“Humor is a spontaneous, wonderful bit of an outburst that just comes. It’s unbridled, it’s unplanned, it’s full of surprises.” – Erma Bombeck
Quotables #9
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From My Backyard
Looks like spring has blossomed everywhere now. The trees are in full bloom and flower are beginning to show their colour. Even though we had a mild winter, it’s so nice to see everything in bloom. For Wordless Wednesday, I thought I would show you what I see from my backyard:
This is our beautiful crabapple tree. It always blooms about the middle of May.
Another shot of our crabapple tree.
The beginnings of my herb garden - thyme, oregano, parsley.
The start of some greenery in the garden.
The tulips are almost finished. They are my favourites.
Gorgeous lilac bush
A Little Bit of Greece
A few more pictures to show you from my daughter’s trip to Italy and Greece for Wordless Wednesday. Most of these today are from sites around Greece.
A section where the first Olympics were held.
Another victim of Mt. Vesuvius
Part of the open-air theater in Epidaurus in Greece.
Some of the ruins in Greece.
Beautiful ceiling in one of the buildings in Greece.
Quiet on the Homefront
The house is extremely quiet. The kind of quiet where you can hear every household noise that you usually tune out. The hum of the refrigerator motor, the living room floor creaking, the furnace fuelling on and off, even the dog licking her paw (which is kind of grossing me out right now). I should be reveling in the quiet but I feel uneasy. The time to use my computer, which I usually treasure, feels misspent. I keep thinking about a load of laundry that I should do. The garbage can that I should go retrieve from the side of the curb since the garbage man has already been by.
Why do we wish for certain things, and then when we have them, we cannot enjoy them? I have the house all to myself today. I should be relaxed, calm, happy. Instead, I feel unnerved.
My oldest son has a full-time job now. So he is gone all day, sometimes well into the evening. My second oldest son is now in college to become a chef. He is living with his grandmother in Toronto. His bedroom is empty. The two youngest are at school, my husband is at work. So, it’s just the dog and me. Whoo-hoo! But I feel so strange. There should be noise and lots of it. The taps should be running, the stove heating up, telephone ringing, calls for “Mom, come help me with this”, banging of large feet up and down the stairs, laundry machines clonking away, doors banging. But it is silent.
I should enjoy this peace. I should be writing away and producing future articles to post. I’ve walked away from this computer several times, not knowing what to write about. Gosh, even a telephone sales call would be fine right about now.
It’s funny what we get used to. We always think that we want it to be different. Maybe for a short time, we love any changes to our daily routine. This change will be for a longer time, this noiseless house during the day will be for a while. Is this how it might feel to parents whose children have grown and left the house? Is this how my parents felt when we had all finally gone our own way?
I’m sure I will come to appreciate my noiseless days. Like everything, I will grow into it and become used to it. But for today, I never realized the refrigerator was so loud!
More From Italy
More pictures from my daughter’s trip to Italy and Greece for Wordless Wednesday. Please enjoy!
Funky-looking trees in Rome.
The Colosseum in Rome.
More of the Colosseum
My daughter and her friends on the steps of the Sistine Chapel. My daughter is in the back on the left side.
The Pantheon, built by Marcus Agrippa, as a temple to "all the gods".
Street next to the Pantheon.
Quotables #8
“You couldn’t get hold of the things you’d done and turn them right again. Such a power might be given to the gods, but it was not given to women and men, and that was probably a good thing. Had it been otherwise, people would probably die of old age still trying to rewrite their teens.” — Stephen King
Ciao Italy, Gia’Sou Greece
I thought I would start a “Wordless Wednesday” category since I have some beautiful pictures to share with you from my daughter’s trip she took to Italy and Greece over the March break this year with her school. It was a great experience for her, so much history and so much to learn and see. Olivia is in grade 11 and some of her friends were also able to go which made it that much more fun for her. She said she would love to go back to Italy. So here are some of her pictures:
Colosseum in Rome where gladiators once battled for their lives.
Trevi Fountain, Rome
One of the human casualities of Mt. Vesuvius.
Open-air theater in Epidaurus, Greece. Best-preserved theater, acoustics are world renowned.
These are just a few of the many pictures Olivia took. Next week I will share some more.
Just Say “NO”!
I was reminded yesterday why it’s so important to either (a) not answer your door to people you don’t recognize, or (b) not get caught up in these people who come to your door claiming to represent a known company and ask to inspect your furnace, ducts, water heater, etc. or want to see your gas or hydro bill.
Ali Martell has a great blog called Cheaper Than Therapy. Her blog post for April 23, 2012, is a good reminder of what can happen when you trust people at your door. Take a look at her blog post “Why I Cried at a Mexican Restaurant and Why I Will Never Answer My Door. Since she had already been having problems with her water heater and had had someone in two weeks before, it made sense when someone showed up at her door claiming to be from Enbridge to replace her water heater. Even after asking him many questions about his identity, the situation seemed to be on the up and up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
All of us have had some situation that we realized later was a big mistake. Ali’s blog post is a good reminder that we should say “no” at the door. We can always have this company back later if the person was legit after we have had the time to check things out. I always tell my kids as well not to bother answering the door unless they recognize the person they see standing there. If not, let them go away. If it is something really important, they will contact you again.
There are far too many scams out there today. The worst scams, to me, have to be the ones that target the elderly. Take a look at About.com for a list of some of the scams that do exist. If we educate ourselves and our kids, maybe these thieves will go away and fewer will get our money.
What’s Your Doggie’s Name?
I’ve been walking my five-year-old beagle/schnauzer puppy weekday mornings now for several months. Yes, she is my “puppy” no matter how old she gets. Her name is Shadie. Here she is in all her doggy glory waiting to go outside!
Shadie
My dog is not a very quiet dog when she is outside. She likes to bark – A LOT when she sees other people and dogs! So during January and February, the walks were pretty peaceful as no other dog walkers were out at 6:30 in the morning. Once the time changed over in March, the sun was up earlier and more people were out. I have now met many dogs. Dogs, not people. One thing other dog walkers do is introduce their dog, not themselves. I have met Thor, Sparkle, Rusty, Bentley and many more. All very adorable dogs. My dog, however, loves to herald their arrival with many cries and barks. It sounds as if I am killing her or at the very least maiming her. People look at me as if my child is behaving very badly. I read an article recently that says that dogs bark in this way at other dogs in order to say a big “hello”. Well, my dog says hello and then some. I always have to explain that she is very noisy but does love to meet people.
On occasion, I have tried to strike up a conversation between myself and the other human to no avail. Most want to get on their way once you start talking to them, but talk about their dog and they will talk to you for quite some time. It must be like talking about their baby. I know how old the dogs are, what breed they are, what their favourite toy is, but I don’t know anything about their human owner. It’s as if the owner isn’t present, only the dog. Don’t get me wrong – it’s nice to hear about your dog whom you are obviously very fond of, but I would really love to know a little about you. Maybe your name! Then, next time I see you I can say “Hello, insert human’s name here.” Instead of “Hey there, Thor!”
Quotables #7
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. If we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” — Anne Bradstreet
