Saturday, March 31, 2012

Scared a Moose, Scared a Moose, Saw Her Do the Fandango!

Mismatched pair: Jenna and Ducky Doodle

Walked yesterday to the south corner of our road and, having turned around, relieved to finally have the strong wind at my back, I noticed a large dark patch in the trees about 150 feet away. Looking more closely, the figure of a cow moose came clear; she was standing still, watching me. I stopped and reached for the camera in my pocket, and when I did so she ambled away.
I was disappointed, but also happy and grateful to have seen her.

So you only get a picture of the dogs.
And a perverted cultural reference in the title that perhaps most of you won't "get" ... I come up with these a lot and many people just look at me, wondering what I'm on about. (Queen, anyone? Anyone? I think this little snippet of the song came to me because yesterday on Facebook I watched a video of a drunken man in the back of a police car, singing that particular Queen song at the top of his lungs, out of tune. Thank you Colin Mochrie for sharing that; it was a laugh). Yes I "shared" it -- if you're not connected to me on FB yet, look me up: this should help you find the right one, for there are a thousand of us with the same name.

I’ve been up since before six — went to bed about 9:30 last night, tired, but that didn't mean I could fall asleep for several hours — managed to hear some of Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap on CBC radio in between dozings, and was as usual impressed by the way he points out things I’ve never heard before in songs, giving me a whole new appreciation for the artistry of musicians. His is truly a great show. If you've never listened to it, git thee hence.

Unfortunately the link to the show's page isn't going where it ought; instead it goes to the general CBC Music page, which is something new (and supposedly wonderful; haven't checked it out yet). But if you can find them, many of Bachman's shows are available by podcast somewhere on the CBC website. Meanwhile you can listen to CBC Radio One, which hosts the two-hour show early on Saturday nights, online. It also comes on Radio Two and Sirius satellite; you'll have to poke around. Here's something to get you started: click here. And, the show replays on Friday nights.

This past week I managed to put in 25 hours of work, and now will try not to do any over the weekend, to give myself a “real” break from it so that I don’t feel as if I’m “always” working, when in fact 25 hours a week is not “always” working, I know, but …
Instead this morning I lounged in bed with two or three cups of coffee, reading the preface to the first volume of Virginia Woolf’s diary and making a foray into her earliest entries. Then I made myself a smoothie (two, actually; one is never enough when they’re so delicious) and tidied the countertop, and folded the throws that were bunched up on the couch, and straightened the blanket on the loveseat. I got out the ingredients for a batch of bread and took the frozen vegetable water from the freezer to thaw. And now here I sit, having set the timer for one hour so that I don’t end up in front of this screen continuously till noon and then wonder where the morning went.
I hope to make bran muffins and granola this weekend, too; maybe even today. These are what I'll live on for the coming week, if I'm successful.