Good Walking - and Other Stuff

One step at a time is good walking.
~   Chinese proverb

There is some white stuff falling steadily from the sky as I type this but there was a short string of especially warm spring days, last week. I got out to enjoy the weather a few times, and of course, my camera came along for the walk. I couldn't help but notice the many ways there were to get around while out there - walking, cycling, rolling, towing, flying and slithering. Here are some of those and a few more.



This guy kept a wary eye on me until I got a little too close...







And then he turned tail and flew off.







A little one slept in the back while the dad biked around the lake.







There's nary a train in sight but that guy at the curve in the tracks is struggling with a shopping cart.







A couple of boys abandoned their skateboards because they were preoccupied with something they found to be more interesting (coming up soon).







This young cutie's chariot awaits her - whenever her little feet get tired of walking.

The next two photos were from the following day but they fit the theme well enough.




I was out by the lake enjoying a coffee with a friend when we noticed this boat being lowered into the lake. Of course, I wandered over to get a few pics.






The boaters were smiling - as were we. My friend requested "Stairway to Heaven" and the guitarist quickly obliged, evoking a chuckle from all.






Back to the previous day, this woman jogged past me with a thoughtful warning. "Just a heads up - there are snakes back there."

And that brings us to what had distracted the young skateboarders from the earlier photo. I'm giving you the same heads up. If you're not fond of snakes, you can skip the rest of the photos.




Each boy held one of a pair of harmless Ball Pythons which a man brought to the park so that they could enjoy the afternoon sunshine. There's not much more to say about this slithering set so instead, I'll offer up a few quotes to accompany them.

Stop feeding the snake around your neck. One day it will grow strong enough to strangle you. ~ Johanna Georgsson

The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die.

As well, the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

He's the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes and he only comes out at night. ~ Carrie Underwood

When I was 16, I worked in a pet store. And they fired me because they had three snakes in there, and one day I braided them.

~ Steven Wright

Were you always such a snake," the child asked, "or did you grow into what you are?" ~ Dean Koontz

A snake can change its skin but not its disposition. ~ Persian Proverb

Truth is as straight as an arrow, while a lie swivels like a snake. ~ Suzy Kassem

Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake. ~ W C Fields

Thanks for joining me on my walk while those around us jogged, flew, cycled, rowed and slithered.

Days of Halloween Passed

When I was a kid, Halloween night seemed to last forever. I remember the paths we'd take, up and down neighbourhood avenues and along a particular stretch of a main street, where some stores shelled out all-day suckers and bags of chips to the princesses, ghosts, witches and skeletons which paraded through their shops. We'd dart back and forth across otherwise empty streets to the houses where pumpkins glowed on their front porches.

People were generous, which was a good thing because we kids were greedy, rushing home to empty our heavy, near-full bags to discover that its enormous weight was due to at least a dozen apples. We didn't worry much back then, about finding sinister items in our treats. The only nutcases to be found were those which encased handfuls of loose peanuts. Candy bars were a rare and most welcomed coup. We'd sort the mound of goodies into a few piles - apples, peanuts, molasses candy kisses, chocolate treats and lolli-pops. And gum, which was usually boxed in mini-packets of two Chicklets each. Of course we also always carried around UNICEF boxes, which were usually filled to capacity, and turned in at school the next day.

I think Halloween was my Dad's favourite holiday to capture on film. He used to have a movie camera, and I can remember seeing endless, silent footage of children arriving at our door, holding out bags and waddling off in their over-sized costumes, to ring the next doorbell. Mom also got into the act. As the camera turned in toward our own living room, there was Mom, all dressed up as a hobo in Dad's plaid shirt, baggy pants and a floppy hat. Her ensemble complete with the black paper which came inside boxes of chocolates, secured around her front teeth to create the illusion that she'd been gummin' it for years. She didn't need to be reminded to show off her toothless grin that night. She cracked her own self up, and her smile was ever-present.

A decade later, I can remember my parents hosting a costume party for adults only. My sister and I were too young to be a part of the fun, but old enough to understand why we were excluded. We didn't hang around that night, but we did see the photographs sometime later. Mom decided that she'd be some sort of plumber-toilet hybrid that year. Her costume consisted of an apron, rubber gloves, boots and a plunger. Around her neck sat an actual (unused) opened toilet seat, and a roll of toilet paper perched on top of her head. Dad regressed into infancy, and wore a nightgown and baby bonnet with matching booties. In his mouth was a giant, boob-shaped pacifier. He might not have done much talking that night.

Once I started partying on my own, I hosted a "fictional character" theme costume party, one Halloween. My friend Carol Anne and I worked hard at designing and creating our costumes. My boyfriend and I dressed up as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell respectively, only briefly considering reversing the roles. I used wires, plastic wrap and glitter to make my wings, and aluminum foil was used to wrap up a star-tipped wand. I ended up spreading so much fairy dust glitter around, that I continued to vacuum it from my small apartment for months, perhaps years later. Somewhere I have photos, but I'm sober, and I'm not going to post them.

The best costume, by far, was Carol Anne's "Cat in the Hat" of Dr. Seuss fame. Like I said, we worked long and hard at creating them and just minutes before the party began, I helped her with the finishing touches. The body portion of her costume consisted of all black - leggings and a turtle-neck jersey. A leotard, complete with wiry tail was worn over the first two items, and a hood with ears for the cat's head was tucked inside her collar. Before topping that headpiece off with the famous red and white striped hat, we needed to secure the hood by sewing it into the turtleneck jersey, creating the illusion of an all-in-one piece. Black make-up gave her some cat's eyes, a black nose and whiskers. Once she added the hat, Carol Anne looked great, and quite proud of herself, she happily poured a drink and went about enjoying the party.

Everyone arrived in some amazing costumes, but there was no doubt that The Cat in the Hat was the hit of the party. Carol Anne struck up a conversation with an old friend and she poured herself another drink while he admired her costume. He asked her about how she put it together. Proud of her handiwork, and of our brilliant idea to secure the costume by sewing her into it, she went into detail describing the process. He smiled. Then he laughed. Then he just looked at her and laughed some more. Finally he asked her "How are you supposed to go pee if you're sewn into that thing?"

Carol Anne stood there, quietly blinking. She may have uttered a mild expletive as she put her drink down. She never poured another one for the rest of the night and we both learned something about the value of Velcro.

Fast-forward to today. My kids are now adults - long past the age for trick-or-treat. My older son has a house of his own and will be "shelling out" this year for the first time under his own roof. Their years of running around the streets in costume with a UNICEF box seem to have lasted such a short time. The excitement they felt when getting ready to charge the neighbourhood was contagious. I couldn't help but feel transformed back to my own youth alongside them. I hope that when they think back to those years, they will remember the magic of those special nights, and feel the joy in discovering them all over again with their own children.

What were some of your own, or your kids' favourite Halloween costumes? Here are a few photos of my kidlets in costume from various days of Halloween past (and a couple of images of how they appear today). Please excuse the poor quality of the photos. They were scanned and enlarged considerably.




From a very young age, Jeffrey knew what he wanted and often figured out a way to achieve it. When he was three, his wish to dress up as an all-season tree had me 'stumped'. I scanned images of autumn leaves, winter snowflakes, spring flowers and summer apples, and used markers to give them colour. This was back in 1990 and I didn't have a colour printer yet. I cut the shapes out and glued them to a piece of green material. A trip to the craft store provided me with the birds and nest that we perched atop his head. Velcro might have been involved.




Here's Jeffrey all set to put out fires in neighbourhood Jack-O'-Lanterns. By the time he was in Junior Kindergarten, he was fascinated with the idea of becoming a fire fighter - and a doctor, and a garbage collector, and a scientist, and ...




As it turned out, he now dresses like this, an Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. This photo was taken when I visited his home (about 5 hours from my own) in early September. He's on course for Air Traffic and Air Weapons Control.




Aladdin was very popular when Jeffrey was 6. His birthday was the previous April and he wanted an Aladdin theme party, hence the birthday banner behind him. Six months later he wanted to dress up as his favourite character and hit the streets with his sidekick...




At age 3, Alex was now old enough to join his brother. He was less opinionated than Jeffrey and allowed us to dress him as Abu, the primate that accompanies Aladdin. It quite suited his little monkyish character.





On to scarier costumes. I'm surprised my kids sat still for the make-up jobs that were inflicted upon them over the years, but they happily endured it twice a day - for the school parade and at night. Here's Jeffrey being a not-so-scary vampire.





Alex waddled through the streets dressed as a dinosaur. At 4, he was less inclined to sit still for a full make-up job....





But at aged 5, he showed tremendous patience. Alex loved being a tiger so much that we painted him up the same way for the following Halloween.





He has since abandoned the tiger look and grown his own very impressive lion-like mane. This was taken a few months ago. That guitar seems to be a regular part of his dress code too.

I hope you enjoyed these costume photo from when my kids were little.

Happy Halloween everyone!

This was mostly a repost from a couple of years back. Only the photos and descriptions of my adult sons are recent. Thanks for reading.

Tiny Cousins (and Big Ones Too)

This past weekend was a time of celebration. It was Easter, Passover, Spring, the beginning of a week long holiday from school for my son, Alex and it was my older boy, Jeffrey's twenty third birthday. For the first time in the four years that he's attended RMC (Royal Military College), his birthday coincided with the long weekend. We were happy to have him home with his family.

Jeffrey likes to cook but doesn't get the opportunity to do that when he's away at school. This works out well for us because it means that he looks forward to cooking when he's at home. On Friday night, he made a delicious curried pork for Frank and me. It was an unplanned dish since stores were closed due to the holiday. He pulled a few items out of cupboards, fridge and freezer and before we knew it, dinner was served.

On Sunday night - Jeffrey's birthday, he cooked a delicious feast for his Dad, brother Alex and me. First on the menu was salad with lettuce, watercress, basil, tomatoes and green onions with a dressing made of fresh grapefruit juice, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings. It was followed up with lamb, peppers and mushroom kabobs, maple glazed salmon barbecued on a cedar plank, and if that wasn't enough, gigantic meatballs cooked with onions, tomatoes and wine. How many people do you know who consider it a luxury to cook for others on their own birthday?

Earlier that afternoon, we had a lovely brunch at our most gracious hosts Amanda and Colin's home. Amanda and my boys are second cousins which would make her wee ones second cousins once removed. Her adorable kidlets are featured in some of the photos below.

Easter eggs, both real and chocolate decorated the dining table.




And decorated this face. "No, I didn't eat any chocolate. Why do you ask?"




Her brother seemed more interested in this sucker - after all there's one born every minute.




The birthday boy, guy, man - my older son, Jeffrey.




His handsome brother, Alex in a pensive moment.




And speaking of pensive moments.. what a face!




After brunch, there was a request by Ms. Chocolate Face for Alex to play guitar, so he borrowed Amanda's instrument and obliged. He had a little bit of help.




Quite a bit, in fact.




Shortly afterward, a couple of the men got into a bit of a standoff. Don't they look tough?




Someone was in top fashion with her lovely Easter chapeau.




It was a lovely afternoon spent enjoying family, fine food and good music. Thanks, Amanda and Colin, and the tiny cousins...




It was eggceptional!

My Son the Musician

In the summer of 2004, my son Alex was about to turn 14 and he thought that he would like a guitar for his birthday. Having been through piano lessons that fizzled out before long, and middle school music classes which were met with little enthusiasm, we were hesitant to consider the expense of an electric guitar and amplifier. His Dad ended up finding a decent instrument for a good price and he bought a cheap amp to go along with it.

It was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

From that day, Alex has scarcely put the guitar down. He is mostly self-taught having opted to take a few months of lessons after he felt he had figured out all that he could on his own. His fingers and guitar strings seem to empower one another, and I can not imagine my son ever separating himself from his guitar for more than a day.

His strong preference is toward metal, but he has been listening to, loving and learning new sounds and styles daily.

On Friday, his school held a talent show, and Alex, along with his friend Steven performed Summer, from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Alex has the bored/cool musician look down pat, but he couldn't quite hide his pleased grin at the end.

A proud mom was there to record it.