fall friday adventure...on a monday

October 22, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i feel i should give a disclaimer here
so you can decide
whether or not
you want to
continue reading this post.

there will be pictures.
oodles and oodles of pictures.
:)
it's fall on PEI...
every 3 steps makes you want to stop
and grab your camera.

i am going to try
really, really hard
to control myself...
but i apologize in advance.

(see? I couldn't even get through the
disclaimer/apology
without posting THREE photos already!)

thanksgiving monday
i went for a drive...i had no plan at all...
although i did tell myself
there would be NO dirt roads.
it rained hard the night before
and i did not want to get stuck

dirt road #1 of the day...i listen to myself well.

and after some aimless meandering...
& a couple of middle of the road shots
which the mom in me KNOWS are a bad idea
but i still just can't stop myself

ended up in fort amherst
where i have been once before shooting
wedding photos
but didn't realize that there were trails.

luckily i know now that there is an airport in Charlottetown and will not embarrass myself by ducking and running for cover wondering why no one else is panicking that a plane is OBVIOUSLY going to crash...not that that happened to me before...well...i was only young.

while i was walking through here
i heard a loud noise
right above me...
like the swooping/rustling of giant wings...
the path opens up to a trail that
runs along the beach
but when i looked back
i could see this bird circling overhead

i thought it might be an eagle
and i have always wanted to see one up close
so i went back towards the woods...
but then i was disappointed
because i couldn't see him anymore...
but then
there he was.
perched up on a tree branch about
TEN feet away from me!
i was so excited.
i started taking pictures
and felt all National Geographic
until
he
turned
his
head
and looked right at me
and suddenly
i started thinking
do eagles attack people?
does it depend on your height?
(don't ask me why i wondered that...
i think it had something to do with thinking
an eagle might carry off a small dog
but not a big dog
hence a short person
but not a tall one...
i can't explain how my brain works).

i quickly moved to a different spot
where i could still see him
but maybe he wouldn't notice me
and texted my husband to see
if he felt that an eagle might attack
a short person
on a trail if he mistook the
clicking noises the camera was making
for a gun instead.

my husband gave his usual answer...
"lol".

so i walked back to my car
and celebrated surviving my
close encounter with wildlife
by eating the most amazing
s'mores doughnut from tim hortons
that i bought on a whim
but it was SO GOOD.
i'm not sure if it was just the
exhilaration of my narrow escape
from the clutches of a giant bird
that made it taste so good...
or the fact that i was starving...
but it was damn good.

i went other places and took other photos that day
but this post is already way too long
so...i'll show you the man eating snails tomorrow.

she said...she said...i swear to god she said....

October 18, 2017 Arlene Giddings

♥♥♥this is actually from the regent that night...1989...photo credit Gordon Lapp

what can i possibly say
that hasn't already been said today...
broken hearts & sweet sad playlists
one more story of "when i saw them..."
{collective grief & sadness}
we all knew it was coming
but it still didn't soften the blow

Sometimes I feel so good I gotta scream
She said Gordie baby I know exactly what you mean
She said, she said, I swear to God she said...

the first time
i saw tragically hip
i was working at radioland...
when i went to bars,
people called me
radioland girl...
and i liked it.

could have been the willie nelson,
could have been the wine...

the MCA rep
gave us free tickets
to this little unknown band
playing at the regent...
i had just turned 19...
i remember drinking too much
and dancing
directly in front of the stage...

Baby I feel fine
I'm pretty sure it's genuine
It makes no sense, no it makes no sense

if i had known then
that this band's music,
this man's words
were going to follow along with me
through the next 20+ years
of my life
i might have paid more attention
that night.

Old lion's dying, got left behind
Cut your teeth, lose your meat
And man it's just a matter of time
Key's to the cuffs, you might be king
That's it, that's all, that's everything

i've seen them a number of times
since then
but it was that first night
that i remember most ...
a feeling of incredible unbridled sweaty screaming energy,
and of feeling like we found something
rare and beautiful and hypnotic
that the other people didn't know about just yet...
like we had accidentally discovered
planets of electron avalanches
and nuclear fusion and
wiry wrapped up energy...

His tiny knotted heart
Well, I guess it never worked too good
The timber tore apart
And the water gorged the wood

his lyrics. oh. his lyrics.

When I left your house this morning,
It was a little after nine
It was in Bobcaygeon, I saw the constellations
Reveal themselves, one star at time

that summer
i raced home
from shooting a wedding
so i could meet friends
in the park
and sit on blankets
on cold wet grass
and catch the last encore
of the final show
on a big screen...
so we could say goodbye.

If I could sleep there's a chance I could dream
and reconjure all of those vivid scenes.
O insomniacs of the world, good night.
No more wishing on the Neverstar.

whatcha readin'? {2017::book 11 - goal 24}

October 16, 2017 Arlene Giddings

oh alice hoffman.

i want to write like you.

that is all.

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP: VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT - AMY TAN

i'm having a hard time even typing 18...

October 15, 2017 Arlene Giddings

because
that can't be right.
somewhere along the line
i think we must have done the
math wrong...
he can't be 18
already.

i want to stop time.
freeze the clock.
when is someone going to
make an app
that lets you
rewind
and live in those little moments again..

18 years.
and i couldn't be prouder.
a perfect mix of sweet and sarcastic,
responsible and fun,
interested in everything...
from fixing his own car to video games to go pros and airsoft guns,
always patiently smiling & nodding
when i make him look at
robots i drew and new markers i bought and
toys that i found...
always willing to run to needs, to the grocery store,
to drive me to work, to fill the car with gas...

happy birthday bighead...
now...how do you feel about
picking up your own cake?
:) :) :) :)

friday i'm in love....(where i realize i am watching too much tv)

October 13, 2017 Arlene Giddings

♥♥♥ with surprise desk deliveries of new toys for my collection...2 smurfs AND this
adorable cookie monster with an ice cream cone. sigh. such awesome sweet co-worker friends i have. ♥♥♥

♥♥♥ this show. i mean...it's about a kid called mayonnaise. and yeah, it's a kid's show.
but let's face it...that's what i apparently relate best to. oh...and if you watch it,
please tell me you laughed just as hard as i did at "i'm a banana".

♥♥♥ i have been listening to this a lot.

♥♥♥ and yeah...i got sucked into this. i didn't want to.
i watched the first one and was all like...what! that's not really what
Archie was like...why isn't jughead eating burgers...mr lodge isn't in jail!
but...i kinda wanna know what happened to jason blossom.
and the soundtrack isn't bad either.

♥♥♥ the response to the 365 robot love project.
and my favorite thing to hear is "my kid loves your robots".
that literally just makes my heart bounce up and down...
totally in a good way.

♥♥♥ flannel sheets back on the bed...big fluffy duvets...fuzzy socks...fleece lined leggings

♥♥♥ homemade strawberry sauce...how have i NEVER made this before...

♥♥♥ kindereggs with MINIONS

♥♥♥ fall leaves...