Balmy day

I need to catch up on pictures from earlier this week, but that will have to wait. I still have one more post from earlier in the day. The girls and I went for a walk Saturday afternoon. The weather was incredibly mild: about 10°C (50°F). We always seem to get a January thaw, when most of the snow melts, but this is no thaw. We have hardly had any snow since before Christmas.

My New Years gift from the river was a belted kingfisher flying in circles over the pond with an indignant rattle. It's a beautiful bird to spot at any time but somehow a special delight in winter. In the shallow water near an effluent pipe Brenna spotted this dead crayfish, about 8 cm (3.25") long. A live one stirred up silt, disappearing under nearby rocks as I leaned over to get a closer look. This fellow likely died in battle. I was impressed by its morphological resemblance to the lobster I had for lunch on Monday.






On the pond was a flock of 20 mallards. They thought we might have some food to offer, but didn't risk approaching too closely.

Word Association #48

1. Vintage:: Wine
   
2. Longing:: to hold Danny
   
3. Specimen:: butterfly
   
4. Mock:: turtle
   
5. Shit:: disturber
   
6. Friday:: Five
   
7. Cruel:: and unnecessary
   
8. Insufficient:: funds
   
9. Pessimistic:: optimistic
   
10. Grin:: and bear it
    

Six months ago

July 4. No need to revise history, but I will elaborate. bitterlawngnome had invited me to drop by sometime, offered their guest room in case I visited Toronto for the weekend. I had seen Danny's journal, but we had never talked online. He was quiet at first. Later in the evening as we sat around the kitchen table and talked about going to bed, he asked, "Would you like some company?" He was gentle and courteous, winsome qualities with me. A little company turned into an entire weekend. We hardly emerged from the guest room except to eat and shower.

I couldn't see him again for more than a month, but that was only the beginning of some fine, sweet company.

Thank you for asking, handsome cub. I'll see you this afternoon.