A Foggy Moody Day

It was foggy Thursday and I liked it. It made the windows opaque and it seemed, peripherally, as if there were snow outside. Being inside felt very cozy.

I didn’t do much all day. Darrell did though. The local lumberyard ran out of Pine and, as a result, he couldn’t work on the studio in the afternoon so he boarded up the sides of my deck. Now Sheba can’t get under there. But he didn’t do it as I would’ve, he did it beautifully. My God, I’m lucky to have his skills at Pinecone Park.

The cats were wired yesterday. Perhaps it was the fog. Fred pulled over a massively heavy coffee table (still wrapped) that I’d left in the hallway. They flipped the wastebasket over and strew stuff everywhere with Sheba’s help. Sheba tried to hump Darrell’s leg and ran full speed in circles in the house, Ethel took the cheese on a joyride from the kitchen counter to my bedroom and one of them unrolled all the toilet paper in the guest bathroom. I could go on and on.

Then a Nespresso order arrived and it was wrong and it was my fault. Instead of coffee it was glass espresso glasses and an excessive amount of plastic holders for coffee pods I don’t use. And a lot of the glass was shattered. Fred or Ethel pushed two of the glass cups and saucers onto the floor and, because they are tempered, the shattered in a gazillion pieces. That’s when I lost it and screamed at them. Yes, moi.

I don’t stutter at all when I scream and animals run for cover. I apologized over pie.

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I bought a garden water fountain today (online) for a space near the bird feeders. Yes, it’s cheesy; it’s faux “old rock.” It’s exactly the kind of thing I’ve despised forever — like hot tubs. But in my condo I came to love my cheesy electric fireplace; it was the best I could do, as is this fountain. These devices please the senses. I’ll love the sound — and I’ll actually hear every little drop here on Gabriola — when I’m swinging in my hammock.

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Yesterday afternoon Sheba went to bed. Nothing unusual there after a day of activities. But she wouldn’t rouse — even to eat. I kept at her until she woke up and once she had she clearly did not want to walk because something to do with her right hind leg. She’d take a step or two and then dive at her leg, biting at it.

Her distress made me distressed. At bedtime she was whimpering almost constantly and I was absolutely sick with worry. I brought her into my bed but she couldn’t settle, the poor girl. I put her in her bed, Fred came and curled up beside her and we all went to sleep. Thankfully, she seems better this morning.

It’s as when Ethel had her spaying. I am totally emotionally intertwined with all three of them.

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Late in the afternoon a deer came by and stopped right outside my office window. I got a chance to have a good long look. Yes, duh, I’m an animal lover. Looking at the deer I’m like an addict looking at his addiction. I see beauty, elegance, grace and majesty — a living sculpture.

I have no regrets that I fenced the backyard but I’m really glad I have an open front yard and that I did not fence the part of my land that I see the most — the view out my office window where I write and where I see the deer and saw the falcon.

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Today’s goal is to get rid of my fire pit  altogether and to plant the last of my potted plants. I got myself some nice pruning shears so that I can clean up some of the natural landscape. As I clear some of the “wild” parts of the park I can decide where to put the gnomes and little ceramic critters. I’M KIDDING!

I’ve been reading about soil and fertilizing the natural landscape. I’d like to know what effect fertilizing Pinecone Park might have on the natural plants here. The next few days are supposed to be decent so I plan on doing a fair bit of yard work and try some fertilizing options.

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I used to own a duplex in Kitsilano in Vancouver with my friends David and Marion. Their first-born was Justin and I couldn’t stand him. I much preferred his brother, Byron.

I started liking him when he was in his late teens — even more when he was in his twenties even though he had an ugly huge aquarium that he filled with Piranha so that he could feed them live mice and watch. What I liked was watching his fascination with photography lead him into a fascination with digital image manipulation.

He found and excelled at his passion and as a result he was headhunted by Apple Inc. and he is some kind of executive with the company earning a huge salary, driving a Lamborghini and playing handball. I also discovered from his father why I hadn’t liked him; he had undiagnosed Aspergers Syndrome interfering with all his relationships.

A few years ago he met a woman who understands him and loves him and last night I heard from his father that he’s going to become a father in May and the news has just lit me up.