where i have been when i have not been here...

December 6, 2017 Arlene Giddings

the truth is
i feel like i have been
kind of all over the place...
work is busy,
christmas is coming.
the days are shorter
and darker
and colder...

i am in snuggle down mode...
all about blankets and books,
movies and hot chocolate-y chai tea...
i tell myself the light is not good enough
to doodle by
and that one more night
away from the gym
is not going to hurt...

i am reading harry potter...
right now i am on book 3...
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban.
i have read it before but
i can't really remember it...
i am thoroughly enjoying it though.
i am not sure that i am going to make my goal
of 24 books before the end of the year though
which actually completely surprises me.
i was sure that i would do it this year.
finishing this one will be put me at 19.
sigh.

i just need to shut the tv off
and disconnect myself from my little Sims world
and maybe read a real book
made out of paper and ink
and not just on my phone...
but if you are curious about my Sims world,
you might like to know
that jon bon jovi and joan jett
just got married and have a baby...
RON BON JOVI....
heeheehee...
oh.

and joannie and chachi just got engaged.
or wait.
that might have been the fonz & pinky tuscadero.

yeah.
i really need to disconnect from the virtual world for a bit.
:)

i'm not sure what it is about fall...

October 26, 2017 Arlene Giddings

but i am incredibly
less productive
in the fall.

i'm good right up until it starts to get
just a little bit dark..
like...6 pm...
and then i just want
pajama pants, some hot chocolate,
my phone and the couch.

i am all about movies and
tv shows and good books
and finding new apps
and naps...so many naps.

as soon as the sun starts to set,
it seems to take any energy reserves
i had left
with it...

hopefully
this is just a phase
and maybe i'll grow out of it.
:)

and really, i'm writing this
in hopes that people are going to say
THAT'S totally normal,
i'm like that, too!
heh.
i'm all about validation

man-eating snails

October 23, 2017 Arlene Giddings

or...could also be
about how maybe i tend to exaggerate
for comedic purposes...
heh.

but
as promised yesterday
here is part 2
of my friday-adventure-on-a-holiday-monday
because i know you were sitting on the edge
of your seat refreshing the webpage
just waiting for part two, right? heh.

as i was leaving fort amherst
i saw this dirt road
and remembered how i told myself
that under no circumstances
were you going to go on dirt roads today...
but...
really...would you be able to say no to THIS dirt road?
it's on a hill!
who KNOWS what could be on the other side!
maybe a candy store...
or a space ship
or a herd of goats
in pajamas
or
a frigging cool lighthouse
you've never seen before.

(ummmm...it was the lighthouse, if you didn't guess...)

and such a pretty view!

and this....isn't it cute! that roof. ♥♥♥ it's so fairy tale-ish...in a decrepit kind of way...

and where are the non-man-eating snails i promised? you ask
well...next, i came across this place
which is burned into my memory
because
a) i love love love that broken down wharf
b) i did wedding photos here for the sweetest couple AND
c) we lost the bride's engagement ring on the beach here
and it was horrifying and awful and stressful but then a man
came along & asked us what we were doing
(the whole wedding party and myself on hands and knees
digging in sand frantically) and he offered to go home & get
his metal detector...we went to the reception and this sweet man
FOUND the engagement ring and that's reason #345 235 why i love PEI...
(plus there are no bobcats).

it was fun to climb on
but that's how i noticed the snails...
i saw one at first
but then i realized there were hundreds!

and then...the drive home...
which found me on
dirt road #3...
but i'm so glad i
didn't take my own advice.

and that was the end of another adventure...
i know it was a low blow to trick you with man eating snails...
i hope the pretty dirt roads made up for it.
:)

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.