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Canada geese honk:
egotistical eagle
must accept defeat
Canadians keep
their elbows up and
won't rename their lakes
Daily Haiku Prompt: geese
"Ontario" is an Indigenous word and is more than 400 years old. It means "beautiful lake" or "sparkling water."
I took this photo about 1986 in San Francisco. I think it was on Telegraph Hill near Coit Tower.
NO DOGS
TEACUP POODLES EXCEPTED
(Mural artist unknown)
plans for today changed
so I savoured golden joys
spring, coffee, friends
on Shakespeare's birthday
golden forsythia blooms
I wait for tulips
Daily Haiku Prompt: gold
For the first time ever, humans have seen the dark side of the moon.
Here is a link to NASA's lunar flyby gallery.
https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/lunar-flyby/
A musical accompaniment, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.
four days old when we
met you and your eyes were closed:
it was puppy love
I found your puppy album
golden treasures from the past
joyful memories
your exuberance, Echo,
echoes in my heart
owls love winter:
long nights for hunting rodents
under pale moonlight
in the heart of darkness owls
begin their courtship dance
Echo liked winter
pushed his nose into the snow
coldness brought delight
Winter Scene
snow on hilly road
we watch cars slide back down it --
classic winter fun
Classic Movie
Two For The Road:
driving each other crazy
classic MGA
(Photo c Barbara Etlin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw4Jc1zZTGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpB-9YB3aOs
daily haiku prompts: road and classic
Rain
owls don't like the rain
it makes their feathers soggy--
dinner will be late
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My favourite funny story about mothers involves mine and the mother of one of my childhood friends.
This happened about 1960, long before the days of cell phones.
Frances (my mother) called Florence (her friend) to arrange a lunch get-together. They agreed to meet at the club at noon.
At noon, Frances arrived at the club. She waited but Florence never showed up.
"What happened?" Frances asked Florence that night. "Why weren't you at the club for lunch?"
"I was there, "said Florence. "Where were you?"
Frances had gone to Northwood Golf Club and Florence had gone to The Primrose Club.
I still giggle thinking about this.
Yesterday 14 fresh inches of snow dumped on Toronto and lots more elsewhere in Ontario.
Great for kids and teachers who are getting a long weekend anyway. (Thursday was the first Snow Day and they all got Friday off. Today, Monday, is Family Day.)
But not so great for the rest of us. No mail, not much TTC, blocked driveways, and much more inconvenience.
Doug Ford should be ashamed of himself, among other reasons, for calling an unnecessary winter provincial election.
Which inspired this poem...
Snow, snow, go away
Dougie Ford will cause dismay
'cause his PCs want to stay.
Snow, snow, take a dump
on the head of ______ _____ . (Hmmm, what three syllables rhyme with "dump"?)
I love California.
We've vacationed there maybe 20 times, mostly to get away from Pre-Spring. It has everything: nice people, great weather, great food and wine, wonderful scenery, lots to see and do.
When I do my Happy Place Meditation, there are two California places I visualize.
The first doesn't exist anymore because of redevelopment. Upstart Crow was one of my favourite places to sit with a cup of coffee (and sometimes a piece of chocolate cake) to write.
Upstart Crow Cafe and Bookshop, San Diego
The second one is the view from the parking lot of Coit Tower, overlooking San Francisco Bay. I could see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and if I moved over a bit I could look down and see cars zigzagging down twisty Lombard Street. If I was lucky, I could see sailboats. Ahh...instant relaxation!
Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay from Coit Tower
WARNING: POLITICAL COMMENT AHEAD
A Modest Proposal
A political leader from the United States has proposed that Canada become the 51st state and is applying economic pressure to get his greedy hands on us. This is absolutely not going to happen, no matter what.
(Also, he's ignoring the fact that we aren't one big clump of people. Ontario is five times the size of Texas. We are 10 provinces plus some territories occupied by Indigenous people. Therefore, we would become at least 10 states with 20 senators--all of whom would dominate the Senate and stop anything he wanted to legislate.)
But I digress.
If there are any changes to be made--not that we need any--here's one I could get behind.
I suggest that California join us as the 11th province.
"Cana-Cali" (or "Cali-Cana"--I'm not picky)
could share our natural resources, energy, and great health care
and we could enjoy its weather, wine, and fresh produce
all tariff-free.
*Starved for tulips
because, like me, you lack a tulip garden?
Here are a few cures I'm using currently.
1. Look at photos of tulips of the past, saved on my phone or the computer.
2. Watch videos and photos on the Twitter feed of Keukenhof, the world's largest spring garden, located near Amsterdam. It's a delight and the next best thing to visiting there. Hurry; the season ends on May 14.
3. A lovely relaxation video, Flying Over Netherlands, which is accompanied by music. Instant happiness for tulip appreciators.
As I looked at the dismal weather on my terrace yesterday, I remembered something I read a long time ago. The quote is from Anne Shirley, also known as
Anne of Green Gables.
"Snow is April is abominable," said Anne. "Like a slap in the face when you expect a kiss."
-- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Ingleside.
First photo, of the snow-covered owls, taken today. Second one, same view, taken December 29, 2013.
For comparison, the owls are 12" high. The glass railing is 3 ' high.
It's still snowing and will continue for several hours.
This is one of the times I'm glad we're in a condo and don't have to worry about shovelling a driveway or sidewalks. We cancelled M's appointment for today.
Reasons I Appreciate October
Cut tulips are available again.
The colours are especially vivid this year.
October 21 (and October 23)
On October 21, 1976, M got up the nerve to phone a strange woman, introduce himself, and ask her for a date. The strange woman accepted. They got together for a coffee date on Saturday October 23.
October 23 was cold and snowy. I remember I wore my winter jacket and boots and a sweater and blue velvet pants. M wore a beige suit. I thought, "Snazzy dresser!" I didn't see that suit for another year and a half. I told him that anyone who wanted to get along with me had to be funny. (I didn't know he would consider that as a challenge.) He immediately told me six funny jokes.
On the seventh date he thought I asked him to eliminate a tense, so he changed the simple past tense to the pluperfect tense in everything he said for a couple of hours. (Again I didn't know I was giving him a humour challenge.) I figured someone who could make me laugh so much was a keeper.
We've been laughing ever since.
