It's September, so the summer is coming to a close and the world is getting serious again.
For many children it's time to go back to school. For others, it's time to have that September nightmare of finding yourself in a classroom stark naked; or everyone in the classroom is speaking gibberish; or coming into an empty classroom to discover the final exam was yesterday, and you missed it!
No, I don't have issues from my years of education, why do you ask?
One thing I've been remembering a lot this week is "late slips" from my Junior High School years. I was late so often, I routinely went to the office to get a late slip before class, even if I wasn't late... my first taste of the fun to be had by confusing people and shaking up their world view. (So that's where that started... I didn't realize that until now.)
I've been having these "late slip" flashbacks because we've unwittingly moved to within 2 blocks of both a high school and an elementary grade school. I think it's the grade school that has bells. Bells at 8:55am, 9am, 10:30am, etc. etc. until the last one at 3pm.
It's the set of "you're going to be late in 5 minutes", "yes, you are late now" bells in the morning that really bug me.
It always makes me think "Am I late?" until I realize the bell does not toll for me.
I wonder how many more people they are scarring for life with those bells. Poor kids.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Did the skunk get them?
The rather pleasant - from a distance - scent of skunk once again fills the night air, and I remember an incident from last week that has made me think.
My spouse and I were walking home from the Tea House in Stanley Park after a lovely dinner on the patio, watching the sun go down surrounded by puffy clouds. We were in mid-conversation when we heard someone whisper loudly (like a stage whisper) "Watch out! There's a skunk over there!"
Looking ahead of us we saw the skunk. We glanced back, and saw a couple of humans who were apparently hiding from the skunk. (All things considered, it was likely the humans, not the skunk who whispered the warning.)
The skunk was just crossing the path in front of us, so we slowed down, let it amble on it's way, and then kept going past the skunk. We know the skunks, they live here, we live here, we all try to keep out of each other's way. (And oddly enough, skunks DO smell of skunk just walking around... the creators of Pepe Le Pew had it right.)
But thinking about it now... I don't know if the whispering humans made it past the skunk.
We have had many nights of smelling skunk lately, so someone has been scaring them. We find the scent infinitely preferable to the cancer stick smoke coming up from one of our neighbors who likes to smoke on his balcony, and it keeps him off the balcony, so it even has a bonus! But it has been very frequent.
Hiding from a skunk doesn't actually make any sense. It's when they get frightened that they spray and run. If the skunk doesn't see you until you pop out from behind something... that's a frightening kind of thing. The whispering humans may have found this out... I do hope not, but I am wondering now if they simply followed our example (giving the skunk a wide berth and walking slowly by) or if they panicked and scared themselves and the skunk into more of a life story than they had planned to tell for the rest of their lives!
My spouse and I were walking home from the Tea House in Stanley Park after a lovely dinner on the patio, watching the sun go down surrounded by puffy clouds. We were in mid-conversation when we heard someone whisper loudly (like a stage whisper) "Watch out! There's a skunk over there!"
Looking ahead of us we saw the skunk. We glanced back, and saw a couple of humans who were apparently hiding from the skunk. (All things considered, it was likely the humans, not the skunk who whispered the warning.)
The skunk was just crossing the path in front of us, so we slowed down, let it amble on it's way, and then kept going past the skunk. We know the skunks, they live here, we live here, we all try to keep out of each other's way. (And oddly enough, skunks DO smell of skunk just walking around... the creators of Pepe Le Pew had it right.)
But thinking about it now... I don't know if the whispering humans made it past the skunk.
We have had many nights of smelling skunk lately, so someone has been scaring them. We find the scent infinitely preferable to the cancer stick smoke coming up from one of our neighbors who likes to smoke on his balcony, and it keeps him off the balcony, so it even has a bonus! But it has been very frequent.
Hiding from a skunk doesn't actually make any sense. It's when they get frightened that they spray and run. If the skunk doesn't see you until you pop out from behind something... that's a frightening kind of thing. The whispering humans may have found this out... I do hope not, but I am wondering now if they simply followed our example (giving the skunk a wide berth and walking slowly by) or if they panicked and scared themselves and the skunk into more of a life story than they had planned to tell for the rest of their lives!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Are those crows or women?
Crows often sound like they are having conversations with each other. If you get enough of them in one place it can sound like a heated argument.
This week while at the farmer's market I was sitting waiting for my spouse as he did the shopping and I guarded the bags. I was playing a game on my cell phone to keep myself awake and didn't take too much notice of the other people. I was listening to a bunch of crows behind me having a conversation. And then I heard a much louder group on the other side of the street and I was worried there was about to be a crow fight in the middle of the farmer's market!
I looked up at this point, wondering if there was going to be a bird fight... and saw the second bunch of crows was actually a gaggle of women.
Is that supposed to be appealing?
This week while at the farmer's market I was sitting waiting for my spouse as he did the shopping and I guarded the bags. I was playing a game on my cell phone to keep myself awake and didn't take too much notice of the other people. I was listening to a bunch of crows behind me having a conversation. And then I heard a much louder group on the other side of the street and I was worried there was about to be a crow fight in the middle of the farmer's market!
I looked up at this point, wondering if there was going to be a bird fight... and saw the second bunch of crows was actually a gaggle of women.
Is that supposed to be appealing?
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