I was working at the garden yesterday and I'll be back at it day. Digging in the muddy ground alternating between rain showers and blazing hot sun. You know when the transition is coming because the mosquitoes and black flies fight through the bath of toxic chemicals to swarm you.
Later today I'll head back to the Big Smoke, my hands will be a bit raw and my back a bit achy. I'll be itchy with fly bites and so dirty and smelly I'll hardly be able to sit in the cab with myself.
The crazy thing is the oppressive dread will hit me by Scarborough. The elation of physical work and the high of mother nature will be replaced by the dread of the sterile, lifeless world I'll be descending back into - the city. Parks don't cut it and a back yard garden is only half an escape. It's still a world of noise and angles, where instead of the earth you just have dirt. No place for a human.
The comedian I heard on CBC's the debaters the other day gave me a chuckle with his opening . The debate was should canadians love or abandon the cottage life and his opening gambit about summed it up: "I have to convince Canadians to abandon the cottage? This is stupid. After the show I'll be in the parking lot telling you all to give up hockey and donuts."
To finish on another quote: "It's funny because it's true."
Friday, May 27, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
One speed? What speed? Full speed!
Here she is in her new slimmed down glory. All heart but no mercy:
Lost a few pounds and feeling rejuvenated. Now I guess it’s my turn :)
And here is my newest bike graciously donated to the collection by my neighbours Tony and Maria:
With 83 years of experience behind him Tony decided (with Mari’s help) that it was time to move on to new experiences this summer and seeing my working on the Bee bike for the Boss he gave me this sweet ride so we could cruise the mean streets of Mississauga together. She’s a pretty nice ride, everything in good working order and a comfy posture for short hauls in nice weather. Might even take her to work later in the year. Thanks Tony!
Lost a few pounds and feeling rejuvenated. Now I guess it’s my turn :)
And here is my newest bike graciously donated to the collection by my neighbours Tony and Maria:
With 83 years of experience behind him Tony decided (with Mari’s help) that it was time to move on to new experiences this summer and seeing my working on the Bee bike for the Boss he gave me this sweet ride so we could cruise the mean streets of Mississauga together. She’s a pretty nice ride, everything in good working order and a comfy posture for short hauls in nice weather. Might even take her to work later in the year. Thanks Tony!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Tao of Steve II
Went up to the land yesterday. We got a free load of dirt from some friends so I decided to use it to improve the temporary entrance and then spend the rest of the day working on the sun shade for weeders. The entrance is much improved but I want to see it again after a good hard rain. It is temporary but hopefully not too temporary. The sun shade is up but I'm not happy with it so I'll work on it again next time I get up.
The surprise of this trip was the flies. May 9th and the black flies were out in cruel mouth filling, eyeball walking, flesh eating swarms. Other than that it was a lovely day. If I had suspected insect swarms and brought some dope I might have gotten the sun shade more to my liking but by evening I had to get out of there.
On the way home we stopped at an Enroute to get me some coffee at the Tim's. I knew I'd need some black gold to keep me between the lines on the drive. anyway the dude behind the counter was living the Tao of Steve - it doesn't matter what you do, just be excellent at it. The man knows his product lines and he knows customer service. And to top it off his name was Steve, not Stephen, Steve. Take note Mr. Harper.
The surprise of this trip was the flies. May 9th and the black flies were out in cruel mouth filling, eyeball walking, flesh eating swarms. Other than that it was a lovely day. If I had suspected insect swarms and brought some dope I might have gotten the sun shade more to my liking but by evening I had to get out of there.
On the way home we stopped at an Enroute to get me some coffee at the Tim's. I knew I'd need some black gold to keep me between the lines on the drive. anyway the dude behind the counter was living the Tao of Steve - it doesn't matter what you do, just be excellent at it. The man knows his product lines and he knows customer service. And to top it off his name was Steve, not Stephen, Steve. Take note Mr. Harper.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Lots of news
The almanac appears to have been correct in predicting a cold wet spring. At least there is some news to provide a distraction. We started out with an election that became interesting and now the results give us much to ponder. And also slipped in there was the death of Osama Bin Laden. Also something worth pondering.
Justice or revenge? Does it really matter? Bin Laden is dead and americans feel better. Will there be really any impact beyond this? I guess there are the possibility of retaliation attacks from Bin Laden's followers but I think the recent revolutions in the middle east provide a more accurate picture of Bin Laden's global stature.
Now on to the real news. A conservative Majority with an NDP opposition. This is interesting. And a little scary. The Bloc appears to be dead and that is probably more than anything else the cause of the ascendancy of the NDP. With Quebec deciding to re-enter national politics due to the ineffectiveness of regionalism but still disgusted with the old guard parties, it's like people all over Canada got wind of this idea that it's not an either/or choice between Conservative and Liberal. And the Greens won a seat. Maybe next time we'll see a Marxist-Leninist?
The Conservative majority? This could be scary if we continue to see the mean spiritedness of the government of the last five years. Hopefully from a majority position they will focus more on good governance and less on attacking their rivals? We could finally see the end of the long-gun registry and the promised reform of the senate as promised but not delivered. I'm not going to hold my breath on the senate reform though. Now that the Tories have the majority in that house that would be an act of altruism that I think is beyond any political party.
Oh and yesterday, one of my neighbours gave me a cruiser! I'll post a pic once I get it cleaned up.
Justice or revenge? Does it really matter? Bin Laden is dead and americans feel better. Will there be really any impact beyond this? I guess there are the possibility of retaliation attacks from Bin Laden's followers but I think the recent revolutions in the middle east provide a more accurate picture of Bin Laden's global stature.
Now on to the real news. A conservative Majority with an NDP opposition. This is interesting. And a little scary. The Bloc appears to be dead and that is probably more than anything else the cause of the ascendancy of the NDP. With Quebec deciding to re-enter national politics due to the ineffectiveness of regionalism but still disgusted with the old guard parties, it's like people all over Canada got wind of this idea that it's not an either/or choice between Conservative and Liberal. And the Greens won a seat. Maybe next time we'll see a Marxist-Leninist?
The Conservative majority? This could be scary if we continue to see the mean spiritedness of the government of the last five years. Hopefully from a majority position they will focus more on good governance and less on attacking their rivals? We could finally see the end of the long-gun registry and the promised reform of the senate as promised but not delivered. I'm not going to hold my breath on the senate reform though. Now that the Tories have the majority in that house that would be an act of altruism that I think is beyond any political party.
Oh and yesterday, one of my neighbours gave me a cruiser! I'll post a pic once I get it cleaned up.
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