Musings on a Small Life

A few words, not an over-abundance of them.    As of today, I'm off on staycation, not back to work until October 15th. Hurrah! I have, however, picked up whatever is going around these days, the latest variant of COVID or a cold or whatever. Hopefully I'll be fine by week's end (started Sunday afternoon). If not, I'll just muddle along as best I can, and I have lots of books to read.    Below, a few pics from Sunday's walk downtown. It would be nice to find new spots, but a lot of places I used to walk through I avoid now, when on my own. Such is urban living in 2025.   Five year old Joseph, very friendly! S/he was looking for a bit of my custard tart. This apartment or condo building is right on the water and they always have lovely gardens (inside the fence and outside the fence). Everything is a bit crispier than usual this year, though, with the drought. The usual shot of one of the Murney Towers at the downtown marina.   We startled each other, this ...

I write "fabulous" because it's seemed like a lonnnggg work week and I'm happy to welcome the weekend!       Dad was released from the hospital last Sunday afternoon, and he's been at home resting since. I would be surprised if he recovers to his previous activity level, though. Perhaps, but if so, it will take some time. He lacks a good appetite now, and that, coupled with the inactivity while he recuperates, translates to frailty in my mind.    The snapshot above and the two below are from a park by one of our library branches, right across from the mall.    I'll be on vacation as of next Wednesday, and while I had lined up a number of things to do with Dad while he was here, I now am reverting to plan B, which will be me making a couple of day trips to nearby areas, if Via Rail is offering suitable times to and from. I'll visit friends for a few days as well, later in my time off. If the weather abruptly turns rainy, I'll have to come up with a pla...

From the Robert Burns poem, "To a Mouse":   The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men           Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,           For promis’d joy!    In this case, the "best laid schemes" mean Dad's trip east. He and his wife were to fly into Montreal on the 18th, then she go on to Spain with her sister and Dad spend a week there visiting family and friends, then come here for a week before heading home.   Alas, he's been in the hospital since last Thursday with pneumonia and is on oxygen (and antibiotics). He's not at death's door, but because of the fluid in his lungs, he can't breath properly without that oxygen. They are reducing it now, so he's improving, but I suspect the recovery will be lengthy, given his age (he's coming up on 86 in a few weeks).   I WhatsApped (it's a real word now, right?) with him on Sunday, and he looks pretty good, sounds fine, all things considered. The...

I'm happy it's Friday because I'm pretty sure that the correct response to Teams "pings" and work emails is NOT , "What the [bleep] do you want now?!" Among other choice phrases. 🙄😆   So I'm just going to post some pics from last weekend, taken on Saturday and Monday mornings. They were all snapped with my little pocket camera, nothing that long time followers haven't seen umpteen times before. Best viewed enlarged. Captions are below each image.   St. George's Cathedral (Anglican), side view City Hall Confederation Basin/Park across from City Hall Scout, one of the many dogs along the way. Reflections   This bee went all around the sunflower.   Yacht Club One of my favourite old homes on King Street. Another favourite   One of the row homes on King Street. I've always loved these too. Cormorant. I had to lighten the image to see the feathers, though.   Finally, a few sunset pics from this week. These were snapped with the cell phone f...

From my walk Saturday morning along Trailhead Place and Lake Ontario Park. This dog was barking madly and digging at the sand to get to the rock(s). It took me a minute to realize it was the same dog I encountered back in January, below! (Some of you  might distantly remember him from a post waaaayyy back then!) Then he was barking madly and digging to get chunks of ice! What a goof!