Birdwatching

Drizzly Saturday at Bluffer's Park, and in between raindrops I went for a walk and counted all these birds in under one hour:

• 1 Kingfisher
• 1 bright yellow flash (was that a finch or a warbler?)
• 1 cormorant (separated from the flock?  a later time in the day and it would be hundreds)
• 2 male cardinals, so scarlet they looked like tanagers
• 4 killdeer (limping and flapping to steer me away from the nest)
• 4 trumpeter swans, gliding elegantly on the water's surface
• 5 mourning doves
• 10 pigeons
• 10 redwing blackbirds
• 12 mallards with glossy green heads
• 15 robins digging for worms
• 60 seagulls (white and beige)
• 100's of swallows, white and rose breasted, swooping and diving and filling their mouths with tiny insects

Amazing diversity along the shoreline.


photo credit

Honey Moon - June

Flower moon.

Honey moon.


The bee drinking in this moon flower's nectar will be working away as the petals unfold. I can imagine the flower sounding a bit like the rustling of a taffeta skirt, the buzzing of the bee slowed to the percussion sounds of a tabla drum.  Exotic, sexy symphony of sound.

The full moon this month is also the date of a lunar eclipse. This event can be seen in the sky Saturday evening in the U.S, India, the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.

If I  happen to  wake up between 3 and 4 tonight I will climb up on deck to catch a glimpse - hopefully it is not too cloudy to watch it happen.

bee photolink
moon photo link

Recent Reads

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel

Henry the VIII is a flamboyant historical figure, remembered as much for his earthly appetites as for fathering the English Reformation.  Although he plays a central role in the novel Wolf Hall, the real story is about Thomas Cromwell and his rise from obscurity to political influence - no mean feat in an age of rigid class structure.  That's what makes the book so fascinating - the speculation about Cromwell's rise to power.  It also offers a pretty chilling portrait of Thomas More and insight into the machinations of the women in the court.

Hilary Mantel had already won the 2009 Man Booker prize when she was interviewed by Michael Enright on CBC Sunday Edition. She spoke about growing up in a working class Irish family, going to a ladies 'finishing school' and her quirky upbringing.  It's a wonderful interview, in which she also admits the novel is not an easy read but she hopes the reader was rewarded for their efforts.  True on both counts.

I think what makes the book somewhat difficult is that it assumes the reader is intimate with the chronology of events and full cast of characters. But it is time well spent.

The Last Station, by Jay Parini

This was a BPYC book club pick and many put the book down because they couldn't follow who was speaking and found it too disjointed.  Each chapter is titled with a set of initials to prepare the reader for the point of view of the shifting narrators.  What makes it a bit tricky is that in the Russian, familiar names and formal names are different.  In the edition I was reading there was no explanation for the discrepancy, which is too bad, I think it would have helped several of the readers to persevere.  

The device of telling the story from myriad points of view worked for me.  Most of the characters I could place, but there was one set of initials that kept me wondering.  Who was JP and why was poetry inserted?  It was pointed out to me that JP is the author's initials.

It was unfortunate the book club didn't discuss it much beyond who had read and who had not read the book.  Some disliked it so much and found the hopping around so difficult they simply put the book down and didn't bother finishing.  But the host had gone to the trouble of preparing Russian food and it was delicious.

I read the book before I saw the movie so I wouldn't be unduly influenced by the screen adaptation.  I love Helen Mirren and casting her with Christopher Plummer's Tolstoy made for a sexy pair, indeed.  In the film, Tolstoy's wife comes across as deeply in love with her husband - in the book, the love is obvious but far more complicated.  In the film, the wife is clearly wronged and shut out from her husbands inner circle.  In the book, she more clearly represents a woman who is as committed to her ideals as her husband is to his, and she seems a woman clearly ahead of her time.


Prisoner of Tehran, by Marina Nemat

Also a BPYC Book Club pick, this memoir was made all the more riveting by having the author present to discuss the book.

I've read similar titles, like Reading Lolita in Tehran and Infidel.  These stories make the personal political and sometimes drift into diatribe.  Prisoner of Tehran is clearly a very personal story.

Marina grew up Christian in a Muslim country under the Shah's rule and was bewildered by the turn of events under the Ayatolla.  At only 16 years old, the author finds herself tortured and about to be executed, when her interrogator intervenes to save her life.  He returns five months later with a proposal she can't refuse - to become his wife or see her family and the man she loves arrested.

Her first husband was executed after a few months and she fled to Canada, her story untold for decades.  People knew she had been a political prisoner, but no one asked for details.  Not her mother, father, second husband or children. The need to tell the story and bear witness is part of the author's personal journey. 

We take so much for granted in our society - freedom of speech, personal liberty, even libraries.  It's not perfect in Canada but we have much to be thankful for.


I asked Marina to sign the Toronto Public Library book so people who sign it out after me will know the author's hands have truly touched those pages.  

George Stroumboulopoulos interviewed the author on The Hour:

Dock party!

'M' Dock's turn to host the annual dock party brought an international theme.

Boats were to choose a nation and serve the drinks and food of that country, with sailors from the other docks hopping from boat to boat. Ireland,  Japan, Wales, Iran, France, Italy, and Quebec to name a few.  Passports were stamped when a drink was shared and the winners (with most boats visited) would get gift certificates to the LCBO.

Thanks to the organizers, Robin and Shannon for pulling it all together.  We lucked out with the weather -  the thunderstorm forecast was proven wrong and the ominous clouds floated off as we enjoyed our celebration.


Mostly people flew flags of their heritage, but Rob and I are such a mix we couldn't decide (Irish, German, English, French, Native American, Romanian).  So we chose Venice and served lemoncella, in honour of the last hour we spent drinking in the scenery there, wanting to savour every minute we could before leaving its shore.

Liz and Darcy came to share in the night's festivities and brought a great bottle of white burgundy, Jaffelin Bougogne Aligote.  Really delicious! 

Although we were hosting I was able to do some boat hopping myself, and visited a little Greek cafe serving retsina, tasted Canadian beer on tap, kicked back a Polish vodka frozen in a block of ice, had a glass of Bulgarian red wine and a tasty French white.  Plus several shots of lemoncella and a couple glasses of white burgundy.  Spaced over seven hours, but still, waking up early the next morning for my weekly yoga class with my brother took some discipline.

While I was testing my stamina in a back-bending class, Alex took his dad out for a Father's Day brunch. 

Later that afternoon, Rob and I spent a few hours chasing pockets of wind along the bluffs.  Underneath the patches of clouds the breezes picked up, but in the sun they seemed to disappear.  I was just as happy to drift warmly in the sun as to skim across the water as the wind lifted our sails.

First Sail

Sunday was the first time for us out of the gap, admiring the bluffs and hoisting sails.

Bliss.

The gentle breeze made the first sail of the season on Yondering a real pleasure.

It is always a bit nerve-wracking the first time out, wondering if the furling will work and the instruments are all in order.  Rob did a ton of work on her over winter:  removing the macerator,  jib sail altered, fine tuning the motor.  Not to mention getting the mast up, rigging done and sails set.  Lucky for me he is on the case!

Usually by the first week of May we've had our 'shake-down' sail (so called because if we've forgotten any wrenches or tools here and there they'll 'shake down').

This year, though, the depth in the gap meant we had to adjust Sail Past last weekend.  Traditionally everyone takes their boat out on the lake and sails around the Commodore's boat.  This year - the Commodore motored past people in their docks.  Because Rob is Vice-Commodore, Grace invited us to join her on her boat.  It was actually a lot of fun, waving at everyone.  It felt a bit like being in a parade.  We certainly were on a "float".

This past weekend we even went on the first official club cruise without leaving the dock.  Due to crappy weather the cruisers decided to stay at Bluffer's and party here.  And why not?  After all, as members keep repeating.... "we're the best damn club on the lake!"  Sounds like the perfect tagline to me.