Petroglyphs

As I was driving around southern Saskatchewan on Saturday I saw a sign for St. Victor Petreoglyphs and so I decided to stop and check it out.

These particular petroglyphs are located at the top of a cliff and are carved into the horizontal surface of the rock. I guess there were about 300 images or so, but I could find four or five.



Can you see this petroglyph? It's in the center, just below the lichen. I'd like to think this little guy is a reindeer, a cute little reindeer. But since we're in southern Saskatchewan it's probably just a plain old deer. Still. . . if this guy was on the front of a Christmas card, I'm sure he could pass off as a reindeer.




This one is much harder to see, its a image of a face (it's sideways) and is located on the left side of the photo, about a 1/3 way from the bottom. Beside the face it looks like there are petroglyphs of hoof prints, or something. I think the face is rather ghoulish and macabre, and I didn't particularly enjoy taking this picture, especially with the wind buffeting me around.

While the petroglyphs were pretty cool, the best part about the place was the fantastic view:

I passed many piles of stones and offerings while walking around and it gave the place such a sense of sacredness. As I sat at the top of the cliff, the sky opens up and seems endless, as did the landscape. The place seemed so ancient and timeless at the same time. I would have loved to stay longer, and would have, except the dog was pleading to go back to the car, and the incessant wind keep whipping my hair so it would lash against my cheeks and eyes.

~b~

Autumn Has Arrived

It's been so beautiful the past little while in Saskatoon, that it feels like the summer we never had. I've enjoyed sitting outside at work and letting that hot hot sun make my skin so nice and warm and lovely.

I've been so caught up with life lately that I haven't notice things around me changing, until suddenly, it was officially Fall. I know its true - I heard it on the radio.

My schedule is gradually getting full and I'm settling down into a routine. And so, I thought I'd better take off for the day, enjoy the weather, and find some focus and direction before I get too settled in my routine.

Here's one of the gazillion pictures I took on Saturday:

As I was driving towards Moose Jaw, the morning sun was beginning to rise, casting colors of pastel pinks and blues and ethereal whites across the sky. And so in the spirit of spontinaity I thought I'd stop at Nicolle Flats on Buffalo Pound Lake.

~b~

Checklist

I'm feelin the urge.

I need to get away one last time before the roads are a mess and the weather turns ugly.

• Gas in Car? Check

• New playlist for Ipod? Check

• Snacks for the Road? Check

• Camera Packed? Check

Although, there is a 40% chance of laziness.

~b~

Don't Forget the Garlic

I lost the recipe book I've been keeping all my recipes in about the time I went to Edmonton.

So I was delighted to find it hiding under the couch.

I'll stop me from trying to "invent" recipes.

Exhibit A:

Last Sunday in a last minute bid to have something decent to eat for lunch, I chopped up what ever vegetables where hanging out in my fridge: tomatoes, onions, green peppers, red peppers, carrots, and probably some celery. I then added some diced chicken breast, threw everything into my slow cooker and headed off to church.

I returned home later that day to enjoy my wonderful well-thought out masterpiece - it was bland watery vegetable soup and I remembered that I didn't add any spices, or tomato paste, or even garlic for that matter.

How does one forget the garlic? I asked myself as I stared glumly at the sad state of my lunch. And so I poured the whole thing over Long Macaroni, to add a little interest to the mess that I had created.

~b~

Fancy Machines and Coffee Beans

I met a friend for coffee yesterday. She left our small city-town just over 2 years ago to go and live out in the great and wonderful Vancouver. Vancouver is a city with a Starbucks on every corner and so I decided to take her to Intermission, the little coffee shop in Sutherland.

Intermission, in turns out roasts their own coffee in a very cool machine. I was surprised at how light the beans are, before they are roasted. You can order coffee beans and they will roast it for you. The whole roasting process only takes 15 minutes or so.

How cool is this machine, I love the touch screen! I would love one in my kitchen, I have just the spot for it. I mean, really who needs a fridge when you can have this in your kitchen?

I asked if I could roast my own beans, but was told I couldn't. So I decided not to mention that I had been making some sort of selections on the screen. It's a touch screen, I couldn't resist.

~b~

Current State of Affairs

This past year I have been stuck in a season that I can't seem to break free of. I've been struggling with envy and discontent all year to the point that I can't see any of the blessing I've received. I hate how I can become so self centered and self absorbed and how I can only seem to focus on what everyone else has and what I don't have or what I haven't achieved yet. It's caused me to become emotionally and physically unavailable to those closest to me. When what I need is good friends who will endure me despite the sadness I project, who will listen to me and remind me to stop over thinking all the aspects of my life. To remind me of the person I am and the many blessings I have. Somedays I feel like I have fallen so deep into this pit of discontent that I think I will never break free. But today isn't one of those days. Today is a moment of brief clarity and I can acknowledge all the good things in my life.

Here is an itemized list in non-alphabetical order (mainly because it all starts with M):

• My son. My son has taught me what love is. He is the reason I work so hard. Because of him I have courage and strength to do so many things I would have never done on my own.

• My friends. My friends can uplift my spirit just by talking to them or being in their presence. When I am with them I can be me. Just me. I can be weird and quirky and loud or quiet and contemplative and boring.

• My mother. My mother has had such a great impact on my life. She has consistently demonstrated love, faith, commitment, and above all, selfless giving.

• My father. My father is the other person who has had a great impact on my life. It is through his death and the impact of his life that I have gained an eternal perspective of the actions and interactions of my life. He has taught me how to treat others and how to work hard and succeed despite the limitations put on yourself. Above all, he has showed me how a positive attitude will resonate to the people you interact with on a daily basis.

• My job. Today is my 8 year anniversary at work. I have been so fortunate to find a job that is stable, in Saskatoon, and allows me to financially support my family with extra left over to give to others. I have worked with some amazing people who have taught me about generosity and who constantly provide me with amazing food and recipes.

• My home. I have finally found a place where I can feel safe and secure. It is nice and quiet and private and I don't have to worry about any walls that might imminently fall down. It is close to work and school. Best of all, I can keep my other boy, Max so he can eat all the Bran Buds he wants, greet me with enthusiasm when I get home, and deposit his excess hair around the house so I can lovingly vacuum up after him.

~b~

All Bran and Max = Bad Combination

I bought some Kellogg All Bran Buds to put in my breakfast at work in the mornings. They are small and crunchy and look like fish food. But the best part is, one serving has 1 gram of fat and 11 grams of fiber.

Yes. 11 grams of fiber. One serving of these babies is 44% of your daily fiber intake.

This is Max:

Isn't he cute?

I came home the other day to find 4 whole packets of All Bran Buds ripped up and laying on the living room floor.

I was forced to drag him around with me all day, waiting for the inevitable to come out. By the evening he convinced me that he was starving and I obligingly gave in. It was that look I tell ya, I can't say no when he looks so darn cute.

I spent the rest of my evening with a very unhappy dog lying by my feet quietly whining in pain and giving off random toots. When he wasn't tooting or whining he was giving off little whistling noises through his nose with every breath he took. Every once and a while he would give off a long forlorn moan of agony.

It was late. I wanted to go to bed. Faced with the options of having a moaning dog in my bedroom, or waking up to a unsightly disaster in the morning. I kicked the poor dog outside. But alas, his poor moaning could still he heard from inside the house. Between the farting at church and the tooting in the kitchen, I don't know how much more I can take.

~b~

My Long Weekend

I helped a friend with house renovations.

The plan was to replace the bathroom vanity and flooring.

I showed up to help because I was promised the use of power tools and a little destruction and mayhem. Plus, I didn't have anything better to do.

I have to tell you, tearing out ceramic tiles was FUN. We attack it was hammers and spades and anything else we could find. Pieces of tiles were flying everywhere, as were the colorful choice of words, which seemed appropriate at a time like that.

Things were going great . . .

. . .

UNTIL

. . .

. . .

We found this:

Ewww. Gross. Yuck.

A brief public service announcement: Caulking your bathtub every two years will prevent dastardly things like this from showing up:

Every two years. Yep. That's what you should do.

The small bathroom renovation has now turned into a complete renovation, new drywall, new sub flooring, new tub surround, new paint, new mirror, new lights, oh and new vanity and flooring.

Isn't how that how renovations always go? I'm glad I'm a renter and not a home owner.

~b~

Stating the Obvious

I just figured something out that is probably glaring obvious. Yesterday I was sitting in the stylist chair admiring my new haircut and the great job my hairdresser had done at styling my hair. And then I had an epiphany. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I have straight hair!, I exclaimed.

Yes. I did, I really did say that. I don't know whether it was my wonky cowlick at the front, or the fact that I have always wanted that long, volumptuous, sexily tossled hair. Heck, I'd even settle for a tendril or two. But somehow I've been sailing through life thinking my hair was anything but straight.

Today at work I was excited to state the obvious to my co-workers: Guess what! I have straight hair!! And they nodded in agreement and probably rolled their eyes. I spent the rest of the morning categorizing my co-workers into different hair categories, and would mentally list them off as I passed by them: Straight hair, short hair, straight and fine hair, no hair. Every once in a while I would catch myself in a reflection and remark in my head: I have straight hair.

Imagine that.

~b~

Monday Night Mayhem

Monday Night Mayhem is our family cooking night. Its a time to try out a new recipe and probably the only complete meal I ever make during the week. Last night we made Jambalaya and Corn Bread. Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish, it's nice and hot. My son loved the spicyness and my tastebuds were doing the happy dance in my mouth.

He also loved the cornbread, I caught him vacuuming off the plate with his lips. I guess he was doing the Hoover.

It was a typical Monday night, I enjoyed the company in the kitchen and we both enjoyed the meal. We have previously made Cheese-stuffed Pasta Shells, Cold Smoked Pork Chops with Oven Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus and various Indian and Mexican dishes. I'm starting to run out of ideas.

Any suggestions?

~b~