Happy Anniversary to my mum and dad! Married 48 years!
That alone is enough to celebrate.
Being with the same person for 48 years.
Celebrating the quality of that relationship is something all together different.
Sunday was my last official day of rest and ever since then I have been playing a frenzied game of catch up in an attempt to complete the tasks I was supposed to complete before I was rendered immobile by the bug-that-Stephen-got.
Monday was re-reading a short monograph I'd assigned to my intro crim class. . .a book about how homeless street youth disengage from street life.
Interesting, hard to read, taking me back to times when we were struggling harder than we do now to make ends meet.
However, because Monday is a non-teaching day, I was able to work from home.
I like working from home.
I work. Absolutely. If I didn't, I'd march myself into my office.
At the same time, I am able to accomplish some of the tasks that elude me when my days are spent chained to my desk or performing for my students.
Like making broth for soup.
From the chickens I was able to roast because I was actually home to put them in the oven to give them the time they need to roast.
As opposed to my attempts at flash roasting.
Further, being home allowed me the time to fill the bird feeders.
When I was actually thinking that they needed to be filled.
Instead of thinking it while in the middle of a class or meeting, and hoping that I'll remember it when I get home.
Which I never do.
Our two bird feeders have proven to not only provide entertainment for the cats, which one would expect, but for the dogs and myself as well.
Whodathunkit.
After filling them Monday morning, I was treated to the birds enjoying the abundance of seed and such available to them at their perusal.
And didn't find it inappropriate to move from one to the other with immunity.
While watching this blue jay and being able to capture him or her on film. . .
. . .something I never thought I'd be doing if you want to know the truth. . . .
was wonderful and relaxing, the squirrels proved to be more than entertaining.
For me and in particular for Frankie.
As soon as those birdfeeders were full, the squirrels were all over the front yard.
One managed to knock the tall, thin birdfeeder off the street, spilling some of the contents of the feeder on the ground.
Seed sprinkled liberally on the ground is nothing if not an enticement to the neighbourhood squirrels
Squirrels with cajones the size of basketballs and who have figured out that a barking, whining, frantic Frankie behind a window is a Frankie not to be concerned with.
Even ignored.
Which does not sit well with our Frankie.
Who fancies himself king of all he surveys.
But how can you not marvel at the creativity and ingenuity of the squirrel in search of sustenance?
After sleeping all weekend, reading, photographing and roasting Monday, Tuesday was all work, all the time.
Beginning at 4.00 am.
Me at the kitchen table, steaming cup of coffee beside me, and a stack of research question assignments from my intro qualitative research methods class.
And Jasper.
Who assumed that my early morning presence at the kitchen table was to love and adore him without prejudice.
Impeding the marking process in a manner I hadn't anticipated.
But he is just so damned cute!
Nonetheless, it was challenging trying to correct grammar and spelling while maneuvering around a rolling cat, enticing and inviting you just love him, pet him, kiss his little nose, rub his ears and listen to him purr in such deep, melodious tones you thought you were being serenaded by Barry White.
Serenading aside, the grammar and spelling in these papers, along with the failure of people to follow simple directions was disheartening.
I just don't understand how people can make it to university without a rudimentary understanding of basic grammar principles such as how to use commas, the purpose of a semi-colon and how come you shouldn't end sentences with prepositions.
Not to mention the differences among there, their, and they're; your and you're, it's and its.
I can't imagine submitting a paper with run on sentences, incomplete sentences, all indicative of a failure to proofread.
Simply reading the paper before you hand it in.
Imagine.
So I spent the class explaining to them how come knowing how to write is important.
That it isn't just what you're saying, but HOW you say it that's equally as important.
Presentation.
Of course, I'm no expert.
A quick read through of my blog would hightlight more than one mistake.
But making mistakes and knowing how come their a mistake and making a mistake and not being able to identify it are two very different things.
Part of the problem?
Trash television that emulates the illiterate.
Title Lyric: The Mississippi Squirrel Revival by Ray Stevens
Great pics of the blue jays! I've come to terms with the blue jays thinking they own my feeders. Squirrels get such bad press. I also find them entertaining.
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