The Pancake Chronicles

whatever works

2012-01-27T00:00:00.002-07:00

Strange, but whenever I see a sign that warns violators about being towed I imagine a group of people whipping off their socks and worming around their big toes in the face of the offender. The mere thought of colliding with sock lint and toe jam keeps me plugging the meter and parking where I ought.

powdah

2012-01-25T00:00:00.001-07:00

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.
I really could do this all day.

idle

2012-01-23T00:00:00.005-07:00

These days I'm a little like these pots.
Stationary.
Winterlit.
Patient (mostly).
And waiting ... (interims aren't for always) ...

... for the earth again
and a little spring in me.

filter

2012-01-20T00:00:00.001-07:00

polar

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

pluggin' for me

2012-01-16T00:00:00.002-07:00

So happy to light up my life.

if I ever have a bird ...

2012-01-13T00:00:00.005-07:00

... I would have this one. He is my favourite. Ever. He flies south for the winter ... to Yellowknife. I love him for this alone. Any ideas from the non-Northerners in the house as to what kind he is? If you reply correctly you will win the warm, fleeting feeling that comes from knowing something that only a few some do. Sort of like how I feel right now. Sort of .... Yup, there it goes.

reprieve

2012-01-11T00:00:00.005-07:00

Fresh with sunshine, and coming up for warm air, tweedling through puddles of yesterday's snow, and butter fields. Glad to thaw for a few days, even more to be with old friends through winter days.

in the white woods

2012-01-09T00:00:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.002-07:00

My future's so bright ...!

Québec City - day five

2011-12-29T00:00:00.002-07:00

Mark had to work on Monday, our last day full day in Québec. It stood to reason then that I should have breakfast at the Crêperie in solitaire and write postcards between black coffee and forkfuls of apples and cheese.

Of course it followed that I should roam the streets of the Old Quarter taking it all in for the last time.

The rain came and washed the snow away to autumn.

Protecting the city.

Fairmont le Château Frontenac

I happened on a glass shop where I had to resist the desire to purchase the whole of a mini forrest and other non-coniferous items.

We were told Le Lapin Sauté was the best restaurant in town.

Stop it with the ridiculous cuteness of this place.

We began dinner early with the place to ourselves.

But it wasn't long before chairs had bums and tables their elbows. And I concurred with the masses - this was my favourite restaurant, too.

Descrumptious apple sugar pie. Can you see the face?

Thank you, Québec! Goodbye, Château! You were so good to us it hurts. We miss you and promise to return. Mwa! x.

christmas

2011-12-25T00:00:00.005-07:00

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

- Jesus

Québec City - day four

2011-12-22T00:00:00.002-07:00

On Sunday morning I got up before my honey and walked through the sun rising.

You know, the Château Frontenac ...

... is stunning ...

... no matter ...

... which way ...

... you look at it.

SEE? (Plus, I just really like that squirky little thing over the 'a'.)

Holiday home decorating, Québec style.

Freedom in the Plains of Abraham.

Saint Lawrence in the morning.

This was my favourite tree...

... even before I found out ...

... there is an honest to goodness perma-cannonball curled within its roots.

The wall dividing the Old Quarter from the New.

Somewhere in the middle of all the day Mark and I walked and shopped through the streets together. And we happened upon carollers! Carollers! Just a'singin' in the street! Pulled from a page out of Dickens! With Christmas spinning around them. They were very good.

I was taking photos when this French gentlemen in his chapeau politely interrupted my snaps to hand me the mittens (Madam) I had left behind on a garden wall. Merci beaucoup!

This is the house that the music for O Canada, our national anthem, was written in. Mark noticed the quiet plaque otherwise I would've walked right on by. There was an apartment for sale here, too. Perhaps the very one the song was written in!

In the evening we had dinner was at Le Champlain in the Château. This was The Big Dinner of the week. I really can't, just, it was, wow. Our table overlooked the beautiful Saint Lawrence. We were fed and treated royally. The service, amazing. The food, perfect. The atmosphere was old and warm, grand and intimate.
Another beautiful day to be grateful for! (Gleep. Going through major Château withdrawal here!)

Québec City - day three

2011-12-19T00:00:00.001-07:00

   Saturday was a slower, quieter day for Mark and I. My camera took a snooze for the most part. We had breakfast again at le Cochon Dingue and wandered through the streets of the Old Quarter, followed by a quick ferry ride across the St. Lawrence river to the town of Lévis and back again.

Lévis.

Surprise! The Château Frontenac.
   The rest of the afternoon and into the early evening was spent at The Musée de la Civilisation taking in tours of Québec's history and the origins of Rome. The artifacts were spectacular and I spent a long time viewing them. It was hard to believe I wasn't looking at replicas but actual sculptures and art from Italy's ancient past. The Roman exhibition runs until January 29, 2012 should you be in the area and want to take it in.
   In the evening, after supper in our room, I visited the German Christmas markets - the little stalls selling mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, sausage, stollen, and hot cocoa as well as wooden toys and handmade treasures. I didn't stop at any of the booths. My extroverted hat had been put away earlier and I felt no need to put it on again. But it was wonderful to walk through the crowds of people, listening to choirs sing through speakers in front of the church, music drifting over me and everyone, twirled the snow and multi-lingual conversation around us.

Québec City - day two

2011-12-14T00:00:00.005-07:00

Through my morning window.
There was much that took place on our second day in Québec City but nothing was breakneck. We were relaxed all the way. I think it's the nature of the place.

We had breakfast at le Cochon Dingue. I had the crêpe au gratin which was a shallot and spinach crêpe stuffed with ham, mushrooms, bechamel sauce and melted gouda cheese. Oh hello, beautiful.

Upon leaving we found a gnome home. I am very curious about this place. I believe a family of Narnian foxes live here and refuse to be told that it's someone's cold storage or somesuch dull thing.

Again, the Château Frontenac.

The only thing in our day that was breakneck were these stairs specifically named "Breakneck Stairs". If we needed to get down quickly to the lower part of the old quarter there was a little tram that took one straight down the hill for $2 which cut out twenty minutes of walking up or down steep roads. It came in handy if we were late for a reservation or had already walked our legs off prior and just couldn't look another flight of stairs in the eye.

Every storefront and restaurant was decorated for Christmas and this restaurant had my favourite display of them all.

This was my favourite store to browse through. Everything was handmade and imported from Turkey.

We took a country bus tour. Mark and I were the only ones on it. Apparently December 2nd isn't the high time of the year for tourism. The first place we visited was the Île d'Orléans - a small island in the fleuve Saint-Laurent. We visited a chocolaterie and made the appropriate delicious purchases necessary.

This home was across the street from the chocolate shop and on the shoreline of the fleuve Saint-Laurent. Unfortunately it wasn't the best day for sightseeing because, unlike the previous day, the sky was socked in. Fortunately I didn't care because it was the first snowfall and everything was beautiful.

Bridal Veil Falls. I'm sure there is a bridal falls in every province, state and territory in the world.

After a visit to the falls we were taken to an amazing copper shop. I wasn't able to take photos there but the work was exquisite.
And then to Chez Marie! Where we were told she would serve us fresh bread and maple butter.

It was true! She did. There she is and there they are. It was so good. SO good. Swirly, melty, smooth, sweet but not too. A little jar of maple joy now resides in my northern cupboard. I want to make it last, I really do, but it is extraordinarily hard not to dip into now and then.

The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.

We arrived a little late here. It was dusk and we missed out on the beautiful stained glass windows flooding the sanctuary. We were unable to take photos during Mass, naturally, which was in session. But we did enjoy sitting in the old wooden pews and taking everything in. There was a little sanctuary in the basement and that is where these photos came from.

Every moment of our country tour was beautiful.

After we returned to the hotel we didn't feel like going out for dinner so we ordered room service - nachos and a cheese and fruit plate. Sat on the bed and watched a little TV.

Mark was done for the night but not I - Iwanted to poke around still. So I explored the inside of the Château. I took the elevator up to the 17th floor and then one more elevator to the 18th.

Snow on the rooftop. I can imagine Santa's sleigh along the ridgepole.

The Price Building, built in 1929. The Québec premier's official residence is here.

How beatuiful from the top of the hotel!

One of the halls of the ritzier areas, I think it was either one of the top two floors. From the 18th floor I took the stairs
all
the
way
down ...

... and stepped outside. A girl gets warm walking down some five hundered steps. And outside was winter cool. I stood in the park adjoining the hotel for awhile willing time to stand still with me.

One last look up at the Château and then to bed.

Québec City - day one

2011-12-12T00:10:00.010-07:00

I hardly know where to begin! And it's really not so much where to begin as how MUCH there is.
The above photo is the view from our hotel window. The first morning began with breakfast at the Château's Café de la Terrasse. Eggs benedict, please! Smuvlee.
We spent the rest of the day touring and walking along some of the many streets, walkways and parks of the city.

Overlooking the Saint Lawrence River.

The town of Lévis, a quick five minute ferry ride over the fleuve Saint-Laurent from Québec City.

The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac - one of many photos of the old hotel coming soon from a Colleen near you.

One lucky winter tree with a view of it all.

Shops and buildings in the Old Quarter.

The Plains of Abraham.

I could nay get enough of the trees.

He went that-a-way!

The Parliament buildings just outside the walled city.

People live here. I hope they are grateful.

All the shops are amazingly decorated for Christmas.

Socks, darn it!

It was a wonderful day but the best thing of all happened in the evening and I haven't a photo to show you. We went to see Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal perform Casse-Noisette - the Nutcracker Suite. It was beautiful beyond words. All my life I've wanted to see it and I was not disappointed. Far from it. It was all I could do to keep from weeping through the first half. I wasn't expecting to be so emotional but the combination of the dreamy sets and costuming, the talent and grace of the dancers and the live orchestra playing all the music I know so well mixed in with all my hopes and expectations of what it would be like was almost too much. It far exceeded my imaginings and if we did nothing else in Quebec that week I'd consider our trip a success.

Québec City - first eve

2011-12-09T00:00:00.004-07:00

fter three flights travelling north to south and then west to east, with the clock working against us and adding hours to an already long day we arrived at Le Château Frontenac around 10 pm. The fact that I'd awoke at 3:30 am that morning to catch the first plane and had been in a sleepy fog all day slipped away when we arrived. It was so big and beautiful and old and Christmasy and lovely without being showy and glamorous. When you're that beautiful you don't have to flaunt it you just are it.

Our room was cozy and well appointed. I loved it immediately.

One of the zillion bannisters to somewhere. With 618 rooms and 18 floors there are steps and stairs a'plenty. We were on the seventh floor.

Ancient reflecting devices on our seventh floor hallway.

Being that we were both sleepy and one of us was Albertan we felt that ordering room service desserts while watching the Oilers game was our best course of action as opposed to mixing and mingling with the Québecy throngs.

Mark ordered crème brûlée. I love the maple leaf shaped wafer - Canadian touch.

I almost always order crème brûlée if it's an option but oh I thought I'd shake it up a little with a hazelnut cake dark chocolate torte thingy. I couldn't manage a good photo but those are figs in the distance. I confess the only fig I'd ever had up until last week was a Newton. Now I can tell you with confidence that figs are homey and sweet and pretty and every bite tasty.

And then to bed. The most comfortable bed ever. The best pillowy happiness ever. I was out like a light. Mind you I was so tired it could have been a rock and I'd have been good. Getting up at 3:30 am will do that to a girl.

snow, everywhere snow

2011-12-05T00:00:00.001-07:00

winter sketch

2011-12-01T00:00:00.001-07:00

oui, oui!

2011-11-28T00:00:00.006-07:00

My days have been quiet of late but this week things will be a little different. Mark and I are heading to Québec City! I've never been there but have heard it is beautiful in every way - the St. Lawrence river, the glorious old Chateau Frontenac, cobblestone streets, and fabulous French food within slurping distance. I am prepared to dive head first into a plate of crêpes directly upon arrival. Everything will be profusely decked out for the Christmas holidays. But best of all we will be seeing Casse-Noisette aka The Nutcracker ballet performed at the Grand-Théâtre de Québec. I have wanted to see this all my life and have never had the chance. I cannot WAIT! (I promise, Mom, I will take you with me in my back pocket.) I'll be back soon to tell you all about it!

welcome

2011-11-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Above, below, the sky is grey, the world is white, the snow is floofy - yes, floofy. It's my house, each snowflake's little stamp on a zillion frosty others, a path under trees to my stoop.

winter afternoon

2011-11-21T00:00:00.001-07:00

warmth

comfort food

free the ducks!

2011-11-18T00:00:00.002-07:00

It's not knowing how things will turn out that frees you to play,
lets you learn,
lets you discover stuff.
Ducks were never meant to be in a row! That's just ...
... weird.
Then why do (quack) I insist (quackquack) on it (quackquackquackquackquack)?

oh, let the sun shine in!

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

maybe tomorrow

2011-11-14T00:00:00.004-07:00

This morning when I woke, I rushed to the window to see what the ice had made of each tree, freezing branches into their permanent selves as I had so hoped. But some wind or cloud or slight raise or drop of temperature or imperceptibly radical change had left them bare and blackened in snow up to their knobbled knees looking thin and uncomfortable.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.002-07:00

We remember.

november

2011-11-09T00:00:00.003-07:00

In the wind and the blear
and the thick,
grey sock
sky
I found a place to look
up and worship.

Musical Notation: 2

2011-11-07T00:00:00.001-07:00

Everything is His.
The door, the door jamb.
The wood stacked near the door.
The leaves blown upon the path
   that leads to the door.
The trees that are dropping their leaves
   the wind that is tripping them this way and that way,
the clouds that are high above them,
the stars that are sleeping now beyond the clouds

and, simply said, all the rest.

When I open the door I am so sure so sure
   all this will be there, and it is.
I look around.
I fill my arms with the firewood.
I turn and enter His house, and close His door.

Mary Oliver - from Thirst

more salt on the wound

2011-11-04T00:00:00.001-06:00

out standing in my field

2011-11-02T00:00:00.012-06:00

Sheep: Who are you?

Colleen: I'm Colleen.

Sheep: Why have you come?
Colleen: Just to take a look around ...

... Maybe get to know you ...

... Have a little friendly baaaanter. Heh heh.

Sheep: Huh.

(Either they've become used to me or there's a deeper message I'm not getting here.)

what a pane

2011-10-31T00:00:00.001-06:00

Today as the snow half-thawed in the drip dripping of the eaves troughs I took one look outside my windows and though Egad! For in truth I couldn't see very much through my windows at all. When did they get that dirty and miserable? How was I to manage a winter of cold, dark days if the little bit of lovely light I had entering in was to be thwarted by a fortress of filth? I knew I had to clean them that moment before the temperature dipped a degree or two which meant now. Why I didn't think to do this on a lovely summer's day I cannot tell you. Two buckets of grimey warm water later, donned in rubber gloves and a parka, I could see. That's all I ask from a window.

a walk while winter comes

2011-10-28T00:00:00.001-06:00

the sad scoop of the pitiable pumpkin

2011-10-26T00:00:00.009-06:00

In my little kitchen sits
a pumpkin orange and fair
I bought it just because
I like to see him sitting there

But as I sit to eat my lunch
Upon my derierre,
The pumpkin takes up so much room
It seems its everywhere!

Where do I put my plate now that
The table isn't bare?
It's me or him! It's him or me!
I don't know how to share.
(Or to put it more succinctly:
He is getting in my hair.)

“Listen pumpkin, it's been real.
We're cool.” And then I sigh,
“But this place can't hold the both of us,
We'll have to say goodbye.
Yep, my gourd, it's come to this:
I think you must be pie.”

my first wheels

2011-10-24T00:00:00.001-06:00

captured

2011-10-21T00:00:00.067-06:00

How other than us!
The ghosted hills reign high and wide,
with cloud-white sheets that swirl
   and keep their secret selves from me.
        From anyone who tries to see.
It’s hide and seek.
It’s trick
   (oh, but it’s treat, too).

Alarmed, tires yank us forward to safety and windows seal the blockade.
They mean well but they worry too much.
I pretend to eat my sandwich and,
   when they’re not looking,
        while they’re busy saving me from the world,
I throw breadcrumbs.

Bamboo breakfast

2011-10-19T00:00:00.006-06:00

“He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart ....”

C.S. Lewis - Letters to an American Lady

down and below from up and away

2011-10-17T00:00:00.001-06:00

Leaving my town Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.

Islands strewn into Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories.

Over beautiful Edmonton, Alberta.

Popcorn and a show between Alberta and British Columbia.

Accordion mountains in British Columbia.

Grizzly's swimming pool north of Vancouver, BC.

Cloud sandwhich, me filling.

Whitehorse! The Yukon!

hello, again.

2011-10-14T00:00:00.020-06:00

Hello again! Did you think I was lost forever? I was only away from it all excepting a home containing one train-absorbed nephew of spectacular adorability, a rainy town in coastal Alaska containing one fish-dreaming husband of striking handsomeness, and a van along the winding Klondike Highway containing one nose-glued-to-the-window me of magnificent wonderment. In other words, vacation. Did you know that there are swans in the Wild North of 60? Swans, I tell you! It was magical to see them drifiting the grey pools amid the lichen and snowdusted slopes. It took my breath away.
Now, after packing away three Thanksgiving dinners in as many days (yes, three delightful and fat-ifying dinners) I find myself at home, sorting through papers, learning to cook again, and settling into routine.
I love the away and I love the hello, again.

by the Chilkat River

2011-09-30T00:00:00.001-06:00

top o' the mornin' cup o' joe

2011-09-28T00:00:00.006-06:00

my home for awhile

2011-09-26T00:00:00.000-06:00

for two

2011-09-23T00:00:00.000-06:00

The Fireweed was hopping.

So we waited out on the deck for a space to clear.

We didn't mind. It was beautiful. The ocean in front of us ...

... and trees at our feet.

And ohhhh, their macaroni and cheese was worth the wait.

wordless

2011-09-21T00:00:00.002-06:00

“How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, and the hills and the sky? Anyone knows they are. How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm, the rhythm of the day and the season instead of the hour and the minute? No, you cannot explain. So you walk.”

Author unknown - from New York Times editorial “The Walk” - October 25, 1967

betwixt

2011-09-19T00:00:00.026-06:00

am officially on holidays and I am torn. I'm happy to see friends and family but so sad to leave behind Yellowknife's beautiful autumn. It's the longest, loveliest one I can remember and I so wish I could be there to see it through to its proper finish. But what is autumn when there are people to be hugged and coffee to be shlurped? Priorities, Colleen, priorities.

narrow escape

2011-09-16T00:00:00.011-06:00

esterday was very windy. When the gusts subsided in the evening that was my cue to flee our apartment's seasonless walls into the big, fat, sunsetted autumn waiting for me outside. Armed with rice pudding in one hand, spoon in the other, just a quick circle around the lake. Greebs frightened out of rushes into flight by my own, beavers diving beneath the cat tails, cyclists and hellos, leashes and dogs passing over the bridge, the rocks - all mixed about with cream and cinnamon and raisins and enough September air in me to last till morning. Now I can breathe.

interview with a cranberry

2011-09-14T00:00:00.002-06:00

Cranberries!

This is the day, the very moment, for the best of the wild, wildly lost cranberries.

Hiding under lichen, alongside bright berry poseurs, in the bracken of gnarly trees, I know they hope to be found.

(Those tart little things, winking and ducking.)

They want to be found, I say.

For all their shyness they're soon chattering non-stop, as most introverts do when alone with you and a cup of coffee.

At the foot of the jack pine, in the toadstool's shadow we talk and talk.

And if it weren't for the darkening sky, and the wood rain slipping down my back, the cold of dusk dulling my fingers, we'd still be there, berries prattling on, ...

... I in bucket rhapsody.

Twiggy

2011-09-12T00:00:00.003-06:00

☺

my town

2011-09-09T00:00:00.030-06:00

've only just noticed how almost all the photos here of late have been of water. Ah well, it can't be helped. When our world is frozen so much of the year the liquid stuff has a rather large hold on me .
I apologize for the quality of the video but I did want to show you the view from a spot just across the street from our apartment. Up and over the rocks, the downtown stays put in the craggy crevaces behind me while I spill out into the windy wide open and love, love, LOVE (at long last) being here.

luff and lull

2011-09-07T00:00:00.002-06:00

uick, sparkle, zing. Sails taut, whizz fling over the waves. These are things you hope for in a trip to There and Back beyond the bay. But yesterday we bobbed and luffed, bobbed and luffed for hours. The wind had forgotten us entirely. I saw a snail row past us on a penny gold leaf. Overhead a raven flew backwards and arrived the day before last. That was moments before I nodded off into “ that place between sleep and awake”^*. (I love that place, full of sound and rest, every audio blip filtered through water slosh and fish puckering at the air. And the boat determined to dip sideways and splooshways until my head feels too heavy for my neck. It is impossible to stay awake when you are there.)

*Tinker Bell - Hook (1991)

away, away from shore

2011-09-05T00:00:00.001-06:00

e sailed today in the rain, wind soft and clouds low. The rock about the lake's perimeter was shiny, black gun metal. Our jeans were soaked through but our top halves were warm and dry under hats and raincoats, fleece and life jackets. We met one other sailboat returning as we started out but from then on it was our lake, our sails. Eating pecans and flinging banana peel overboard. Making up sea songs in our big bathtub filling with water, our very own duckie nodding his bill at us away, away from shore. And the jib flinging drizzle over us as we tack, so we kiss and what does it matter. I feel it's a secret no one wants to believe (inside eyes peering miserably at black clouds) - everything is better in the rain.

Sea Fever

2011-09-02T00:00:00.000-06:00

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

John Masefield

random

2011-08-31T00:00:00.008-06:00

I made rice pudding tonight. I love rice pudding. Can I get a witness? I've been tweaking my ol' standby for some time and this evening was another tweak session. I love it super creamy and eggy and just a little sweet. But I've had to say "so long, Bob" to milk and nothing says creamy like, well, cream. Ah well, change is good and there are some great substitutes out there for milk though I hate to call them substitutes. It right away puts me to trying to make something taste the same as it tasted before instead of enjoying the new and awesome thing -behold!- in front of me.
So what does this have to do with a photo of mushrooms on a bed of moss? Not a thing.

ignorant bliss

2011-08-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

Have you ever been happy right down to your toes for no apparent reason? Well, now you know - all that time you were standing on a smiley rock.

☺

why did this happen

2011-08-26T00:00:00.015-06:00

I know.
There are so many things wrong about this photo.

First of all this photo was NOT my idea. (Mom? WHY???)
Secondly - so why am I smiling? I am not smiling now. I am ... hurting. It's a grimace, really. My stomach actually hurts.
Thirdly - my SHORTS!
Fourthly - oh ... no I can't go on.
Your soothing, comforting words to my injured brain will be the only thing that will help me through this. I understand you may have some questions and that is perfectly normal. It's the only thing normal about any of this.

waaaaaah!

2011-08-24T00:00:00.005-06:00

This just in: my camera bit the biscuit. I don't know why, I don't know how. I just know that I am sad. I picked it up the other day with snappy intentions but I was greeted with an ERROR sign blinking miserably at me. I have to send it away to have surgery but it will be a little while before I can do that so now ... I am scrounging through my old photos to come up with something and what I've come up with is ...
Ta da!

Flowers for you.
Or would you rather see this?

No, I don't think you would. Sorry. It was a lot of work getting hair as small as mine to be that big. It was likely only half as big as I would have liked and was only as big as it was directly due to permanent solution, the smell of which yet heavily lingers in my mind's ... nose.
Now can you see why I'm lamenting my camera's present state? I can't keep dragging up my past like this.

water below, water above

2011-08-22T00:00:00.002-06:00

he leaves have been turning gold for a some weeks now and presently the rain is watering down and encouraging the trees to forget about green and embrace an arctic autumn. (Don't you think the sound of dreary weather makes up for its gloominess - rain on stones, wind through branches? Nice weather doesn't have a sound.)

Mark is sailing tonight and will be caught in this surprise deluge. From June until September everything Boat is on his mind and a little rain will do not a thing to deter him.

Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night can stay this sailor about his duty! Okay, snow maybe.

fine, I'll give you five.

2011-08-15T00:00:00.004-06:00

No reason for this photo today. Scratch that. Many reasons.

Because I love this photo.
Because I haven't taken any new photos this last week what with the impending garage sale and whatnot.
Because I can still feel how this photo felt the day it was taken.
Because I get all dreamy just looking at it.
Because I'd do it again, for better, for worse.

jolly green giant

2011-08-12T00:00:00.003-06:00

Wouldn't you love to be hiking along and stumble against this friendly moss monster in your path? My cousin Tiffany had such luck and sent along the photo to me. Thank you! And thank you also for this shot of good ol' British Columbian green. It does wonders for my frosty northern heart.

☺

impending DOOM! or (at least) forthcoming UNENJOYMENT!

2011-08-10T00:00:00.001-06:00

This is garage sale week for us and I am somewhere beneath a stack of unruly boxes covered in price tags. I would love to come out and see the sunlight soon. We've been having days too nice to ignore and yet ignoring them is precisely what I've been doing. Wish me luck?

who has known heights

2011-08-08T00:00:00.001-06:00

Who has known heights and depths shall not again
Know peace – not as the calm heart knows
Low, ivied walls; a garden close;
And though he tread the humble ways of men
He shall not speak the common tongue again.

Who has known heights shall bear forever more
An incommunicable thing
That hurts his heart, as if a wing
Beat at the portal, challenging;
And yes- lured by the gleam his vision wore –
Who once has trodden stars seeks peace no more.

Mary Brent Whiteside

behind door no. 1

2011-08-05T00:00:00.004-06:00

love borders. August is the border between summer and autumn; it is the most beautiful month I know. Twilight is the border between day and night, and the shore is the border between sea and land. The border is longing: when both have fallen in love but still haven't said anything. The border is to be on the way. It is the way that is the most important thing.”

Tove Jansson

the cookie equivelant

2011-08-03T00:00:00.007-06:00

Do you ever wake up some mornings and think I do not like this day and don't even try to make me?

☺

first thing

2011-08-01T00:00:00.004-06:00

“I spent many a summer early morning with the radio very low, half sleeping and half listening.”

Frankie Valli

camping - part three

2011-07-29T00:00:00.010-06:00

Last year, on Plane Crash Island, Mark had built a skookum fire pit with a high rock surround to keep the wind from snuffing our fire. It had been a wildly gusty weekend and it was very cold and we were worried about everything and it wasn't fun. This year we were pleased to see the fire pit had survived the winter, likely frozen solid under mounds of crusty snow. S'mores were had by all and, of course, s'more were had by all. We weren't worried a mite (one cannot worry and eat s'mores at the same time -'tis a verifiable impossibility) and it was only when we saw the sky move seamlessly from sunset to sunrise that we rolled up our stories and packed our contented selves deep down in our sleeping bags.

But before that, between string bites of marshmallow gauze and warm nutella, we were witness to an all-night twilight on our left ...

... and a full moon levitating over the water to our right.
On an island in a lonely lake, fish asleep in stoney pools lapping the black rock, and fire crackle filling the spaces between laughter and chocolatey fingers, sun and moon passing notes.
Is it any wonder we return each year?

between an island and I

2011-07-27T00:00:00.002-06:00

camping - part two

2011-07-25T00:00:00.004-06:00

The following day was made for a good paddling. Blue sky, blue lake, blues gone. Plus, free sparkles!

The trip to Plane Crash Island is about two hours of leisurely rowing. Of course, if you decided to go with a 40 km/hr wind blowing directly behind you, say ... August of 2010, you might get there in roughly one hour in a sort of near-hernia condition and wish you'd never been born. Or so I've heard.

It's nice to stop halfway there and pull out the fishing rods and snacks and various whatnots and make use of them as happily as we know how.

Husband! Fishing rod! Joy!

(Have you ever had the feeling you're being watched?)

Onward ho forthwith! There was an island waiting for us and we didn't want to let it down. Have you ever had an island on your back because you didn't show up on time? Me neither and I don't want to. It might use its trees like daggers to hurl at you or splash lake water in your face and send all the fish away. Best to just get there quickly.

And once you're there it's home and you can't imagine four walls and carpet underfoot if you tried and wouldn't wish for it if you could.

camping - part one

2011-07-20T00:00:00.028-06:00

The first night of camping began not so well, moved on to well, and finally ended in not the wellest at all. Due to windy weather we couldn't paddle to Plane Crash Island as we'd hoped to so we opted for camping on the mainland instead - a lonely, pretty spot in the sticks.

Prior to 11 pm we had the world to ourselves, perched on the edge of a river, s'mores a'plenty and nothing but water stories and fire crackle to listen to.

Post 11 pm we shared that world with fifty (and counting) people who, arriving out of thin air, had planned on not sleeping as loudly and longly as possible, people who thought that one hour before the clock struck twelve was a good time to start a party in the woods.

Out of the big wide empty land we live in we had chosen a spot next to the Mother of All Bonfire Shindigs. What could we do? Pack up, go home, sleep, try again tomorrow.

... to be continued ....

return to Plane Crash Island

2011-07-15T00:00:00.005-06:00

It is becoming a quasi-annual trip, it is. I'll report back Monday - hopefully refreshed and still smelling of campfire smoke and bug spray. S'more ya later!

heavy cloud no rain

2011-07-13T00:00:00.002-06:00

Turned on the weather man just after the news
I needed sweet rain to wash away my blues
He looked at the chart but he look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain ...

... Heavy cloud but no rain
The sun won't shine till the clouds are gone
The clouds won't go till their work is done
And every morning you'll hear me pray
If only it would rain today

Sting - Heavy Cloud No Rain from Ten Summoner's Tales

at the end of the road

2011-07-11T00:00:00.004-06:00

          lake lovely
          falls gushy
          friends happy
          g.o.r.p. stashy
          fish? nary.

little sweet thing

2011-07-08T00:00:00.001-06:00

a Yellowknife welcome

2011-07-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

Who are these people waiting for with such hopeful expectation?

A clue. (It's right there.)

Yes! A handsome Duke!

A beautiful Duchess!

great day for up!*

2011-07-04T00:00:00.002-06:00

(*book by Dr. Seuss)

knee high to a grasshopper

2011-07-01T00:00:00.015-06:00

   “'What I came to say was: Have you seen Small anywhere about?'
   'I don't think so,' said Pooh. And then, after thinking a little more, he said: 'Who is Small?'
   'One of my friends-and-relations,' said Rabbit carelessly.
   This didn't help Pooh much, because Rabbit had so many friends-and-relations, and of such different sorts and sizes, that he didn't know whether he ought to be looking for Small at the top of an oak-tree or in the petal of a buttercup.”

A. A. Milne - The House at Pooh Corner

hang to dry

2011-06-29T00:00:00.002-06:00

Ahhhh, I love summer.

summer hiking

2011-06-27T00:00:00.000-06:00

midnight sun

2011-06-24T00:00:00.001-06:00

My drowsy head is attached to a weary skeleton which is housing a very happy heart. My dear friend Cheryl has come for a good, long visit (her beautiful self is under our roof this moment) and is directly contributing to my heart's condition. But first! a good night's sleep. I can't get under the covers soon enough.

it begins

2011-06-22T00:48:00.001-06:00

“Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

Henry James

best toast ever

2011-06-20T00:00:00.002-06:00

trawberries may have failed me but toast has not. This toast wears a gold lamé unitard and a red cape with the letter T and a lightening bolt embroidered o'er it. This toast stands high upon a perfectly crusty crag overlooking the kingdom of Jams and Nut Butter and laughing so as to reveal the tender chewiness of its heart whilst wafty coffee goodness flaps its toasty cape appreciatively. This toast vacuums my house, loves to entertain, and skips through fields of white daisies. Good morning to me!

waaaah!

2011-06-17T13:55:00.002-06:00

Today I mourned a strawberry, a red-through strawberry, a sweet-through strawberry. I mourned seeds that would clone it a thousand times over. I felt sad for cream that wouldn't turn pink from twirling. I felt mad at mandatory sugar. I yearned for that strawberry as I stared eyeball to collander-ful of imposters ~ bruised from jostling each other in evil anticipation of their deceipt, crunchy from impatience, bland with apathy.

wonder full

2011-06-15T01:09:00.003-06:00

o describe today would be like pinning down a kite. Oh, it was a kite! Warm wind, a cool thin strand running through it like a taut guitar string, plucking at me. And all the ancient rock standing by, as it always has, watching summer happen for the millionth time - the city pressed atop its shield, evolving, devolving. Marvelling at it all, how I came to live in these rock hills, my southern days thawed long ago into polar blue lakes, and I, hidden on the endless water, loving my strange life.

(Yes, water and sky are that blue.)

ode to a June breeze

2011-06-13T00:00:00.021-06:00

          I could listen to your leaves clash and chatter to each other for hours on end.
               You smell like strawberries and worms, rain and dirt, peonies and blue sky.
                                        (You can't make up your mind what to send me, so you send it all.)
                    The goodness you do to pegged cotton you'll never know.
                         Thank you for dispersing bugs thither.
          Now for an iced tea raised! A salute to Zephyrs, in condensation!

cold toes, warm heart

2011-06-10T00:00:00.003-06:00

y toes are cold. This should not be for it was beautiful and warm and ice creamy and flip flops today so I'm not sure how there could be any room whatsoever for cold toes.
That aside, today was especially good because I was able to hug the stuffin' out of one of my dearest friends on the earth, a friend whom I hadn't seen in way too long. 'Twas the best. I laugh at you cold toes - I have a warm heart. ♥

dandelions! (don't sneeze, don't sneeze)

2011-06-08T00:00:00.010-06:00

nicky nicky nine doors

2011-06-06T00:00:00.004-06:00

please stop kicking

2011-06-03T00:00:00.006-06:00

Deep in the northern woods, trees freshly winged with Spring's butterfly leaves, hides the Snowsquatch, with ill intent buried deeply in his frosty heart. I thought I bid him adios one month ago but he had been lurking ever since, planning malevolent nasties all the while.

This explains why, after enjoying a lovely hike by the river this week, I woke up yesterday morning to see (wait for it) snow blizzing in grumpy gusts across our balcony - yes, Snowsquatch's last kick at the can. Darn him.

just luh-ver-lee

2011-06-01T00:00:00.005-06:00

esterday Mark and I took my folks to Cameron Falls, forty-five minutes north of Yellowknife. The day included two fishing rods, one victory summit, four warm sandwiches, a very bumpy road, five beaver dams, a near flat tire, a tandem bike and, all in all, pure enjoyment under the goldy sun. Oh! And one butterfly waiting up for me. (Must be nice to have wings.)

home, sweet home

2011-05-30T00:00:00.001-06:00

Today my parents are trading in their rainy southern lives for the dry and sunny days of the north. In other words, they're coming to visit. Out little home can't wait!

where he belongs

2011-05-27T00:00:00.001-06:00

onward

2011-05-25T00:00:00.005-06:00

The unfinished work,
               and spring snow
                              (confusing me and sprouts and earthworms)
                         squeals spinning tires in my head

Gear down, my girl,
               let rubber connect
          and slow, slow
                                   pull away
                                        by inches

home

2011-05-23T00:00:00.003-06:00

“We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”

T.S. Eliot

take heart

2011-05-20T00:00:00.003-06:00

Look up, little one.

You're not out of the woods yet so ...

... the light came looking for you.

pause

2011-05-18T00:00:00.011-06:00

“It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky ... a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe.”

Victor Hugo

whoop!

2011-05-16T00:00:00.002-06:00

The ice is breaking up! The pussy willows are celebrating! I took this photo at 10:15 pm and the sun still had fifteen minutes to shine upon the day. A northern spring has its' own joy.

small wonder

2011-05-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

the picnic cure

2011-05-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

You know what this waiting-on-its'-tiptoes-for-spring forrest needs?

A little inspiration.

And while the woods get inspired what we need is ...

... a little something to eat.

Everybody's happy!

you know what's nice?

2011-05-06T00:00:00.001-06:00

hat's nice is a package in the mail that you weren't expecting! And in the package is a newsy, sweet letter from your beautiful friend who has written the whole thing in Sharpie felts - all twenty four colours - because that's the kind of girl she is and because she knows that's the kind of girl you are, too. And then underneath the letter there is a jar of honey which just so happens to be your favourite food and it's lemon basil honey which sounds lovelier than most sounds you can think of and it's in a glass jar which is your favourite too because honey is so beautiful when the light shines through and you're not even sure your beautiful friend knows you have a secret dream to one day have a window lined with glass shelves containing assorted honeys in various-sized jars making a honey kaleidoscope in your kitchen. That's what's nice.

faithful

2011-05-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

How grey it is!
The drip, drip, drip
of water collecting into pools in parking lot pockmarks,
and shoes discovering winter cracks, soles sponging up wet reeds of April rains (and May rains, too) into thin, black cotton socks.
It's grey, it's grey, grey, grey.

But all the world tells you,
as it does every year, (again, again, again)
Take heart! Don't give up watch! Spring is coming!

new

2011-05-02T00:00:00.082-06:00

A week after Easter and I find myself snuffling and achoo-ing, the tissue box is my best friend and afternoon naps a daily event. Darn this cold. I haven't hit the "resurrection" phase of the holiday past. I'm definitely still stuck on Good Friday - behold all things don't feel new just yet! Or maybe new is exactly how I feel - snotty, incoherent babbling, bedridden. (Isn't that how life begins? A glorious mess? A series of spectacular faceplants? The little stumble that follows a stumble?) With a cup of blueberry tea standing by and a good rest tonight perhaps tomorrow I'll feel my old self again.

until we meet egg-ain

2011-04-29T00:00:00.016-06:00

I dyed last week.

’Twasn’t so bad ...

... I met a friend!