I don't know what a blog means anymore. It's a place to leave things, I guess.

Like this:

The problem?

I have lots to say. Or maybe just lots to think.

My daughter took these photos on my phone

I think it's her finger. She's two.

I like notes on hands

Rarer and rarer in the electronic age

Dangerous driving light

Yukon light at the low time of the year. I have been taking photos while driving, mostly keeping my eyes on the road and randomly snapping out the side window.

Spot the Spirit Squirrel

My dog the genius

My dog Bella does this thing where she approaches her food dish each night with...possibly suspicion, or maybe it's reverence, but it involves a careful look and smell and then she gently reaches in and grasps a few pieces of kibble in her jaws. She holds them without swallowing, moves away from the dish, scatters them on the floor, sniffs them, maybe eats one or two, then returns to the dish and eats with gusto.

I used to think she was worried we were trying to poison her. But now I think she's a creative genius! Her canvas, the laminate flooring, her medium, Eagle Pack Holistic Senior dog food, sometimes using a glucosamine tablet for texture.

See these examples:

Bohemian Waxwing

These waxwings are flocking all over town these days. They picked my Mountain Ash clean last week. Funny how they are so striking up close yet still can disappear in plain sight by the dozens in a tree. Then startle and the tree comes alive.

This one was a casualty of my clean windows. I carried it to the top of my back fence to leave for an owl, but a raven and magpie were first on the scene.

It's winter here today and I like it.

Ridiculous

The little label says "waterproof".























Partial Zero Emission Vehicle.

Let's get personal

Loving, smart, beautiful

Ad posted at a coffee shop in Summerland, B.C.

Celebration

I see a future career in cake decoration.

Long Lake

I like being in the water. Maybe that's why I sometimes take two baths a day (only on bad days, when I really need to).

Baths are more of a winter thing; summer is for swimming. Swimming satisfies me in a way that nothing else does.

In the Yukon, lakes are rarely warm enough for luxurious swims. Here's Bella on one of the warm Long Lake days.



















When I was a kid, I went to the Okanagan every summer. Both sets of grandparents lived there, in a town aptly named Summerland. I could never stay in the water as long as my sister and cousins could; I got cold, blue-lipped and shivery. But I went in and out, diving up and down like a seal, scaring myself with thoughts of things underwater, floating and doing handstands and running out splashing to lie goose-fleshed on my towel in the heat.

I miss all that, living here.

But right now I am getting to swim lots in Long Lake and it is making things better. Tonight I went alone, at 11 at night, and jumped in quick in the almost dark.















(I wore my fine jewelry for a Long Lake picnic on Solstice this year).

This summer has been warm and swimmy.

Kevgina

I guess these are the kind of t-shirts you would see at a beer festival. My friend also saw a guy wearing a shirt that said "I get drunk and hump things." I didn't get a photo of that one, though.

I'm a bit obsessed with "Kev-gina" right now. I can't stop saying it.

The next photo provides proof that wearing a shirt that says "Kev-gina" doesn't hurt your chances of chatting up some lovely Alaskan ladies.

My sister and her boyfriend once attended an Offensive T-shirt Party in Edmonton. He wore a shirt that said "Panty Inspector" and she wore one that said "My girlfriend can't wrestle but you should see her box".

Okay, I just phoned them both at work. His t-shirt actually said "Sperm Donor".

A voyeur in St. Petersburg

I was going through old photos today and remembered these beautiful Russian women.

They were all about the high fashion shit. They wore boots with sky-high heels and ostentatious name brand clothing. I guessed that most of that stuff was knock-offs but they were working it.

I followed this woman around for a little while and actually have several photos of her. I was pretty hot for her, actually.

Check out the boyfriend. Wow.

Teenager.

Gorgeous women smoking on the street.

The floor spot

In a room where I was very, very happy.

Signs

This I saw in Juneau, Alaska. I kinda want to know and kinda don't.

"Non Style": sushi for the unfashionable.

They neither encourage nor discourage it, but what is it?

Probably my favorite sign ever, and also my new motto:

!!!!!

At the SFO airport. The same sign was also up when I went through security.

Proof that Ikea is reading my mind:

I am a recent convert to the joy that is texting. But even I didn't know how powerful it could be. Wait 'til the Transition Homes hear about this!

How to play hockey

The strategy, as expressed by Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, during this morning's playoff game: "It's a sixty minute game. Let's start at minute one; let's finish when it's over."

The charming obviousness of sports metaphors.

Kids in a mall

I went to the redwoods....

...but not much was going on.

Except:

Trees like these can really calm a person down.