FIBONACCI FAIL

My lone tulip that survived being eaten by squirrels - 3-6-6!

One of my favourite sequences that turned up in my daughter's elementary school math has a name, Fibonacci, as it approximates the golden ratio ( two quantities whose ratio is the same as the sum to the larger of the two), , and the more I learned about its application, the more I love it. It starts with 0, then 1, and then it adds the two previous numbers to get the next. It looks like this:

0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1587 2584 4181 6765 10946 17711 28657 46368

 I was thinking about this coming back from a fossil tour downtown, where we saw gastropod (snail) and sunflower coral fossils. I wanted to find more patterns. I immediately turned to my solitary precious blooming tulip (squirrels love to take a bite, knocking them to the ground on biting off their head), and was disappointed to find no such sequence! Here are a few inspiration patterns from a worthwhile kid-friendly Mother's Day talk from the very special McGill Redpath Natural History Museum.

There are many examples to find, though, even if tulips seem to buck the rule. Spiral galaxies and hurricane winds viewed by satellite, pine cones, artichokes, and pineapples, tree branches and leaves on branches, sunflowers and uncurling ferns, nautilus and snail shells, and even red cabbage in cross section are all beautiful exams in nature. If you want a simple cypher, or are stopping to smell the flowers, or searching a building stone wall for samples, look for a Fibonacci sequence near you!

Sunflower coral in Tyndall limestone at Le Chateau Apartments

on Sherbrooke street

Maclurite snail shells in Trenton limestone edging the Mount Royal Club from 285 million years ago

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

My neighbour isn't from Holland. Can you guess where he is from?

SUFFRAGETTE CALL TO ARMS

"Better a rebel than a slave."

Mrs. Bancroft

MADAME SECRETARY SEASON 4 EPISODE 20

"You can't make a drawing without shadows; at least not a good one."

Mr. Shin, press

NANCY DREW

She was almost named Ewok, Caramel Swirl, Sphinx, but her name only fit when I happened on Nancy Drew. Some people called her Nancy and even Nanc, but to me, it was always two words, three syllables.

She was the offspring of a stray rescued by an ER nurse named Christine that I worked with. She was a sweet tiny kitty, and it was tough to choose between her and her brother, but she was my long-suffering companion for over 17 years.

She outlasted my marriage. She spanned the lifetime of my daughter to date. She was a comfort to me, and, especially in her younger days, a menace to strangers, especially toddlers who reach, drawing blood on at least one occasion.

In the last years she developed diabetes. It was horrible to get blood from her ear, but the insulin shots were not so bad. She had a gastroenteritis, possibly food poisoning from her 100% canned diet being out too long. One day her hind legs stopped working well, possibly as a result of being pounced on yet again by our other fiesty young Calico, or maybe climbing up where she didn't belong (usually in search of food) and then jumping down from heights she had no business trying anymore. But she learned to walk again, held no grudges, and we thought she would beat a world record and live to 26.

Her final days ended in a hunger strike. It was a relief when her sugars were normal, but there was no coming back. She drank and peed but even though I put out her favourite tuna and fresh food twice a day, at most she would sniff, but for the first time in a long time, would not eat.  She withered away, but purred and kept us company until the last two days, when she was so weak I carried her from the couch or bed to prevent her from trying to jump down the steps I had created. I slept beside her in the kitchen to wake to the sound of her falling downstairs. The last night she was too weak to even try and find a dark corner. She slept on my bed, and when I woke, it was to hear her laboured breathing, I petted her and sang until her breaths slowed and finally stopped. 4:49 am March 9, 2018 was her last breath. I closed her eyes and curved her body to look like she was sleeping.

I stayed awake until it was time to wake my daughter. We both wept with her, but managed to wipe our tears to catch the bus for school. She only ate one bite of breakfast.

I stamped her hand and sketched her in pastel before I took her to the vet. I was relieved when the food I returned was more than the cost of cremation. I kissed her head and passed her to the tech like a baby swaddled in a bathmat she used to love sitting on.

Now, one day later, her water dish is empty and Calico is taking up more space. We hear her and see Nancy Drew, but we are starting to rejoice that, although we are missing her, she is at peace.

IMAGINING PETS TO TRAIN WHILE WALKING ANYWHERE AND DOING ANYTHING

2 horses Mo and Ro
1 pig Rosie
2 cats Butterscotch and Caramel
1 wolf Luna
1 goat Fiesty
1 dolphin Marina

DEANISMS

How I wish I had written more of these down, and see you more often!

I found a paper that I had kept, from before my memory fell apart, but these three sayings I can keep alive (and finally recycle this paper!)

1. Any business based on human regret is bound to do well...

2. All you can do now is plant seeds of bitterness and water them...

3. Victory is so much sweeter when I crush you!

Please tell me more! Those of you closer must have so many! Send them in and I will happily add them to the list!

UNDER YOUR SKIN

My colleague told me that I got under his skin. It had to do with a culture result, and I was wrong, but it was worrisome enough that he had to make sure that I wasn't right. Funny thing, I really appreciated that he had given me the benefit of the doubt. That doesn't always happen. I didn't deserve it, in this case. But I like the reminder of the expression. It usually means to be annoying, but Cole Porter wrote lyrics to describe the complexities of love and infatuation. Here is Frank Sinatra singing it.

Sometimes I think I am the only one that has people under my skin. Sometimes I don't know if it is good or bad. I guess most often it is bad. But once in a while, someone gets under and it is a good thing. I have a few people who are under my skin. They may not even know it, but each interaction is as Jung describes it: " The meeting of personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances if there is any reaction, both are transformed."  I hope I am under someone's skin too, in a good way. It's hard to tell when it happens. But it must, right?

ART DECO PATTERNS

CLEAN YOUR CLOSET LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW

DÖSTÄDNING
The Swedish exercise of death cleaning. It is about paring down what you really need to the minimum and finding a permanent form of organization that makes everyday life run more smoothly. It thinks about who will come after you if you die without doing it. Intuitively, we all do this is some way. De-cluttering and non-materialistic pursuits are linked with happiness and streamlining feels good. But this means evaluating your storage spaces and filing systems so that you are ready to turn your estate over to the next generation, whenever that comes.

MARIE CONDO

This one woman wonder singlehandedly started the KonMari Method, and wrote a book by the fundamental idea of only keeping items that "Spark Joy".

Her six basic rules of tidying are as follows:

1. Commit yourself to tidying up.

2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.

3. Finish discarding first.

4. Tidy by category, not by location.

5. Follow the right order.

6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

If you want to get the bigger picture, check out her Netflix documentary series called "Tidying Up."

The executive summary is this: Tidy by these categories, and in this order:

1. clothes

2. books

3. papers

4. komono (miscellaneous)

5. sentimental items

"Keep only things that speak to the heart, and discard items that no longer spark joy. Thank them for their service - then let them go."

SUN VALLEY INN

Once upon a time, I met a kindred spirit on a boat snorkelling off of Key West, Florida. She invited me skiing in Idaho, and we had another great week, this time in snow. We had a great rhythm of breakfast in the room, skiing, sharing a meal on the mountainside (healthy and economical!), skiing, hot-tub, yoga and supper. 

Here is my homage to eating.

The first day, I felt like I was in a movie. The Rockies are so beautiful, they looked like a painting.

Mother Earth Salad at Seattle Ridge
Winter greens, roasted root vegetables, quinoa, chick peas, pepitas, sun dried tomato, lemon basil vinaigrette

A room with a view

An upgraded room for two

Breakfast lounge

Shishito and cauliflower at the Ram Bar with a glass of felino Malbec, Patatas Bravas, and Pork Bao buns

Swan cream puffs at Konditorei

Chocolate "Moose" Mousse

American portions  of pasta and eggplant parmigiana at Village Station

Ernest Hemingway stayed here. Another link to Key West.

Fondue at the Roundhouse

Styling

Fresh powder at lunch

Broccoli stirfry at River Run Day Lodge

Grilled prawns
Ram Bar

Semolina Croquets

Sun Valley charger plates and mountain peak napkins

Ram Restaurant. Eating at a fancy restaurant in ski season is not as dressy as in the city, thankfully, but the food was just as good. 

Fresh warm bread and cold salted butter

Idaho ruby trout with herbed spaetzle (Idaho potatoes) and leek pistou.
I had the schnitzel from the Heritage meal menu.

SKYGAZING AND LAST SNOW

Skygazer

What she sees (Can you see the crescent moon right there in the center?)

I don't know how much snow is left but what is left has sure been fun. A lot of Princess Pirate's classmates have stopped wearing snow pants, but not her, and for good reason. Here we are walking through the park. She throws herself on the ground constantly where there is snow, but this was an unusual pose, causing me (who also is still wearing snow pants in -4 weather so that I can keep up but not go home soaking wet) to lay down and see the view. I find myself more often injured though, wearing snow pants in the last of the season's snow. What with icy hills and rolling snowmen, I have bruises all over my knees!

A blizzard of snow people 

This last photo makes me feel such joy! Instead of a snow angel, she made a snow alien, but I think it just looks like the happiest imprint around! Happy spring everybody! But enjoy every last scrap of snow because we will miss it!

Snow Alien

DAVID WEBB AND THE IDES OF APRIL

I thought time could not pass faster after a busy winter that felt like it was slowing down after Valentine's Day, but here I am near the end of March with a lot of thoughts in my head. Warning to my readers: this is going to be a jumbled up, loose ends of a brain dump. This might be a treasure chest of random thoughts or complete garbage comprehensible only by me. But today is Monday on a momma week. My princess pirate made the bus and I have my birthday cat, 17 years old today, in my lap. So it is time to clear the search history on my phone's safari app, and put a few thoughts down.

Last fall I volunteered for a cross country run. I saw the list of volunteers while I was looking for a file, and had to google the name of Jason Bourne to be sure that one station was not manned by him! The name of the volunteer was David Webster, but Jason Bourne was named David Webb. I tend to conflate things like that. Google helps me clarify! In this case, I found out that I am born the same year as Jason Bourne, and apparently his birthday is April 15th.

I am looking for two types of chairs. Maybe I am just looking for trouble, but I like the look of white. First was an idea for the living room. I have looking for a coffee table that is not so enormous, and have a symetrical room with 4 dining room chairs, but although it is great for an annual party, day to day it doesn't it feel that cosy. Plus I have an orphan chair, and I think finding a match might do the trick. So I am in the market for a Tullsta covered chair, but don't want to pay $200. So I am on the prowl. I am willing to buy the cover new but the rest of the living room has older covers, so I prefer it to match. I am also looking for a white tall backed desk chair like I sat in once at the Bessborough.


Then again, I may just vacuum my current chairs, wipe down my gigantic coffee table, and keep walking around it.

My Princess Pirate has been reading Max Finder Mystery. There are short graphic stories with enough clues to figure out the suspect and the story. These are interspersed with puzzles. It reminds me of the obsession I had at her age about spies and mysteries. I was reading Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden and how-to spy books I keep looking for but can't find.


Carl Jung coined the word "synchronicity" at the same time as Albert Einstein was coming up with relativity. I don't understand either of them, even with the dummies' version. But I will at least try and remember what that dummies' version is. Synchronicity is the temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events. Is it randomness? The opposite of fatalism? meaningful coincidence? I'm too tired and too busy to reflect on this further but maybe one day these lines may restart a new thread of thoughts.

JULIETTE ET CHOCOLATE

I took a friend to the ballet, and after it finished, we went for dessert, by her suggestion. It's a rare thing to go out downtown, so against my better judgement, and to the detriment of my sleep and German homework, we left the car and walked up to the Prince Arthur/St. Laurent location of one of my favourite dessert places. The menu is expansive, but I always come back to the petits pots. Often I get the Fleur de Sel Petit Pot with salted caramel, and I have never been disappointed.

This time, though, since my friend was going for the same thing, I decided to choose something different, so I ordered the Caramel Hazelnut Praline Petit Pot. It was outstanding! I am not sure why the jars changed shape. Maybe they are smaller or maybe they are just easier to clean. In any case, it was all good, and I think this is my new favourite. The hazelnuts covered the top layer of caramel. They were blanched and a little less woody tasting, but enough to contrast the sweetness of the rest of the conconction. Maybe I had maple syrup on the brain, because it is the time of the Sugar shack, but the caramel tasted a little maple-y.

The most surprising taste of the night, however (and that's a big statement from a sweet tooth) was the earl grey tea I ordered on a whim. I am still not sure what the source is, since the menu online and my google search for the answer did not clarify, but the tea was served without milk or sugar so I took a sip when it had steeped, and it was floral and fragrant and I am ruined forever for the ordinary tea bag! It came in an open bag of sorts, and I don't know leaf tea enough to know where it came from, but it sure was lovely. Maybe it was an error to serve without the usual accoutrements, but the tea was, by itself, a masterpiece! Even beside another masterpiece, it was the superior choice. Fortunately, no choice had to be made!

The Easter showpieces were on display, as well as the usual takeaways. It was tempting and there were many original cute ideas, but my favorite one was the mice on a Swiss cheese chocolate covered marshmallow. Here is the how-to video by Juliette herself I shared with Princess Pirate. It looks  like a lot of fun!

SUN VALLEY INN ROOM 248

A shuttle from the airport, to the ski hill, ski storage, and enormous hot tub with a view to the mountain. Neighbouring restaurants and shops. Opera house carillon with a new song every hour, but never disruptive. Cozy blazing fire, newspapers and morning coffee. In room coffee and refrigerator. Satellite tv with channel 66 looping endlessly the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade.

Amazing view of Mount Baldy 

Classic decor

Alcove with dresser and extra sink

Reading and breakfast chairs

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO

I met a woman on a boat just off of Key West last February. I was nauseous and cold after my first snorkeling expedition. She offered me Dramamine. We exchanged numbers, did yoga together, and chatted. She invited me to South Carolina to visit her home in Hilton Head. I couldn't make it. She invited me to stay with her for March break in Sun Valley. I said yes!

From Mount Baldy, Seattle Ridge, in the Smoky Mountains of Idaho

HAZEL, MY GRANDMA

Good-bye Grandma,

I will miss you. This is what I will remember:

Many of my memories, like many others, are of Grandma making music. How she could play anything any style with anyone, effortlessly. I remember holidays with candy dishes full of at least 3 kinds of fudge, and never any shortage of food. I remember her closet stuffed with clothes and a matching pair of clip-on earrings and necklace to coordinate. I remember her driving lunch out to grandpa and driving the grain truck beside the combine as if was no effort. I remember she loved her “stories”, and eating on tv chairs in the living room. But most of all I remember her soft hands, her affectionate squeezes and the squeals of delight in seeing strangers and family alike, even to the very last visit.

She will live on in my memory, squeezing my hands and squealing with delight with the world’s softest hands that made the most beautiful music, on piano, accordion and organ, and feeding a crowd without batting an eyelash.

Love you,

Your granddaughter

TORONTO AIRPORT TACO

 

Baja taco at the Distillery Bar