Monday Moanings - February 23, 2015

SSDD - Same Snow Different Day

Minus 24°C this morning with brilliant sunshine lighting up fresh powder. Made me wonder if somehow the stars of the night dusted the new snow with all their glitter. It is stunning. It is also bloody cold, again. SSDD!

So what else is new? Well the Oscars were handed out last night. I watched the show for a whole ten minutes while I waited for Downton Abbey to come on. Neither the host nor the camera sweeps of the "stars" in the audience impressed me. I mean did anyone really need to see Michael Keaton's open mouthed mastication of what I assume was gum even just once, let alone three times? Surely black tie and gum is a fashion faux pas!

I was reminded of the rhyme my grade 4 teacher recited every time one her pupils got caught chewing gum.
It went something like this:

The gum chewing boy/girl and the cud chewing cow,
look somewhat alike, but different somehow.
Ah yes! There it is! I see it all now!
It's the intelligent look on the face of the cow.

Enough said. For the record I have seen both Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel and though both had their moments of intrigue and hilarity, neither one rang any of my bells. In fact I left the theatre both times thinking, "What the heck was all that about?" If there was a point, if there was something important for me to take home, I missed it - twice!

The best picture I saw last year? The award goes to ...  The 100 Foot Journey

India, France, food, Helen Mirren - what's not to love? And a prediction for the 2015 winner of My Best Picture Award? The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. All the same gang from the first time round, less Tom Wilkinson (his character died, happily I might say, in the first one), PLUS Richard Gere! Oh my! Coming soon to a theatre near you.

And that's all she wrote for this Monday Moaning. A new week lies ahead, full of opportunities and open for discovery! Best get out there.

Cheers!

©2015 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - February 9, 2015

Oh look, it's snowing!

Snowing again, still snowing - what's the difference?

Why is it that I, along with so many others, greet this newsflash with so much groaning and head wagging? A mere two months ago I welcomed these exquisite crystals from the sky with joy and wonder. I delighted in their accumulation and was enchanted with the great white tapestry outside my door; all the colours of the rainbow woven together into one brilliant white exposition of form and texture.

That was then. This is now. This is February in southern Ontario where the white stuff is yesterday's news; neither fresh nor inspiring. SSDD - Same Snow, Different Day, or words to that effect. It's not just boring, it's dispiriting. Ah but even these February lamentations are nothing new. I know I can count on their annual visit. Better yet, I know I can count on their annual departure.

This is one of those days when I can hear my Dad the weatherman, telling me and all his listeners how a good thick blanket of snow was good news for the coming Spring; how it would insulate the ground from the bitter cold and prevent the frost from going so deep as to kill off the dormant seeds; how it would in time bathe the good earth in abundant yet gentle moisture that was so critical for new growth.

I hear ya, Dad. Thanks for the reminder.







The light is returning and underneath all that white, the green lies waiting for re-birth.

image courtesy of  timeanddate.com

©2015 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - February 5, 2015

Passport to Paradise




There may be ink in the fountain pen, but there's nothing flowing onto the page, save for half a dozen incomplete sentences scrambling to grab some energy and a few doodles just for decoration. I am not feeling the joy of writing today. It happens.








Well hang it all, let's go look at some flowers. I know you've seen many if not all of these before, but what's not to like about flowers?



Especially when the sky is blue, the sun is shining and it's MINUS 12°C outside (balmy compared to the -20 I woke up to this morning).


Now while you are off smelling the roses and basking in the tropical delights of paradise in pictures, I'm heading into the city to pick up my renewed passport.

Enjoy!

(It's 30C in Puerto Ayora today...)

aaaaahhhhhhhhhh

©2015 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - February 2, 2015

For the love of winter

It's Groundhog Day  and all was quiet in early morning grey. I groaned as I rose to my feet and staggered to the bathroom for the usual ablutions, then dressed in the obligatory two layers, briefly considering a third. I followed the river of cool air along the hall on the way to the kitchen. The furnace, though chugging along, seemed to be struggling to defeat the chill. A glance at the hall thermometer told me why:

I continued to my favourite room in the house and pulled open the first blind:


















... then the one over the door to the deck.

A little snow they said, especially for us folks a ways north of Lake Ontario, maybe 10cm.

















Not a groundhog in sight, so I sent out our very own prognosticating beast to find her shadow.

"I don't see a shadow. Do you?"

No shadow. No joy for the lover of winter.

Even Wiarton Willy the official Canadian expert found no shadow this day. But then plow roared by, leaving streams of snow in its wake along with a perfectly coifed header of compacted snow across the bottom the driveway. Time for the snow shovel and snow thrower brigade to get out there and clear the way.

and the solar panels, because the sun came out.

And if the sun comes out then there must be shadows...

Gotcha!

And if shadows, then winter is here to stay.
What joy! Swimming in the snow! What bliss!

When it comes to winter, never trust a Colorado Low, an Alberta Clipper, a Nor'easter, or a Groundhog!

Just ask a dog. Just ask Sophie!

©2015 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - February 17, 2014

A drop in the bucket...



A clear, bright -23C (-9F) this morning with the promise of a snowstorm by nightfall.
I guess it's still winter.
We're halfway through the last row of firewood.
And it's Monday. Again.

And I haven't got a clue what to write here today. Woe is me. A thousand ideas clammer for attention. A
thousand more ToDo's wave frantically (and sorry about my ineffective verb demanding an adverb - it's Monday so give me a break).





Oh, but wait - what light through yonder window breaks? An advert for the Maple Sugar Festival at Brooks Farms just popped up on my Facebook newsfeed. Now there's something to lift the spirits. The folks at the farm think the sap will be running by March 1, just TWELVE days away. Sweet!

image courtesy of Brooks Farms

I can taste the cool sweetness of the sap.
I can hear the 'plink' of a drop in the bucket...

I can smell the wood fire under the blackened pots.


I'm loving their optimism.

It's going to be a great day afterall! 

Enjoy!

©2014 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - February 6, 2014

Enough Already!

How can something that was so wonderful and so celebrated just 8 weeks ago, be so annoying and downright tiresome now? Magnificent white landscapes that sparkled and amazed now evoke groans and curses, even from that most ardent lover of winter, me. It still is pretty in it's own way but my heart no longer burns with devotion. Another 18cm fell from the sky yesterday and I can't remember if I've ever seen this much snow on the ground since we moved here in 1978.

The view from my kitchen window Wednesday morning

After 20 minutes behind the snowblower

Deep, really deep.

But sunset is getting later...

Even Sophie looks disgusted

But here's what I thought of as I shovelled off the deck:

Sunday morning brekkie in June on that very same deck. 

Oh joy, oh bliss! 

All in good time, all in good time.

©2014 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - January 27, 2014

The easy thing to do...

The easy thing to do this moaning would be to launch into yet another sad lament about the winter weather, but honestly would it really do any good to anybody, including me, to expend any more ink and what little energy I have on one more long whine?

The easy thing to do would be to go back to bed and hide under the covers until ... until when?  Well that's not going to offer any true relief either. What this day, what this week needs is an injection of enthusiasm, an exciting, interesting project to lift me up, up and away from wind and snow and cold, and I've found just the thing: FOOD and an celebration to go with it, Chinese New Year.

© xiaoliangge - Fotolia.com

One year when the children were little, I made a big deal out of this celebration. I made egg rolls from scratch to go with a run of the mill stir fry, topped with the ultimate kid pleaser, golden fried chow mein noodles. Of course there were fortune cookies for dessert and ice cream too. This time around I'm looking at something a little more enterprising and perhaps even a little more authentic. Here's what's under consideration for Saturday: crab Rangoon appetisers then homemade won ton soup, spring rolls, shrimp and snow peas, crispy orange beef, Chinese greens with oyster sauce and for more adventurous palates, ma po tofu. There will be jasmine rice, and maybe some coconut rice, and there will be fortune cookies. I'm really not sure about including those very unhealthy fried noodles, but they do bring a smile to my heart when I think about them.

My senses, especially my taste buds, well remember one of  my mother's special meals. When I heard that "Chinese" was on the menu for supper, I was thrilled. This was well before there was a Chinese take-out in every neighbourhood, so it all came from a can. China Lily was the brand, with their distinctive black and yellow logo. There was chop suey, chow mein, sweet and sour sauce, water chestnuts and of course soya sauce, to which Mom added her own enhancements: herbs and spices, fresh carrots and frozen peas (these added some well needed colour), and leftover chicken or beef. Some times she went all out and cooked up pork spare ribs which were then slathered in the sweet and sour sauce. Oh, it was grand and of course our plates were topped with those bright yellow-orange fried noodles fresh out of a China Lily tin can. Such 'gourmet' meals filled hearts with joy, minds with memories and tummies with pretty good things.

Now it's time for me to finalise my menu, then source the ingredients. I'll let you know how it's all going on Thursday.

Woo Hoo! Let's get at it!

© creativenature.nl - Fotolia.com

©2014 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - January 23, 2014

Moving right along...

Old man winter responded to Monday's "Dear John" letter by unleashing yet another blast of bitterness. Yesterday morning it was -32C (-26F) outside my door, a record low in these parts for the thirty-six years we've live here. In fact Winter scored a hat trick of superlatives yesterday - super cold, super bright and super blue sky. I am however prevented from saluting or even bowing in recognition to this achievement due the restriction of movement imposed by the multiple layers of clothing I'm wearing.



Perhaps I should also warn you that the snowblower is back from the shop and is fixed and ready for action. All of which goes to say that it is winter and it is moving right along as it should. The switch to Eastern Daylight Time - Spring Forward - arrives March 9, and eight weeks from today, at precisely 12:57pm EDT on March 20 the spring equinox will give winter the boot.
The light is returning.

My writing, beyond this blog, has languished since the end of October due to an as yet undiagnosed visual impairment, but in the past two weeks frustration and a stubborn disposition have driven me to get back on track. I can manage almost a half hour in front of the laptop screen before annoyance and fatigue set in, and if I have the patience to take the time to get the lighting just right, I can sit and read a book for almost an hour. I can personally attest to the benefits of fonts with serifs to ease reading.

So moving that right along, a friend and I have partnered up to be each other's beta readers and I have already sent a few chapters of the memoir off to her. Also, I have finally downloaded "Scrivener" , something I've been meaning to do for the better part of a year. I dutifully pushed my poor eyes through the entire tutorial - that took two days - still I was impressed and excited, sure that this was just what I needed to energise me back into the work. I set up my new project and began the document import. It took less than five minutes for me to be utterly stumped and even more utterly defeated. I heeded my beta reader friend's counsel, stepped away from the program and took a deep breath. The past two days I've dared to stick my toe back into the Scrivener pond and have actually made some progress with it. There have been enough "aha" moments, flashes of understanding, to keep me motivated. Phew!

I've not written anything new in the memoir yet, but rather I am taking the time to reacquaint myself with the story: the people, the places, the events, and along with all of that of course, the emotions. I am re-discovering the reason why this story is important and that's a good thing, a really good thing.
The light is indeed returning.
Cheers!

© leo tomić  – fotolia.com

©2014 April Hoeller

Monday Moanings - January 20, 2014

A Letter to my Seasonal Amour






Dear Old Man Winter,
I have been a big fan of yours since forever. I quicken to the first touch of your fresh breath each year and my heart warms in anticipation of your star crystals and icicles. I love the melt in your mouth taste of fresh snowflakes and the squeak of wintertide footsteps on super cool ground. And that polar vortex thingy ya got going this year? Well, that's got everybody talking, even the BBC!













I remember with delight the screaming joy of hurtling down snow packed slopes on my red "flying" saucer or
sometimes even the big old wooden toboggan with my Dad or sister on board for ballast.

And honestly nothing can top one of your bright, crisp snow sparkling days set underneath a sky so blue that it is beyond words. I love the cocoon you encourage me to burrow into when the weather outside is frightful; thick fleece and hot tea by a crackling fire, so warm, so safe and oh so very content.







Indeed I have loved you all my life, BUT here's the thing dear old, yet somehow ageless friend bounding with ceaseless energy, I am not six or sixteen or even six and forty any more. Though I still revel in the gifts you bring, at least at first, you must know that snow and ice now present a great threat to life and especially limb. Age has brought me a huge fear of bone breaking tumbles, occasioned by the meeting of a slower reaction time with a slippery slope. Also my old arthritic hands can never come to terms with your new-fangled  polar vortex. So, I think it's time for you to go. I still love you. I will still eagerly await your return, same time next year. Just remember to schedule your departure for January 20th, give or take a day - I am after all, flexible.





Have a great trip back south of the equator. I'm sure they'll be thrilled with your early arrival!
Hugs and kisses,
April

p.s. Our snow blower is busted and in the shop. BACK OFF!
p.p.s. The solar panels can't enjoy your brilliant sunshine. BACK OFF!

©2014 April Hoeller