One advantage of going to familiar places is that I know what to look out for: in this case, the in-full-leaf trees reflected in the sunroof, windshield, and hood of our SUV parked in its usual spot, as viewed from my usual spot on the second-storey deck.
New vistas can be exciting; familiar ones can be exquisite, joining hands across time to draw from and add to each other’s beauty.
Heigh ho, heigh ho,
It’s off to work we go.
– Song from Snow White
How did the Seven Dwarfs get into things this week? Well, I was reading The Invention of Clouds, a book whose existence I stumbled across when trying to find out whether clouds had seasonally distinctive appearances, in order to justify my belief that a given cloudscape was a harbinger of spring which, in turn, would justify the associated photographically induced departure delay. I was not entirely successful in this quest, which is often the case when searching for self-justification, but I got a new book out of it, so there’s that.
It’s your turn.
Silence.
It’s your turn.
People online have to introduce themselves, too.
I sigh inwardly and speak my name, rather than the thought in my head.
Oh. You’re talking to me?
Or, perhaps . . .
What exactly do you think I can see?
Because I can’t see you lookin’ at me.
You’re a good woman.
(slight emphasis on the good)
If you’re not a woman you won’t have heard this addressed to you, but you might have said it or heard it used — it, or this punchier variant.
Good woman.
(slight and entirely optional emphasis
on the 1st syllable of woman)
As we took our seats, I looked out through 40-foot tall windows lit up beautifully by the setting sun.
Not.
Whoa.
You know those tall balloon figures that sway as if in the wind but it’s not really wind, it’s variable bursts of air from a compressor or something? The ones that look as if they’re about to fall over backward and then jerk upright? The ones used to attract attention to used-car lots and similar establishments? Sure you do, although my description might not convince you of that. This would be simpler if they had a name.
Not a fan of balconies: the higher, the worser. Sometimes, though, getting an uncomfortable distance off the ground provides a different perspective. Here’s just such a perspective from Winnipeg last weekend, just before sunset.
As seen on a recent trip to Winnipeg, one art card offered at least four faces/characters. Can four faces appear by accident in one piece of graphic art, just as a function of the underlying design or style choices? Whether by chance or intention, here they are, top to bottom . . .
And his face is even green!
Don’t skip this step.
I’m scanning a recipe for sourdough challah — not that I make sourdough or challah but where’s there’s life there’s hope and the word foolproof in the title drew me in, I admit it — and I stop dead in my figurative tracks. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this instruction in a recipe or, indeed, in any set of instructions.
Cover the dough with a damp towel
and rest for 15 mins to relax the gluten.
Don’t skip this step.
We’re going to jump over the question of who is supposed to rest for 15 minutes – the dough or me – because it amounts to the same thing. If the dough is resting, the dough is resting. If I’m resting, the dough is, perforce, resting. Moving on.
