Jan 24 - In Which An Ibis Steals C's Veggie Stick From One Hand While A Muscovy Steals From The Other, A Seriously Traumatizing Event

The ibis turns mean
C sobs for 20 minutes
Shattered by the act

Jan 23 - This Flu Really Is A Bad One, Necessitating That We Abandon Our Cerys Plan And Send Her To Daycare

We need some down time
Sorry kid, you're off to 'school'
We'll lay here coughing

Jan 22 - We Aren't Yet Well, But We Put On Our Brave Faces And Try To Get Through Another Long Day (And Just To Be Clear, The Child Is Easy-Going)

Ladybug outbreak
Some kid at the park freaks out
Cerys crushes hers

Jan 21 - At Least The Sun Is Warm And I Can Lay Dozing On The Porch While Not Looking After The Baby, Who We Will To Sleep Longer

Fever broke last night
I'd hoped for a miracle
Alas, no. Worn out.

Jan 20 - As Long As You Time Your Outings Very Carefully Between Advil Doses, You Can Take The Kid To The Playground So Sick Paul Can Sleep

The parents take off
I count the minutes for drugs
Got to tough this out

Jan 19 - Guess There's No Way To Look After An Ill 18-Month-Old And Not Get Ill Yourself

Mega-sickness hits
Even Chinese food tastes wrong
In bed by seven

Jan 18 - I Am Counting On This Time On The Sunny Porch To Burn Out Of Me Whatever Is Coming For Me, And Molly Seems Pleased To Be Basking Too

Cerys needs the doc
Sick with an ear infection
I sun while she naps

Jan 17 - Somehow I Was Imagining A Much Less Snuffly, Freezing Start To Our Big Holiday

Perfect storm of sick
Plane time, no sleep, ill toddler
Paul's the first to fall

Jan 16 - Next Time I'll Bring A Book

The plan is the zoo
But C falls asleep, then Paul
Oh, well. I'll suntan

Jan 15 - In Which I Wonder On Our Family Outing At What Point Does The Male Brain Start To Think About The Wisdom Of A Rope Swing Over A Fecal-Coliform Creek

Nature walk highlight:
Yokel jumps over Poo Creek
Belly hits the bank

Jan 14 - Who Knew That Florida's Winters Were Highly Changeable And You Can Lose 30 Degrees From One Day To The Next

Call me naive, but
I wasn't prepared for cold
Wearing borrowed coats

Jan 13 - Overnight At Kissimmee After An Insanely Long Night Drive Due To A Turnpike In The Middle Of Nowhere, But By End Of Day It's All Forgotten

Awake near Disney
Though these can't be Mickey's peeps
North to meet Cerys

Jan 12 - Victoria To Toronto To Montreal To...Oops, Fort Lauderdale, Which I Wrongly Assumed Was So Much Closer To Orlando

Damn it, a blizzard
We'll be driving past midnight
The sky inky black

Jan 11 - Farewell But Hopefully Not Goodbye To UVic And "My" Nice Stand-Up Desk, Which Will Stay A Lot Tidier Without Me Here

Step one: Clean the screen
Wipe the food bits off the desk
Wrap up this life stage

Jan 10 - Could Be The Winter Blahs That's Got R Feeling Like A Whole Lot Of Paw Patrol, And How Handy That Theo Looks A Fair Bit Like Chase

Small couch potato
Dark Windsor Park wakes her up
I'm Sky. She's Rubble

Jan 9 - Row D At The Royal Theatre Is A Great Seat, Though I Feel For The Woman Ahead Of Me Who Is Seated Behind The World's Tallest Man, In A Hat

A night with cowboys
Must say, 84 looks old
But he delivers

Jan 8 - In Which I Employ My Time-Honoured Journalism Technique Of Doing My Best To Make Interview Subjects Forget That I'm Writing Down Everything They Say

The best interviews
feel like fun chats with new friends
Relax! Tell me all!

Jan 7 - Yet Another Session At The Storage Locker As We Pack Up Winter Wear And Sort Out Summer Wear In This Dreary Cement Fortress Of Forgotten Goods

I'd kill for closets
The sheer luxury of drawers
Nope. Cloth bags, wrecked totes

Jan 6 - Hours Of Browsing Strange, Small Objects At Cheap Second-Hand Stores To Find 52 Affordable Trinkets

An advent hamper
Nutty, but it marks the days
Back soon, little one

Jan 5 - A Full Peninsula Day That Starts At Butterfly World And Moves On To St. Vincent de Paul, A Burger Stop, And Then The Longest Damn Time Ruminating About Creatures In The Salish Sea

Small aquarium
Yet somehow we stay hours
Naming fish and skulls

Jan 4 - There's Something Satisfying About Rooting Around In Science News Sites For The Information You Need

Research is my thing
The journalist kind, of course
Digging through websites

Jan 3 - If Ever There Was A Born Water Child, This Is Her

Two years old, so small
Bold steps down the diving board
She springs without pause

Jan 2 - In Which I Lose Myself In The World Of Online Science Media And Think About A New Year's Night Of Too Much Dancing 41 Years Ago

Here, but not fully
'Christmas Brain,' my colleagues say
Time for my project

Jan 1 - There's Something Important About Making The Most Of A Beautiful Day As Another Year Begins

Everyone's outside
Walkers, cyclists, kite-flyers
Greedy for the sun

Dec 31 - Double Feature Of Disaster Artist And Star Wars To Ensure We Hit That Magic Midnight Mark

One a.m.! How wild
Be gone, year of much sorrow
Eat popcorn. Drink beer

Dec 30 - Three Dogs, Three People, And A Peaceful Time Walking Along The Snowy River

The day dawns brilliant
Us and the dogs on snow trails
Woods silent and white

Dec 29 - The Snow That Nobody Predicted Begins In The Very Hours That I Drive To Courtenay

Damn you, weather man
I wait for crunch of metal
Spinning, stopping, stunned

Dec 28 - The Piece That Has Been Keeping Me Up At Night And Forcing Me To Read A Truly Tedious Book Finally Gets Written

A whole day to work
Playlist to keep my focus
Thoughts spun into words

Dec 27 - Today's Bank Meeting Might Actually Mark The End Of This Drawn-Out Business Of Wrapping Up 91 Years Of Living

Please, let this be done
The death was quick. The process?
Insufferably long

Dec 26 - Spotify Is A Sinkhole

I had plans to work
But here I am, making lists
Tunes for future rides

Dec 25 - I Am Happiest With Less Christmas

Fresh scones for breakfast
We watch a fish-man find love
Perfect movie choice