Whatever happened to the days when I used to write a post nearly every other day? I was just doing some reading, back to December 2004, in preparation of the big to-do I'm going to have for my fifth blog birthday, and I realized that I would knit together scraps of the day to present to my blog readers about every 3 or 4 days! And, if I may say so myself, they were quite well written!
It's also funny how there are moments that I actually don't remember anymore, like the moment where I tasted the strawberry jam in winter and felt transported back to summer. Or the moment where I watched two dogs, that I called Scrap and Shepherd, duke it out with doggy joy on the snowy meadow of Odell Park. This is why I'm glad I blog, to remember things like this years later, and in a way, to remember how I saw the world then.
I'm thinking very seriously of printing off all five years of Huminbean, sometime in 2008, and putting them in a very nice binder and keeping it for myself. If I can get my old printer working again (it will take a downloaded driver burnt onto a CD), then I just may be in business. If not, there's a place in town that will print it for me, but due to the oh-so-lovely usefulness of technology today, they can't print it double-sided. Thus, it would use up twice as much paper as I would like to use. And considering that a project of this scope will take up about 400 pages, it matters whether it's 200 (double-sided) or 400 (not double-sided).
In the meantime, we're getting more snow, and true to form, it is cold white fluff that makes our neighbourhood look like a Christmas card. Sometimes it even feels a little surreal to be walking down the road to my neighbour's house, like I'm in a card, like I've fallen into it by mistake.
Showing posts with label Odell Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odell Park. Show all posts
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
good medicine: a play in two acts
[Dramatis Personae
LEAH, a young woman of 22, soon to be 23.
MAN, a fellow Odell Park enthusiast.
NEIL, an elderly gentleman of 92
SCENE: Fredericton, New Brunswick]
Act One
Scene: Odell Park. The place where three wide paths meet, and form a big open circle underneath tall pines and birches. There is a bench here, and the ground is covered in snow, which is itself covered in bits of fallen trees--needles, bark, lichen. There are footprints in the snow and dog prints too. The sky is overcast and there is a wind that makes the green branches sway back and forth. The deciduous trees' branches are bare, and they sway too, forming silhouettes against the gray sky. LEAH is sitting on the backrest of the bench in a black coat, a black toque, a bright blue scarf, and blue jeans, her feet in brown Doc Marten boots resting on the seat of the bench, because it is covered in snow. Her head is tilted back and she is looking up at the sky through tree branches, thinking about things. A MAN in a blue jacket approaches from a long way down the path.
LEAH looks at him, then back up at the sky. He is still too far away to speak to. When he comes closer, she turns her head and smiles at him, as you do with anyone you meet on Odell's paths. He is middle aged and walking swiftly, looks to be of East Indian origin. He doesn't pause to speak, but keeps walking as the two converse.
LEAH: Hi..!
MAN: Hello there. This is a nice place to rest, isn't it?
LEAH (smiling broadly): Yes, yes it is.
MAN: You look lovely, sitting there.
LEAH: Thank you! (pause) Have a good day.
MAN: You, too.
He is gone down another path, his blue jacket long on his torso, his compliment left hanging in the forest air for LEAH to smile at.
Act Two
Scene: Living room of NEIL's house. NEIL is LEAH's landlord, a man of 92. Up until last year, when he got sick, he still gardened, walked regularly to church, and drove as far as Ottawa. Over the three years that LEAH has been his tenant they have become good friends. Today she is paying a quick visit to impart some news; she does this fairly regularly because soon she will be leaving and she wants to see NEIL as much as she can. NEIL is in a mechanically-reclining chair which he operates with a button. The television is on behind LEAH. After a friendly conversation LEAH is ready to go back downstairs but decides she will ask another question.
LEAH: Do you ever read Maeve Binchy novels, Neil?
NEIL: Nope.
LEAH: They're not Harlequins, you might not like them!
(Both laugh at this. NEIL recently admitted he reads Harlequin romances.)
LEAH: Well, I'll go back down below and curl up with a blanket, a cup of tea and a good book.
NEIL: It's amazing how you don't get sick of that diet!
LEAH: Yes, I know! One thing I'm glad for, out of this whole thing, is having the time...to just sit and read, and do things like watch the crows and squirrels do their thing.
NEIL (agreeing): And just let things happen.
LEAH: Exactly.
LEAH, a young woman of 22, soon to be 23.
MAN, a fellow Odell Park enthusiast.
NEIL, an elderly gentleman of 92
SCENE: Fredericton, New Brunswick]
Act One
Scene: Odell Park. The place where three wide paths meet, and form a big open circle underneath tall pines and birches. There is a bench here, and the ground is covered in snow, which is itself covered in bits of fallen trees--needles, bark, lichen. There are footprints in the snow and dog prints too. The sky is overcast and there is a wind that makes the green branches sway back and forth. The deciduous trees' branches are bare, and they sway too, forming silhouettes against the gray sky. LEAH is sitting on the backrest of the bench in a black coat, a black toque, a bright blue scarf, and blue jeans, her feet in brown Doc Marten boots resting on the seat of the bench, because it is covered in snow. Her head is tilted back and she is looking up at the sky through tree branches, thinking about things. A MAN in a blue jacket approaches from a long way down the path.
LEAH looks at him, then back up at the sky. He is still too far away to speak to. When he comes closer, she turns her head and smiles at him, as you do with anyone you meet on Odell's paths. He is middle aged and walking swiftly, looks to be of East Indian origin. He doesn't pause to speak, but keeps walking as the two converse.
LEAH: Hi..!
MAN: Hello there. This is a nice place to rest, isn't it?
LEAH (smiling broadly): Yes, yes it is.
MAN: You look lovely, sitting there.
LEAH: Thank you! (pause) Have a good day.
MAN: You, too.
He is gone down another path, his blue jacket long on his torso, his compliment left hanging in the forest air for LEAH to smile at.
Act Two
Scene: Living room of NEIL's house. NEIL is LEAH's landlord, a man of 92. Up until last year, when he got sick, he still gardened, walked regularly to church, and drove as far as Ottawa. Over the three years that LEAH has been his tenant they have become good friends. Today she is paying a quick visit to impart some news; she does this fairly regularly because soon she will be leaving and she wants to see NEIL as much as she can. NEIL is in a mechanically-reclining chair which he operates with a button. The television is on behind LEAH. After a friendly conversation LEAH is ready to go back downstairs but decides she will ask another question.
LEAH: Do you ever read Maeve Binchy novels, Neil?
NEIL: Nope.
LEAH: They're not Harlequins, you might not like them!
(Both laugh at this. NEIL recently admitted he reads Harlequin romances.)
LEAH: Well, I'll go back down below and curl up with a blanket, a cup of tea and a good book.
NEIL: It's amazing how you don't get sick of that diet!
LEAH: Yes, I know! One thing I'm glad for, out of this whole thing, is having the time...to just sit and read, and do things like watch the crows and squirrels do their thing.
NEIL (agreeing): And just let things happen.
LEAH: Exactly.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
bah, a rant! or, this is my blog and sometimes i do this
Good things about today:
I talked to my Mum on the phone for a good hour. I ate porridge and we both looked out our windows at snow on the ground and sun shining on it.
I walked in Odell Park for an hour, traipsing around in the snowy woods, in my boots, wishing I had snowshoes. I saw two older women with snowshoes and watched them through the trees, and then continued on my way. It was beautiful out there in the woods with the trees rustling against one another in the wind and big clumps of snow on the bridges, and stopping to look around I noticed that by breathing towards the sun the steam I produced became a rainbow.
Michelle lent me her laptop for Internet purposes and writing a paper, and that brings me to...
The Annoying/Irritating things about today:
My computer decided to be a jack-ass, or rather, some unspecified reason has caused it to be a jack-ass. The moniter image is flickering and the resolution's all out of whack. It's also not getting the Internet signal so I can't check for video card updates. I also have no car to bring the tower to Future Shop to check and see what is going on. I was going to go to school and finish a paper, but I'm not feeling that great, I'm tired and plus it's cold outside. This is why it's really nice that Michelle, gone to hockey, is letting me use her laptop.
I know, this is nothing but whining, but sometimes you just want things to go smoothly, and they don't. Sometimes you want a few days to just sleep and you can't do that without needing to play catch-up at the other end. Now you all know my troubles...do you have anything you want to get off your chest?
I talked to my Mum on the phone for a good hour. I ate porridge and we both looked out our windows at snow on the ground and sun shining on it.
I walked in Odell Park for an hour, traipsing around in the snowy woods, in my boots, wishing I had snowshoes. I saw two older women with snowshoes and watched them through the trees, and then continued on my way. It was beautiful out there in the woods with the trees rustling against one another in the wind and big clumps of snow on the bridges, and stopping to look around I noticed that by breathing towards the sun the steam I produced became a rainbow.
Michelle lent me her laptop for Internet purposes and writing a paper, and that brings me to...
The Annoying/Irritating things about today:
My computer decided to be a jack-ass, or rather, some unspecified reason has caused it to be a jack-ass. The moniter image is flickering and the resolution's all out of whack. It's also not getting the Internet signal so I can't check for video card updates. I also have no car to bring the tower to Future Shop to check and see what is going on. I was going to go to school and finish a paper, but I'm not feeling that great, I'm tired and plus it's cold outside. This is why it's really nice that Michelle, gone to hockey, is letting me use her laptop.
I know, this is nothing but whining, but sometimes you just want things to go smoothly, and they don't. Sometimes you want a few days to just sleep and you can't do that without needing to play catch-up at the other end. Now you all know my troubles...do you have anything you want to get off your chest?
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