TubaOrNotTuba

One of my kids used to play in a band. Well, several different bands, but this one still has a social media presence, albeit several iterations later (which means that my kid no longer gets on stage with them). What was fun is that the band didn’t go through a fever of revisionism, and I was able to find photos taken on stage, back in the day (night??). Great stuff, from a parental viewpoint.

I‘ve managed to reset most of the clocks within range, but that won’t be enough. Somehow, I have to convince my brain that this is normal; even though the sunrise will betray me for several more days. Could someone in high places take the time to perform an analysis? We aren’t at war, all of our computers have accurate clocks, electricity will provide lighting for the awkward moments. I read that Europe is seriously considering the abolition of silly timekeeping. Might that we follow their logic.

As dusk approached last evening, somewhere between sunset and moonrise, the dog on his tether managed to foul the feeder pole. A full container of seeds, spread out effectively. No sense in trying to gather things back; the birds will return in the morning and take care of it.

As we came through St. Peter’s this morning, their storm results were obvious. Consider geology, when the land tilts a little and you can see that the cliff must have been higher before. Exactly what the snow cutting showed, coming across the bridge. Other drifts in various yards proved that wind and snow do make a perfect marriage. Of course we were coming through after the fact, and the roads were clear all the way to the city.

I really wish that certain news sites would read their content before going public. CBC today reported the sighting of the world’s largest bee, as if it was “the one and only”. Might I suggest a slight edit, to “world’s largest bee species spotted alive”. Not too painful. On to the next step. Showing us a photo of a bee (yes, very large) held captive in a plastic tube doesn’t reassure me that the species is not in danger. Did the guidebooks suggest a maximum holding time before death? Didn’t think so.

Living away from retail, and big box store, I find that we generate a lot of cardboard paper for the monthly recycle haul-out. Amazon, mainly. The alternative, where I rebox all my belongings and create puzzle mounds around the place is surreal. And so, once again, I’ve made the trip to the road edge with my blue bags. No snowstorm on the horizon, so they all should leave with a truck, just after dawn. Oh, I sincerely hope so. The pile also contains a hodge-podge of jars and milk jugs, but as I have no intention of constructing a raft for an eventual getaway, they also will feed the recycle beast.

I never tire of my wild life, here in the country. Let me parse that again; my wildlife. The number of species found (natively or otherwise) here on the Island is limited, so when one of my neighbours comes out of the underbrush, I can usually identify the animal. Not to the extreme of giving names but, perhaps, in time. So, today the dog went into full alert mode (think bark and scramble) to let us know that we had company.

And so, it blowed, and then it rained, and then it snowed. Through it all, I realized that having a heated house beats the worst that the local weather systems can throw at me. If we wait a few more weeks, even the snow (now drifted across the lawn) will disappear. The squirrel with his “go to the feeders” tunnel will be exposed to my ridicule, and the birds… there’ll always be birds.

The press release uses the word “tweak”, but locally it will be better seen as “great news”. For the next lobster season, less than three months away, the closures due to whale sightings will be restrained. I, for one, think this is a good thing. Last season, no whales died in Canadian waters, but shipping traffic and fishing were on high alert.

Do they give hazard pay to bird feeders. I don’t mean the mechanical device; rather, the courageous souls that fill seed dispensers, under the watchful eyes of dozens of tiny dinosaurs.