Nov 30 - I Would Not Have Expected A Two-Year-Old To Be Notable For Her Discipline And Focus, But The Kid Has Taught Herself To Swim

One dip of the face
and she's off, swimming for real
She so wanted this

Nov 29 - We Head Off For Adventures While Rachelle Studies For Her Class 4

No wild mallards here
One rattle of the bird seed
has them closing in

Nov 28 - Hard To Shake Off The Fear Of A Recurrence Of Mysterious Cat Injury As We Return To A Second Housesit With Our Charming And Formerly Caged Buddy

Lewis, recovered,
agitates to go outside
We're scared but willing

Nov 27 - In Which Two Speeding Motorists On My Way To Toni's House Bring My Urgent Attention To The Fact That Left Turns In Traffic On A Bicycle In Late-Day November Are A No-Go Unless I Light My Sleeve

Party sleepover
First nighttime Esquimalt ride
Cars try to kill me

Nov 26 - A Crabby Christmas-Store Employee In Chemainus Makes Me Appreciate Being Someone Who Enjoys Child Wonder

Frizzle-frazzle day
But still, a small child clopping
like Bernard: Worth it

Nov 25 - Challenging Elements To This Day Do Not Deter Us From A Good Time, And Never Mind The Ceaseless Downpour

The rain just won't stop
Sealy gets his face chewed off
Jordan makes him right

Nov 24 - Nothing Feels Better Than Blood On Blood: A Fun Night With All My Kids On A Valley Visit

Tonight's a moment
Not frequent, but really sweet
Like that Springsteen song

Nov 23 - I Suppose I Could Also Note That I Was Horrified To Realize That My Bike Chain Had Completely Rusted In All The Dampness And I Did A Clean-And-Grease In The Kitchen

Little can be said
when you can't write about work
Hmm: "Paul gets back late"?

Nov 22 - The Three-Hour Swim Is Very Fun, Except For A Few Moments In Which It Isn't

Poolside poo drama
We manage, and no harm done
Swimming until dark

Nov 21 - I'm Reminded That I'm Perhaps Something Of A Workshop Annoyance With My Love Of Participating

Always it's like this
So much to say, but sometimes
fear I talk too much

Nov 20 - My Idea For A Whisper Story Turns Out To Be Solid At The End Of An Active Day

Hey, kid, here we are
Eating noodles on the couch
Acting out train tales

Nov 19 - I Would Have Generally Thought That Two-Year-Old Girls Would Have Little Interest In A Televised Football Game, But It Appears That's An Over-Generalization

I swear, she hears this
Paul roughs out how football works
She observes, intrigued

Nov 18 - One Last Mayfair Shop With An Old Pal Before She Moves Up-Island, Though That's Much Closer Than Australia

Colleen is leaving
But so it is: One of us
here, the other there

Nov 17 - Our Little Team Of New-Wave Communicators Motivates Me To Explore A Different Way Of Telling A Story That Is Otherwise Just Way Too Arcane

I test narrative
It works. Her tale is gripping,
strain band gaps and all

Nov 16 - My Chenille Bedspread Companions And Daycare Charge Head To Goldstream For The Troubling Spectacle Of Chum Salmon Spending Their Final Hours In A Majestic Struggle For Survival Of The Species

Two dogs and a kid
All around, the stink of fish
Life cycle complete

Nov 15 - Here's The Thing, Young Student Marshall: If The Fire Alarm Went Off And The Hall Full Of People Watching Their Family Members Graduate Started Running For The Door, Believe Me, I Would Stand Up

Want to sit, but no
Kids with clipboards say I can't
"Fire hazard." Please.

Nov 14 - The Start Of A Two-Day Period That Will See Me Attending Four Convocations, Just Like In My Old Kamloops Days When I Had To Cover High School Grads

Convocation day
The tweets keep me occupied
Though my phone goes dead

Nov 13 - Finally, A Moment To Unpack

Clothes into a drawer
Small measure of sanity
for those who wander

Nov 12 - It's The Big Up-Island Gig, And So We Are Having An Unexpected Day Of Fun On An Otherwise Gloomy Day

Whaaaat?? Paul's at the pool!
We swirl, tight to the centre
where it all feels wild

Nov 11 - One Of Those Ikea Days Where You're So Engrossed That You Miss One Ferry Home And Then Very Nearly Miss The Next One Too

Big crowds and chaos
Weird: R is OK with it
Wearing her art smock

Nov 10 - Action-Packed Day In Vancouver As We Drag Sam Along To The Aquarium And Eat Room-Service Burgers In Our Great Big Hotel Suite At The Century Plaza

Highlight: The sting rays
Velvety and pettable
A seal flirts with R

Nov 9 - In Which I Experience My Own Love Of Motel Rooms As A Child Through Rosetta's Eyes As We Vacay In Harrison Hot Springs

Soak in the hot pool
Curl up with cable TV
Dinner on the bed

Nov 8 - This Last Stint Coupled With The Mexican Holiday Have Left Me Feeling Rootless And In A State Of Constant Coming And Going

Pack; wash the toilet
Feeling the weight of drifting
Always rolling clothes

Nov 7 - We Gather To Talk About Where Journalism Is Going, But In Truth We're In That Time When Nothing Is Certain, And We're On The Wrong Side Of This Conversation At Any Rate

But what do we know?
War horses from days gone by
can't call the future

Nov 6 - The Things On My Mind On My First Cycle-Commute On A Truly Chilly Day

These gloves are useless
Hills, why can't you warm me up?
Why'd I wear these pants?

Nov 5 - Working On A Sunny But Overly Brisk Sunday After The Time Change

I should be cycling
But it's cold out there. In here,
I can make money

Nov 4 - One Of Those Chilly Early-Winter Days That Inspire You And All The Rest Of The World To Go Shopping

A blitz at Mayfair
Much underwear is involved
Chelle goes home. I stay

Nov 3 - This Golden City Book Launch Just Might Be Our First Community-Level Big Social Event Since We Left For Honduras. Yikes.

Lab tours start the day
By night, we gorge on Chinese
Celebrating Ted

Nov 2 - A Very Physical Day With My Young Charge

The girl just won't quit
Gym no longer does her in
We jump, swim, slide, spin

Nov 1 - Sure, It Was An Odd Decision To Offer An Overnight Babysit On Our First Day Back From Mexico, But It Ends Up Being Quite Fun

Keep the kid tired
We're having a sleepover
I'll be asleep first

Oct 31 - Paul Rightly Rebooks Us On A Flight With More Time For Plane Changes, But What A Goofy Route Home Flying To One Coast And Then The Other

A treat: Free movies
I binge until my ears hurt
Make these hours pass

Oct 30 - Grateful That I Read About Xochimilco Gondola Hassles In Advance So We Knew To Go Looking For "Friends" To Share A Ride With. Also, A Shout Out To Mexico's Cheap Public Transportation - Eight Pesos All In

Floating through flowers
Costa Ricans take us in
We all lie so well

Oct 29 - A Live F1 Race Turns Out To Be Quite A Lot More Exciting Than I'd Anticipated, And It's Fun To See Lewis Hamilton Clinch The World Championship Right Before Our Eyes

Confetti flutters
We wave Mexico's colours
Young Max takes the prize

Oct 28 - In Which The Street Crush That We Specifically Said We Wanted To Avoid Becomes The Reality As We Squeeze Into The Zocalo For Dia de Los Muertos

Insane metro crowds
We brave it, toes on the line
Chasing skeletons

Oct 27 - First Day Of Formula 1 And I Doze Off For A Few Wiped Out Minutes In The Stands, Not Unexpected Given The 24-Hour String Of Flights And Delays That It Took To Get Here

We're finally here
We sunburn in the grandstands
then eat street tacos

Oct 26 - On The Upside, We Did Get $60 Worth Of Food Vouchers And Gained The Valuable Knowledge That A Plane's Front Window Can Crack For No Reason At All Right On The Runway

Wake up to crisis
And so it goes all day. Flights
that never happen

Oct 25 - In Praise Of Our Consistently Nice Canine Pal As I Walk Panama Flats With R

Austin's the kindest
Dogs come and go, but she sticks
Patient and friendly

Oct 24 - I Wonder If People Really Know What They Are Getting Into When They Kindly Invite Us To Stay At Their Place During A Gap In Housesits

Cousin sleepover
We appreciate the bed
A place for our stuff