Regel

I do a lot of things outside of this day to remind the woman I married that she is still loved admired and appreciated. SHe is too pramatic to allow my sentimentality to get too expensive but allowing Valentine's day to pass without a card or flowers or something would also be expensive (ie. Replacing vases that had been tossed at me and medical services.) I still send my mother a dozen white and red carnations on Valentines. It was my father's tradition and I carry it on. As for those company's that make money on candy cards and flowers, big deal, if people didn't enjoy receiving them Valentine's day certainly wouldn't help there cause.

Congratulations indeed, and just as in real life the title comes with added responsiblities and no further monetary renumeration!

And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? You know Parmenion, it is not so easy for me to talk about this. I can't argue with the feelings you have and it was never my intention to change peoples opinions. It is just my opinion that one day I will have to face my creator when he asks me the same question.

Thought provoking to say the least. All of these action words that can only take place in your head. Imagine, think, and pretend are all the things that truely seperate us from all other animals. Lately everything I read has me thinking about my own mortality. So occasionally I imagine what it will be like when I don't exist. I think about the people I will leave behind and pretend the I would have any idea about what that would be like. Nice poem Wyvern.

The poem was an attempt to recreate the impression I had walking in the downtown business core of Toronto. I had taken my wife and two sons to Blue Jay game, and decided to finish the day by dining out. We decided since it was a warm and pleasant late afternoon to stroll the two or three blocks to the restaurant. We came upon this wreck of a man, sitting stone faced on the concrete sidewalk. In front of him was a Tim Horton's cup with some loose change in it. I watch they way people would look at him, slowly to take in the view as they approached but then quickly returning to a quicker pace. They would breeze by him as if he a was grafitti, or some form of urban blight. Strange how easy it was to drop a tooney in his cup and keep on walking. My discomfort was very real. Had a person simply fallen and scrapped their knee I believe many people would have stooped to offer assistance even to a stranger but this was different. In my mind a voice screamed out "Different how?" He has a name and a story (be it a sad one) that explained how he came to be this way. My decision was to walk by and leave him to his circumstances. Certainly one could argue that there was something wrong with him. I couldn't shake the idea that there was something wrong with me. Thank you for the comments.

Passing the stranger Better take care Eyes drink their fill At his wandering stare. His face a closed story With no life of its own Frozen contempt Shards of glass, broken bone. Street hardened features A life on the skids No family to speak of No wife and no kids. Hair matted and greasy Soiled raggedy clothes Old vapours of whiskey Two feet but nine toes. People walk by him Avoiding his stare Go about their business Won't worry, won't care.

Oysters oscillate over otters or ocelots?

Felonious fellows fleece fleeing famished felines.

I haven't gone out of my way to tell anyone, but I haven't been hiding what I have written. It is an interesting question. I have been unusually quiet about my writing up until recently. The one or two pieces I have shared with others have been exceptions and definately not the rule.

Welcome back my friend. I see you may have been away but you haven't been idle.

"CHris!!!" I bellowed like a mad man. "Did you move one of my turtles?" My nineteen year old son was not even out of bed yet at 10:40 am. "No" he said weakly in his froggy morning voice. What the hell is going on here? I thought to myself. The water was two inches below the top of the aquarium even standing tippy toe on the platform I had constructed the turtle would have to stretch up and still make up the half inch he was short. Can turtles leap? An even better question was could it do a chin up? I couldn't see any logical explaination for its disappearance. My anger and frustration was clouding my thinking, just like the view in the tank all murky and disturbed. I had asked my son Joseph if he would help me look. I knew Joseph's eyesight was better than mine not to mention his knees. To find a turtle you have to think like a turtle. My office is aprroximately an eleven by fifteen foot room and within three feet is the door leading to the rest of the house. "If I was the size of that turtle and I fell to the floor I might be days just trying to get out of this room." I told Joseph. "Help me look" I paused "...please." "Sure dad." Over the next sevral minutes we moved boxes and bags full of samples and then the couch. I had started out of the room and walked through the laundry room into the kitchen, when suddenly I hear "Found him!" "Don't pick him up Joseph". I went over and gingerly picked up the little frightened creature. No head, no legs no tail, it was if he had not only left the aquarium but had also managed to escape his shell. As I raised him to eye level I realized that he was still in there and quickly placed him back into 20 gallon tank. He drifted lifelessly down to the bottom and came to rest. I was looking carefully to see if he was distressed. Within a few seconds he began to poke out his head and swim about. I breathed a sigh of relief. I took the bottle of Purel and squirted some of the antibacterial cleanser on my hands as well as my sons. "Seminella (or Sam and Ella) are a nasty couple." I said to my son with a smile. "Good job Joseph and thank you. Now wash your hands wih this."

The strangest thing happened this past Christmas. My note book was left open and many of my photo's started popping up as a screen saver function kicked in. A couple of my son's friends saw some pictures I had taken of Painted Turtles sunning themselves and asked me if I like turtles. I smiled and said "Yes I think they are kind of neat. Why do you ask?" They responded with "Because we are going to get you a pair for christmas." "Ok" I say. I didn't think for a minute that they would. A few days before christmas they showed up. Little did I know that my own son Chris as well as Theresa and Dave would actually spend close to fifty dollars on making this come true. They came in and went to work on an aquarium I already own that had been sitting in the basement lifeless. Dust and two years worth of neglect had made it a dirty task but within minutes they had it fit for habitation. I half filled the 20 gallon aquarium and allowed the young people to set the sunken destroyer into the tank and spread out the gravel. I made sure the water was warm so the little guys would feel comfortable. They placed the two red eared sliders in the tank and left soon after. Their parting question to me was "Do you like them?" I smiled and after a short silence I said "I love it. Thank you." I was a biology student in university and studied many different animals and eco systems, but honestly I knew very little about these tiny creatures. So I did what any responsible pet owner should do I Goggle searched the subject matter. I found out many things about the pair I had received. For one thing with the proper care and living conditions they could easily live thirty years or more and grow to an amazing 12 inches across the length of their carapace. They eat a variety of things vegetation as well as animal protein (meat). I spent the better part of an hour an read article after article on the care of Red Eared Sliders. The next day I went an bought a full spectrum light bulb that would give the little terapins the UV-a and UV-b light they need to properly develop their shell. It was easy to get the filter pump and heater going again. Bit by bit I created an interesting enviroment for these two with a sunning spot I had created out on flat rocks. Out of necessity I had to bring the water levels up to within two inches from the top so the heater would function properly. Over next few days Dave and Theresa would come over an enjoy the two as they swam around chasing the guppies I had introduced (feeder fish). All was well and the turtles had settled in or so I thought. One of the turtles "Crazy Legs" they had nick named it was extremely active. The other slighty smaller turtle would dive to the bottom and tried to bury itself in the gravel when ever anyone approach the tank. One thursday morning around 5:55 am I rose turned on the light in my office and offered them some food. I left the top open and watched as the two swam up and greedily gobbled up the dried pellets. I was taking my youngest son to a 7:00 am hockey practice so I had to hurry. I left the top up and left for the area. A couple of hours later I returned and looked in the aquarium. One turtle was visible the other was hidden. A searched from various angles and still one turtle. Some of the structure in the tank looked like it had shifted and suddenly the thought crossed my mind that the stones and gravel may have shifted and trapped one of them. I was panic stricken. I rolled up my sleeves and started removing rocks one my one. Sifting through the gravel with my fingers I kicked up a fair bit of debris. With almost all of the structure out of the tank I could no longer deny the other possibly. One of the turtles was gone.

Which wiggly worm won?

Greetings and felicitations Lord Panther. May your days of happines be numerous. Happy Birthday!!

Eighty elephants elected eleven eels.

That's me 100 % peregrine falcon. I get an idea and almost always go from start to finish. Once completed I do some serious editing for spelling and grammar trying desparately to make it readable.

On the contrary Sweet from the perspective of another male I think Parm captures the essence of living with a woman very well. The struggle to stake out ones own personal space in a relationship and in bed is encapsulated very well. Your visual images were greatly helped with unusual descriptive words. I don't believe I would have ever thought of using incandescent to describe someone but I understood it immediately. Nicely written Parm.

A dare you say? I will suggest that this approach has often cause me to place myself in ridiculous positions but for you Sweet I will accept the challenge. Floral Attraction As the early morning sunlight warms the red and yellow petals of the daylily, the yellow jackets are already hard at work. Silently the flower screams with scents and colours at the passersby. The flower is designed to entice and excite its chosen suitor. The scent is strong in the air and the insects’ zone in on the bulls’ eye pattern. With a savage thirst the insect swerves and swoops down to land on the generously ample petals. The landing is rough and the flower laughs and showers it suitor with pollen as it has its fill of sweet nectar. Deeper into the flower the bee presses legs and fuzzy body now covered in yellow it disappears. The flower convulses vibrating as if shaken by some unseen hand and then sways as the insect emerge and takes flight. Rocking back and forth it quickly comes to rest, settles itself and waits for another suitor. This flower is for you Gwai and Appy. Dare ya!

Hello good looking! Merry Christmas and where they hell have you been! Thought a quick hello and duck out will do?? We want Signe back more often! Hope all is well with you and your career. We miss you around here.

Happy Birthday Sweet!

Happy Birthday Finnius!

It has been a tough day. An emotional day to end an emotional and couragous battle that lasted seven months. Tough on her and tougher still on her family and friends who loved her. We watched as the cancer that ravaged her body just blunted it's teeth on this woman's spirit. She comforted those that came to visit her and consoled those of us that were overcome with grief. She blessed us all with her gentle soul and kind nature. I wish I could give her the proper tribute she deserves without filling this page and many others so I won't. Instead I will give you a peice that she read every day to keep her spirit strong and face what ever this journey had in store for her. It's simply titled What Cancer Cannot Do Cancer is so limited ... It cannot cripple love, It cannot shatter hope, It cannot corrode faith, It cannot eat away at peace, It cannot destroy confidence, It cannot kill friendship, It cannot shut out memories, It cannot invade the soul, it cannot reduce eternal life, It cannot quench the spirit, It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection. Anonymous As the poem says it couldn't quench Roseanna's spirit or invade her soul. For those of you out there that have friends or family suffering from this illness I hope that this brings you the comfort as it has brought to me.

That's a question best asked to someone like Peyton Manning. On a serious note I must start to act my age and say "PLEASE STOP!" Cyberhugs??!! Gyrfalcon wrote: 3) And who's paying scientists to stick chickens in vibrating jackets? And why? My answer is Zool!

I often wonder what a good friend can do at a time of loss to lessen the pain. It seems to me that a good friend can at best only share the pain. There is a time to weep and feel this sorrow. The time is now and even if it seems that you have cried as many tears as you have there will always be more to shed. As I sit here watching the snow fall and the temperature plummet I also know another friend of mine sits beside his wife, his children's mother and his best friend. Watching and waiting for her time is near. I am so sorry Gwaihir. May God watch over you and your family as well as Raymond.

The fall weather has been amazingly mild and here we are deep into the middle of November and I have tasks to preform that should have been done two months earlier. I don't know why I always do things like this. Procrastinate until the last possible minute and then acted. The backyard pool has been closed since September and the pipes that lead back to the pool pump have yet to be drained. Weather threatening and temperatures just above freezing I set off to work. It's amazing how numbingly cold water works on the human body. To thread in the plugs my arm has to be up to my elbow in this chilly water. With the corner of the cover up and me prone to the ground I can't help but notice how clear the water seems. "Your an idiot!" I scream at my self. The job might have taken ten minutes in September but here I am struggling to loosen the jet tubes with my frozen right hand. One down and two to go. Outside in my backyard is a different place. Inside the city but still some how it feels country. Quieter than week days when the sounds of traffic and schoolyard children are the dominant sounds. Today it was rustling leaves and birds chirping. Arm blue and task finally completed I turn to other tasks on my "Honeydew List". Next on the list "Christmas Lights".