Aug 31 - Our Funny Little Quartet Heads To The Mall So Becca Can Get Her Hair Cut While The Two Grandmas Distract The Baby

JC Penney sale
Less fun when C starts wailing
Hurry up, stylist!

Aug 30 - Meeting Cerys, Which I Technically Did Last Night But Was Too Groggy For It To Count

Who will you be, child?
With your long limbs and cowlick
Wish you lived closer

Aug 29 - Victoria To Toronto To Orlando, Topped Off With A Car Rental And A Fairly Long Drive To Gainesville

Every city
looks the same from the airport
Makes me feel lonely

Aug 28 - When Visitors, Housesit Departures, Saggy Tires And Pending Florida Departures Combine To Make A Way Too Full Day

Pack up Candy House
Best-laid plans: Out the window
Langford's a no-go

Aug 27 - A Full Day Of Many People In Many Situations, Some Off To A Tom Waits Tribute Night While Others Hang Back In A Child-Filled House

On a beach, wind chills
But later it will shake chimes
and lull little girls

Aug 26 - The Thetis Rocks Swim With Gage Features A Surprisingly Entertaining Display Of Full Canine Happiness

Dog, we feel your joy
All the swimmers pause their fun
Just to watch him jump

Aug 25 - But Why Has The Carnarvon Water Park Been Drained Dry? And What Exactly Are The Activities That Suit Both A Baby And A 13-Year-Old?

It's like sprinkler"fun"
with no soft grass to land on
and too many kids

Aug 24 - I Play Piano At A Celebration Of Life That Isn't Overly Celebratory, While Paul And The Younger Gang Head To Oak Bay Marina To Feed Seals

Small crowd, but tears come
as care aides share memories
Don't let me die here

Aug 23 - Brief Ode To All The Benefits Reaped From Keeping Children And Young People In Your Life

I appreciate
that younger people keep me
peering round new doors

Aug 22 - In Which We Discover That Back To School Clothes Shopping Can Be Done In 45 Minutes If That's All You've Got

All work and no play
makes things dull for Gage, so we
dash to closing malls

Aug 21 - At Mulligan's Driving Range, Where I Wish I Could Say That The Threatening Clouds Weren't An Apt Metaphor

Cooler skies; we buy
buckets of balls to whack at,
resisting the storm

Aug 20 - It Sometimes Feels Like Even The Sunniest Of Days In The Valley Have Darkness And Gloom Pressing At Their Edges

If there must be stress
Let there be alpacas, too
And time at the lake

Aug 19 - The 2.5 Hour Drive Up-Island Becomes An Overheated Four-Hour Slog Brightened Only By My Great Relief That We Got The Cooling System Repaired

My eyes sting from sweat
The CD skips, then burns me
Up north, crisis waits

Aug 18 - A Day That Feels Off-Kilter In So Many Small Ways, From The Weird Dude Doing The Drywall To The Flaming Hot Car Seat

Poor sleep, off my game
Has it always been the moon?
Such a hot, hard day

Aug 17 - Sometimes I Catch Myself Casually Pushing The Car Backwards Like It's Something That Everyone Does, And Worry That I Take "Adaptable" A Bit Too Far

R sleeps while I push
Not far; just back from the curb
Sunshine when she wakes

Aug 16 - In Which I Match Up A Former Housesit Dog With A Current One, And We All Go Quite Happily To The Beach

Lewis, meet Dyson
They're indifferent, but seem
glad for adventure

Aug 15 - The Move Into The Upper Office Space Works Splendidly For Internet Connection, And I'm Already Getting Used To The Many Animal Beds

Making-money day
Writing from this candy house
Stalked by dog and cat

Aug 14 - Still Stunned To Think It Took This Long Before I Went For My First Swim At The Thetis Lake Rocks

Seize the day, cyclist
North to the big swimming rocks
Pushing dogs aside

Aug 13 - Packing Up, Moving On, Making Foolish Decisions Like Putting Our Car Keys In A Counter Where They Can Easily Fall Into Who Knows What Bag - Another Regular Day

Car packed to the roof
Alas, the keys go walking
Dig deep. No options

Aug 12 - Making The Most Of The Sunshine And Heat At A Vic West Housesit So Close To The New And Improved Banfield Dock

4 p.m.: Let's swim

Pick our way through sunning bods

Cool Gorge floats us north

Aug 11 - I Test Out A Full Day Of Childcare With Rosetta, In Which We Go To Kassie's House And Arrive Way Late For A Selkirk Visit Owing To A Misunderstanding

Now, they're called "play dates"
Then, we'd just "meet for coffee"
Easy mom-kid time

Aug 10 - If You're Still Alive, Charlie Dudoward, I Visited Your Tsimshian Bear Today

No baby? I'll ride
In search of that totem pole
Unseen, forgotten

Aug 9 - In Which I Finally And Somewhat Reluctantly Get An Instagram Account, Although I Expect I'll Like It Once I Get The Hang Of The Right Photos

"Compel," they advise
Ah, but the task is to see
what is always there

Aug 8 - My Second Year Of Speaking To RRU Students About Persuasive Writing Even As Their Eyes Say They've Got Nothing But Their Thesis On Their Minds

Hello, class. Let's talk
Leisurely bike home, delayed
by all these berries

Aug 7 - Isn't It Just Like The Sky To Get All Cloudy On The Very Day When Someone Most Needs It To Shine

Small crowds for Swim Fest
Lack of sun? Strange music choice?
We eat beet chips

Aug 6 - Yes, We've Now Got One More Tender Girl In The World Who's At Risk Of Being 'Close To The Water's Eye,' As Nana Used To Say

Paul brings R to tears
A first, but she's sensitive
We're in a new stage

Aug 5 - A Day Of This And That, Capped Off With A Supper On Val's Patio And A Growing Sense That Fall Is Coming

Lamb in the garden
Gibson's a great guest to have
He eats with gusto

Aug 4 - One Thing That's Striking Is That When Someone Calls To Interview The Parent Of A Child With Developmental Challenges, It's Always The Mother Who Calls Back

Far-away phone calls
To stressed-out moms needing help
This year's theme: waitlists

Aug 3 - Toni Packs A Picnic For Five And We Head To The Gardens To See The Mavericks

Morning work cycle
Then off to Butchart for fun
Sea of greying heads

Aug 2 - Chore Day With Tai Takes An Awkward Turn When The Tilted Parking Spot Near Shoppers Drug Mart Turn Out To Be Not Tilted Enough For My Reverse-Less Car

Should I push? asks Mom
That would be a sight, but no
I can roll and drive

Aug 1 - Ten Weeks On, I Think I'm Finally Getting Back Into The Canadian Life, Helped Out By A Long, Sunny Cycle To Esquimalt Lagoon And Beyond

Routine, where've you been?
Third time here feels familiar
Gardens to water

July 31 - When Checkout Time Is 11 AM, You Get Moving On Early, Though The Upside Is That I Got In A Good Sun Session In The Afternoon At The Gorge Rocks

And we're gone again
Boat deflated, food packed up
Onward to Vic West