I've settled into a sort of strange mental cave, driven to spark a change but still physically restricted.
I'm learning to let my brain & my fingers help me imagine what I will do once my knee gets better...
Let me share some of my wishful thinking.
D and I wish to go out into the country to roast a turkey on an open fire for Thanksgiving (for my American readers, Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend!)
The venue yet undecided, I just want to see trees. I have no stipulations, just nature & more nature. And a comfy chair by the fire & cozy blanket ;)
The fewer humans the better (other than our immediate posse).
I wish my parents would want to roast a turkey with us. I'll leave it at this. I'm not even going to open this can of worms during this post.... lets leave the family drama outta it......
But more than that, I wish that we had a family of our own to take.
I long to see vibrant autumn reds, smell the smoky crisp air, feel the fingertips of October chill on my cheek & snuggle in warmth of my cozy fall layers.
I long for hayrides, corn mazes, face painting and apple bobbing.
I long for a tradition of picking & carving pumpkins, striving for the most ghoulish, glowing gaze. Roasting seeds. Pies.
What do you long for? What are your family traditions for Thanksgiving?
One other thing I long for? Sharing. Caring. Togetherness.
Yesterday was a terrific day - despite the cold and clouds that drifted back in Toronto after a few days of glorious sunny spring (summer!) weather.
D and I used to frequent the beaches of Toronto quite regularly, more in the winter actually, to walk the dogs. We would go more in the winter because of our dogs inability to get along well with other dogs, as you may or may not have read in my fur-baby posting.
Thus, the cooler weather yesterday was perfect.
We had the whole beach to ourselves...or so we thought!
As we walked down the beach on a side that we haven't actually ever walked on before, we came upon this interesting structure:
We walked to the end of the beach and discussed what it could be. In the end, our curiosity got the best of us. We had to go and find out what was going on over there!
Was it an extremely impressive beaver dam? A beaver dam with seating?
So we meandered over.....
And met the friendly beach dude!
I'm going to keep the details about the friendly beach dude pretty sketchy, he requested specifically that I maintain his anonymity and keep his location under wraps. I was so impressed by his positive attitude, his eco-friendly lifestyle and his down-to-earth sensibilities so I asked him if he minded if I took some pictures of his creation for my blog. He said, with a smile, that his door is always open to friendly strangers.
We could all learn a lot from the friendly beach dude.
Friendly Beach Dude's Welcome Sign
Friendly Beach Dude's Welcome Mascot
The Nice Chilling Spot - aka Beach Hut
*you can't tell, but the bottom left corner of the hut was rebuilt because a few years back the local coastguard/fire dept. boat came by and had to put out a fire that was started by a couple who were found in a compromising situation in the nice chilling spot!
Being sprayed by 450psi musta been a rude awakening to say the least!!!*
We stood and talked with the FBD for about an hour. He was so intriguing! He built the beach hut from wood that had fallen down the cliffs from the top of the hills that you can see behind the hut. There are huge piles of debris all over the beach showing evidence that the cliffs are really tumbling down.
Here's an example of a pile of trees that started at the top of the hill.....
See the trees at the top that are awaiting the same fate??
After talking for a while (and essentially losing most of the sensation in my legs 'cuz the wind got BITTERLY cold) we started the walk back. Here's some pictures that I really liked from the day...
Friendly Beach Dude told us that he frequently sees Coyote's quite often....
These prints were HUGE compared to Bronx's!
LOVE the bits of red that show up every so often.
And, just as we were leaving, and I thought the day couldn't have POSSIBLY been any more perfect, we ran into another lovely creature while walking back to the car...
Can you spot him?
I couldn't believe how close he let me get!
And that was the happy day - we had such a good time, re-connecting and being outside... I just can't wait for summer and our next trip into the wilderness!
Feelin' nostalgic this morning and I felt like reminiscing on some of our past camping trips.
Come along with me for the ride!
OOH D still had his long hair in some of these pics. :D
These two pics are of the same house, taken from different angles & 3 years apart.
Yes, we are creatures of habit!
D first thing in the morning - my sleep lion roars!
I'm gettin' hungry! Better start cookin'....
yum. Food tastes much better than Frogs.
I love windmills. Wave of the future. I HOPE!
Pictures do not do the nighttime justice.
It was breathtaking.
Quiet early mornings...
perfect for fishing.
I love sleeping with the tent fly off....
This shot took about 2 hours to get - we were on an inflatable raft, floating around in the lake trying to get a shot of us kissing under the harvest moon. We kept drifting further and further away... took about a zillion shots because we would spin out of position the second the moon was behind us... It was quite fun! ...............................
This particular trip was VERY VERY RAINY. Hence Shanty town.
BUT we ate VERY VERY well....
Ahhhh.... our canoe... which sprang a leak on this particular trip.
These pics sum up my love for Canada....
and demonstrate the reason we should really just pack up and go live in the woods.
I hope you enjoyed the trip! Please let me know if you like the photo-post! Not sure if this is a popular idea, but if it is, I have TONS of home-zoo (etc.) pics to post!
So, it's my 29th birthday today, I'm one year closer to the year that I've kinda always put out as my "deadline". Deadline for what you ask?
Um....
STUFF!
...
lol. Okay no, seriously - I always thought I'd be married with kids & a career (or a career driven/millionaire hubby making it possible for me to become a professional SAHM)... but I'm pretty much NOT EVEN CLOSE to that reality.... nor am I close to my UTOPIA reality.
But I'm zen about it. Really. I'm "livin' in the moment". And I actually mean that for once in my life. My latest bout of darkness has brought anew my optimism for the future. And today, on the day that I'm exactly 365 days away from the deadline that I've been envisioning since the day I knew how, I'm cool. I'm calm. I'm collected.
I'm pretty happy, and I know where I need (and where I WANT) to be next year. (for real, not where I thought I'd be in my 6,7,8 etc... year old mind)
So this morning I thought I'd share 5 of the things I WANNA accomplish in my 29th year. (I tweeted and warned you all about the I WANNA'S coming up today!... )
Not exactly a resolution list, just kind of a guideline to help me in a few months when I'm floating aimlessly through my long -anticipated summer.
1. Get to the gym. I was 80 lbs. thinner just 3 short years ago. I know I can do it, and I think it will help HUGELY with my fibromyalgia, endo and pcos if I get back there. Here's a pic to help you (and me) visualize:
This was about 4 years ago actually - but still... thin(er).
And now?
.... searching.... searching..... searching....
Geez - it's super hard to find a current full body shot! That'll show ya right there how much I need to do this!
Okay - here's one.... me trying to convince myself to get in the freezing cold Georgian Bay last summer.....
OMG I can't believe I'm even putting this picture online. You wouldn't believe the verbal thrashing that D got for taking an unprepared shot of me from behind....
But I digress...
2. Music Music Music - gotta get back on the singer/songwriter bandwagon. If nothing else I have learned that me drifting away from my creativity is never ever a good thing. Want to get a recording done or at least mostly done this year. A professional recording. That I can sell on iTunes. I don't care if it's far fetched. I'm doin' it.
3. GET PREGGO! Ok, so I can't exactly control this one, but #'s 1& 2 may help keep me sane and fit and zen and all that good fertility stuff.
4.Go somewhere - this is kinda vague. Ok - go somewhere outside Ontario. D has never left Ontario, and I have a serious travel bug that has remained unfed for 10 years, and may just feed on my eyeballs if I don't satisfy it soon.
5. Become a better/ more involved family member. I need to get over some shit. It's about f'ing time. If that means I have to be more mature than my mother/parents/elder then so be it.
So that's it - hope you enjoyed.... I'm off to finish my quiet (read:early!!!) birthday morning of blogging, tweeting and catching up on my favorite people's lives. Today, more than before, I cherish the new connections and friendships I'm making through this blog and my tweets. I've always had a cloud over me on my birthday - no one seemed to care, or remember, or notice. You all have given me the strength to realize that those people don't matter - and the one's who do are with me all the time in my mind and heart.
