a story of extremes (or competing versions of the natural world...)

I will admit, my dear friends, that I once again found myself at a little karaoke bar this Friday evening, once more did I imbibe the drink, this time enough to take to the stage 3 times (!), and yes, it was really quite inevitable, again was I greeted by my fairweather friend Mr. Hangover on Saturday morning. And the weather was so perfect for my state! It was rainy, cool and windy; all around miserable outside - and so, with more than enough reason, I found myself flopped on the couch watching endless hours of television and even managed to see the movie Closer, which I can only imagine worked better on stage than in film.

But today, as they say, is a new day...the weather has been fine and fair, and I've gone for my first long walk through what was once the 'back 40' near my parents home - now cut into two equal parts 'back 20' by a four-lane 400 highway... So much for the quiet contemplation of nature.

Here's the nicest thing I found on my wanderings through the forest brush, a trillium (it's the litte white shape in the middle of the image - I apologize, all I had to capture these pics was my tried and true palmpilot, bless its low-res heart):


Ontario, yours to discover on the ground?

Now, this picture was taken in a fairly dense part of my nature walk - when the path was surrounded by forest on two sides - although you could still hear the whizzing of traffic on the other side of the trees.

Below is the picture taken just 5 minutes up the path (please note the lot full of RVs on the other side of the many lanes of highway traffic):


Rolling pastures, RVs as far as the eye can see...

But it was still good to get outside - and not only that, but I had already done 30 minutes of Pilates before my walk!! Talk about extremes...from karaoke-liquor-pig to nature-loving-fitness-buff. What can I say, the Valley is proving to be an extreme place.

I should add, before I go, that I'm sick and tired of Canadian politics, living and working as I do so close to the 'seat(s) of power'. I cannot take another poll, more live coverage of shockingly obvious scandals, another roundtable with political pundits, or more tea-leaf reading exercises in election date prediction...

No, actually, that's not quite true - just another whim of extremes, because I'll wager the political scene will hold me in thrall once more in a matter of days, since the BIG EVENT, the VOTE OF CONFIDENCE is (we think) happening this week...thank G-d I'm getting out of town, heading to the BIG SMOKE (T.O.) for the long weekend, to a place where many people still ask: "so who's in charge in Ottawa these days?" I cannot wait for my great escape - a weekend full of extremes no doubt.