Blog Therapy

I haven't blogged seriously in ages, mostly because I've been so busy with life as it happens that there's been no time to document it.

Over the last six or eight weeks, the stressors in my life have been mounting. Each on its own is completely handleable, but as they continue to add up in a seemingly short period of time, I'm noticing a physical change in my body, lowered energy levels and an emotional unwellness akin to lonliness, heartache and depression.

The biggies are:
Tiki went out in a rainstorm back in July and hasn't returned.
My Dad passed away on September 14.
Nathalie returned to Quebec on September 26.

Each of these probably deserves a novel of a post each, but suffice it to say I'm really not up for that, and it's probably best to keep most of it out of the public realm.

As the last four or five days have gone, my sleep pattern has evolved into something of an 11PM to 5AM cycle with a frenzied sense of "I gotta do it all, and now!" in between.

Today, however, I slept in to the point of missing my 7:30 Chiropractic appointment. Two hours later, I was in his office, ready for a much-needed adjustment.

I then found myself in Chapters killing time before an eye exam at 11:40, wandering around aimlessly looking at books for no apparent reason, sucking back a half-coffee-half-whole cream pick-me-up. Then it was off to COSTCO for some kitty liter because...

I returned home to find a new resident feline in the window:




Meet Sir William. He hails from the Hanna SPCA, and he's the sweetest guy!
(the orange paper in the window is to keep the birds from cracking their wee beaks... Sir William would be happy about that, I'm sure!)

Something light

I found this highly amusing, and the timing was perfect - I needed a little 'light' in my day...

To My Dear Father

Frank Hoskyn
August 19, 1924 - September 14, 2008


DYLAN THOMAS
Fern Hill

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honored among wagons I was prince of the appletowns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.

And as I was green and carefree, famous among the the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
In the sun that is young once only,
Time let me play and be
Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams.

All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
And playing, and lovely and watery
And fire green as grass.
And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
Flying with the ricks, and the horses
Flashing into the dark.

And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
Out of the whinnying stable
On the fields of praise.

And honored among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
In the sun born over and over,
I ran my heedless ways,
My wishes raced through the house-high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky-blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace.

Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow-thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
In the moon that is always rising,
Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

1946

For Mollie & Elle

One of the first blogs I ever started to read was IPODMAMA, now IPM. I haven't been around in ages, but dropped in today to this post to discover lost love at 16.

I've always believed that music is a way to express and to cope.

Maybe this'll help...

Thinking of you both.

Bonding over a wheelbarrow

Something I've known all along came to light the other day. It's one of those things that often is taken for granted. I'm not sure how many of you can look back on your life and shake hands with those who have been a part of it for a quarter century or more, but that's a reality for me.

I interact regularly with long-time friends, but what I thought about the other day was the great number of those with whom I share a lengthy history and more specifically, those who aren't always in my 'daily' life. I have these people in my life who seem to be off doing their 'thing' and we rarely spend any time together. When we do, we each appear not to have missed a heartbeat: we pick up where we left off as if no time had passed whatsoever.

It's a great feeling and it gives me every reason to continue to make more friends.

Today I spent some quality time with my new neighbour, also Dave but no relation. We did what neighbours do - talked about neighbourhood goings-on, and he borrowed a wheelbarrow. Is this another quarter-century friend in the making? Only time will tell, but for now it's a great feeling meeting a new, great neighbour.

What's your wheelbarrow doing these days?

Along the road of life..

...there are




OK, I thought it was funny...

I was cruising around on Facebook and noticed that one of my friends had recently returned from England. She'd taken that photo, along with this one...




...priceless!

It would appear that I am living vicariously through other, more seasoned travellers! These were good for a chuckle, but seeing the other photos brought back some fond memories of our visit in 1982.

Life moves along here - not so much full of places I've travelled to, but rather, times had with good friends.

Speaking of priceless...

Got any ideas?

The question I pose here is directed toward those in my home town of Calgary since the answer lies locally.

Can you recommend a good yoga studio?

Frankly, I miss yoga. Well, not so much yoga as much as the structured classes. I do some yoga at home and when I'm out and about -- like camping at Radium a couple weeks back. Trouble with yoga is that it seems it's so "trendy" these days, and picking the right studio and the right instructor is as important as one's focus on the yoga itself. I'm a pretty easy-going guy and for the most part, pretty accepting of most everyone, but when it comes to my own health care, I require a gentle-natured soul to help me along. That goes for MDs, massage therapists and yoga instructors.

I did one of those Bio-feedback tests at the chiropractor's office about a month ago, too. It suggested (and I'm not exactly sure how it came to the conclusion) that I am "overworked".

Essentially they hooked me up to a computer and took readings of all kinds to compare against a battery of data. It highlighted a number of things that I was already aware of, as well as a bunch of stuff that I was unaware of.

It was on the recommendation of the technician and my chiropractor that I do the cleanse, and that in and of itself brought a new meaning to the word "exhausted".

Today was my last day of the 15-day herbal programme, and I'm honestly looking forward to regaining my energy levels. Literally, I've felt zapped for over two weeks. It's raising my stress levels simply because I have no energy reserves. The energy I normally use to simply operate day-to-day seems to have been robbed by these little purple pills and herbal extract that taste strongly of cloves.

I've cleaned out the body - it's time now for the mind and the soul.