Ode To Summer (2007)

I love summer, it is probably my favorite season. Spring is nice and uplifting as it marks the end of the cold winter, autumn is always beautiful with all the trees turning colour but it is the transitional period for winter and i do not like winter. Well that is a bit of an over statement, i enjoy winter, i just do not like the bitter cold that so often accompanies winter. Weather up to -15C i can handle, anything colder than that, no dice.

But summer, ah summer, that is a time i revel in. I love the long long summer days of Edmonton, sitting on a patio having a meal with friends drinking a beer, going for pic-nics in a finely manicured garden, going for a long run on the back country roads with the sun beating down on your back, the smell of freshly cut grass.

It is the social aspect i probably enjoy the most, passing those summer days in summer ways with the people you love, there simply is nothing better than.

I will always remember summer BBQ's and pool parties at Grandma's. These family gatherings have become a quintessential part of my childhood, diving off the diving board and slide, scouring the bottom of the deep end for what seemed like hours, contests to see who could swim from one side of the pool to the other in one breath, cooking hamburgers on the BBQ, sitting chatting in the Hot tub and Sauna. Now with cousins and family members moving away and Grandma slowing down, it seems like these family gatherings will become less of the norm and more like special events. These memories have been stored away in the back of my mind, preserved in bottles for another day. To be brought out and savored at the most appropriate time, like a fine wine these memories will only get better, grow more vivid, with age.





This summer was eventful and uneventful at the same time, i've had my share of "ups and downs and all arounds." There are a few memories that stick out for me now even as i type this, that will always remind me of this particular summer. Watching Old Strathcona come to life on Saturday morning in May, as i met a friend for coffee. Daycation. An evening dinner on the porch with my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin Veronica in Washington D.C. Harry Potter!!! Going on an impromptu hike in Montreal with Will, Alex and Mack. Spending more time reconnected with family I had taken for granted in the past. Evenings in St. Albert. Evenings in #207 on Saskatchewan Dr. Finally, remembering, to be a tourist in my own town, not only in the towns of others.

I guess i am being a touch sentimental in my "ode to summer" but seeing as it may be my last in Edmonton for at least a year, i am not only saying good bye to summer but farewell to my life here as well. because honestly, i do not know when i'll be back next.

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Office Speech

I've always been aware of this kind of behaviour, ever since i started working at the Glenrose way back in 2001, and it has always annoyed me. Office speech.

Office speech is the midless little phrases or quips that office workers exchange with each other as a means for having a conversation without really having one. Examples of such office speech include: "Working hard or hardly working?"; "We're having a safety meeting...as long as no one is working, no one gets hurt."; How the day of the week determines your mood - "hey how's it going?" "oh you know, it's monday"; "same shit different day"; and so on and so forth.

In my reasoning there are two reasons behind this kind of behaviour, a) it easier to regurgitate a small little quip that both are familiar with rather than engage each other in a real conversation - this serves the purpose of maintaining office relationships without getting too personal or sharing too much of yourself in the process. And b) because often it is a cordial way to acknowledge a fellow co-worker without stopping for a long, indepth conversation because often your workload doesn't allow for indepth conversations. If i really tried harder i could think up a thousand more reasons behind this little phenomenon but honestly i don't have the time.

I just think that something happens to the brain when it is forced to do the same monontonous task over and over again and a large institutionalized setting. People go a little crazy and they begin to decorate their desks with little objects to entertain themselves. stuffed monkeys that have been decked out with a tiny corsage of fake flowers is not interesting and does not warrent a 5 minute conversation!
Okay, getting a bit ranty here, i'd better end this post.

Salut de Montréal

I am now sitting in Montréeal on one of the hottest days of the year. Didn`t quite plan it this way but you have to roll with the punches when traveling to distant, far off places. :)
After an excruciating long flight, over night, to Montreal i was met at the airport by my beau-frere Martin. He took me back to his and Alex`s new condo and left me there to get caught up on some sleep. After about 2hrs i got up and headed into town to meet up with Alex for lunch. We had a picknic lunch on the grass outside one of Montreals huge churches. then i wandered around St. Catherine`s for about an hour before i returned to the condo to have another kip before Martin and Alex got home from work.
tomorrow i have free range of the city in the morning, then i`m going to hang out with Alex and Martin in the evening and then cathc my flight to DC on saturday. Will post more from there.
Rob