Dec 24 - Sam Arrives And We Dress Up At Least Mildly Fancy For A Family Christmas Eve As The Snow Starts To Fall

A kitchen visit
Prep for scalloped potatoes
Chelle is serving ham

Dec 23 - A Crisp And Sunny Day Leads Me To Cycle To Gayle's For Tea And Then On Into The Downtown, Where Every Hazard Imaginable Turns Out To Be On Full Display

What was I thinking?
Cycling dangers on all sides
Ice, salt, doors, shoppers

Dec 22 - Prep For Kassie's Annual Christmas Gathering Begins Early With A Vigorous Walk Around Turkey Head And Then A Long Swim With Much Sliding And Jumping

Must wear this girl out
To party well, one must nap
She'll be up past 10

Dec 21 - Final Work Day Before Christmas Break Turns Into A Half-Day Of Temptation After A Long, Late Meeting With Island Health

Coffee-room goodies
spill across the big table
I help Auntie Joan

Dec 20 - A Day Of Hard Swimming And Gym Knocks The Wee One Out So We Adults Can Drink Wine And Make Cookies With Those Crazy-Red Cherries You Only Use Once A Year

Shortbread takes so long
But hey, it's a tradition
We bake until 10

Dec 19 - Knowing When To Not Be A Cycle Commuter, And I'm Going To Babysit R Tonight Anyway

Abandon the bike!
Rain is sleety and heavy
Car is warm and dry

Dec 18 - I'm Not Particularly Happy To Be 61, But You Know What They Say About The Alternative

We eat birthday steaks
I will rebel tomorrow
A dot of perfume

Dec 17 - The First Day In A Long Time Where It Felt Possible To Restore At Least A Little Order To Our Lives

So luxe to unpack
Dispersed goods reunited
My toes crystal blue

Dec 16 - An Interesting Bit Of Trivia Learned The Hard Way During Our Duncan Day Trip: Over A Mere Four Weekends, 17,000 People Will Ride The Christmas Express

Raptors and train rides
R models patience, aware
that fun can't be rushed

Dec 15 - The Frizzle-Frazzle Of Six Days Of Constant Moving Is Ramped Up By Zac Losing His Passport And My Resounding Plainness At The Staff Lunch, Though I Did Get To Hang With Chantal At The Rather Odd Peers Dinner

Everyone sparkles
I look like I'm on the run
In a way, I am

Dec 14 - The Thing About Being An Old Newspaper Person Is That You Know How To Hit A Deadline. Also, We Eat Thai Food With Other People's Guests

Rabbit-from-hat day
But that's how skills get sharper
New home: Blue mansion

Dec 13 - R Gets The Hang Of The Deadman's Float, Which She's Going To Love Putting To Use Once This Winter Business Passes And She's Off To Explore The Ocean

Finally, she floats
All she needs is a snorkel
and tropical seas

Dec 12 - In Which I'm Grateful For The Goodbye Soiree Of My Fellow Times Colonist Colleagues Not Only Because It's Nice To See Everyone But Because It Gets Us Out Of Our Air BnB During Band Practice

My tire goes flat
I bus to our funny place
Punk band rehearses

Dec 11 - The Tuned-Up Bike Is Lovely For The Commute Were It Not For This Little Problem With The New Chain On Old Sprockets

When my drive train slips
I go "Ouf!" and fall forward
I could lose a tooth

Dec 10 - A Series Of Two-Day Stays Begins As The Impact Of An Accidental Lapse In Housesit Planning Becomes Clear

Bye, little Lewis
We are moving to the fridge
Six days of drifting

Dec 9 - Off We Go To The Popovich Animal Show, A Vaudevillian Affair In A Darkened Theatre That R Manages By Turning To Face Paul And Watching Over Her Shoulder

Family pet circus
Cats piggybacking on dogs
Geese biting keepers

Dec 8 - A Day When The Sun Shines And The Water Sparkles And We're Almost Too Warm For Coats

The girl is gob-smacked
First time on top of the sea
Seals pop up, amused

Dec 7 - What Is It About This Time Of Year At This Latitude That Makes Me Want To Shut Out The World By 7 P.M.?

Nights feel like cocoons
Winter's dark makes me tired
Netflix is my drug

Dec 6 - At First I Thought We Were Playing The Chuggington Game Where Zephie Falls Asleep And Puffer Pete Has To Haul Her Up The Mountain. But No.

The girl's glassy-eyed
Done in by the dolphin kicks
Asleep in the car

Dec 5 - The Winter Cycle Commutes Take Many Forms, And Overall I'm Still Happy To Be On My Bike

Grumbly about cold
But there's sunrise on the Gorge
I cycle on, cheered

Dec 4 - Reflections On A Late-Day Interview With An Expert In Blockchain Technology

Prepare to look dumb
when asking about Bitcoins
My brain overheats

Dec 3 - A Clothing Swap Can Be An Entertaining Event Even If You Neither Have Nor Want Cloth For Swapping

Long-gone faces here
I bring sausage rolls, drink wine
No clothes speak to me

Dec 2 - A Whole Lot Of Beautifully Decorated Trucks And Movie Scenes Seen From Comfy Lounge Chairs Can Really Lift A Person's Spirits

The rain stops. The trucks
are brilliant. Then "Coco,"
a visual feast

Dec 1 - A Really Unpleasant Cycle Between UVic And Esquimalt That I Know Is Going To Send Me To The Trek Store Tomorrow For Better Shiny Things

The ride home scares me
Heavy rain, my sightlines blurred
I need sideways light

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