Saturday, May 28, 2011
The day starts out right .. a lazy day … Jane E wants her breakfast .. so she starts her circuit of hopping up on the bed. Walks over me, making her tiny body as heavy as she possible can. Purrs. Jumps down to the floor. Repeats about 20 times. I lost count.So I finally get up to prepare her little breakfast. She really doesn’t demand much. Some hugs, and brushing and some treats. And her meals. Served at specific times. Especially supper. Just before 5 pm, she starts positioning herself in front of the kitchen door. Just sits there. Staring up at me. Doesn’t move. So finally, I make my moves. To the fridge or the cupboard, depending on whether there is an open can of cat food there.
Gather up a large soupspoon. Place a little bit of food on her plate and then spread it as thinly onto the surface as possible. We go through our routine. Then the food is prepared properly and she starts to daintily eat her breakfast.
I return to the kitchen, where Jane E’s counterpart (in size and personality) ..little Youbou sits quietly waiting. So I top up the dry and wet food dishes for him and his big brother, Duncan. These little critters are so particular! My dh says that, if someone was looking down from outer space, they’d be impressed with these little animals. Living the life of Riley while we humans set out to work so we can house, feed and otherwise take care of the “royalty”! Not far from the truth.
So we head out to Dakota Cafe for breakfast bennies.
Enroute, tires are a bit low, so we stop in at a gas station off the highway. Notice there is a bike race going on. While dh is attending to the tires, I wander over to the bike trail, and asked an onlooker what type of race this is? Turns out it’s the 90km Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour De Victoria!
Looking at the focused faces and strong athletic form of the bicyclists, I feel a kind of energy coming from the groups that pass by on the path. Some look up and I just give them a big smile of appreciation and encouragement.
Suddenly I hear the voice of a young woman, a volunteer standing at her station of the bike trail .. about 30 feet away. She calls over to myself and the onlooker and beckons one of us over to her. So I trot over, wait till there are no bikers on the trail and asked her what she wanted.
Turns out that she wanted me to pass a message on to another person farther down the path .. so I readily agree to pass it on. Running on the damp grass, I wait till the volunteer has waved through another group of bikers and pass on the message.
And thus I feel a part of the group. And this feels good! So this has started me thinking about volunteering for the upcoming June 19 triathalon. Lana Popham had sent an MLA update e-mail with details on volunteering. I wasn’t thinking of doing that .. however, just this little tiny bit of action this morning has prompted me to change my mind.
I would love to be part of this energy .. so I’ll see if I can volunteer for the bicycle portion of the triathalon. Nothing ventured .. etc.
Anyway, on to Dakota Cafe. Not many parking spaces available at the Victoria Flying Club. Turns out there is a SAR (Search & Rescue) seminar taking place.
We would have loved to have stayed to listen, but, dh is working on those back stairs and we have more wood to get .. and there are only so many hours available on a Saturday .. so after our delicious breakfast ( the bennies were delicious) we make ready to leave.
But not before dh discusses flying and flying and flying and flying with another pilot. So I busy myself with doing … nothing! I just wander around with my camera and binoculars. Look at planes departing and arriving. See JAZZ and Air Canada planes departing and wonder where the passengers are heading. Some, I’m sure, are heading to warmer climates for fun in the sun. Perhaps others have business appointments in another province. Maybe someone is excitedly starting the first leg of a first time trip to Europe.
The pilot friend was telling us about a long-ago trip to the South of France. A mecca for all types of wind powered aviation. About the tents set up, enough to cover 3 or more football fields. Pilots are welcome to try out new equipment. It doesn’t matter if you don’t speak french. But, hey, I can order food and talk about gardening so that would keep me happy!!! Also, I do believe that the wine is delicious (Actually, I know that, for a fact!!) 🙂
And this occurs in September (which is when my birthday is!). I’ll just drop a few hints here and there. Maybe I can talk my dh into going there … that would be so much fun!!
Anyway, while walking around, looking up at the skies .. I notice a hawk gliding around. Then some seagulls. Then another hawk . .and I think there were Cooper’s hawks .. they hang around there a lot.
Tried to take some pictures .. and ended up with one that shows little dark specks in the sky .. those are the 2 hawks!
Ok .. time to go shopping at the lumber store. While dh was calculating wood needed to finish the stairs project, I wandered around. At times looking up at the barn swallows as they swooped around the eaves of the tall warehouse and then gracefully out the door .. and then I started looking at the textures of various boards stocked up in rows.
Noticed some fir posts that were absolutely beautiful. The tops were sanded to a smooth surface, corners were softly rounded. What I found so beautiful was the natural artistic “paintings” that were exposed to the surface. Two pieces of wood, opposite grains, were bonded together. They just caught my eye, so I brought out my camera and started snapping pics.
A young worker asked if I needed assistance, and I said, no .. just admiring the beautiful designs and texture of the wood. He nodded in agreement and said “that’s why the wood is so expensive” (the process to arrive a the finished result).
Then I started thinking about that. About the process. I thought, that is almost like “the joy is in the journey” .. which brings to mind my lovely mulch. (Doesn’t everything segue to mulch or birds, anyway?)
Last fall, I was so disappointed that I wasn’t able to receive a truckload of chopped leaves from my local municipality. Then I found out that there was a truckload of this beautiful material dropped off at a local park … so I filled my little car with those Rubbermaid containers (10) and made 4 trips .. loading up the containers with the lovely stuff. There were a number of other gardeners there also, and we all made short work of the 10 yards that had been left for us to use.
But, really, this didn’t make a dint in what I needed for the yard.
So then I chanced upon a source for oak leaves and filled 60 bags. In the process, I made new friends! And I have yet another source for those lovely leaves!!! This wouldn’t have happened if I’d received a truckload of the leaves .. I wouldn’t have made the effort and I would have missed meeting some terrific people!!!
Then I bought a truckload of manure. And 20 bales of hay. All winter I’ve been turning this mixture .. and still continuing to do so. And now I have the most beautiful mulch for the garden.
I guess that was a lot of work, but I wasn’t thinking of it as such. My goal was to improve my garden soil. That was my objective. And the work wasn’t really work. It was a means to an end.
Anyway, wood paid for and assembled onto our vehicle and we finally made it back home. Time for a mug of Yorkshire Tea and then .. outside .. or out for a walk? Decisions, decisions!!!
🙂
