danger

The tail of the dead rat wrapped back past its head, right paws frozen in the air, black eye open and unblinking. It seemed an omen. I wanted to take a picture, but stopped for fear of who would see and mock me.

Later that day BB1 came over, buried it carefully, expressed his sympathy for its loss. I still saw it as an omen. Without it’s tail, would it be less worrisome? Without stories of historic plagues, and fairy tales, and urban legends, would it seem friendlier?

A rat lay by my car - dead and harmless - an omen of nothing worse than my own careless thoughts.

deep in thought

Most deep thoughts have been thunk. Even 3,000 years ago poor Solomon, he of the mighty wisdom we should all aspire to, lamented there was nothing new under the sun. And after 50+ days of daily blogging, as well as multiple posts written for other projects, I must admit ... deep thoughts are feeling sadly far away today.

And so, in place of deep thoughts, I offer you the softness of a clematis blossom gone to seed. I don’t know how, with the seaside winds that they are subjected to, these beauties have managed to hang together all fall and halfway through winter, but here they are in all their frosted glory.

Enjoy.

sport

If you asked 20 different people for a word to describe me, 'sporty' wouldn't be among the list of adjectives you'd end up with. To be honest, it’s also not what comes to mind for myself. 

And yet, I like being sporty. It always seems like a bad idea before hand, and ends up being a whole lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed team sports, I’ve done well at team sports, and I’ve gotten a lot out of participating – at various sports way back in the day, basketball in my university days, dragon boating more recently.

Mostly though, I tend more toward solitary activities – riding, kayaking, swimming, yoga – not wanting anyone but myself to be let down when I fail. Despite a history of doing well, it seldom occurs to me that I might not fail. I guess that's something to work on this year ... more confidence, more sport, more fun.  

childhood

When I was 12 (I might have been 14) and started getting migraines, the kooky ‘best you can get in the North’ doctor my Mom took me to diagnosed me with trying too hard (good grades, community service, etc) and having lost the spirit of whimsy and joy that a child should have. He prescribed something akin to ‘lighten up.’ 

While I still think the man was a quack, I can kind of see his point. There are certain activities and items that, when I see or play with them now, invoke instant childhood: the colourful explosion of a DoodleArt poster, a rousing game of Scrabble, making snow angels in powder dry snow.

Maybe the kooky doctor was right. Maybe I do need a prescription for the kind of imagination that turn a hike into a quest and a blanket and cushions into a fort. Here’s to more play this year, and the freedom to feel the wind in my face. 

creation

The fun thing about creation is that every single one of us get to play with it every single day. We get to make a plan and then make it happen. We get to say what’s so, and experience the world that way.

Sometimes, every now and then, we might forget that we get to do that. Sometimes it seems like the way the world is, the way life goes, is the function of some external force. Sometimes malevolent, and sometimes beneficent, but always outside.

But the truth is, every day, every moment, we get to play at creation. Right now, I’m smiling and creating this wee post, to share a little peace of my mind with you. Because I can.