I’m rather chuffed by the first crop of apples of a tree I planted only two years ago. These are two of the largest. I can hardly wait until next year when I also hope to get my first Italian Plumbs. In other tree news, something is happening on the upper branches of my Paulownia. It is bursting with little branches with what looks like nuts or tiny leaves or buds. I can’t determine what they are, even with my binoculars. But they make me hope that next Spring, the tree will bloom for the first time. Paulownia’s bloom with conical towers of blue blossoms. I can hardly wait.
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It was a cool and dark morning. I enjoyed lighting a fire to heat up the house and I absolutely love the smell of woodfire smoke—not too much of it, but when I go outside for wood and smell it, it reminds me of Summertime camping with Steve decades ago. One joy of life for me is remembering good times past.
I was up at 5:30 feeding the brood, and it was still and dry outside. By 7:00, rain had started, and the wind had picked up. It was clear that Wednesday was going to be a slow, gentle indoor day. But come today, and for the rest of the week, I’ll be in and out. I have plans for several garden/yard chores to do.
As I went to sleep on Tuesday night, and for much of yesterday, I pondered taking a break from Dr. Shoja. Our session, in retrospect, was a breakthrough—not the actual session, but in the days before as I wrote and thought about my mental health status. I came to realize, through writing, how much progress I made.
The spark was noticing how much my speech had improved, and how my seizures were pretty much limited to when I had company staying over. As I wrote I could feel how much calmer and at peace I felt about life. I still have a lot of flashbacks when I watch movies, but they don’t hurt as much. And it felt so, so good to realize how moving here, my friends, my own work and Dr. Shoja have done for me over the past almost ten years. I don’t know what to do. Maybe next Dr. S. and I can talk about what’s next.
I invited Paula to spend Christmas here and she was very keen to accept. We have lots of fun together; she is wonderful company. She and Dianne are my regular visitors; I love them for their constancy. Dianne and her cousin, Beverly, are coming for Thanksgiving. It’s friends and turkey season at Pinecone Park.
Just before 9:00 the sky got slightly lighter, and I felt confident that our walk would not be in pouring rain. There were only two of us: Di and I. Everyone in the group seems freaked out by the change in the weather, but we should have a good group on Friday because the weather is likely to be fine.
The first leaves of the Virginia Creeper are turning a beautiful transparent pink. Soon they will become red, then yellow, and then they’ll fall, and the deer will have a feast. I’m excited about this year’s display because there is so very much more foliage to change colour. And as the weather turns warmer and sunnier, I’m expecting to get a thrill from seeing the clover germinate.
Our walk was divine. Gentle rain fell but it did not at all interfere with my joy at being outside and in the forest. There were just four of us and our dogs, and there was no one else on the trail. When Her Highness and I bid everyone adieu, we only drove two blocks when the rain started falling heavily, but once home, there was some sunshine and the rain let up.
I made curry dip when I got home. Oh my God, it’s delicious. I can hardly wait for Saturday and having more roti canai. Once done, it was lunchtime for us all, and then I watched an episode of the Netflix series House of Guinness. I wonder how many people know that the Guinness family owned the land that became the British Properties on the mountain hillside of West Vancouver. They started selling lots that bore a covenant that no non-Caucasians could buy their land.
It got quite bright in the early afternoon. I could not be inside, so Her Highness and I went to Rollo Park where she runs and, hopefully, loses a little of her weight. It’s just amazing to have so much free time. No watering, no garden chores needing urgent attention, it’s sublime and I was dreading the coming of the wet weather.
Late in the afternoon, a power failure. We haven’t had one since early Spring. My generator worked perfectly. I got it going, hooked up the Internet, fridge and TV, and then went into the village for gas in case the outage lasted a long time. But it didn’t. The lights came back on just before 19:00.
Today, I go to the dentist at 8:00. Then I have the rest of the day to do as I please, and it’s likely to be lovely this afternoon, so we will walk Elder Cedar and go to Rollo Park for fetch.
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Rest in peace, Jane Goodall. You used your voice for animals and changed the world’s view of them. You helped the world see that animals have emotions. I will love you forever. Whereas you, J.K. Rowling, although the horror that is you is dwarfed by so many politicians, transgenderism is none of your business; you speak from a position of ignorance. Your lack of compassion is vile. One uses her public platform, earned from love from the public, for good; Rowling uses hers to pread hate.
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