AC and His Girls

Don't mind me, but I'm sitting around sorting through several months' worth of photos. How they pile up. They needed sorting and much re-labelling.

I came across these two photos from Father's Day, both with me in silly headgear, which is usually as a result of Powerpuff's instigation. That's Powerpuff hugging me in the top photo. My Lady Bug is behind her. We all seem to be in great mirth.

And that's my Butterfly, below. Many opine that we have similar physiognomies. I suppose that Butterfly would fervently hope that weren't the case.

 

Empty and Chirpless

It will hardly shock anyone for me to admit that I didn't post the above photo for its artistic merit. Some photos are simply record shots. They denote an event for whatever it's worth.

This one simply reveals (well, if you squint studiously, it might reveal) three little sparrows on our lawn. I'm pretty darn sure, by both their number and their in-flight wobbliness, that they are none other than our very own grandbirds. They are learning to fly and to forage for themselves, which must be of mighty relief to their overworked but doughty parents.

Me? I already miss the little blighters. Out of habit, I keep casting my glance to the birdhouse, but it stands empty and chirpless.

It reminds me, although I barely require it at this stage, that life moves constantly and inexorably onward. We all begin our existence microscopically before breathing independently and finally gasping our last. Their spans are much shorter than ours, but just as they live one hundred percent of their lives, so do and so must we.

 

In the Mud

After having probably my first eight hour sleep in weeks last night, I dragged myself out of bed this morning, early enough to hit the bikes by 9:00. But I didn't much feel like it, and neither did Cuppa. We used the weather as an excuse: hot, humid, windy, cloudy, smog alert. Thanks goodness we had a handy excuse because I wouldn't have felt like it no matter what.

I'm not sure why, but lately I feel as though I am dragging myself through mud. Our last ride wasn't terribly long, but it was quite the slog: difficult to keep churning leaden legs. Even on rest days around the house, I have little energy.

Do you go through low energy cycles too, or am I just an old poop? My sleep has been off; my legs have no spring; I feel weighted down. It's as though I'm attempting to ambulate through thick mud. I don't make much progress in mud, and I feel kind of vulnerable too.

 

Very

Although I didn't blog it until a few days later, it was last Wednesday that Lady Bug had her bicycle wipe-out. Quite a wipe-out it must have been too, for this Tuesday she was still too sore to stay at work very long. She is sore all over, and it pains her greatly to try to get around. This girl is pretty darn brave and somewhat stoic too, so if she admits to pain, then you just know that it's very real and very formidable.

She went back to the clinic today and this time saw a nice female doctor who told her that she would be sore for a month and that she couldn't ride her bike for that long either. She prescribed anti-infamatory pills and physio. However, I don't know if Lady Bug is covered for physio. The province de-listed it not too long ago, so unless it's covered by her university plan, she won't be able to afford it.

But here's why we're ever so lucky. I knew that we were extremely fortunate as soon as she began to supply me with more details today. She said: " You know how when you're going downhill and you're going so fast that your feet can't keep up with the pedals ..." Gasp. I had no idea that she was travelling that fast. She was late for work, you see, and trying to make up time, you see. In traffic. In the rain. You do see, don't you? Does it make you cringe too?

No wonder she is in great pain. No wonder it will take her a month to recover. It is a wonder, almost a miracle I'd say, that my little one isn't very seriously injured. She must have sailed head over teakettle. She could just as easily have broken her neck and been paralysed. She could have been killed.

But she isn't paralysed, and she is alive. Sore and in pain, but alive.

So very fortunate are we.

So very thankful am I.

Very.

 

Taking Flight

The day's big news is that the sparrows about which I have been posting have spread their wings. Or at least two out of three have.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cuppa happened to spot the first one fly about six feet and land in a pot of petunias at ground level. Above, there are two blended views: one further and one closer.

We missed the departure of babybird2, but #3 is still in the nest. At least s/he no longer has to compete directly for food and should soon become strong enough to fly off as well. I don't know where exactly the other two have gone but not far according to the chirping that I hear out there.

Below, is a recent photo of feeding in action. The parent has its beak deep into the kid's mouth. Those little critters are almost all mouth at first.

 

Top Ten Songs Meme

For better or worse, Dale has tagged me to do this music meme of ten songs that I am currently enjoying. My CDs are mostly packed, and I don't do these kinds of lists very well, but I'm willing to give it a shot. In addition to my own inadequacies in these matters, however, is the realty that few will know the many of the artists or songs which I mention. In no particular order, except perhaps for the first, the songs are not listed in any particular order.

1. Everytime (Barra McNeils)
2. Un Nuovo Giorno (Andrea Bocelli)
3. You Lift Me Up (Josh Groban)
4. The Parting Glass (The Cottars)
5. Cruisin' (Theresa Sykorka)
6. Rise Again (The Rankin Family)
7. The Night Pat Murphy Died (Great Big Sea)
8. Figlio Perduto (Sarah Brightman)
9. Voyage (John McDermott)
10. Into the West (Annie Lennox)

Because this meme has been making the rounds, I am going to resist tagging specific people, but it would be interesting to see what various people might come up with.

 

Purple Loosestrife

I meant to post this the other day when I uploaded two other photos from our bicycle rides, but I lost my place as I am often wont to do, don't you know.

Near the end of the trail (coming home that is) we pass this field which, at the moment, is rather resplendent with rows of Purple Loosestrife alternating with rows of Queen Anne's Lace. There is a lot of worry about the spread of Loosestrife and its potential to overtake native species, or at least this concern existed several years ago. Still, it looks rather striking. Pretty as a picture so to speak.