Toronto the good.

This is the backyard of Iain's brother's place in Toronto. They have a mini-park - just beautiful! We spent most of the weekend just relaxing here.
They have several Rose of Sharon bushes, in lovely bloom.

Enjoying the summer

Ahh, summer. Would that everyone could have only good things happen. I know a few people right now going through very difficult times: serious illness and loss of loved ones. I've been there too, as just about everyone has, and this whole week brings sad memories for my family. Life isn't all about the sad stuff, though; that's just what happens in between all the good stuff. Gotta keep the glass half-full.

Kids fishing off the dock last weekend:

Monarchs a-comin'

Not that I really have time to do this, but just a quick note: last weekend, Iain and I went in search of Monarch Butterfly caterpillars (inspired by Wendy), knowing we had lots of milkweed on our cottage road, and voila! Not the quality of Wendy's pics, but it was nice to see so many of them thriving.

Binocular repair

News flash: I just discovered that I know how to collimate binoculars! Last fall I got a cheap pair of Bushnell (made in China - *sigh*) binocs as a promo gift at work. We didn't look at them until this spring, when we tried them in the back yard. Iain complained that he couldn't get the images to line up, and I had the same problem, so I was getting ready to chuck them in the next yard sale. But then I did a google for out-of-focus binoculars, and found that they can go out of collimation and are still fixable. The fixes looked intimidating (involving research and purchasing books), but one fellow said he took his apart and played with it, so I thought "what the heck"and took off both the lenses. I couldn't see anything to adjust, but then had the bright idea of switching sides, just in case someone at the factory in China had a left-from-right perception deficit, and VOILA! Now they work perfectly. I highly recommend trying this if you have a similar problem (or hit them with a rubber mallet until they go into alignment, another recommended repair method).

Baby Painted Turtle

Isn't this little guy adorable? Iain spotted him on the road, between our two lakes.

There's video at the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmL4UkhRhzg

A Star Lost

Sad to read today about the death of William Hutt. My favourite memory of him is in the part of Sir John A., in The National Dream. I'm always a little fuzzy on details, but I know I've seen him in a lot of shows; he showed up so many times on CBC, always a familiar face, always performing whatever part he was in exceptionally well. I had to run a check on IMDB, because I was SURE he was in some episodes of The Starlost; he was in one only.

Yes, I was a Starlost fan...

Aquilega

This is from my mom-in-law's garden, a columbine which she tells me is called Aquilega. Thought it was lovely and had to snap a pic! Sheila has a way with flowers. I love to sit in her back yard and just enjoy the beauty.

Splitting heartache

At the risk of upsetting any Anglicans reading this: what exactly was decided at the big meeting last week? On the one hand, they're willing to "bless" same-sex marriages; on the other, they aren't allowing their priests to actually perform the marriage. It looks like some fence-sitting is going on, but it may only be temporary, as they continue to explore this issue. Mostly they're trying to avoid a split in the church. That's what we Christians seem to do, mostly - split churches over theological disagreements. It's better than the alternative, however, as anyone who has perused Foxe's Book of Martyrs can attest to.

My church's official position is that homosexuality is a sin. I don't agree, but I don't plan to leave the church over it, if I can help it. I'd rather disagree from within. The nice thing about being a Baptist is the concept of "soul liberty", in which every believer is expected to search the scriptures for their answers, and the "priesthood of all believers" which means no one stands between us and God.

For some people the decision is simple: they point to a number of bible verses that they believe say homosexuality is sin, and that's the end of the discussion. You can't talk to them, because they have closed their minds. Others have given it a great deal of thought, and even have friends who are gay, and yet they still come down on that side of the fence. At least with them you can have a dialogue.

I'm not really going anywhere with this, except to say that I'm sad it has to be this way, and I really hope I don't have to go looking for a different church because of it, someday.

Lots of trouble

Okay, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but why are people rude and inconsiderate when the opportunity to be graceful is so apparent?

The story begins last year, when someone drove into one of my co-workers' van in our work parking lot. Left a HUGE dent in the side. They also left a bit of their paint, though they didn't bother to leave a note or try to find out the van's owner. Through a bit of sleuthing, however, my pal was able to track down the culprit, who, when the police showed up at her door, claimed that she had indeed left a note - but the wind must have blown it away. Right.

Then, about two months ago, somebody - I will never know who, probably - hit my car and left without leaving so much as a "gee, sorry about that" note on the windshield. I know, it serves me right for not walking to work more often, and I was parked in a spot I knew was more likely to be backed into, and I DO drive a car that has a lot of, shall we say, "experience"; so it wasn't that big a deal. Just a little upsetting. My mechanic pounded out the dent without losing too much paint in the process, and the car still runs well, so no biggie, right?

Well, about two weeks ago, one of my co-workers backed into a car parked in our lot. Being the good person that she is, she left a note on the windshield. The recipient of the note proceeded to leave numerous phone messages at her place (even after they had spoken on the phone and my friend had explained that she had to be out of town for the weekend but would contact her insurance when she returned), and the tone of the calls was not pleasant. This continued after the weekend, even though the insurance companies were involved (the offer to settle the matter privately was rejected), and finally my friend had to refuse to take any more calls from her. The funny thing is, if that person hadn't parked illegally in our lot - they weren't a patient - it would never have happened.

So maybe that's why the person who ran into me never left me a note: maybe they'd been treated rudely when they tried to do the right thing, in the past; then again, maybe they were just rude and inconsiderate like these other two jerks.

The moral of this story is obvious: don't park in Dewey & Humphries parking lot.

Pink Lady's Slipper

Here is a (sadly uninspiring) picture of a lady's slipper plant we were pleased to find on the lake last weekend. I feel I must post it, because, as Wendy says, without the picture - it didn't happen! And I was pretty happy about finding it. Not as nice quality as I'd like, though - I grabbed it off a video taken from our swaying boat. There is so much to see in the wild, but you have to be paying close attention; we had drifted by this clump of 3 flowers, when the bright pink caught my eye, and Iain had to double back. I was sure it was some sort of orchid or pitcher plant, but couldn't remember what it was. Myles identified it as soon as he saw the video.

Bugs

Iain had some travelling companions when we were out walking on Sunday. They didn't stay long, but they were welcome company.

He took this shot of an attractive moth as well. We haven't figured out what kind it is, yet.