Monthly Archives: August 2006

Tonight I rode home from work.  The 5 minute bike ride is hardly a big physical effort but it is better than nothing.  I like the ride, especially the part on the river bank.  The geese, ducks and gulls are gathering.  a sure sign that the seasons are changing.  leaves are also starting to fall and today with a strong wind there were almost as many branches as leaves on the path. 

I had a roast in the oven cause I had no idea if I would be having 7, 8 or 10 for supper.  I had green beans that I picked up at the farmers market on Saturday and I wanted to cook them as well as some more of the corn on the cob.  We ended up having a pretty substantial meal.  The last of the stragglers came home and ate around 9. 

Massa wrote his drivers test today for the second time but was again unsuccessful.  I know he knows the signs well.  I suspect it is the way questions are asked that is hardest for him.  I guess we will have to work harder with him on this.  I imagine he is more disappointed than he lets on.

I had time to run up to the church to help set things in order for the funeral tomorrow.  Then back home to clean up from supper. 

And then Sara needed to discuss the assignment she has – to write down her philosophy of life. 

Right now my philosophy is to get off my aching foot and into bed.  Tomorrow will be another day. 

Tonight driving home from dinner out, we passed a young man walking along the road.  We all looked at him and then looked a second time.  His ears were plugged into an MP3 player or discman and as he walked he was not looking at the road at all.  He was reading a book. 

I guess he could multi-task! 

I am pretty sure that I would not be able to concentrate on a book well enough to enjoy it and walk at the same time, and then to listen to music at the same time!

I have been toying with starting a new adventure.  In the Spring I attended a music event, actually a dance performance by a local group.  As part of the evening they also featured several musicians, obviously not higly experienced, but pretty good.  One of the musicians is a patient of mine so I commented on the performance the next time she was in to see me.  To my surprise, I found out that she had only begun to play the cello recently and was part of a group that got together to play strings for fun and to learn.  I was intriqued.  I love the low tones in music best and have sort of wanted to try something new so I asked about joining the group.  I am going to try learning the double bass.  Yeah.  Those great big things. 

On Tuesday I got in contact with the leader of the strings orchestra and rented a half size double bass.  I have been plucking away at it since then.  It will be a challenge but fun.  I think there will be two adults in the beginner group – but I really don’t care.  I just want to learn how to play this beautiful instrument. And as the saleswoman stated when I told her I really was a rank beginner, “One really nice thing about the double bass is that it does not screach when you play it.”

My vacation is about finished.  Tomorrow it is back to work. This morning I dragged myself out of bed at about 8:30.  That is very late for me and if I do that tomorrow, I will miss about two patients.  I was a patient myself again today and so I had a look at the schedule.  It looks absolutely crazy!  I may have to remind them that I will be back in the next day too so I don’t  have to see everyone the first day back!

The vacation has gone by way too fast.

I think I need another two weeks. 

I returned from my vacation in Alberta and this morning I drove Leo down to Saskatoon to catch a flight to Toronto.  We did not actually get tired of each other but that is just how our life goes – lots of travel for Leo.  This time he is off to a conference on AIDS.  It fits in with a couple of his jobs – his MHO job and his seat on the Sask Advisory Committee on AIDS.  He says he will follow the epidemiology stream mostly.  He also said that he could be at the conference from about 7am till 9pm but that he thought he might make his days a tad shorter. 

Second week he goes to stay with some old friends – Muslims and very devout so I know for a fact that he will not be boozing it up.  He will be playing lots of golf.  the second week is vacation for him and our friends have been asking him to come and do this for so long.  Finally he gets a chance to visit.

Yesterday was a long day of driving.  I left my sister’s at about 9:30am and went to Pidgeon Lake to pick Sara up.  She was ready to go by about 2pm and we headed home via Wainright.  The roads were good so it only took us about 7 hours of driving – got home a bit after 9pm.  We drove through some heavy rain.  It cleaned the bugs right off the window. 

 And just about Blaine Lake there was a glorious rainbow that filled the sky.  It was a bit too dark to get good pictures – all that I took were a bit blurry and didn’t come close to doing the actual rainbow justice.

Today I decided to wander around the countryside on my way home from Saskatoon. 

I took the ferry across the South Saskatchewan at Hague and drove the back roads.  There were thousands of little white butterflies everywhere, including all over the grill and front window.  They are probably pests of some kind but they were pretty as they rose in clouds from the sides of the roads.

One of my stops along the way was to check out some old buildings.  Two little birds were perched on the windowsill.  They did not mind me taking their pictures.  They looked as if they may be very young and maybe sitting was still the safest thing for them to do!

This is wonderful.  It is 1 pm and I am sitting here after a leisurely morning.  Quiet time with God happens early for me but that doesn’t mean I have to get out of bed!  Not while I am on holidays and a guest in my sister’s home.  After all, I wouldn’t want to wake everyone else up early.  So after some reading and reflecting, I tucked myself back under the covers for a bit more sleep. 

Finally got up around 9.  Made some instant coffee – pretty bad substitute for a coffee addict but what can one do in an emergency situation in a house of mostly non-coffee addicts?  I needed my fix by that time of the morning and it did quite well.  Toasted a bagel around 10:30 and spent most of the morning chatting with my niece. She is fun to talk to. 

Chantelle has a tiny little dog – Ginger.  Ginger has been getting into all sorts of trouble lately so may actually be ill.  He goes to the vet this afternoon.  I hope he is not seriously ill since I think Chantelle would be heartbroken.  She actually bought this little zebra striped sweater for him.  I am not really into putting sweaters on dogs but this one is sort of cute and since I really like Chantelle – what else can I say?  A sweater on my dog, Maisy, would likely be chewed to shreds in about 2 minutes.  I had to buy a chain link type collar for Maisy.  She does not like wearing accessories!

Now it is almost lunch time.  I guess I will eat and then decide what strenuous activity I will do for the afternoon.  A bike ride would probably be a good idea.  I may just decide to sit and read.  I could also see myself finding a good bookstore to browse in, or maybe a store with some good sale going on.  This is my favorite kind of vacation.