The word of the week is fecundity.
June 22 – Do The Right Thing
Here’s
a textbook definition of good karma.
Last
week, a homeless man in Langford found over $2000 cash in a parking lot and
turned it in to police untouched. His selfless act quickly garnered him praise
from the community, who in only a few days had raised more than twice the amount
he had found using a fundraising website.
Now
the man has asked that the funds raised be donated to local food service
providers who distribute food to local homeless, insisting that the funds
raised would be better spent there and that all he really wants is a job.
It
impressed me know when to see someone who could obviously have used the short
term cash not only do the right thing but continue to think of others before
himself. It has impressed the local RCMP branch, who after managing to contact
the homeless man will be looking to assist him in finding employment geared
towards his particular challenges.
I
hope that more good karma comes his way soon.
In
the evening, my family and I went to Ithaca, a Greek restaurant just up the street to
celebrate Father's Day a day late, as my dad had been working yesterday.
It
was a splendid experience!
Right
from the start, we felt welcomed by the owner’s son and staff, all of whom were
extremely attentive and friendly upon learning it was our first time in their
restaurant. We had a table by a window, which let in a lot of the gorgeous day
outside and brightened our dinner time. The food itself was delicious and
provided in generous quantities for very reasonable prices: all key factors to
both impressing us and convincing us that we'd be back again soon.
June 23 – Confed Confiscation
Social
activism can be a funny thing: sometimes, it can sneak up on you.
When
it does, you realize that the issues have been there all along and it simply
reaches a critical point where people have to do something about the problems
in the country they live in.
One
of those tipping points was reached this week regarding racial tensions in the
USA. The Confederate flag has been long-held by advocates of racial parity( not purity )as a symbol of that lingering stigma that has carried over to
modern times from before the Civil War.
This
week, things came to a head, as retailers and companies across the USA pulled
the Confederate flag from their stock and other places where it has been
displayed. Even video game companies pulled the flag from their products,
citing it could only be displayed in a ‘historical’ context. The bravest act
was when activist Bree Newcome, a black woman, climbed the GA State Capital flagpole
and removed the Confederate flag.
I
see this as a sign of progress, as a groundswell of social awareness sweeps
aside past hatreds that have no place in a modern country with an educated
populace.
June 24 – End Of Vacay
Well,
that’s it for my vacation: I returned to work this morning.
And
it was a busy morning too, right from the get-go. Things didn't start to calm
down and so late afternoon and I was amused that I had returned to be dropped
right into the boiling water, so to speak.
What
did I get accomplished on my vacation, you might wonder?
Aside
from relaxing and recharging, I managed to complete five entire chapters of my
second novel’s first draft. I consider that a major accomplishment and a big
push towards finishing the book in the next three months or so. Ideally, I'd
like to start in on the fourth draft of my first novel sometime this fall, so
there's real time pressure to get my second novel's first draft completed.
All
in all, it was a very good vacation. I smile to think that like all vacations,
it always seems too short when it's done but you always look forward to the
next one: I have another week in August that is not that far away and I plan to
likely use it again to further my novel.
Hopefully
by that time, I'll have another five
chapters completed!
June 25 – Too Early Rising?
Part
of the reason I’ve been so tired lately is that I’m waking up too early.
Used
to be, I could wake up around 7am and feel, if not refreshed, then ready for
the day. In the last few weeks, with the advent of the early sunrises, I’ve
been waking up even earlier than that.
It’s
not fun, as it’s messing with my biorhythms.
Adding
insult to injury, there’s a few folks with loud vehicles who head off to work
between 6-630am. One in particular rides a bike that I swear he’s sawed the
muffler off, as I always hear him through a closed window, two sets of blinds
and earplugs, not to mention a white-noise unit.
That’s
too dang loud and just plain inconsiderate of hard-working people trying to
sleep a bit.
Anyway,
be that as it may, I’m trying to go to bed earlier so that I can get more than
5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It might be the summertime weather, but there’s
been an abundance of late-night chatterboxes as well, strolling along with
their conversations at full volume as they pass by.
All
this pointing to me either moving, or finding a way to keep cool with my window
closed in the summer. Neither of which is a pleasant alternative.
June 26 – LGBT Pride
This
has been quite the week for sudden changes in the world – for the better,
thankfully.
In
addition to the surge in disgust for the Confederate flag, another celebration
was had today when the US Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage in
all 50 states. It is a landmark decision, one that has been a long time in
coming and is quite frankly long overdue.
Of
course this has lit the fires of those who oppose same-sex marriage, but there’s
little they can do save appeal the ruling in court; good luck with that, thou
close-minded folks of fossilized mind.
That's
all right, though: freedom’s what the USA is all about. Freedom for all, mind you. If
the world chooses to damn itself based on wanting people to love each other for
who we are, not on what we demand
each other to be based on our own beliefs, well...
Those
of us who choose to keep demanding
that of each other will find a nice little lonely corner of the world to occupy
and trade dogma with each other in, while the rest of us get on with making the
planet a better place to live without bigotry, hatred or fear of the unknown.
June 27 – Sweet Summer Sweat
It
was another perfect day that even the soaring temperatures couldn’t dampen.
My
lady and I lunched, then attempted to enjoy the afternoon in the cooler
sections of Beacon Hill park, as the sun was blazing in a bright blue sky.
Unfortunately, it was really blazing,
so much so that all the shady spots of the park were fairly well-crowded with
people and those areas further afield were swarming with insects who also understandably
wanted to be in the shade. It made for a sweaty and uncomfortable time, which
was not how we wanted our day to go at all.
We
switched out plans and instead went to see Jurassic World after dinner, which
was a wise choice: the film was great! In addition to being a decent action
film, it had many small nods to the previous films in the franchise which I and
my lady appreciated. There were even a few spots that made us both jump: not
easy to do, in my case! Chris Pratt was fantastic, playing a badass
dino-wrangler and his love interest, Bryce Dallas Howard, was a surprise in the
way she transformed from a corporate shill into someone who sav… er, well, I
won’t spoil it for you. Go see it!
My
lady and I wandered off a short ways downtown to ensconce ourselves on the
patio at Garrick’s Head Pub, getting the last table that was tucked away in the
corner – perfect! The temperature outside was perfect and there were crowds of
people everywhere, taking advantage of the still-light skies until well after
10 PM.
I
didn't really notice, as I was sitting enthralled on the patio, sipping beer,
nibbling trip bites and thoroughly enjoying every minute I spent with my lady.
As
I said: it was perfect.
June 28 – Hot In Oz
It
was pleasantly warm today, not hot, as the sun wasn’t around for half the day.
The
skies around here turned dark this afternoon, a thunderstorm threatening to
dampen the day, but nothing happened save a few locals getting excited: we don’t
get those storms here often. We sure could use the rain though: it’s a dry, dry
summer here so far in BC, with an extreme risk of forest fires in many areas
and the Island itself is so dry that a campfire ban is in effect as of today.
There’s
more hot weather coming though, so it’s going to be fun to keep cool in my
place, which doesn’t have air conditioning. Doubly difficult with the front
windows closed all the time, due to the smoke coming in from upwind – it’d be
great to have those cool southerly breezes, but not if they’re laden with
carcinogens and induce migraines.
Just
to end the week on a bit o’fun, here’s a fantastic mashup of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron… and The Wizard Of Oz!
That's all I have this week; staying up until 12am took a lot of willpower and I hope you enjoyed this week's blog!
