Friday, July 10, 2009
Prairie Landscapes 

When I previewed our trip to Manitoba, I had specifically mentioned my desire to do some prairie wandering to steep myself in the beauty and nostalgia of the landscape. It's always a trade-off because we have so many dear people to see in such a short time, and I wouldn't blame the Carons or Niverville Hieberts (and others we didn't see) for reading this and thinking, "What a jerk, wandering along ditches in the boonies when he could have been hanging out with us!" And they'd have a point.

canola-horizontal
In my defense, I get dysfunctional after days filled only with socializing and racing from one event to another, and these bits of quiet and solitude were essential if I wanted to feel like I had some actual vacation. I took 450 photos, many of them of clouds, creeks and fields.

I also rode my bike on dirt and gravel roads with the wind somehow blowing continually into my face, eventually visiting both of the yards where I grew up. The one northwest of Rosenort where we had our trailer for a few years isn't really a yard anymore, although two of the three rows of trees are still standing. The abandoned yard across the 205 still hides the pond Ryan and I learned to skate on. A kind Holdeman offered me a ride back to town after finding me in the middle of nowhere -- on the way back he lectured me about why I needed a cell phone and how to manage it properly. Yes, I'm technologically behind the Holdemans.

The farm closer to Morris, where we lived from about '83-'90, is still occupied. I drove onto the yard and met the family living there now. Neat to chat with a 10-year-old boy who's growing up there, riding his XR80 on the same paths, just like we always did. It was a bit shocking how different most of it looked -- some things just deteriorated and neglected, and trees gone or grown up. The dad was super nice and let me wander around the back boonies to check out the pond. Everything was thickly overgrown, but I enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of my past.

I visited graves and climbed grain bins, walked field roads and threw stones into muddy water; swatted mosquitoes and got scolded by red-winged blackbirds. I tried to remember and feel and breathe. The prairie landscapes also kept me entertained while we drove across three provinces (twice) -- I hadn't expected to be so blown away by the beauty and variety in hills, fields, trees and sky.

canola-vertical

rows-trees-clouds

stubble-fields

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  Thursday, July 09, 2009
Motocross Action 

I spent an afternoon/evening/night/morning at the Fun Zone surrounding FXR headquarters. Milt has always taken his fun very seriously, and he now he's really doing it right. We dipped into his toy room before airing things out and moving some dirt. As usual, I was pitifully weak and afraid on the track, but gradually found my groove again. Jumping motorcycles seems more insane every time I try it, but what a rush to look down and see the the plains stretching out in every direction, 20 feet below you. I probably should have spent more time riding and less time taking photos, but Milt was a great subject soaring through the sky.

milt-trees
Carla also made us all an excellent feast one night and we hung out in the pool for most of the afternoon. Lauren kept the girls busy and happy, and Carla snuggled Ezra while we played some intense pepper with Milt and Chloe, who has turned into a remarkable young woman. Milt and I even fit in a jam session with guitar and viola, which we had never done before -- good fun to connect in so many ways.

milt-sky

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Gramps 

My grandma and I went to visit my grandpa one afternoon. I had been dreading it, because his Alzheimer's has robbed him of his memory and recognition. I realized with shame later that I had been thinking of him more as an issue than as a human being.

When we got there, he was in pretty rough shape, obviously tranquilized and despondent. We took him outside to a garden area, which my mom had wisely recommended after her last visit a few weeks ago, and he perked up considerably. Over the next couple of hours, his level of consciousness varied a lot -- at limes it seemed like a window would open up and he'd be quite animated, much more like the grandpa we remember, but then it would close again and he would stare at the ground with his eyes at half mast for several minutes. He often started speaking, but then stumbled on a word and lost the train of thought. At one point he leaned over to Grandma and said, "I like you".

grandpa-curious
In the alert times, he hummed and talked and was quite eager to touch and handle anything we had along with us. At one point I gave him my wallet and he explored it for some time, feeling the texture on the outside and pulling out cards. Then he folded it shut and pretended to slide it into his shirt (as if it was an open jacket with an inside pocket) with a mischievous chuckle. Those moments of clarity were awesome, but also painful because we know that most of the time he's shut down, with little opportunity for engagement.

Uncle John and his wife Ellen dropped in while we were there. He played the harmonica a fair bit, and I had also played a bunch of my viola songs. Grandpa responded well to the music, tapping the beat, singing quietly and giving me a piercing stare as I played. He's got music in his blood, that one. I ended up being very happy to have been with him, to hold his hand and see him respond to Grandma's warmth. It was sad too, of course, but being there helped me see that this is just part of life; a part we don't experience enough, as it's easier to just lock it away.

grandpa-eyes

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  Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Bro 

Ryan must be halfway to 70 today. Although we haven't been close for a few years, I think of our childhood often -- growing up in the boonies of southern Manitoba, we did everything together, depending on each other for fun and friendship. We fought like mad, too, but always seemed to patch things up again. Happy birthday, little brother.

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  Tuesday, June 16, 2009
In Case Anyone Forgot What the Kids Looked Like 

Flowers and kids these days, apparently. A few notes on the week:
  • I haven't been feeling that good, and had a downer of a weekend. Work's been super busy and not particularly fun.
  • We checked out the local Bluegrass Festival -- an interesting scene, but not really our scene. We enjoyed the fish 'n chips beforehand more than the festival.
  • I composed a song for the viola that I'm planning to play at a recital with adult students of our teacher this week. Kinda scary in the same way it's scary when you're 10 years old at a recital, but exciting.
  • The local community string orchestra played in Penticton last week, so I checked it out -- fun and mellow.
  • The benefit of more downtime this week was that I did some for-fun reading -- Tunnels and Deeper, two creepy, gripping YA novels that have me anticipating the third -- and finally watched Rabbit-Proof Fence. I think it's yet another gem recommended by Steve years ago...excellent film.
  • The garden is happy. Strawberries are ripening fast, the raspberries should be plentiful, and the first zucchinis will be ready to pick soon.
  • Manitoba-bound -- one week and counting.

ivy-ice-cream

bandit-ella

tannis-ezra-sweet-tooth

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  Friday, June 12, 2009
How much Less? 

I was fascinated by this article from The Curious Capitalist, particularly this tidbit about how households have ramped up their debt compared to their income:
"The ratio of debt to income increased from about 35% in the early 1950s to about 65% by the mid-1960s, where it more or less stayed until the late 1980s. That's when debt started its epic rise, hitting 100% of income in 2001 and going all the way up to 133% in 2007."
It's dropped a tiny bit this year, but still...those numbers are alarming.

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  Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Shades of Grey 

Once in a while, a photo just seems to look better when I drain all the colour out of it. This tends to be surprising to someone like me who tends to geek out on more colour, not less. Sometimes I convert them to black and white because I've botched the exposure so badly that the colours are useless, but the odd one just has more impact with greys (Marj claims that one is one of her all-time favourites). Ivy was reading this morning and I captured a moment that didn't need colour...it's just quiet and subtle and right.

ella-shadow
A few seconds later, I caught Ella's shadow following her around, and Ezra "Giant Head" Milagro looming over a doomed robotic spider. Such is the drama at our house on a Tuesday morning before the pancakes are made, as the coffee brews and the random rhythm of our day unfolds. I'll often play viola first thing, and make a smoothie. Not many frozen cherries or strawberries left from last summer's harvest. They'll disappear just as the fresh ones emerge in the fields and orchards, which is how it should be.

ezra-robot-bug

garage-sky

ezra-path-run

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  Monday, June 08, 2009
Wisdom 

“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” -- Henry David Thoreau
By ol' Thoreau's standard, my expenses for pleasures of the past year mark me as a poor man. So be it.

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  Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Random Notes 

windmill-greenhouse
I've had a few posts kicking around in the cobwebbed corners of my brain this week, none of which are getting written. So...a hodgepodge:
  • Ivy and I attended our first "Fiddle Jam" on the weekend. Although we only knew a couple of the songs the group played, it was still fun to hang out at Leir House and make music with a dozen or more other curious souls. Ivy wandered off to play with the other kids, and I experimented with trying to find harmonies that sounded ok. Our friend Aimee came too, and the potluck component was excellent. Big thanks to Ivy's fiddle teachers Ron and Liz for organizing it.
  • We've been meeting the Duecks at the beach again, and they hosted us for Hump Day Pizza Night at their place last night. Good old friends, always fun and mellow.
  • The garden and flowerbeds have been getting lots of love (but no rain!) and are looking really good. We've never had much luck with growing potatoes, but this year's look fantastic. My mom's been helping out too. Pulling spinach, chives and oregano out for cooking has been too much fun for me...we even made rhubarb muffins from the semi-wild stuff growing at the edge of the yard.
  • I finally finished designing my ice book and uploaded it to Blurb. I'll post more about it when the printed copies actually arrive, but it's pretty exciting.
  • Two days off this week was very nice. All day Monday with just me and Ezra, and two mornings off on Tuesday and Wednesday to help out with the crew. Ezra got his shots, Tannis wrapped up the school year with the Home Learner's Program, and Ivy fiddled. Ella hung out, mostly just being awesome.
  • Listening to: Barry Phillips, a composer/cellist who blends interesting traditional influences into something very beautiful (see player below), the new Tragically Hip album (their best in many years, imo), lots of classical, as well as some standard stuff from Green Day and Vampire Weekend.
  • Watched: Wall-E and loved it, despite some over-the-top schmaltzy parts.
  • Reading: almost nothing (the shame). I keep starting good books and not finishing them.
  • Playing: I'm willing to say that I've finished Suzuki Book 1, because I can play the final piece, Gavotte, reasonably well on violin and viola. I've been coming up with new viola harmony parts for fiddle tunes, and focusing on a version of Crabs in the Skillet that I've worked out for the viola.
  • Drinking: Great espresso from Richard's Backyard Beans, Unibroue Maudite with Andrew tonight on the back patio, Orange Crush on ice, and water that no longer has to be boiled.
  • Sleeping: never enough.



Trad by Barry Phillips

I-dream-of-chives

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Hot Hot Hot 

There was lots of grumbling in the Okanagan about a colder and longer than normal winter, and then crummy cool weather through March and April when it's usually pretty nice. The last half of May seemed to be making up for it, and now we've had summer heat for a while already, with more on the way. Unfortunately, we could really use some rain, as it's been bone dry for months...we'd hate to start forest-fire season two months ahead of schedule.

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  Friday, May 29, 2009
Kid Post 

ivy-seven
It was hot here today, like 31 degrees, so I took the kids down to the beach to cool off after supper. Of course I dragged the camera along and took some photos. There wasn't much going on down at Rotary Beach, so I just got pictures of them to add to the collection. Here are a bunch of them, in addition to some from the past week or so:

ella-laugh

ezra-cold

ivy-violin

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  Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Six 

Hey, this blog turned six years old on the weekend and I forgot. It's a little bitter, accusing me of taking other areas of my life more seriously. I celebrated the five-year milestone last year with a retrospective, and another shorter one the year before. But inspiration didn't hit this year (yet).

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  Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Cotopaxi or Bust 

Old friend Darryl Loewen is going to Ecuador to climb 19,347' Mt. Cotopaxi in a couple of weeks. It sounds like a epic trip with a goal to generate awareness for prostate cancer. If this is something that interests you, you can e-mail Darryl for info or sponsor him online. Go D.Low!

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  Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Kiss 

This is what I love about the process of photography -- it forces me to slow down and see things I'd otherwise miss. I wanted to take a picture of this tiny grape hyacinth, the only one that bloomed in our east flowerbed this year, and found this dramatic scene. A Flickr friend ID'd the spider, which revealed this story:
"The Goldenrod Crab Spider spends much of its time patiently waiting, front legs extended inside or concealed just beneath a flower. When a suitable prey insect lands, the spider swiftly grabs it and pierces it with small fangs right at the neck. Paralyzing venom keeps the insect immobile but with the heart pumping. The unwilling insect is forced to pump its lifeblood straight into the spider."

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PhotoElla 

It didn't take long to get a couple of photos of Ella too. She joined me for some photogeekery one afternoon this weekend while Ezra slept and Tannis and Ivy laid low with the flu. I'll have to get some of the photos she took too -- she had theme going with super macro shots of tree rings and patterns in the surfaces of stumps. Such a good sport, too, tromping around farmyards and cactus slopes with her freak-o dad as he took another hundred pictures of orchards. At least we went out for ice cream, and she claimed the outing had been great fun.

ella-photog


orchard-rows-purple

May-18-09 063

one-of-these-is-not-like-the-others

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