sid returns

sid the cat. ruler of the aberdeen avenue universe, returned to active duty early last evening . . . .

melt . . .

as the snow pulls back - wild grasses are revealed . . . 

huge squid trees finally freed from the clutches of the ice go for their first swim of the year . . . 

as the snow pulls back (2)

as the snow pulls back . . . a cascading plant reveals itself  . . . as it passes around a hydro pole . . .

good morning!

the tangled interweaving of memories . . .

when the snow pulls back a little bit . . . memories of last summer and autumn return . . .

ice paintings

one of the motivations for getting up and out on the very cold days like this morning is to see what has become of the puddle out front of my house as it freezes each night. so i get a fresh painting every morning waiting for me just off my front porch!

the old elevator

do you remember a time when getting in an elevator was a pretty magical thing?! chances are the elevator looked a little bit like this lovely old machine at the gladstone hotel in toronto . . . .

the warp and weft

life is lived exactly as it arrives . . . 

events - placed into context - often without the time or the forthought necessary to entirely know or comprehend what is being said or done . . . 

and so,

here in a single moment . . .

my first wife lize, 

and wendy

 exchanging understandings

this happens 

entirely

inside a moment

that spans

thirty six years of my life

queen street west

on our way to my first born boy alan's wedding with wendy, dawson, and lexie . . . 

the calligraphy of trees . . .

the calligraphy of trees. a tree was taken down some time yesterday about a block from my home. the neighbourhood is highly protective of trees so this particular plant must have been very dead, very dangerous or possibly both. the stump was fresh and new to me, and as i passed it i noticed this beautiful calligraphy. tree stumps tell stories and i am sure that these black tracings tell the story of something that the tree had to deal with - or perhaps it is at the root (can i say that?!) of the tree's demise . . . .

spring . . . .

winter . . . on my way home yesterday a desultory spitting of rain that was more a fine and occsional mist than true rain . . . but i am so desperate to hear and feel and smell and see rain that i'll take it . . . the river is slowly opening up and freeing itself of ice after months . . .

just . . . there . . .

it was just lying in the snow right off the edge of my front porch . . . it's symmetry, the care put into each little cell. the number of baby animals that called it home at one time . . .

the details of detritus

i love the little details of what's happening as the ice recedes, revealing memories of autumn and even early winter . . . .

mid march on the back porch

mid march views on my back porch . . .

plans . . .

looking down the corridor of time . . .winter appears to have no immediate plans to head off . . .

chocolate cake with ganache . . .

learning about the  miracle of baking is something that i never tire of. perhaps it has its roots in the wonders that came out of my childhood neighbour's (the claytons) bakery . . . the damage was done somewhere!!!

tonight it is chocolate cake from scratch with (eventually) ganache icing and filling . . .

chocolate, and lots of it, with red wine to fuel the proceedings without affecting the outcome of course because according to baker wendy, precision and measurement are where i need to focus as compared to my approach to cookery which is about chance occurences and unrepeatable fortune . . . 

here's wendy carefully and thoroughly scraping the wondrous stuff into a larger bowl prior to decanting it into a springform pan for placement into the oven . . . .

in a day, she'll show me how to make ganache . . . a substance comprised apparently of cream and chocolate. . . my heart is racing!!!

and here are the pics from that event . . . . 

detritus

the wind blew all manner of small plant matter around . . .

warm evening . . .

the warm evening - well warm for this little part of the world . . . just below zero celsius . . . water still reflects the trees . . .

warmth passes through

yesterday was so warm and beautiful . . .

sometimes art hides . . .

my first painting in twenty years.

striations

misleading . . .

what a silly sign! there's no bike up there . . . .

each little marvel

there was something so very delicate and magic about the small part of the outside world that i passed through today that, it was hard not to slow down and enjoy each little marvel!!!

the long shadows