leaving

today is my last day of direct blogging for ten days. sounds strange i imagine. i'll explain. today - well today is canada day, a national holiday here in canada. there are parades, fireworks, people lying around by lakes and rivers and pools, you know. then tomorrow at eight thirty in the morning, i get on my bike along with fourteen other cyclists and head out on a one thousand kilometre journey around lake ontario that will last ten days. one of those days will be a rest and frisbee day so you can do the math on how much riding will be done on the other nine.

i am so pumped. i have done nothing like this before.

we are being accompanied by a big schoolbus that will carry all our gear and beer and stuff. the people i am riding with - well for the most part they're mid to late twenties. i'm carrying a camera and a small camcorder. i'm also carrying three really sweet ultra finepoint markers to write with in a fat little notebook. my plan is to bring all that together and drive you all to distraction sharing cycling stories. actually i'll spare you that and up the entire story over on my cycling blog.

meanwhile i've spent some time creating posts for the next ten days. i'll try and change over the way you post comments so that others can read what you think without my moderation.

thinking of comments - i've not been able to reply to all of your comments and i'm sorry about that. being a teacher has very few negatives about it but the demands on what is nominally personal time are occasionally unavoidable.

so for now. b'bye!

when i am finished riding for the day,

i'm going to be reading matsuo basho's narrow road to the interior

for the third time

it is so beautiful

reading it is like eating really good chocolate

i love the moment of melting

when its consistency changes

and it fills me

and like any worthy addiction

i simply want more

spring passes

and the birds cry out - tears

in the eyes of fishes

with these first words from my brush i started. those who remain behind

watch the shadow of a traveller's back disappear

matsuo, my sweet brother across time

my bloggy people can go here to take the narrow road to the deep north