kar0ling

...but poetic.


In the humidity, the mist from Emptyful hangs a dreamy fog about the library plaza, diffusing the glaring lights.

It used to be so dodgy, you’d avoid it even in daylight; now the park invites a stroll on a dark, rainy night.

Presuming to know something about this medium (HA! My one follower may belie such pretensions), I conducted a workshop on blogging during a short-term mission orientation session.

I continued to hang out with the young people for the rest of the day, lured to stay with the promise of a square dance later that night.

What happened there was noteworthy, so I feel I must practice what I preach and write up this event.

But what did I learn? Oh my! I probably wouldn’t have plumbed the experience for insight had I not sat down here to reflect here, but here goes. (And that’s one of the points I tried to make to the young’uns: writing serves critical reflection.)

Lloyd had gone out to the asylum shelter and invited sundry newcomers to join us at the square dance – “a genuine Canadian social activity”. (Actually, it’s probably more accurate to call it American.) Halfway through the evening, they joined us, so I was paired with a young man from Bangladesh.

Things weren’t quite as smooth with…

For someone who has an intermittent tendency to apply nicknames to people (ever been confused by references to “Peach”?), it may be odd that my bikes, which play a significant role in my life, don’t get monikers.

But they do get designations.

My 3-season bike is the Skyline (the brand on the frame).

My dearly departed fatbike was the fatgirl. (Her replacement will likely be the fatgirl 2.0.)

And, now, my omafiets has finally arrived.

The Dutch bikes – brought over in a shipping container by a local bike advocate with a grand vision to bring comfortable Dutch-style biking to Winnipeg – were handed out at random (based on numbers handed out at registration) and I managed to completely luck out.

We were all promised rear racks, though a few – unusually – lacked even that. (Recipients of such bikes were promised a front rack, all of which had been disassembled for shipping.) I got not only a nice rear rack, rear wheel lock, front and rear lights appearing to be in decent shape (sans dyna…

The dreaded moment has come, in an unexpected way.

The fatgirl was stolen – off my balcony!

I was away from home from Tuesday till Sunday. I watered my plants before leaving and didn’t notice anything amiss.When I wandered out on the balcony to check my plants and let fresh air into my suite on Sunday, my bike rack caught my attention for standing askew. It took a beat before I realized why this was strange: something is missing – my bike!

Alas.

Pregnant air – laden,
seeping out royal fragrance.
Bursting forth, then gone.

It seems to me our common weather proverbs – particularly relating to spring – are not necessarily inaccurate, merely geographically misapplied. Climatic sayings from England’s sea-bound coasts don’t describe the conditions in continental extreme very well, and my skepticism of weather dictums extends to the calendar dates of spring and winter. Usually, winter-like conditions are long established by the time December 21 rolls around, and rarely is spring in the air yet on March 20.
Except this year.
Not only has the snow been disappearing and the temperature playing above zero even before and certainly since, but the air itself has had a refreshing warmth suggestive of the actual arrival of the marvellous season called spring.
So, on April 1, with several days of rolling on dry roads already behind me, I’ve already got the Skyline home from the shop.
Both my girls will stay in my living room, close at hand, until April has proved more definitely it will not bring snowstorms yet.