CaptainOrange

Wendy and I have been increasing our camping/canoeing frequency since our children have graduated high school. The one aspect that we have not done for a VERY long time is winter camping. It was the first way we ever camped together when we started obsessively spending time together, but it is a lot of work and our children never enjoyed camping enough that we ever felt inclined to try and do it with them as tiny dependants. Our 25-year-old 'Eureka' tent from Lee and Sandi Also, while the COVID-19 pandemic is terrible for trying to do normal things (like travel to places other people want to go), it is less terrible for going to places few people want to go. Hey, Saskatchewan, how are you doing? So, we invited David (at the cost of $5.01/night)--yes, we made him pay his own way--to meet with us at Birch Bay to share some social distanced solitude. I’m not sure exactly where Wendy, Teela, Jessie, Ali, and I were, but it was definitely on Waskesiu, so it was like a bit of a ho...

I turned 48 in early January. Usually, I am not capable of being reflective during the winter, but perhaps owing to the SSRI's and my  subsequent ability to think more clearly, or maybe because Wendy suggested it and then initiated conversations on our daily walks three days in a row, I have for your perusal... 6 octals of Mikeness. 8 (10) — 1980 In my "Etch A Sketch" phase 1980 was a big year. I turned 8, after all. Also, I was in grades 2 and  3 (come September) at Prince Charles Community School in Prince Albert, SK. My teacher in Grade 2 was Mrs. White. I recall her as having grey hair and so, had the legitimate possibility of being old—as opposed to just seeming old (which everyone did). Mrs. White came off as quite stern to me. I can remember little other than that she was not a fan of me driving Matchbox cars under the tables during class time. I lived in fear of seeing her shiny, black high heels turn on the tile floor and click towards where...

Okay, so you know about my New Zealand trip and my ongoing coffee obsession, but now that I am off G+ and Facebook, has my daily life stopped? Nope. Work The most straight forward part of my life is work. At least I feel that it has the fewest subheadings ;) I continue to work part-time at the library . Mostly, I am based out of the JS Wood Branch, but I find myself doing story times or special projects all around Saskatoon’s nine public branches. Much of my time is spent doing preparation and training for some of our newer programming staff and the rest is working with the public as a facilitator for paint nights, story times, robotics interactions, etc... I am currently working on a couple of special shows. One for the Remai Modern. I am doing a puppet show for them in September and the following week I am doing a workshop on shadow puppetry for teens. Another is for the Festival of Trees . The library will provide feature storytelling and puppetry at the end of the ...

If you read my blog about the new Calgary Central Library, you are already aware that Wendy and I went on a brief work/vacation trip. While in Banff, I was fortunate enough to have access to Dave as an avalanche avoidance mechanism and day-trip planner. This has a significant positive effect on standard wife-danger-o-meter sensors and I was set free in the Canadian Rockies, once again. I only gave Dave a few days notice that I was coming into his stomping grounds. I knew quite a bit in advance of my trip, but after about 2 years being out of contact, I was uncertain whether I ought to insinuate myself into his mountain fortress of solitude. I needn’t have worried. He was only too pleased to hear from me, and after a lucky break and a bit of schedule wrangling, he was able to take a day away from Canmore. We probably lucked out and had some of the best weather for hiking (or most other things for that matter) that they had seen for several weeks. It was gloriously sunny and the daytime ...

As we explored Calgary’s newest library, the differences between Wendy and I made themselves as clear as ever. We decided to do “he said, she said” comparison posts. Following is the Wendy Brain:  Library as art gallery When Mike and I arrived at Calgary’s new central library, it felt like we were arriving at an art gallery. There was big   sculpture shouting community out front, and the building’s architecture flowed. But when you get inside, the volunteers (yes, there are regular tours departing from the front doors) from tour groups to describe exactly how form and function are married in the building.  We’ll talk about that more as we go, but favorite elements. Mike loved the stairs and how they formed the heart of the building.  I thought the stairs, combined with open but demarcated spaces give you windows into all the special spaces. Finally, we both loves the geometric windows and lovely found spaces. You could spend days thinking about the use of light in ...