Musings on a Small Life

Aggghhhhh!!!! As someone who grew up watching Start Trek: TOS in reruns, and then Star Trek: TNG as it aired for its seven seasons, I'm so saddened to read that both Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart passed this week. 😭😭    Many years ago, in the early days that my ex and I were together, we had gone to Toronto for the annual "Toronto Trek" convention and Walter Koenig was a guest. I recall him being very gracious with the fans, wandering around from table to table one morning at breakfast, looking so tired, yet being very generous with his time.    I know Walter Koenig was 90 and Patrick Stewart ill, but even so, this feels like rip in the fabric of the Universe.   Actually, I think there was a rip in the fabric of the Universe in 2017 and we've all been living an alternate reality since then, but that's another matter!   Below: A few pics from the trip west.    Crescent Beach Black Spit Park The winery where Dad and I had lunch for his birthda...

Or, westward-ho! It was a long haul out west to visit my dad, a three hour bus ride to Pearson Airport and then the five hour flight, plus all the wait times in between. It was good, though, and luckily I had a great seat mate on the plane who actually lives just outside of my city. He's travelled extensively world-wide for work and he and his wife recently were in Ireland for pleasure (he has family there). Oh, the pics he showed me! Gorgeous! We were of an age, so we chatted almost non-stop the entire flight! It was a terrific distraction and I didn't even bawl on takeoff as I usually do. 😭😆 Oh, and long time readers might recall that I tend to spill food all over myself when I fly; this time it was only a little bit of the free, crappy white wine I had. I always have those Tide stick-things with me, so a couple of dabs took care of it. 🙃 

Happy Friday, all. Friday still means something when you work weekdays!   I thought I'd best post a few more vacation pics before Christmas rolls around. Ha. I still haven't even downloaded the ones I took with my camera; these are all cellphone snaps. The usual spots when I'm away!   Below: The lighthouse at Presqu'ile Provincial Park, plus a fuzzy caterpillar that can cause a rash if you touch it with bare hands (we didn't).     Pumpkins at Rutherford's, in Colborne.       Below (five): In Orono and area for the drive and antiquing. We stopped in the town's park which mercifully had open (and clean!) washrooms. LOL.  That antique store had multiple levels and rooms; it was vast . I went into "blur" mode pretty quickly!     Below: My friends' neighbour's cat, who comes for treats and cuddles. (MeMe? Mimi? He's a "he", but I don't know how they spell his name. "Mimi" conjures a stereotypical old-time French maid ...

I'm home again after a few days away visiting friends, and my holidays are winding down. I'll be back to work on the 15th, so I'm going to savour every minute of my remaining time off. I took the ferry over to Wolfe Island on September 30th; a lovely day to cross the water. Admittedly, there's not much on Wolfe Island at all, unless you're a cyclist or a bird photographer. Even so, I really should do it more often (it had been years) as I love being out on the water like that, face into the wind. It feels glorious; it feels like freedom. I could just go back and forth a few times, not even bother to get off! Anyway, here are some pics of the city waterfront from the ferry, as well as pics of the Royal Military College and Fort Henry, both going and coming back, in order of taking them. The skyline has changed greatly over the years; gone is the quaint little city I moved to in 1996. I'll have other pics to post another time, but this is enough for one day. Happy...

I'm back to work today after the 10 days off. I don't know how those of you who take three (or more) weeks off at once manage to get back into the routine! I'm struggling as it is.    Anyway, it was a busy and productive break, with a get-away to visit friends for a couple of nights.   Click to enlarge the pics for best viewing.      I finally got the last upstairs door painted ("only" eight months after doing the others). I decluttered (always ongoing!) and had a donation pick-up. I trimmed shrubbery, reorganized all my upstairs closets, moved the three bookcases in my "storage" room to the opposite wall to make room for a new 12-cube Ikea Kallax unit, visited the aforementioned friends, had a couple of appointments, bused all over town for various errands, and still got reading time in during the evenings.    I also went to Art in the Park over the Canada Day weekend, unplanned. I'd been downtown at my favourite café for breakfast and someone m...