and friends.  That means I'll have to explore doing portraits in new situations.  I'm considering the options now.  Maybe, concerts, workplaces, craft fairs, garden tours, shopping malls, and other milieus.

Humidex of 43

Now, that's positively uncomfortable, even for people who like it warm.  It was definitely not a day for yard work.  However, I did leave my air conditioned home for my air conditioned car for awhile.  My Escape needed gas and a wash.  And, I needed some groceries for supper.  It was good to get out of the house for a little while anyways, both for some people contact and to get away from doing paperwork.  Unfortunately, I'll have to get back to the paperwork this evening.  It's been a long time since my dining room table was clear of files.  Too long.  So ... I'd better get at it.

Building Site Inspection

Josi and Greg and the 'boyz' came by after lunch to pick me up and drive out to their new home site in LaSalle.  It's only about 20 minutes or so away from my place.  Construction started this past week with the basement hole dug and piles and basement wall footings poured.  I was with two very happy young people, I'll tell you!  I took some photos and mad some suggestions for continuing to record each phase of the construction ahead.  I'm very happy for them and advised Josi I was keeping quite a few small shrubs and other plants for them to plant in the fall or next spring once their yard is ready.

Thinking Back to Yesterday

I love to drive out to Carman and observe the changes I see along Highway 3.  Yesterday, as I was driving towards Carman, I had to brake my car because, quite aways up ahead, I saw something strange moving across the road.  It turned out to be a mallard, walking her five very young ducklings from one water-filled ditch across the road to another similar ditch on the opposite side.  They all made it safely and I went back onto cruise.

Returning home from Carman, in the middle of the afternoon, a car a fair ways ahead of me suddenly braked, making me and someone following me do the same.  Then, I saw the suicidal deer leap off the road into the ditch and keep on running into a field of golden grain.

I treasure moments like these.  You can take the boy out of the country but ...

Time Flew By Today

A long dog walk, a visit to the new local farmer's market here in Winnipeg West, a drive out to Carman for Holly to get her kennel cough vaccine, a brief visit with my friend Karen, a drive home, sorting through financial and cottage records, chatting with my son and daughter, catching up on emails, and so on. And, now it's time to go read myself to sleep.  Holly's already there.

Time is The Longest Distance Between Two Places

When you waiting for something good to happen, there are times when time goes by fast and times when it goes by slowly.  In this case, and contrary to physics, time is a not a constant.  Nor are you.  I suppose it's all in your personality and attitude.  Sometimes, when you are really busy, feeling well, and are happy, time seems to fly by.  Sometimes, when you are tired and frustrated, time goes by incredibly slowly.  Maybe, in the end, these differences even out and time is really moving at constant rate.  Hmmm ... I wonder.

Housework Sucks

Especially vacuuming (I know, a terrible pun).  But I did it this afternoon, anyways.  Holly sure brings a lot of dirt into the house (not me, of course).  Yes, of course, I washed the floors again, too.  Holly sure drools a lot while she's waiting for me to get her a cookie (euphemistically called a 'milk bone' ... come on, they're not made of milk or bones; they're a dog cookie!).

I also cleaned out the fridge (yes, curiosity finally got the better of me).  It's really amazing, all the little jars of 'stuff' that drift to the back of the fridge shelves.  Really, there should not be such areas.  At the very least, you should be able to see back there at a glance; not have to get down on your hands and knees and grope around and hope something back there doesn't bite your fingers.  Maybe, shallow trays to slide everything out so you can see what's there?  Meanwhile, I tossed the out-of-date stuff.

Now, back to filing paperwork ... that sucks, too, but it has to be done.

Time Flies

It's already Thursday afternoon.  Yikes!  Guess one of the benefits of being busy is that the days go by faster.  Only nine more days left, then off to the cottage for the first time in two years.  I can't wait to see it again and then improvements made by Mike and Greg.  I'm already getting stuff packed for the trip there.  Here's hoping for calm seas and sunny skies that weekend.

On the home front, I've been busy mowing, weeding, and pruning the jungle called my yard.  I've also taken some time of course to smell and photograph the flowers.  It takes longer to download and edit the photos than it does to photograph the flowers.  What's wrong with this picture?  Here are a couple of the latest shots.  You can see more on my Flickr page.

Miniature water lily and Nile lily, both in pots.

Good Grief!

It's Tuesday evening already.  I think I was talking about yard work and house work the last time I posted here.  I should have said I was going to 'follow the thread' again because yesterday I was all over the place.  I went to the library (3 books in; 3 books out ... enough to last me 7-10 days, maybe).  Then, I went to my car wash place; it was out-of-order.  So, I still have a dirty Escape.  Home, again, I did the laundry and dishes.  I looked at the vacuum cleaner.  That's as far as I got with vacuuming (same today, for that matter).

Some bills came in the mail so I finally sat down with them and some other financial stuff.  I managed to pay my bills but, after reviewing everything (which took me hours), I was not impressed with my spending habits lately.  Funny, these days, with so many bills paid automatically, that you don't notice how fast your bank accounts are draining.  Well, yesterday, I did notice and so now I'm heading into an self-directed austerity program.  Good thing I have a fairly well-stocked larder.

Late in the afternoon, Holly was ready to be picked up from the groomers.  After I used more of my plastic to pay that bill, Holly practically dragged me out the door.  She wanted nothing more to do with that place.  Back home again, it took her a few hours, quite a few milk bones, and a short walk to calm down a bit.  While I was reading in bed later in the evening, she hopped up and joined me.  It might have been the Cheetos I had on the bedside table.  Anyways, she usually sleeps on the floor beside my bed so I wasn't concerned.  Little did I know then that she had no intention of getting off the bed all night.  Oh, well, you pet owners out there will understand.  You learn to share.

This morning, after yet more milk bones for her and coffee for me, we set off on our usual long morning walk.  Then, she hopped back up my bed and didn't move for a couple of hours.  By which time, it was my turn for a short nap.  She moved to the floor finally.  Later, I melted more plastic at the local Safeway.  There were a few more things I needed for my larder, including my supper and her milk bones.  With Holly, you can never have too many milk bones.

Then, I got a call from a neighbour to come see her flower garden (she saw mine a week or so ago).  Wow!  Her backyard looked manicured compared to my jungle.  I learnt the names of a few more plants and plant varieties.  Well, she told me the names.  I'm not sure I learnt them.  It's funny how many plants I recognize and almost know the names of.  Once I hear the names, I say to myself, 'of course, I knew that name!'.  I have the same problem remembering people's names.  I know them.  I've met them before.  I just can't remember their name.  Anyways, the garden tour was great and it was very kind of her to try to help me.  The extra benefit was that I could put off some weeding in my own yard and vacuuming inside for awhile.

I've been eating fresh, sun-ripened tomatoes all week.  Two potted tomato plants I have on the deck have given more tomatoes than I can possibly eat.  Tonight, I shared the excess with my neighbors (I still have a few on the kitchen counter).  And, I still have at least 18 more green tomatoes on those two plants so I'm not going to run out of tomatoes anytime soon.  If only I had planted lettuce and cucumbers earlier, I could be eating salads every day for weeks (by the way, I'm kind of glad I didn't ... tossed salads aren't my favorite food ... now, caprese salads are different ... I could eat them every day!).

Well, I've written enough for today and I've managed to not have enough time to vacuum again.  Time to go look at one of those library books ...