photos Archives - Page 8 of 11 -

Words of Winter

January 17, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

I did ask for it, so I can’t complain. We were waiting for winter, and winter is here.

It got cold on Sunday (-18 degrees C which is 0 degrees F, or slightly lower I think) but we braved the elements. Connor has a new sled and it’s a hit. Thursday and Friday’s outings, by all reports, were great. Cold in a refreshing way but not cheek-bitingly cold.

Sunday was cheek-bitingly cold.*

We went out anyway. Got bundled up—which, for a kid who generally opts to be naked, is quite a feat—and trekked to the park.

He pulled the sled on the way there.

And his excitement was written all over his face.

And that’s a memory worth capturing.

*(Although, at -30C/-22F the last couple of days have been worse. Whose ideas was this again?)

And speaking of new things, I’m on Just.Be.Enough today talking about my new views.

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: family, favourite activities, firsts, photos, toddlers are weird

Toddler is My Co-Pilot

January 15, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

Having an extremely observant 3-year-old is not necessarily always a good thing.

I had promised Connor an adventure yesterday, so we hopped in the car and headed to a park nearby where, if you’re lucky, you can see porcupines. Big ones. The problem was I wasn’t sure exactly how to get there.

Connor noticed, and the conversation went something like this:

“Mommy, why are we turning around?”

“Because I turned the wrong way. The park is in the other direction.”

He’s quiet for a moment, then comes out with this:

“Mommy, we shouldn’t drive without Daddy because he knows the way.”

Oh ye of little faith.

We drive a little longer.

“Hmm,” I muse aloud.

“What?” he asks.

I’m starting to regret telling him he should admire the view instead of having a book on my iPhone.

“Mommy’s just not that good at finding the way in new places.”

“Do you have a map?”

“Yes, I have one on my phone.”

“Well let’s use it.”

As if it were the most logical suggestion in the world. Which it is.

Stubbornly, I drive a few more blocks.

“C’mon, let’s use the map,” he says again.

Fine.

“I’ll keep an eye on Finley,” Connor says, as though we’re going to get stranded and the dog in the back is going to need comforting.

Meanwhile I get the map to tell us how to get there—I was close, ha ha, as long as you ignore the fact that I’m going in circles—and we continue on, much to Connor’s relief (and the dog’s too, I’m sure).

I really, really hope he gets his dad’s sense of direction.

PS We did get there.

Filed Under: Conversations with Connor · Tagged With: my wish for you, photos, toddlers are weird, weekends

A Commuter’s View

January 4, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

Every morning I drive toward sunrise. Three turns from home it starts with a glow, then over a hill and the light explodes like starburst. The city is lit from behind, creating a proud silhouette.

Up and over, over and down, the hilly road takes me closer.

A long, straight road, signs warning drivers about low-flying jets. If I’m lucky, I get there right as a big one flies right overhead. Otherwise I’m treated to lights in the distance, high in the sky, as people approach home.

A couple more turns. Find a parking spot. Hop out.

Stand before this.

You know, going in to work is not so bad.

Filed Under: Happy things, Photos · Tagged With: gratitude, living life, photos

10 steps to a chaotic Christmas

December 28, 2011 by Farewell Stranger ·

Step 1: Move into a new house in a new city less than a month before Christmas. Unpack as much as you can and then stuff everything else into the basement and the spare bedroom upstairs. Pray no one needs to get in there.

Step 2: Agree to host Christmas for most of your family because you’re the house that makes the most sense this year.

Step 3: Start a new job the week before Christmas, making it tough to get all those last-minute errands done.

Step 4: Forego your usual practice of making many, many lists and figure it will all work out.

Step 5: Make one exception to Step 4 and hastily make a grocery list the morning of the 23rd before you go to work. That way your husband can do the shopping and you’ll still have time to pick up all the things you forgot.

Step 6: Hide stocking stuffers and gifts in various places around your new house. Having to look for them at 9:00 on Christmas Eve so you can finish wrapping will provide a different sort of orientation to the house you’ve only lived in for 3 weeks.

Step 7: Start cooking on Christmas Eve morning by just doing things as the thought occurs to you. Send someone down the street to the grocery store for the items you forgot in your half-awake list-making state.

Step 7 1/2: Thank your lucky stars Santa’s helpers are there to pitch in.

Step 8: Realize you forgot some of the presents you meant to get, are short on some critical elements of Christmas Dinner (pickles) and neglected to appropriately plan for the vegetables you wanted to serve.

Step 9: Decide that this is the “wing it” Christmas and none of the above issues matter. This philosophy will be reinforced when your three-year-old opens his stocking on Christmas morning with a face lit up with joy and says, “He came! Santa knows me!”

Step 10: Have a very merry chaotic Christmas with great family and the best damn turkey ever cooked in a brand-new-to-us oven. (And we didn’t set fire to the turkey like we did the first year in our old house!)

I hope your holiday was great and you’re getting a little down time before January comes and things ramp up again.

[Pictures #2 and 5 credited to my sister, the other iPhone addict.]

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: anxiety, family, firsts, gratitude, photos

Paradigm Shift

December 12, 2011 by Farewell Stranger ·

I walk every day, and everything is new.

There’s no doubt I’m somewhere different.

The community we live in now is not one I was familiar with. We chose it, bought a house, and moved here, knowing nothing. Being here is an evolution, a revolution, a metamorphosis.

I’m revelling in the ordinariness of life when it is anything but. Exploring a new grocery store is an adventure. Sideways traffic lights and fire hydrants that are yellow instead of red are notable, if only to me.

Every side street and every path holds promise. Footsteps disappear between the trees and I follow them.

An open space. Late afternoon sun lighting the trees on fire.

Further down, the horizon peeks through.

Snow is heavy on the branches. Sparkling white, gentle, pristine.

Bright red berries speak of the season.

Even the birds have a place to retreat to.

I have walked a lot over the last few years because the dog demands it, but it was always one more thing on the to-do list. A pain, not a pleasure. I walked but didn’t see.

Now I walk every day. A choice, not a chore. And I see because I’m looking.