Hoot

Last weekend I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, and heard this sound: o o o o o ohhhh ohhhhh....... o o o o o o o ohhh ohhhh ohhh ohhh.

Upon replicating the sound for a friend she realized that we had heard a Screech-Owl.

Check this out.

Sounds a bit better than me.

Now imagine standing outside in pitch black on a deck high enough you feel you are in the canopy of a forest. You hear the harmony of one owl in the protected heritage cedar on the right, one owl in the protected heritage cedar on the left, and another off yonder a little ways.

A symphony of Screech-Owls. Call and answer.

Peaceful. Natural. Breathless.

And... the Western Screech-Owl is an endangered species, federally and provincially. How amazing it is to have an endangered species take refuge in your yard!

First deer, then hummingbirds, then raccoons, and now screech-owls. I think I am ready for a cougar showing up. I also hear there have been grizzly spottings on the island. Hmmm...

Skid in Sideways

This was once my favourite quote:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, favorite beverage in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming,Woo Hoo...what a ride!" Author Unknown

BatBoy is in the house

He put his sweater over his head.

"Meerrrooow...." he says, quite loudly.

"Shhhh," I say, "Daddy is still sleeping."

"But I need to make sounds to use my echolocation to find a clear pathway out of my sweater."

Yes, I am living with BatBoy...who just happens to meow like a cat.

It's a jungle out there

Bird sounds:

twitter
chirp
hoot
o o o ooooh, o o o ooooh
hmmmmhmmmmhmmmm
kn kn kn kn kn
he e ee ee

I love our back yard sounds. With the increase in sounds, we think the locals are mating.

Ah, spring.

Wine, smoke and art

We have all heard it before. Introduce your kids to drinking early and it becomes a normal part of life, as opposed to a "let's get drunk on hard-mix in the woods behind the elementary school" part of life.

I remember talking to someone that gave their young son a cigarette and told him to suck hard. The poor kid never smoked again in his life.

We have always been ones to talk openly with our boys. Sex, drugs, marijuana, homelessness, finances, poverty, war, you name it. The conversations are real. (Unless you count the conversations about the tooth fairy and Santa Claus, of course.)

Well, along that line, we introduced our kids to a new art form this weekend. Of course, in a safe, comfortable way. With a hand-shake and a promise that they would never, ever do it again, unless it was an approved location, like our garage.

Check it out!

I kinda like the not so subliminal message on the right side. NO. As though this was an anti-graffiti ad.

Here is another example of the artwork on the wall.

Celebrate 100 Day

Do you remember when you first learned to count? From one to two, from nine to 10, from 10 to 20 to 30 and then finally 100. (I expect these days kids learn to count to a google, which is a number with 100 zeros.)

Well, it was recently 100 day in Kje's class. (Third year in a row, mind you.) The kids were asked to bring 100 of something to count and celebrate with, and a few of Kje's friends brought 100 chocolate chips. I thought I would share a little class assignment Kje completed. His answers are in italics.

The important thing about 100 is that it... is alot of chocolate chips
and it... is a century
it... is a lot of money
and it... is large
But the most important thing about 100 is that... it is alot of chocolate chips.

Recently, I have been part of, or heard of, many celebrations: 150th anniversary of BC, 50th anniversary of British Columbia Magazine, 33rd birthday of Super, Natural British Columbia, my brother's birthday every Valentines, the boy's birthdays are coming up and, most importantly to me, my 10th year anniversary of meeting my husband. And there have been more. Whew... a lot of numbers, a lot of events.

We often find reasons, excuses even, to celebrate something. To make events from what should be a normal part of our day, a normal part of our life. I am happy to say that this year, we didn't spend one cent, or two or 10 or 20 or 30 or even 100 pennies on Valentines day. That event takes place every day in our house, with hugs and emails and phone calls and little specks of sweetness doled out all over that cost nothing but giving of the 100-plus pieces of our heart. (Upcoming birthdays are another story mind you.)

I kinda like that in one boys mind, all these numbers - large numbers even - all boil down to chocolate chips. Little specks of sweetness. 100 morsels that melt in your mouth. Easy to share. Easy to swallow.

I guess I can celebrate that, too.