Case sensitive…
“Ah, Christy” he said, “m’eudail bheag,”
as she thrust her head into his chest…
She had grown grey about the eyes and muzzle,
and a slight film was beginning to appear in her left eye…
All afternoon he lay on the warm grass offering her the bread,
and sugar cubes ,
while she nuzzled his face and his twisted neck,
placing her great hooves carefully about,
the outline of his body…
Some of the younger horses who had once been her colts,
looked on with something like amazement at the behaviour of their mother…
He sang to her in Gaelic,
perhaps as he had at the time of the great storm when we had needed her strength,
and she had needed his faith and calming confidence in order to go on…
All day they stayed together on the green grass,
giving and taking to and from each other…
— in No Great Mischief by Alistair MacCleod
In 2004 I made a decision to
a) never buy a coffee unless I had my own cup with me,
no matter how much I wanted,
and thought that,
I had to have it…
[To bolster weakness I expressed my One Tonne Challenge commitment to a class of grade five and six students with whom I had worked when they were in grade one…
I don’t break promises,
so I’m careful about making them…]
AND
b) to refuse to read the newspaper,
watch the news on television,
or listen to the news on the radio…
This was part and parcel,
of an intense,
detoxification program…
As a mother with young children,
and a teacher working with young children,
I needed to have hope and enthusiasm for life in the world,
and news can kill that in an instant…
On occasion I do flip through sections of the newspaper,
I see laying around,
to keep an eye on sports…
Otherwise newspaper is obsolete,
and it gets me off,
my game…
When you’re a hockey fan,
hell bent,
on supporting your team,
it seems to be equally important,
to filter out,
all of the fear mongering,
that masks itself,
as critical thought…
Like golf,
hockey is not a game that can be chained,
by statistics,
and analysis…
Games are a soft science…
And their beauty is,
in their mystery,
their surprises,
and their refusal to be contained,
by experts,
in the field…
They even love to challenge,
the laws of chaos…
Golf and hockey were born,
from the creativity,
of the land,
on which they have evolved…
Poured from the vessel,
of the men who first,
and continue,
to play them…
And from the women who birth,
and watch,
with the fierceness of howling bagpipes…
Rx: For the Canucks…
Keep the blinders on,
the earplugs in,
and do exactly what your inner doctor orders…
I heard a victory song,
sung by a hummingbird,
preening itself,
on the top of a magnolia tree,
down by Lost Lagoon…
Its message was silent,
but it was clear:
Mister you can say anything you want about me,
but I’m going to have to ask you not to talk about my horse that way…
— Frank T. Hopkins in Hidalgo
Let's see what the morning brings...
Red carpet…
“He was,” he said, composing himself and after a thoughtful moment, “crying for his history.
He had left his country and lost his wife and spoke a foreign language…
He had left as a husband and arrived as a widower and a grandfather,
and he was responsible for all those people clustered around him…
He was,” he said,
looking up to the sky,
“like a goose who points the V,
and he temporarily wavered and lost his courage…
— about Calum Ruadh in No Great Mischief by Alistair MacCleod
I went for a bike ride along False Creek and English Bay,
before bata de cola class last Wednesday,
to ground myself after a day of writing…
And right around the pitch and putt course in Stanley Park,
I saw a heron land in a great tree overlooking Second Beach…
It was on the hunt for fresh branches,
for the intents and purposes of building…
I watched it struggle to pull and rip with its beak,
losing its balance more than once…
Eventually it gave up on that particular effort,
or decided to take a break from it,
and flew home for some encouragement…
A fellow cyclist mentioned to me that there was a great deal of nesting,
Over that way…
I hopped on my bike,
rode over in that general direction…
and I couldn’t believe what I saw,
felt,
and heard…
A gentle pffft,
and I was poopscotched by a heron…
This dusting of white foam was nearly exquisite…
It left me feeling all 649…
Seeing an apartment of nesting herons is a sight to behold,
and I beheld it…
A colony of hope,
promise,
and flights of fancy…
Radiating the kind of medicine,
that can surely repair a broken man,
or strengthen a defeated goaltender…
On Wednesday morning I took care of my car…
I topped up the motor oil,
checked and adjusted the tire pressure,
hand washed both the interior,
and exterior,
uncovering twenty-four rolls of toilet paper,
that I had forgotten all about,
in the back of the wagon,
just when the house was down to the last roll…
It was a small miracle,
and saved me a trip to the Great Canadian Superstore…
And then I heard about an even bigger miracle…
There has been a vacant lot on my street for at least ten years…
It was a growing junk heap,
on the foundation of a house,
that had burnt down to the ground,
resulting in 17 people losing their home…
Last week the cement was broken up,
cleared away,
and replaced with a garden of Eden…
I got the information from a man shoveling top soil in the alley,
so the story is hearsay,
but it is worth noting,
and repeating…
According to my source,
as part of a high school course with a component of service,
a bus load of grade twelve students from Chilliwack,
rolled into town with their able bodies,
and donated supplies of seedlings,
wood,
dirt,
gravel,
and bricks,
building Rome in a day…
The food from this garden will be used in the community kitchen,
for the women who live in the building beside it…
Food for the self-determination,
and self-reliance,
of a constellation…
We don't need to know the way home...
Herons are waders…
The longer the legs the deeper the water heron will feed in,
the deeper life can be explored…
Heron people are wonderfully successful at being a jack of all trades and heron medicine offers the security of being given the ability to do a variety of tasks…
If one way doesn’t work,
another way will…
Herons gather only during breeding season…
They stand out in their uniqueness,
and they know how to snatch,
and take advantage of things,
that the average bird would not even bother with…
— in Animal Speak by Ted Andrews
Missionary position…
Calls come in different ways to different people…
But all who are called sense that action is not optional;
it is essential…
A necessity for the survival of self…
For some, the call becomes a long-term act of devotion…
A weaving of identity and destiny…
An effort to combine what they most love and believe in,
with what they do in the world…
— in Getting to Maybe by Westley, Zimmerman & Patton
When I put my mind to something,
it can’t be stopped…
And now I want a Stanley Cup…
Hello Everyone…
My name is Philosophydoll,
and Sweet Jesus,
I AM a Canucks fan…
Note to Shane O’Brien:
The camel is traditionally considered a relative of ancient dragons and other winged serpents…
With long eyelashes to protect its eyes from wind-blown sand,
camels are well equipped for life upon the desert…
The camel stores fat in its hump,
which is essential for it to go for such great periods of time…
The hump is also full of hydrogen atoms;
it can weigh as much as 100 pounds and it is a reservoir of energy…
Camels have a high degree of endorphin activity…
Camel people have a wonderful ability to remain positive amid the harshest of times and experiences,
and they often have unusual sleep habits…
— in Animal-Wise by Ted Andrews
Ted Andrews doesn’t mention anything about camel toes,
but I saw some when I was in Turkey,
back in 1990,
and they look super dangerous…
Like one swift kick,
could blow you,
to smithereens…
All the lace and the skin in the shop...
Canuck'd 