looking back/looking forward

on this
the last afternoon
of the year
of the decade

Alonso watching the birds in the Mountain Ash
Xabi watching Alonso
me watching both of them

as the day winds down
we welcome the Eve
and all the promises that lie ahead

peace, love and joy...

from Xabi and Alonso xo

on this the longest night...

blessings to all
in the season of light

fine company

you know it was a good decision
to leave that old poplar tree
standing as long as it has
when you receive
a special visitor

feline degrees

xabi and alonso are thinking warm thoughts
for all the feral kittens
today

flakes

freshly fallen snow on
the patio flower pots
fence posts
sidewalk
driveway
boughs of the mugo pine
a blanket swaddling us all

that sad feeling when...

you realize that the beloved euphorbia
that has been in the family for decades
is highly toxic to kittens
and it's time to say
goodbye

over 95th street and Jasper

a kit, a flight, a flock of pigeons
high in the soft blue sky
as the #1 rolls along
on a winter's afternoon

snowy wednesday

white white white
white
white
white
white white white
white white

in the pink

four blooms on the christmas cactus
and a fifth budding
the plant is over 20 years old
flowering gifts
that keep on giving

soon to be waxing

soft afternoon November light
the eve of a new moon
peaceful Monday

kitty toy inventory

• tinfoil balls
• rattan ball with bell insert
• 'big bird yellow boa' wand toy 
• burlap mice X 2 (red and orange)
• 2 in 1 mouse and stringy ball tail 
• road map of Ottawa/Gatineau
• feather and sparkly wand toy in combo with tea towel ('My Doctor Says I Need Glasses'...adorned with martini/wine/hi-ball)
• cork with attached feathers (now thoroughly munched)
• mousy wand toy with elastic string
• feet under the covers
• burro cactus 
• springs springs springs

slumberville

strides

a cardiologist has come up with an innovative diagnostic tool
which will aid in the treatment of compassion fatigue
it measures heart rates and at the first sign of irregularities
administers a mild electrical shock
capable of restoring empathetic responses
to full capacity
researchers continue to run tests on the device
and aim to have it approved and available for wide distribution
just in time for the holiday season

xabi and alonso

oceania felinicus

an exciting discovery was made recently
by west coast beachcombers:
a species thought to be long extinct
was seen frolicking among the waves in the waters of the north pacific
oceania felinicus (or, 'sea kitty' as it is affectionately known)
seems to have made an unexpected and sudden resurgence
although not substantiated with photographic evidence
exuberant witnesses were adamant that their sightings were valid
and in addition to spotting the OFs, distinctive mewlings were definitely heard
a most welcome development and hopeful sign
for sailors
mermaids
sea kitties
all of us

washing up

ice 'eggs'
on a beach in Finland
surprises all over the world

words to live by when you welcome kittens into your home...

every day
is a new day

beetling

scientists at the Natural History Museum in London
have named a small arthropod after Greta T
to honour her efforts to raise awareness of climate change
'Nelloptodes greta' is among the world's smallest beetles
it has no eyes or wings
belongs to the Ptiliidae family
and is less than 1mm long
tiny yet mighty

beetle on GT!

webs

it's always comforting
at the beginning of a new writing project
to see a spider in the house
time to get busy
weaving

friday recap

10 000 +
the people united...
songs
prayers
drums
babies
babas
sunshine
Greta

coming home to 4 foster kittens

thankful for all that is lovely
and light in the world

a round of robins

the other day i was thinking of the ones i had seen this season
the annual count and how i hadn't seen any for weeks now
days getting shorter
leaves turning
maybe that was it
all that would visit this year

this morning busy busy busy
flitting around on the roof
at the windows
out back then in front
one and then another and another and...
close to a dozen (hard to tell, so many here/there/everywhere)
here and then
gone

a nice sendoff from the redbreast friends
thirty days hath september
going out on feathery wings

Fridays for Future

24 hours to go
time to get marching
lace up!

suiting up

some of many suits at the comic con...

miniature superhero with pint sized sledge hammer
dude with homemade power glove with gumdrop jewels
seven inflatable tyrannosaurus rexes plus triceratops buddy
trio in 'costumes'...'outfits'...'clothes'...
guy with handcrafted claw hands
dapper decked out wizard prof
pbs painting guru guy (curly mop, beard and brush/palette) and mom as landscape painting
red head curly top twins in complementary capes
pretty much anyone and everyone

putting the 'awe' in awesome

repeat offenders

today
a meeting with a man and his dog
i thought they looked familiar
(i saw them last week)
strolling through the hood

'pookie' is very friendly
11 years old
and 'getting a little bit slow'

on paths will cross again
as we amble on
in our own sweet time

reverberations

there are some pretty sweet sounds
emanating up the stairs
late this afternoon...

Chiroptera

this afternoon meeting a friend
on the eve of a big trip down under
sitting on the patio along the avenue
and wondering what is that?
who is that?

a brown bat having a siesta
on the red brick wall of the Empress

night has fallen
not quite last call
maybe time to fly
for one little one

along for the ride

quite pleasant and mildly tickling
to have a forearm aphid visitor
on this sunny September afternoon

Cyanocitta cristata

working on an application for days
thinking it's more or less ready
but for some reason feeling nervous
about turning it in
just then, you hear the distinctive call
and there she is in the tree outside your window:
a blue jay
she continues singing her song
and flits around from branch to branch
staying for a little while
before flying away
thanks for the visit
the company
the blessing
now as ready as ever
you hit 'send'

another trip around the sun

lovely wishes from friends near and dear
near and far xo
sweet surprises
schemes and dreams
for the 'new year'
basking in the blessings

pica pica

talking in trees
gathering on rooftops
hopping in the parking lot of a gas station
time for time out beneath spruce boughs
here
there
everywhere
today it's all about the magpies

going forward

yesterday
our city council voted to declare
a climate emergency
here and the world over
may day
may day
may day

now and in the days to come

spiriting the Amazon

inspired words...

“Instead of worrying about how that future might turn out, I’m going to try to change that future while I still can.”

Greta T

safe journeying...

that feeling when...

you arrange your morning around
an agreed upon meeting
and arrive even a little bit early
just to be sure

and you mull around a little
(not hovering or being obtrusive)
until you decide 'okay, it's time'
only to learn that no they're not coming

?
but maybe you could talk to ...
but no...she's not here...
but maybe you could talk to...
and you do
and she seems fine
quite nice and all
but then you have to wonder
wtf?

and on the ride home
you have to ask yourself
if you maybe just were saved in the long run
from a whole lotta trouble

yesterday today tomorrow

the day before
a little visitor
a sparrow at the window

this afternoon at the parking lot of the grocery store
several seagulls
some sunning on the pavement

who will be our Sunday visitors?
wings all around

as long as there are feathered friends
'hope is the thing...'
buoyed by the birds

on this day...

23 years ago
right around this time in the afternoon
i was meeting someone in a cafe on Whyte Avenue
for coffee
a first meeting

23 years later
the meeting continues

a life of love

penultimate day of the 7th

news of the arctic on fire
all that permafrost
peat
methane
going up
out
into the atmosphere

and a video of greenland melting @ 25 degrees
rushing
gushing
water

all happening right here
right now
on the big blue ball

the bells are ringing
hello?
hello!
bells are ringing
time to answer
time to get busy

here now

in a summer of heavy rain and thunderstorms
there is something lovely and soothing to be found
in a late afternoon
gentle rain

a song in my head...in my heart

'when someone great is gone...'

lilting

many sweet songs being sung
in Gold Bar this afternoon

ten pin

yet another thunderstorm
the gods are busy bowling
tonight

singing

one of my favourite things that we hold dear
is an old Singer sewing machine
non-electric
the kind that you pedal
self generating
it folds up onto itself
a secret to be revealed
my dad talked about how he liked to play with it
as a child
investigating the little drawers
figuring out how things work

thunderstorm warnings late this afternoon
the threat and promise of heavy skies

94 years to the day
here's to figuring things out
pedalling on

a toast

today would've been a 90th birthday
and so we cheer
remembering fondly
here's to JJ

hold on Toto

"Conditions are favourable for the development of funnel clouds this afternoon into early this evening. These types of funnel clouds are generated by weak rotation under rapidly growing clouds or weak thunderstorms. This weak rotation is normally not a danger near the ground. However, there is a chance that this rotation could intensify and become a weak landspout tornado."

Kansas here we come...

robin count

wee 65 and the pain of the pane
(66 swooping in with fluttered support)
a brush with the window and then off again

67 and 68 later in the morning
damp grass and hopefully the reward of worms

69 also scampering
raindrop beaded feathers

evening song
and tales to tell
from a wet and busy day

thursday

the gift of a thistle
books into being (and hopefully hands)
the 12th robin high on a treetop
smiles exchanged on the bus
the little friday

they come in threes

baby squirrels

welling

in the first few minutes
leading up to
the first rain storm
(maybe thunder storm?)
of the season
quiet
then windy
sitting still in anticipation
of what is to come

airwaves

the annual robin sighting count
is a bit down so far this year
not too many visible
but the songs being sung
are off the charts
notes from treetops
twittering down
keep on keeping on
little red ones

pedestrian flight path

walking north of Jasper on 119th a surprising sight:
a solitary goose on the lawn of The Cardinal block
a bit fussed wondering where were the others?
the friends
the comrades
but why would they be here?
why was this one here?
in the heart of Oliver

headed towards me an elderly man
with an unleashed Pomeranian cross making solid time
the man called out a bit anxiously:
'Rex!  Rex!  That bird is way bigger than you!'

and it was way bigger
and hopefully
still is
wherever it is

robins

some seasons you hear them before you see them
lots of singers here in the hood
tonight

go big or go...

squirrel is munching on a pine cone
the size of her tail

all is just right in the land
of the small ones

colour coded

a white and black chickadee
eating red mountain ash berries
under a blue spring sky

turning the corner

so many little birds singing today
and not snow
but rain
headed the other way

skidmark

the day when you realize
that last week's wipeout/face plant
on Independence Avenue
is going to leave a scar on your forehead

thankful that it wasn't worse
and that you don't look even more
like the famous boy wizard
(insert lightning bolt here)

little birds in airports

a small feathered friend in the Ronald Reagan
flitting around and about windows
and one connection and a couple of hours later
two sparrows
one with a gummed and felted foot
hoofing for cheese crumbs in the Pearson
reminding me of the Archers of Loaf ode to 'All the Nation's Airports'
pathways
migrations
and how we all get on with the business of getting on
how to inhabit
embrace
or escape what we have created
this brave
and once ancient
new world

banff rasping

in the moment when you realize
that the room is breathing
(or at least sounds like it)
exhalation/ventilation
the space is live
cue to cue
press play
now

heart strings

and then there are some days
when you find yourself
missing a little friend...

but in a good way
xo

you know...

it's another day with an
'extreme cold warning'
when your eyelids
start cracking

jet boy jet girl

a remarkable bird has been spotted in Erie, Pennsylvania
a cardinal with distinct markings:
half-vermilion/half-taupe...colour delineated down the middle
at once both male and female
the scientific term 'bilateral gynandromorph'
or 'half-sider'

they be rare
they be lovely

news of the world

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'

OMG
what are we doing?

wispy wings

and i have to wonder
on yet another extremely cold day
how the little ones manage
how do the birds keep warm?
flitting branch to branch to branch
maybe huddling together
comfort and strength
keep on keeping on
solidarity in numbers

my civic duty

'content' 'content'
'content' 'content'
'content' 'content'
'content' 'CHALLENGE'

better luck next time

mercury

high -21
low -34

clear and c-c-c-cold

all about the friends

Nelson

farewell to the seagulls
on the ledge of the 14th floor
feathery wisps on glass
committed to memory
fly well friends

waterfront

gulls on the window ledge of 1404
white
grey
mottled feathers
pink webbed feet
perching
watching
here and then
gone

home/away

snowstorm warning...
long duration:  15 to 35 cm

/

ocean
mountains
light rain

more and more teeny tiny crowns

numbers of monarch butterflies wintering in central Mexico
were up 144% this year
not yet certain if that trend will continue
but for now good news!
keep those wee wings
flapping

-9 degrees sonic

no snow today
but sounds like someone is using a blower
or maybe a chainsaw
or an outboard motor in the middle of the city

not loud enough though
to drown out the woodpecker
happily going at it
on the side of the house

a little industrious energy
busy busy busy
the waning days of january
and we're all doing it here
one way or another
in this frozen prairie town

a small one

today a baby bird on a branch
magpie?
bluejay?
hard to tell
fluffed up
not quite ready to fly
bobbing up and down
spreading wings
one day

frequencies

some guitar sounds
are very much
like cat's meows

dressed for success

busy typing in fingerless woollen gloves
like a character in a Dickens novel

Monday Rx

turmeric honey in tea...

super blood wolf moon

eclipse on Sunday
eyes to the skies
bella luna

late afternoon on the 53rd parallel

just after 5pm
and still a bit of light in the sky
deep winter
but slowly headed
the other way

schlumbergera

we think the christmas cactus
must be around thirty years old
have managed to tend it for several seasons now
not many blooms the past few years
but now on one tendril
bright vibrant pink
full on flowering
a little gift
that keeps on
giving

needles and pins

a magpie nest outside the window of the acupuncturist
on the second floor
little whoors and coos as the heatlamp warms my feet

on the bus
mandarin orange peels
a free daily
and an unopened pack of Trident gum
no thanks but maybe for some other lucky rider

a few Christmas tree needles on the driveway from the Fraser fir
the front room seems empty without it

all the more space to let the light in
as the days---each day---get just a little bit longer

outdoorigans

three scampering blue jays
on branches around the dogwood
woodpecker
squirrel
hare tracks in the snow

chilled after waiting 15+minutes for the bus
not as swaddled as some

in passing

George, of the land snails
Achatinella apexfulva
died on New Year’s Day, 2019.
Approximately 14 years old,
s/he (George was both)
was raised in a laboratory
at the University of Hawaiʻi.
The last of a kind.

Aloha George.

2019 first findings

'To Don

From Josie & Ray

with Hugs & Love'

the things you come across in a rented Kona...