Sep 2012

Is Summer here to stay?

Labour Day seems to mark the end of summer... at least it's the end of white shoes, if you're my age. The heat and humidity continue here, though, and make it difficult to imagine anything except sweat and patios.

This weekend I was in Stratford watching my grandsons play some heroic baseball. Stratford, a picturesque small town west of Toronto, is the home of the famous Stratford Shakespeare Festival (http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/).

Driving about after the game, I espied this evidence that change could indeed be on the way... as the bard, himself, asked:

O, how shall summer's honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days...

Aug 2012

These days it’s all about bringing home the gold.

I think we all get excited watching Olympic athletes. All these talented and committed people who make a habit of doing impossible things everyday. I smile with pride at sharing humanity with them.

My own two kids have also made it their habits to do many impossible things. Witness last month’s San Francisco Marathon. Peter came from his home in Barbados to visit Kate in Berkeley. They had agreed to run: he, the full marathon, and Kate, the half marathon.

The first part of the amazing route includes crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, then turning about and recrossing it going the other way. Kate reported on her facebook page: “the best part of the run was spotting my brother and giving him a high five as we passed each other on the bridge.”

Peter finished in 4:23:52. Kate finished in 2:21:23. I’ve put their medals below over the pic I took of the bridge when I visited there a few years ago. Again, I get to share in the impossible. I’m smiling.

July 2012

Am I addicted to pink flowers?

Well they're not namby-pamby pink, are they? 

They're each radiantly brave in their own way.

The lotus must sink its roots into messy mud at the bottom of its pond. From that base it draws its strength and creates glorious blooms AND at the same time produces seeds that guarantees its future. 

Orchids thrive with their roots hanging out in the air, attached to trees or rocks or fences. Their whole being is involved in each breeze.. in each ray of sunshine and in each drop of rain and dew. They suck it all up and make exotic blooms in clumps. Sort of like rock bands, each individual enhances the others.

See? The lotus and the orchid show me 2 ways to be in the world: examples of ways to become the best I can be. Guess addiction to this pink power is okay with me.

June 2012

See a theme developing here?

Last month's calendar inspired quite a number of delightful responses from you guys. This from Susan—whom Kate calls her New York mum—a memory of a trip to China. I'm lucky to know people who travel AND take great pix.

Looks like the lesson of growth and renewal has taken glorious root.

May 2012

Another look at April showers and May flowers...
wih the lotus it all happens at once

Roots entwine
in mud
rich from life
now long past

Blooms unfold
radiant faces
reflect sun
glorify today

Seeds offer
new life
and hope
for future

Simultaneous
cause
and effect

Lotus.

_____
Thanks to Edward Rajewski for this glorious image from his recent trip to Thailand. Look at those big heavy seed pods among all the blooms, somehow all balancing on long stems and floating leaves.

Apr 2012

Foolishness...

Well Google seems to have won the day announcing new Morse code tapping for mobile gmail... Google Maps announced a retro graphics option... and the landing page of Chinese Google offered an interactive seascape with swimming fish and falling coins and treasure chests. Seems some cultures refer to the day as April Fish Day.

My own offering is more of a test of perception than of foolery. Is it a moonscape? a map of the stars? Is the circle an innie or an outie? a pool or a lump?

Well, I'm not trying to fool you, but to show you a detail of one of my fave Noguchi basalt sculptures. I love these carvings for their shapes and even more for their surface textures. 

Hope you enjoy pondering this month.
Also remember to pack your bumbershoot for all those April showers.

Mar 2012

Sending my kids out to play...

From the time they were little
I loved meeting Peter's and Kate's playmates.
They each proved through those early and subsequent friendships
That they know how to value and enjoy
And share their lives with
Some of the nicest and most talented people
On the planet.
They both play well with others.

This painting is another of my kids.
I painted it here in Toronto
As memory of one of my favourite places
In San Antonio, Texas: the Spanish Governor's Palace.
It now lives with Peter in Barbados
And has been making friends of its own, too.
Look! Peter says this little green lizard
Hangs out around my painting. Seems they're buds.
My colourful painting also plays well with a colourful other.

If you want to see the whole thing,
I used it for my Sept 2004 calendar.
You'll find it in these calendar archives

Feb 2012

Red Letter Day...

for two bees,
or not two bees.
that might be the question.
whether tis nobler
in the mind,
or in the mouth,
to savour the bittersweet
alone or to find another
who can share
such outrageous fortune.

Chinese New Year 2012

Chinese New Year happens the second new moon after the winter solstice. It's that new moon time again: the year of the Black Water Dragon (that's a water dragon that's black, instead of a dragon that lives in black water). I thank Veer for this illustration. Go here to see Neil Gaiman's rendition.

All new moons give us the opportunity to renew our commitments to ourselves. Certainly this inventive Aquarius new moon bodes well for exciting new beginnings and enlivening breakthroughs. Surprising events await us and unexpected epiphanies that will come to us as a result of keeping our eyes wide open. Make this a month—and a year—to remember!

Jan 2012

Season's Greetings!
This instead
Of  recently-made-old
Merry Christmas
    and
Happy Hanukkah
    and maybe even
Happy Kwanzaa.

But,
Tis the Season,
Eh?

We're ready to celebrate,
and to invite
Our friends to celebrate…
and we include
Their own celebrations
In our well-wishing.
Inclusive is us.

Season's Greetings.
Whatever.

What ever
Are we all celebrating?
Eight days of candles? 
    Light of liberation and dedication.
Birth of a saviour?
    Light of redemption and hope.
African roots, fruits, harvest?
    Light of identity and past-into-present..

Tis the Season
Of renewal of All Light.
Tis the Season
Of relinquishing Darkness
To lengthening Days...
Of the return of Light
Bit by bit.
The return of Light.
Light of renewal.

Ah!!!
Season's Greetings
    and
Happy New Light.

Have a shiny & sparkling year.
Renew yourself
    and
Your library books.

Bette Forester
Toronto
31 Dec 2011

Thank you Phoebe for this rainy Portland 5th Day of Christmas image...

and thank you Neil Gaiman for this benediction for a new year:

Dec 2011

Remembering Christmas in Ajijic...

Our first snow of the season came last evening. It was skimpy and wet. It hardly seems like the season it's trying to represent. Food banks and toy drives report donations are down and blame the weather. Apparently we simply don't think Christmas is coming yet if there's no snow.

I offer memory of the 2006 season in Mexico. If we can build a longing for southern suns, then it must be time for Christmas... and all the appropriate donations.

Nov 2011

The season for farmers markets...

Farmers are busy these days, harvesting before the ground is covered in snow. Of course they may have missed the boat in New York where they've already got a white cover. Time for us all to grab some roots and start simmering our fave warming soups.

As usual in November, I invite you to remember Kurt Vonnegut on his November 11th birthday. He would have welcomed some beets in 1945 when he was a prisoner in Dresden during the devastating fire-bombing. Let's all curl up with one of his books and slurp some beet soup.

Send me your fave beets recipe, whether soup or something else. Here's one I like that adds some other roots...onions, garlic & ginger: Beet & Ginger Soup Recipe

Oct 2011

Holding on to some last vestiges of summer...

When I lived in Texas (and later when I lived in Australia) I didn't spend much time watching the seasons. I did notice the sage in bloom before a rain (that's Texas) and the weed that I indulged because it was the only green in my Sydney back yard. That weed repaid me by producing tomatoes. From that you might infer I don't garden. You would be correct.

In Canada, however, I find myself trying to stretch the summer, or at least my conscious awareness of it. I do this by paying close attention to colours.

Every morning as I ride the subway over the Don River I carefully grab a seat facing west. This gives me a great view of the sun striking the west bank of the river and all the trees upon it. I noted the first instance of yellow leaves a good 4 weeks ago. Every day there have been more and many are starting to morph into orange. They're still mostly green, but the move is on. True oranges and browns will surround us soon.

And at my house, I wake up every morning and look out this window where I'm still finding this glorious evidence that it's not over til it's over.

Sep 2011

A Labour Day reminder...

Since the 1880s Canadians have celebrated the contributions of labour and specifically the development of the 8-hour day. The concept involved the recognition that workers should be able to work only 1/3 of each day. This was designed to leave 1/3 for sleep and 1/3 for recreation.

Funny how commuting, grocery shopping, housecleaning, cooking, laundry and activities of that ilk all seem to count as "recreation."

I implore you, this labour day, take the hint from this little street's sign near my office. Stay away from work AND all that boring recreation. Just relax and have fun.

Oh, and put away those white shoes.

Aug 2011

Sun! Sun! Sun!

At last we have a summer to brag about: my excuse for a tardy calendar.

Jul 2011

Happy Canada Day!

April showers did bring May flowers. In Toronto we also had May showers and June showers. This Canada Day introduces us back to sunshine and all the flowers and swimming pools and barbecues and baseball (Jackson) and tennis (Lucas)... and fireworks tonight to emphasize the announcement of it all.

Starting today, I invite you to kick off your shoes and remember the school's-out-barefoot-days of your summers past. I started by remembering my own tender-foot determination of those first summer days. You????

I'm celebrating by adding a little maple leaf from the flag in honour of Don Watt.

Jun 2011

Peek-a-Boo

Last week I was in NYC watching Dr. Kate don cap and gown and receive her PhD at Lincoln Center. I watched with my good friend Susan, aka Kate's New York mum. Kate and I walked on the High Line and of course we found time to eat some of her favourite foods: tacos, pizza, pseudo chicken nuggets, and sag paneer. After the ceremony we three girls trekked to Harlem for the best cheese enchiladas in the world. Then we visited the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and the sculpture-laden Bestiary garden next to it.

We stayed with Susan in Astoria/Queens/Long Island City... just a few blocks from the Noguchi Museum. Isamu Noguchi worked in metal, stone (see the calendar), and light. You've probably seen his Akari Japanese paper lamps, which he called light sculptures. This museum is one of my all-time faves. And the Socrates Sculpture Park is just across the street, overlooking the East River and Manhattan.

Yes, there was some shopping. Mostly this trip was for the Kate sighting and a delightful visit with Susan; she was the nurse who looked after me when I was giving birth to Kate. I've known Susan exactly one day longer than I've known Kate.

4 May 2011

Happy Luke Skywalker's Day!
Remember to charge your light sabre and chill your cerveza.

May 2011

Philosophy for All of Life in One Taxi Ride
For real. Toronto last Friday. Nuf said.

Apr 2011

You probably remember Dr. Kate from my August post...
Well, after finishing that Ph.D. last August, she moved to Berkeley where she's happily doing post-doc math things. This month I'm introducing you to her cat, Batman. Here, Batman's exploring Kate's new rug. It's called Little Field of Flowers and it's designed by Tord Boontje and made from wool felt by Nani Marquina. Batman and the Field live with Kate in her perfect Berkeley apartment behind the garden I showed you last November. As usual Kate's introducing me to lots of new things: the Field re-defines my concept of "rug." I do have a better basis for understanding this than I do string theory... and I hope you will join Batman and me to expand your rug-universe, too.

Mar 2011

My world returns to black and white...

Yes, we had a few days that tempted us into thinking winter was ready to retire, but Sunday morning brought this new scene at my home... and further delay to vivid Kodachrome moments.

In the meantime, Pantone has announced their Colour of the Year for 2011. They're calling it Honeysuckle (aka PMS 205 U for my fellow graphic peeps). The honeysuckle I grew up with was cream with little edges of yellow, but I'll take Pantone's pink interpretation as a beginning for a spring palette. I put in a little swatch here to get us all started. My little postmark bee has already donned new spring wings. You?

Chinese New Year 2011

February 3 finds a New Moon in Aquarius
and signals the Chinese New Year: Year of the Golden Rabbit

This year’s combination of metal as an earthly sign and the rabbit as a heavenly sign results in the year of the Golden Rabbit for the first time in 60 years. This Rabbit is associated with compassion, sensitivity and flexibility and is expected to bring stability -- sometimes through change.

The New Moon in Aquarius always reminds us to make a difference within our group and community networks.

And as every New Moon represents new beginnings, maybe you'd like start something new by making your own New Moon Wish. One of the most imaginative ways to understanding a New Moon is through creative intention setting, using a process known as New Moon Wishing. Jan Spiller coined this phrase in her book ‘New Moon Astrology’ (2001 Bantam). Some people keep a New Moon Wishes Journal.

The year of the Golden Rabbit seems like a good time to start mine.

Feb 2011

The days may be getting shorter...
but they're still long and dark and winter's fully entrenched. We've had snow and snow and tonight's forecast is for snow: the worst storm of the season. Every dark cold evening as I walk from the Jane Subway Station to my new west-end digs, I pass old landmarks from my past. One such is the Odeon Theatre. Built in 1948, it went dark about seven years ago. One night recently as I walked I discovered its new light: this new sign installed above the marquee. I stood across the street and rejoiced.

Look! It's been renamed in honour of the near-by river and it's slated to re-open soon. Maybe even this month???

The dark days of winter won't seem nearly so long with a near-by flick. See the Thai Classic Cuisine sign reflected in the Humber's window? Seems like a suggestion for a tasty combo. Stay tuned for more news as it happens.

Dec 2010

Belated because...
I've been moving! Chaos clearing is slow but steady.
My new address is below, if you ever use snails.
Phone remains the same.
Have a great holiday time.
NOTE:
Just under the postmark is this year's Amy, an amaryllis. She came early as house warming observance from Leslie. She loves all the sun.
I do too.

Nov 10

Autumn in Berkeley...

Visiting Dr. Kate a couple of weeks ago, we explored , walked a lot and ate some amazing food. We had Mexican food, of course... and Burmese food... and Brazilian sandwiches... and locally grown and harvested veggies and seafood.

One meal that falls into the last category was at Chez Panisse. Owner/chef Alice Waters' philosophy is to serve the most delicious organic products only when they are in season. Over the course of three decades, Chez Panisse has developed a network of local farmers and ranchers whose dedication to sustainable agriculture assures the restaurant a steady supply of pure and fresh ingredients.

As a part of her commitment to provide food education to youngsters Alice Waters created the Chez Panisse Foundation, establishing a strategy to transform the quality of school lunches that includes a model garden and kitchen programme on the grounds of a Berkeley public school. Called the Edible Schoolyard, this garden is directly behind Kate's home. This archway is a part of that garden. Go here to see more: http://www.edibleschoolyard.org

Oct 10

Frangipani memories... almost

You know about frangipani. They're the flowers for making leis. When I was a little girl there was a funny song about a frangipani sung by a woman whose name I never knew. I didn't understand what made the song funny. The lyrics may even have been rude, but I was too young to know just why people were laughing. The fact is, grown-ups laughed at that song and I loved it. I can still remember the fun and the laughter and a little of the tune... but none of the words.

Enter Google: I've learned so much about frangipani... AND... I've found some lovely songs. Seems lots are inspired by these petals and their pungent fragrance. But none of these found songs are the One. Guess I'm still on my own.

These particular frangipani flowers live outside my son Peter's office in Barbados. I bring them out now, as the days are getting shorter to remind you of the sun... and to remind me to remember something.

Sep 10

Tea Time...
Summer's truly winding down, even if the temperature here in Toronto is setting new record highs. School's starting and Labour Day announces the season's last hurrah. With all our re-adjustments to the serious parts of the year, I invite you to regenerate gently and genteelly over a quiet cuppa. These ladies in a window at the Eaton Centre offer a glimpse of high tea redefined. Go ahead: put on your own hat and finery and lift a cup. Remember to hold your pinky finger up!

Aug 10

I'm so happy to announce...

In November of 1981 my little girl Kate started to Montessori school at the age of 2. Becky was her first teacher. She obviously started things off right. This morning Kate successfully defended her doctoral thesis and is now Dr. Kate.

Next she will begin post-doctoral studies at Berkeley.

Wherever you are, please join me in raising a glass in honour of all her hard work and her joy, which I share with tearful glee.

Jul 10

Time to focus on summer now.

Canada Day was July 1st and US Independence Day was July 4th. Here in Toronto we've had the heads of 20 countries meeting behind walls and tall fences to talk about Important Things. Their meetings were marked by demonstrations and some violence and many, many arrests. Then the Queen came for a social visit. I wonder what she in her perfect hat thinks about it all?

I'm ready chill in our so, so hot summer sun now and try to put it all into some sort of perspective. We gotta make some hay while that sun's a-shining: nature's therapy. Let's all get out there and enjoy, eh?

Jun 10

Hello Mary Lou!

When I was about five or six years old my favourite doll was named Mary Lou. She had real hair--long blond hair--with real barrettes. I loved dressing her up and combing her hair into different styles. That year for my birthday my mother made Mary Lou a complete wardrobe, along with her own closet from an oil-cloth-covered fruit crate and little coat hangers from bent wire. Mary Lou was probably a teenager, but this was long before Barbie and her sexy shape. Mary Lou was one of a kind.

I don't know when Mary Lou actually disappeared from my life. I got older and I guess we passed her and her extensive wardrobe to a younger girl.

But I do remember her so fondly. I see girls playing with Barbie and I think how my Mary Lou was so much better. After all she came with all my mother's focused attention and imbued love.

Waiting for my bus the other day I think I found Mary Lou again in this store window. Like me, she's thicker around the middle and her hair's shorter. But look at her smile. She's got a snazzy dress and fuzzy puppy slippers. Credence Clearwater said it: I knew Mary Lou, we'd never part, so hello Mary Lou. Goodbye heart.

May 10

Happy Luke Skywalker Day!!!

May Day happened and I didn't send you your calendar. No, it wasn't another broken arm, as a couple of you suggested (thanks for your concern)... I was just enjoying some lazy time and ignored my responsibility to youse guys.

So here's your calendar. Get out your light sabres today and transform your world. Wake up those May flowers. After all, they can come even if your April, like ours, was remiss in the showers department. Also, get your salsa ready for tomorrow to wake up yourself.

PS. Some of you report using my calendars as I do, on your computer desktops. If you'd like a higher resolution version go here every month:

Higher Resolution Postcard for Your Desktop

Apr 10

An invitation to a journal... of sorts.
My recent acquisition of an iPhone has involved me in searches for Barbie-esque outfits for its adornment and in endless browsings of Apple's App Store to satisfy it's voracious appetite for activities. My latest addition in the latter category is a little something named Project 365. It invites me to take a picture every day with my phone and save it in the app's minute calendar... then I may add a pithy caption. I have decided to embark on this little adventure AND to incorporate a 6-word limit to the captions, as inspired by Larry Smith's book, It All Changed in an Instant.

I offer you my first entry dated Mar 29th along with this caption: En route to shop for Lucas.

I am also hereby inviting you to join me in a little techie journalling of your own. Let me know how it goes.

PS. Some of you report using my calendars as I do, on your computer desktops. If you'd like a higher resolution version go here every month:
http://www.beedance.ca/calendar_HR.html

Pi Day 10

I'm not sending you activities this year... well just one: go to http://www.google.com and check out Google's Pi Day logo:

Then do a Pi Day search of your own to find loads of activities including new Pi-Ku poems at NPR. I'm celebrating the day by doing no math at all.

Mar 10

All Canada Celebrates Tonight

I lived in Vancouver when I first came to Canada in 1976. The post-hockey-game Robson Strassse crowds the television's showing us tonight bring back a number of very fond memories: trees and trees and trees, rain, warm people, rain, hiking and rain. As a graphic designer new in Canada, I found myself visiting grocery stores and asking who had designed this or that remarkable store or package. The answer was frequently the same: someone in Toronto called Don Watt.

25 or so years later I found myself in Toronto working for Don Watt, himself. During that time I was asked by an associate to lead a workshop for new immigrants starting their own businesses. My topic was managing design as a part of their business assets. I asked Don what advice he would have for them and he generously gave me over an hour of his valuable time. He used examples from his own body of work to demonstrate his different points.

That body of work included part of the cockpit design for the Avro Arrow and developing the re-design of Loblaws stores, the No Name and President's Choice brands, Wal-Mart Super Centres and packaging, the Home Depot logo and more recently the Metro stores and packaging. One of Don Watt's most famous and enduring designs is the Canadian flag. Don passed away in December of last year. I have been saddened.

Tonight as I watch the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team celebrate their victory with the Canadian flag draped in front of them, I feel the impact of Don's body of work... and I feel the imperative of my own. After all, my monthly calendar habit began while I worked for Don. Over the years he has encouraged these monthly missives. I dedicate this month's calendar to his memory.

Feb 10

The promise of spring
begins on the first day of winter...

Every year Leslie gives me an amaryllis and I name her Amy. I plant each Amy during the holidays and rejoice in her rapid and eager growth. This Amy is especially enthusiastic. She has already produced these four luscious blooms PLUS another shoot bearing their Siamese twins. Amy's promise of spring will be set in bold face and underlined as this second shoot waits for these blooms to fade then rushes in to replace them with four more.

Have a great month. For such a short one, there's a lot to celebrate including Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, Family Day, President's Day for those further south... and yes, Amy's strutting promise of spring.

Jan 10

Here’s to a whole year of plenty!

I'm sure you took that very deep breath last month and now we're all on a new path... the first decade to begin with a TWENTY!

We each have our own definitions of plenty. In this case I'm showing you plenty of radishes I saw in Brooklyn in November. I invite you to stop a moment right now and define what kind of plenty you want to create in your world for this fresh new year... and for this fresh new decade.

Then every time you see a radish, remind yourself of your determination and rejoice in all your opportunities.

Dec 09

Take a big breath...

...and get ready to say something. Something like Happy New Year. That no-sound before you say the first word is the sound of autumn turning into winter. Sometimes, of course that no-sound is accompanied by the sound of walking through fallen leaves. But before they fall, each leaf takes that big breath and prepares itself for the Big Changes to come.Then it simply exhales and wafts. We're in the habit of seeking the sounds, of course. No-sounds elude us. Evidence of the no-sounds though is always in the sound that follows.

Wait for it: the snow may fall silently, but its exale involves all of nature and reminds us to change how we walk, lest we make that sad falling-on-ice crunching sound. So.... take that big breath and rejoice in the exhale... and waft a little this month.

Nov 09

Wi-Fi?

November, I'm sure you'll recall, is the month of remembrance. Remember when we needed wires to communicate?

Wait a minute! Just last week as I left work I heard an enormous chattering overhead. Looking up, this month's calendar shows you only a small portion of what I found. Twas some kind of blackbird convention. The topic being so vociferously argued: where will they all rest and have a friendly chat of their own when our com-wires are finally truly gone? Some said trees. Others objected because leaves get in the way of eye-contact. Then, looking at the pedestrians below, one said they could just chat on the go and never rest again. I left them squawking and phoned to pick up my messages as I walked on.

While you're doing your traditional remembering this month, please remember Kurt Vonnegut on his birthday, the 11th. A good day to remember the man who taught us the horror of war as a result of not dying in Dresden. If you don't know, go read Slaughterhouse Five...or rent the DVD if you want to remember faster.

Oct 09

Sorting and saving...

Remember the hats from last month's calendar? Well, these boxes come from the same home... this time from the artist's workshop. Reminds me of Virgo's imperative to sort and organize... always with an eye to aesthetics. Just look at these boxes so carefully covered in wallpapers from the Past. Of course, when they were covered the wallpapers might have been from that day's Present.

Some people save screens and keys and springs and metal movie misc discs... and some save stamps. They call that collecting. This month's calendar invites us all to collect AND to collect in style. Have a great October

Sep 09

Entrancing entrance...

This summer Kate spent a couple of weeks house and cat-sitting for friends whose apartment shares this, the house-owner's entrance. These hats make me want to name the people who wear them. Any suggestions among real or fictional people? Jay Gatsby? Gene Kelly? Eliza Doolittle?

And look! Every time people come and go the game continues. Maybe I need to adjust my own entrance to include an adventure... you?

Aug 09

Rainy day in Speightstown, Barbados

Peter lives south of here in a place called Paynes Bay. Just last week I rode the coastal bus to Speightstown to wander these streets, visit galleries and have a great lunch on the beach. Yes, on a covered patio because the rains were as heavy as they were short. I spent a great time in Barbados with my grandsons and Peter and his friends. I met an artist named Bill Grace. It was a gallery with his work that helped attract me to Speightstown. Go here to see why: http://www.billgraceart.com

I could do a whole 5 years of calendars with the orchid pix I took. I'll include some of them another time. This time I want you to enjoy a quiet day knowing the rain will cool you off and leave the world full of quiet reflections and the possibilities of distant horizons.

July 09

Strawberry Social Time... for Canada Day.

Last month Kate went to Germany for a math conference. They spent time talking about things with surfaces and proofs... then they went for walks and explored the Black Forest. YES, they DID have Black Forest cake and YES, I do have the pic to prove it. I also have this glorious strawberry pic to prove that strawberries are delicious everywhere... and that, in turn, proves we're all one big, juicy world.

It's time now to celebrate our oneness while we honour our homes (and our flags, Don).

Jun 09

Hey!... Happy June Fool's Day!

I'm the designated June Fool this time. Knowing that my son would be visiting from Barbados, I prepared this calendar last week. Peter and the boys arrived as scheduled bright and early this morning before school and I was excited, then forgot to send this out. Today's still the 1st, however, so I claim I'm not really late, even if you're one of those who won't see it until the 2nd.

This month's pic is of the Luke Skywalker and Mother's Day tulips that Peter sent last month. We're having a cold, wet week and I like looking at these as reminder that spring will probably get finessed entirely... and we'll go directly into summer any time now. Maybe it'll happen in time for the Beach Blues Festival in a couple of weeks. We'll all complain, of course. In the meantime Peter will return to Barbados and Kate will be off to Germany soon.

Moi? I'll stay at my new home in the Beach and go to the aforementioned festival. What about you?

Happy Luke Skywalker Day

OK, I admit it: I've been taking antihistamines for my stuffy head cold and lost track of the date... until Peter sent me Happy Luke Skywalker Day flowers!
So... better late than never, eh?
At least you can still go get a cold cerveza and kick back for Cinco de Mayo while you ponder this...
About 390,000 people listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for England and Wales. In Scotland the figure was a reported 14,000.

May 09

Happy May Day... from the Great Wall

Another of the pictures my son took when visiting China last year... seems perfect for an observation of May Day, the great International Labour Day... celebrated in China as a public holiday. In the 1990s they extended the holiday from 1 day to 3 days, then the Chinese government made it a 7-day holiday, allowing millions of Chinese people to travel. In 2008 the People's Republic of China reduced the holiday period back down to 1 day. Now this year China's southern Guangdng province resumes the weeklong May Day in a bid to revive a sagging economy.

Whether celebrated for only 1 day or for a week, it all seems quite different from dancing around a May Pole or delivering Hallmark baskets filled with flowers to friends and neighbours.

However you choose to celebrate, we can all agree it's spring and time to move our festivities outside!

Apr 09

A litte bee-foolery...

I offer here a little fun in honour of a silly day. With left-over inspiration from Pi Day, I challenge you to send captions, as Pi-Ku or not.

Mine attempts the Pi-Ku form... Line1: 3 syllables, Line 2: 1 syllable, Line 3: 4 syllables.

2 bees, er
Not
2 bees. 1 more.

14 Mar 09

I PREFER PI
Not all of you are lucky enough to have a mathematician in your family, so in honour of my cool math-geek daughter, let me encourage you to celebrate Pi Day on Saturday, March 14th. In the American way of writing numerical dates, that's 3/14. In the rest of the world it doesn't work that way. Some celebrate July 22, or 22/7, which is the approximate fraction of Pi. I choose the more exacting decimal configuration and it has the bonus of also being Albert Einstein's birthday: this year his 130th.

Did you notice? The title of this entry is an appropriately cool and geeky palindrome (penned by one Lily Cee to celebrate Pi Day last year). Here are a few Pi activities to get your celebration started.

1. Write a Pi-Ku.
That's haiku with a difference: First line has 3 syllables, second line has 1, and the third line has 4. Here are a few examples from NPR:
------
So Southern
I
Can’t say Pi right.
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Three point one
Four
et cetera.
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Math is hard
I
failed algebra.
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2. Create your own Pi music HERE.

3. Visit the National Geographic Pi Day Blog for Pi fun that never stops:

4. Bake and eat a Pi pie.

5. Make and drink a Blue Pi-Tini: (from Think Geek)
Ingredients:
• 3.14 oz Blueberry Vodka
• Measure diameter of glass in cm, add Pi times the glass radius squared oz. of vermouth divided by 10.
• Splash of Blue Curacao for colour (optional)
• Frozen blueberries
Preparation:
1. Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes while chanting Archimedes' name.
2. Shake 3.14 times.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Drop in a few frozen blueberries as cooling garnish.

Mar 09

The colours of hope...
Here in Canada, March has entered with bitter cold. Does cold count as a lion even without winds? OK, there were some winds in the afternoon. Whether lion or lamb, we have a lot more winter to anticipate... and endure.

Last summer my son and his two perfect boys took a trip south where they visited their grandfather in Oklahoma and their great grandmother and great uncle in Louisiana. Along the way they encountered lots of sights including this colourful pair, which I offer as reminder and encouragement for winter to relinquish itself for our amazement... again.