Running through cemeteries

Sometimes I run through cemeteries.

Cemeteries freak some people out. Our real estate agent told us that many clients refuse to consider a house anywhere near a cemetery. I haven't visited the cemetery in which my brother, sister-in-law and mother are buried in many years. Cemeteries are a comfort that way for some, but not for me. It's impossible for me connect a plot of ground with my brother, for instance. Jim's not there; he's in my head and my heart, and in the memories of everyone who knew him.

I've always enjoyed walking through cemeteries in general, however, and these days I've started running through them.

There's no car traffic, so I don't have to worry about where they are so I don't accidentally run into them (or rather having them accidentally run into me).

There aren't many people. I've never been a social runner. I'm the slowest runner in the world, and prefer running at my own pace. Plus I also prefer running in silence; it gives me room to reflect and think about whatever I'd like.

There are no intersections, which means that I don't have to stop unless I want to.

It's quiet. I listened to the birds as I ran earlier this morning, and the wind in the trees. It was a glorious morning for a run, sunny but with only a hint of the heat that will likely come later today, and the sky a brilliant, endless blue above.

Cemeteries are a great place to find interesting names for my books.

Cemeteries are full of stories. As I run past the tombstones, I'm always aware that every stone has at least one story behind it. The couple who were obviously devoted to each other, for example. The grief behind the few words adorning an infant's stone. The family stone. The stone of a husband or wife, with space for the other. The gravestones that are obviously visited frequently, adorned with flowers and carefully tended plants. The lonely-looking gravestones whose engravings are starting to deteriorate.

Cemeteries are inspiring visually, with their sculptures and different textures, groomed gardens and trees.

Cemeteries remind me of my own mortality, of time passing. I'm reminded of loved ones long gone, and of friends who have also lost loved ones. Someone in my writer's critique group lost his mother two days ago; I thought of him and others with recent losses.

But most of all, running through cemeteries reminds me to value all that I have that much more, and to not take people or time for granted.

Link O' The Day

Self Defense Video: Wrist Grabs - Free self defense videos by Jason Hall, a professional self-defense instructor. The page has links to other self-defense videos.

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Herb-y goodness

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated. Click on the image above for a bigger version.

My indoor herb garden has been gradually expanding. I've also ordered some herbs and seeds from Richters Herbs; hopefully these should arrive soon!

A survey for you gardeners out there:
Do you prefer growing plants that are nice to eat or nice to look at?

I lean heavily toward the former whereas Jeff is in the latter camp. This makes our garden revamp discussions interesting, but I think it'll work out without too much bloodshed. My favourite plants in our current garden are the purple lilac (I love the fragrance), mock orange (again, heavenly fragrance) and our quince (gorgeous flowers). Our new garden will incorporate a space for a herb garden, yay!




Above: Thyme (regular) and rosemary. I bought the thyme earlier this week and have already used some in a recipe last night: Grilled Lime Chicken with Onion Compote from Grilling For Dummies by Marie Rama and John Mariani.



My friend Luisa recommended this book, and it's packed with excellent advice about all aspects of grilling as well as recipes. I love cookbooks that include explanations of WHY certain cooking techniques work, and general principles instead of just specifics. Anyway, I grilled chicken for the first time last night, and it turned out very well. I was doubtful about the onion compote recipe but the long simmer with thyme (freshly picked from my window garden!) mellowed the onions into a wonderful complement to the lime-marinated chicken.

Yum.



Above: I love using fresh basil in my cooking, so have planted a window box full. Those little seedlings you see sprouting up between the basil plants are parsley; I'll transplant those out to their own containers when they're big enough.



And because one can never have too much basil, I've also planted a bunch of seedlings (see above for a close-up of a few). I love fresh-picked basil leaves roughly torn and scattered over a mozzarella and tomato salad. I love basil in soups and stews, throw in at the last minute. I love the scent of fresh basil so much that I'd put a bunch in a small vase as substitute flowers in the kitchen, just so I can smell it all day (and then eat it, of course).



And here's my indoor plant, which I bought last week. It's been wonderful to pick fresh tomatoes off the plant, but I've noticed that more and more of the leaves are starting to curl up and turn brown. :-( I've been following the instructions that came with the plant, watering it from the bottom instead of from the top. The surface is still dry, so I don't think I'm over-watering.

Any advice from gardeners out there would be appreciated!





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Praise for dentists and a question for gardeners

Went to get my passport renewed this morning. Many thanks to my friend Luisa for the advice about filling out my passport application online. When I arrived at the office, the room was packed with waiting applicants and a sign warned everyone that because of the high volume of passport applications, there was no guarantee that you'd be seen at all on the same day.

I started wishing I had brought my laptop after all. But then I took my printed application and documents to the pre-screening and was told that because I had filled out my application online, I would be fast-tracked. I was directed across the hall (to the room filled with waiting people) and stood for maybe 20 seconds before my number came up on the screen. Total time in Passport Office: 15 minutes at most.

So my advice to those who need to get a new Canadian passport and want to minimize the hassle (at least in Toronto):

1. Do your application online, then bring the printout with you. I had some trouble with the Passport Canada site (it was SO SLOW and hiccupped at least once) but it was well worth the hassle in the end.

2. Make sure you have all your documents and payment with you.

3. Go in the morning.



I took the photos above and below at my dentist appointment last week, when my dentist gave me a partial crown to help fix a cracked tooth. The crack had been causing me pain for the past six months every time I ate or drank anything slightly savoury, sweet, hot or cold. Yes, I said EVERY TIME. Above photo: My dentist has removed the old filling and bits of tooth around the crack to make room for the crown, then taken a 3D image of my remaining tooth. In this photo, she starts to create the partial crown.

I had to book the appointment so far in advance because it took up a 4-hour time slot, and my dentist is very popular and therefore hugely busy. I love my dentist, Dr. Carolyn Poon Woo (the best dentist in Toronto, in my admittedly somewhat biased opinion). It was also fascinating watching the whole process. In this photo, my dentist has created a computer model of my new crown. It took about 15 minutes for the actual crown to be sculpted in a machine:




Meanwhile, however, I feel incredibly lucky that I live in a place and time that this can be fixed at all. And I can EAT WITHOUT PAIN NOW, WOOHOO! You have no idea how happy this makes me. I'm going to send a gushing thank you note to my dentist.



I'm lovin' this spring weather. Above: a female red-winged blackbird on our niger feeder. Thanks to my friend Peter Kotenan for the species identification!



I've already seen a wide range of birds (and the occasional frustrated squirrel, as evidenced above HAHAHAHA) on and around our feeders including blue jays, sparrows, goldfinches, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, juncos, and mourning doves.

A question for you gardener types:

Sunflower husks tend to accumulate beneath the Squirrelbuster feeder, which hangs from our gingko tree; Jeff cleared away a 2-inch layer recently. Will these hurt the growth of our tree?



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sick

Still sick. I seem to be lagging a day behind Jeff in symptoms; I'm crossing my fingers and hoping he wakes up today feeling great. We've been sleeping in separate rooms so we don't keep each other up with our coughing, etc. in hopes that one of us recovers enough to take care of the other.


(Click image for bigger version and cat name plea)

The other night we had fish sticks for dinner. They actually weren't bad, considering we just had to stick them in the oven: High Liner Multigrain Tilapia Breaded Fillets. My sister (yay for sisters!) brought by homemade chicken soup and muffins the other day.

Other bright spots in this germ-laden week so far...

I found out that my Beadbrain Skullshaker from the Snyder family glows in the dark!



The happy face balloon from Mich, Marilisa and Simon is still floating:



And I found a sugar-free chocolate chip cookie that actually tastes okay:



One thing I'm quickly discovering, however: sugar-free does not necessarily mean low calorie. I also picked up some sugar-free chocolate from the drugstore to try out. To all those who offered helpful advice and encouragement: THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Back to bed.



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Ernie the Upside-Down Fish

My comp copies of the Writer's Yearbook 2007 arrived, yay! My article, "2006: The Year In Review" is the first in the issue and runs five pages (four and a bit, really :-)).

I wrote another kids' song yesterday. I didn't try to -- it popped into my head while I was taking a shower. I love when that happens. I recorded a quick version of it in Garageband as soon as I got to my office (a 28 second commute) so I wouldn't lose it, finished it at the end of the day, then sent it off to Allison and Jodi so we can (hopefully) learn it to perform in the children's round robin concert at FKO.

It's a food song. Surprising, eh?



I am babysitting a goldfish and some African violets for two families right now. The fish's name is Ernie, and his young owner told me not to be alarmed if he turned purple, grew bumps and swam upside-down. I thought she was joking. See the photo above: Ernie seems to swim upside-down most of the time. He's missing a fin, which probably accounts for his unusual choice of locomotion.

No sign of the purple bumpy part yet.
I've been told to knock on the bowl if I think Ernie's dead, to see if he wakes up.

One of my nieces asked me to babysit her Sea Monkeys (tm) last year, and left detailed instructions. I followed her instructions to the letter, yet I managed to kill them anyway. :-( They died one at a time, first dragging themselves along the bottom of the Sea Monkey Tank (tm) in a truly heartrending drama for about 12 hours before giving up the ghost. The last Sea Monkey (tm) had the audacity to expire one day before my niece returned. When he was in his tail-dragging phase, I begged with him to PLEASE hold on just a few more days. He ignored me.

(For those who have not seen Sea Monkeys (tm) in real life, I regret to inform you that they do NOT hold hands and smile and dance with each other in a circle, Whoville-fashion. They are brine shrimp. But they are still fascinating to watch for seconds at a time.)

I recently posted in Livejournal, asking for advice on how to keep Ernie and the Violets (what a great band name, eh?) healthy until their owners come to claim them, and my friend Luis offered the most amusing (though of dubious value in practical application, I suspect) advice:

Liquid Plummer! It's the wonder liquid. Good for both Goldfish AND violets. Also, Goldfish Love to be Juggled. I know, it's probably more than you are willing to do for a fish but believe me, The fish will thank you. Or look at you in a very fish like way....

Wish me luck. Many thanks to those of you who posted advice! Yes, even Luis!

Links O' The Day

One of the most amusing deodorant commercials of all time: Thanks to Jim Bowlin for the link.

Twirl A Squirrel: Thanks to Margaret Middleton for this link. :-D

William F*** Shatner (Part 1): A sad and shocking story of Wil Wheaton's first meeting with William Shatner. I am anxiously awaiting Part II! Thanks to Ray Vankleef for the link.

UNBELIEVABLE paper sculptures by Jen Stark, using only construction paper. Thanks to Ray Vankleef for the link.



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