Not Letting Go

We had a prompt about Letting Go. I couldn't think of much worth contributing, as I didn't think I had much baggage to discard. But sometimes, one person's response gives rise to other thoughts, so this is where I am heading. I am not responding to the prompt per se, but KG'Moms post caused me to begin to think along a certain tangent.

Her theme was letting go of her need to fix things, and she mentioned among other things the compulsion to pick up other people's garbage.

Okay then, I too am sometimes guilty of trying tidying up other people's messes.

The most obvious thing that comes to mind is my propensity to pick up other people strewn litter at our community mailbox. We have a lot of those community boxes in newer subdivisions in this country with newer being defined as something like the last 20 years,

Our community box is just a few houses down from our door, and ... well ... instead of me describing it, I shall go and take a picture.

Anyway, the point that I was getting to is that there are folk who tend to discard the bulk mail that we all love so much. They will drop it or stuff it between the boxes.

Junk mail stuffed so low and deeply that I haven't extricated it yet.

I don't know why they do this. We all have recycling boxes, and after checking our mail, we all head to our homes where those boxes are kept. It's not really a big ask to take your bulk mail home and toss it in the bin in passing. Except for some mysterious reason it is a big ask for some people. Sigh.

But no! They leave it for others to pick up. I started grabbing some of this litter and also mentioning it to a few neighbours, and for the most part, we seem to more or less keep the situation under control these days.

The other idiosyncrasy that comes to mind is my compulsion to tidy up the corrals where we return our shopping carts after use. I am unclear as to why so many must leave their carts by the opening because it's not that difficult to push it either to the back of the corral or at least to whatever carts are back there.

But no! It's somehow easier just to abandon the cart helter skelter, walk merrily away, and leave it for the next person to deal with. That next person more often than not is me. Even if they have left me enough room for my cart, I will almost invariably push those that I can toward the back of the corral to make life a little easier for the next person. (I should also take a picture of this some day.)

I am not too fastidious about this. I do not spend a lot of time stacking and lining up the carts, but I just try to quickly make a little space for the next person.

I do take some solace in the fact that I am not too hung up on this activity, for back in our previous town, we had a neighbour who was losing his faculties a little, and he would really get into organizing the carts. It made him very happy to take on this voluntary chore. So, it does worry me just a tad that I may be slipping like he was. Hopefully, as long as I can analyze it like this, I am not falling into the same predicament.

And that's my takeoff on the actual prompt, and, no, these are not habits that I need or intend to break.

First Visit to the Optometrist

The kids are with the sitter this week, but we were tapped with taking them to the optometrist. As per usual, we had the camera on hand. These are a few snaps, there are more on Facebook,

First, the preliminaries.

Then, some wait time before seeing the ophthalmologist.

The exam.

Results were good, and treats ensued.

JJ's Sleepover

I posted of Danica's sleepover a little while ago. After a few days, it was JJ's turn.

He gets to go to the $ stores for a treat, but as he grows up it's getting harder and harder to find suitable items. And the ones that he used to find never lasted long anyway. But, out we went to two, and he came home with a finger printing kit that was pretty poor.

But he found things to do, like helping grandma with the flowers.

But that wouldn't do, so, the next day, we headed out again, this time with Sue to guide us. We went back to one of the dollar stores, but it was fruitless. Then we tried Giant Tiger. He picked up a package of skittles, and I picked up a yard game.

But Skittles aren't much of a treat, so we headed to the fifth store visit of the weekend: Canadian Tire, which for those who don't know, sells a lot more than tires.

He found various items to amuse him.

But nothing to purchase.

Until ...

But what is that, you ask. Watch.

It's along the lines of an old ring toss toy, except that it's a rather heavy wooden ball to be caught in a little, wooden cup.

Apparently, tongue action is part of the technique.

Success at last.

This took place at one of our local chip trucks while we were waiting for the fries to arrive.

So, that's likely it for sleepovers for awhile.

What's Up With the Weather

We are in the midst of yet another heat warning. Today, the temperature is projected to be 34C/93F, but very humid to boot with a "feels like" temperature of 41C/106F.

We have been in a droughtish situation for the past 4+ months, only getting about 50% of normal rainfall. This is after a winter of less snow that unusual, so the water level was lower to begin with. I have never seen the water so low in our river and could probably walk across the river in spots, not that I am about to put it to the test.

As previously posted, although the Indian River is always shallow, it was almost ridiculously so when we took the kids to the mill last week.

Strangely, we are not in a watering ban situation yet although we have been asked to take it easy. The gardens however, can stand a little help, so we do water from time to time. Speaking of gardens, they are already past their prime, with the daylilies being all but done and others on the wane. Also, when I went out to water last evening, I was soon and surprisingly stumbling about in the dark. This means that I will soon be able to complain about the cold instead of the heat. lol

Oddly enough the average temperature was near normal in July, but the way that it got there was unusual, for the daytime temperatures were higher than usual and the nighttime ones lower. In fact, we have been comfortably able to open the windows on most nights, even during the heat waves. I assume that this results from clearer-than-normal skies; less cloud  cover would result in more heat during the day but more heat loss at night.

So, AC is staying in the AC for most of the day just now, but the heat warning should be over after tomorrow, and the long range forecast looks less torrid.

Update on The Clay Girl

It's getting closer: the launch of Heather's book, The Clay Girl. The launch party, above, is on October 2, but it hits the bookstores on October 11.

I have mentioned this book before, but it's time for a bit of an update.

I don't think I told you that she was invited to the America Booksellers Convention in Chicago; she was the top new Canadian author invitee, and received all sorts of buzz. From there she was invited to a number of western American cities to do a reading and promote the book. How exciting! That tour is still in the planning stage but should occur sometime this fall.

You will see various little reviews on the information page to follow, but here is a quick response from our local bookstore owner, who was able to obtain a publisher's copy or whatever it's called. She also wishes to schedule a reading as does our local library as well as a book club in Ottawa.

Just want you know I recently finished your sister's book. Some beautiful writing in a very tough story. I really enjoyed it. Please keep in touch re scheduling an event. 

Thanks for bringing it to my attention. 

Here's how we all can help right now. Your library should have a Suggest a Purchase option on its website. The pertinent information is on the bottom of the flyer below, which is printable if you would like to take it into your library. Here it is separately: The Clay Girl is available from Jaguar Book Group • ISBN 978-1-77041-303-0 • Paper, $18.95 • OCTOBER 2016

BTW, you can also help by pre-ordering the book from Amazon in either paperback or Kindle format: Canada USA . Apparently, pre-ordering is helpful. In due course there will be an audible version, but I don't have any information yet.

And here is the info brochure that should be of printable resolution if you click.

Of course, I will give you notice closer to the actual release, but any pre-orders would be appreciated.

A Few Olympic Thoughts

The Olympics are back with us, and I hope that all goes well in Rio. Some athletes, or at least certain tennis players that I know of, aren't participating due to health concerns, Zika being one of them. But the games will probably go well enough; there will be many great stories, and the amateur athletes will get their moment in the sun.

Canada has hosted the Olympics three times: one summer event and two winter games. Two of them were somewhat embarrassing, for we did not win one gold medal in either. We set our own kind of record — of futility.

Montreal hosted the 1976 Olympics: the games famous in my mind for the Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comeneci. She won 3 golds (which bring up a problem that I will get back to later) and scored a perfect 10.

Our biggest medal of the Montreal games was a silver won by high jumper Greg Joy. I remember listening to the event on an old radio at the cottage and hoping against hope. (Note: just checking that we did win 5 silver and 6 bronze, but Joy is my only significant memory.)

Then, in 1988, Calgary hosted the winter Olympics. Canada's hopes rested on men's figure skater, Brian Orser. In the Battle of the Brians, he was narrowly beaten out by Brian Boitano, who had a magical skate. (Elizabeth Manley also won a silver in figure skating, and we also won 3 bronze medals.)

By the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, things had changed considerably with Canada standing first with 14 golds, 7 silvers, and 5 bronze. Just by way of note, we did almost as well at Sochi in 2014: 10 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze.

Not that medals matter so very much, but these are things that I remember.

What I also remember for a very very different reason are the 1994 winter games in Lillehammer. These stand out for two reasons: the first being from the Harding-Kerrigan brouhaha, which I won't rehash.

The second reason is that I watched from the floor. That was the time of my notorious back attack. I went to school one morning, came home before the second period, and didn't return for almost two months. It was a bulging disc that put me down and required many expensive physiotherapy sessions.

The single standout memory was watching from the floor all through one, sleepless night. That morning, on my way to physio I had suffered what I suppose in retrospect was a prodigious muscle spasm that rendered me almost helpless for some hours and in great discomfort for many more. So, I watched ski jumping most of the uncomfortable night. It wasn't exactly rivetting, but it helped to get me through.

Finally, I return to the problem that I alluded to earlier: medal counts. Comeneci won three at Montreal; Phelps won 22 in all, including 18 gold, over three Olympics, and so on.

It almost seems like the system is rigged for some sports.

What I mean is that you can win a medal for a 100 metre swim, another for 105 metres, and so on. (Yes, I exaggerate greatly to make a point.)

Meanwhile, for example, a hockey team of 23 players must play 6 games over two weeks to win one single medal. Now, I don't know how it could be different, but I do know certain sports are greatly favoured when it comes to medal counts.

Now, although it may sound like it, none of this really bothers me: not the lack of golds or the stacking of medals for some sports. These are simply things that come to mind when I consider the Olympic games. I guess this is why I am somewhat ambivalent about it all. I love the amateur spirit and the individual stories, but there are things that I don't love. And I didn't even mention the slimy politics or the significant doping problem.

At the Mill

I know the posts are coming thick and fast these days, but it's summer: the two days a year that Canadians can enjoy the outdoors. #joke

Each summer we visit the Mill of Kintail, and the kids have a blast in the shallow water. But with the drought this year, it was so shallow that they weren't as into it as usual.

In fact, Danica soon gave up, so I'll post two pics of her first.

She soon joined the adults in the shade.

Meanwhile JJ was on the prowl for crayfish and frogs.

He was rewarded with two catches. It's pretty hard to tell from the photos, but the first (left) was little and the other was a decent size.

His mother noted that JJ is very boy in some ways but in some ways not. He didn't care to touch the frogs. Neither did I. Good boy, JJ.

And so he did another little boy thing and climbed.

What else is new?