Monday Moanings - August 6, 2018

It's a holiday Monday in my part of the world. 

Back in the 1800's the government of the day recognized the need for an extra day of relaxation in mid-summer. Winter hardy Canadians needed a long holiday weekend to revel in the all too short pleasures of summer living - boating, water skiing, swimming, bbq's, beer, baseball, wine spritzers, and lounging in the sunshine.






It's called Simcoe Day here in these parts, though around Ontario other names prevail: Colonel By Day in Ottawa, Joseph Brant Day in Burlington and Benjamin Vaughan Day in the City of Vaughan. And around the country still other names head up this first Monday in August: Regatta Day in Newfoundland, Natal Day in Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick Day in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan, Heritage Day in Alberta, and British Columbia Day in, you guessed it, British Columbia.

I've written about the history of this day and the contribution of John Graves Simcoe in a previous blog. Click here for the link.






And what am I doing on this holiday Monday? Well, moaning is not permitted, however sweating is unavoidable outside my door. I was out before 9am to give the flowers and plants a deep drink of water before the sun rose high enough to inflict her blazing beams on bloom and bud, even then the air was sultry and rivulets of wet saltiness soon formed on my face. Still I'm happy to report that at least some of the plants are managing to thrive in the heat.

Now I'm staying inside, grateful for air conditioning, writing and musing, and occasionally casting my eye over the weather radar, because this kind of heat and humidity (30°C with 65% humidity) can break with bang!

The red dot (upper middle of the picture) is where we live.

Take care everyone. 

Keep an eye on the sky. 

Chillax.

Have an iced coffee.



©2018 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - August 8, 2016

Summertime and the living is...

...sputter, sputter, whine, whine.

It's too hot without any change in sight, at least not this week:

 "Another impressively dry and very hot week ahead for Southern Ontario. Dew points between 20-25c will create high to extreme humidity readings peaking on Thursday/Friday. The heat and humidity will begin building through Southern Ontario Tuesday, and peak Friday. Temperatures will soar into the low-mid 30's Thursday and Friday feeling like 40-47c for many once you factor in the humidity!" 

Ontario Tornado Watch Forecast 

"Impressively"??? Not in my books! I've got my cranky pants on and darn little can even get close to being impressive. But you've heard this song and dance over and over again this tepid season.
So what else is new?

Well my inner critic is alive, well and very happy! She's having a whale of a time and getting high on her own fumes too. According to this mouthy broad, there is no end to the list of my shoulds and oughts, incompletes and outright failures. As if that litany of criticisms were not enough, she knows that if she casts such charges within the dark cloak of aging, she can really cut me to the quick.

Her sorcery distorted the bathroom mirror this morning. Some old lady's face stared blankly back at me. "Your not one of the cool kids anymore," the critic cackled, "you're just an old fart!" And I took the bait -  hook, line and sinker, especially the sinker.

There are times to shut the inner critic up, drop kick her out of earshot and this morning was surely one of them. But of course it was too late. She had landed the blow.

There are also times to let the herald of negative self-judgement rant, let her barrage of outlandish insults pile up in some insignificant corner as crumpled up rejection notices. Sometimes there is a kernel of wisdom buried within that heap of complaint. For me that wisdom is about acceptance: I'm not thirty anymore. Dammit, but I'm just not.

But don't think for a moment that this all means I'll be pulling up a rocking chair and doing some knitting (stitches too tight, too loose, dropped stitches - I hate knitting!) anytime soon.




Some of my days are made for pull-out-all-the-stops action.
Some are made for do-nothing quiet.
Most of my days are a bit of both in dynamic proportion.

All of my days are made to be enjoyed, savoured, and celebrated.



And I think  my inner critic has had more than enough face-time this month.








Environment Canada has just issued a Heat Warning... AGAIN!





So, I can be found doing one of two things - either watching the Summer Olympics or planning our next great adventure, and perhaps even both at the same time!

Cheers!




©2016 April Hoeller