Thursday, May 17, 2012



I am a collector of fragments. I have no idea where this one came from but it was too rich not to note!

The face of the pear-shaped man reminded me of the mashed turnips that Aunt Mildred used to serve alongside the Thanksgiving turkey. As he got out of the strawberry-hued car, his immense fists looked like two slabs of slightly gnawed ham. He waddled over to the counter and snarled at me under his lasagna-laden breath. “Something, my little bonbon, is fishy in Denmark.”


Slowly I lowered my grilled cheese sandwich…”

The whole of Montreal is on the fringe...at the mercy of young idealists who think that Charest is a misguided father...and no misguided father would discipline with police...

Charest is not my father...he is an elected official serving the majority...I am in the majority...I want police protection.

I have been on strike.
I have demonstrated.
I have never thrown billiard balls.
I have never broken windows and vandalized buildings.

I am terrified at the moment...not for my safety...but of the fact innocence has been lost to idealism.

The parents of these young leaders knew the value of a good education. They paid for their children to have the best.

It was money ill-spent.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A most wonderful blog that I forgot about!

Friday, May 11, 2012

How could I not mention Meryl, Amber's buddy, whose joy in life is to lie on the path and eat sticks.
Last night I was up on the mountain and I saw a very large raccoon eating a very large home baked loaf of bread. He was out in the open at the edge of the parking lot. Three hours later I returned and he was still there. It evidently takes a long time for a raccoon to eat a loaf of bread...

This is not a raccoon. Naturally I didn't have my camera with me when I should have. This is Amber whom I also met on a different part of the mountain. She is a Cairn terrier and proud of it!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Dear Diary!

This too will pass.
If it's not broken, don't fix it!
What am I? Chopped liver?

It's been a rough five days but nothing compared to the five days that others have experienced...

I keep telling myself that...and it's true...and...thank goodness for these wonderful bird houses on Sherbrooke Street. I've been meaning to take this picture forever.

Thursday, May 3, 2012



I can't wait to get back up the mountain to check out the trilliums...

There's something else I wanted to say...but...I forgot! It will come back to me.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Faking it!

For my first five years of piano lessons, I learned the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata and the scales of C Major and G Major. I loved the Moonlight...I could put on the pedal and experience Irish melancholy at its best. My piano teacher was very sweet and cookies and milk were always present.

And then my mother's friend came back from Australia.When I think about it, I suspect my mother was gleefully waiting for her return.


I played the Moonlight Sonata, first movement, pedal on and tumbled into seven years of Toronto Conservatory Exams!

According to my mother's friend, that was the fastest way for me to catch up.


Much later, I spent time with a Jungian therapist. She was very good for me. She wasn't there to tell me what was wrong. She told me what was right. The only problem was that Jungians like to work with dreams and I wasn't dreaming...not a single dream in nine months. I felt badly. I felt dull. And so I stole a dream- one my friend related to me. My therapist was delighted. The minute I graduated from therapy, I started dreaming.  I haven't stopped since.

My most recent experience of faking it was at my check up. 
As I lay on his table, my doctor said: Blood pressure fine. Blood tests fine. Any complaints...
And I admitted to a hacking cough.
Do you have a post nasal drip?
Of course, all my friends do - it's a part of aging!
And do you all have medical degrees?

Silence

Here's a prescription for Nasonex. Now get on the scales!
The Nasonex was a brilliant idea.