EditUndo

I finally dared soak in my tub. Like everything else in this apartment, the tub must be 50 years old (and in tub years, unlike people years, that’s ugly). The enamel’s surface has worn off and the porous bit below soaks in the stains like it’s got nothing better to do. Bleaching only gets rid of the problem for a week or so…then the yellow is back…in all the same spots. After a quick bleach and vim, I filled her up. New ipod shuffle pinned into my curly hair for safety. Turns out the water was too warm, got hot, done in five minutes. All that effort…

Like my bath, nothing else went as planned today. I was a late bloomer. Things just didn’t seem to click until four or so. When, after a brief walk outside to the post office to mail off a birthday card, I ran into V&S to pick up some potatoes. No, not for dinner…for painting. When I was in school (primary maybe?) we made stamps from potatoes. The paintings which resulted worked out really well (success was proportional to the stamp quality so why couldn’t it work now?). Just the thing I needed for the next step in my current painting. Bright yellow 3×3 foot canvas, check, a number of ‘flesh’ colors mixed in oil, check, people stamps in various sizes… check check. After a few hours, the painting was full of people (kids, adults, short, tall). Once dry, they’ll get stories. I’ve got ideas for a number of them already…but at least a hundred more ‘characters’ will be necessary to account for the rest of the figures.

When the day is done, and I’ve painted, I feel good in a place that’s only there when I paint. Like an under-watered plant, it just dries out and waits patiently until the next splash of inspiration. I am happy to have a project on the go that will take me a while. I can complete it one person at a time, five minutes here, five there, until I have something that will make me smile for years.

A cabin on Airport Lake belonging to some coworkers. Note the cabin is hidden by trees for privacy.

Teaka taking a break from doggy-paddling all the way up the ridge in two-foot-thick snow. What a trooper.

Looking up.

Not a dramatization. I was on all fours trying to crawl up this beast.

Boy the view from the top was worth the effort.

Oranges hit the silly spot.

Made it back to Airport Lake very satisfied with ourselves and ready for some Sarah Harmer on the way home.

A group of French Immersion kids (grade 6) are raising money to go to Montreal and experience the language first hand. To do this, among other things, they organized ‘A night in Paris’ event. I think they pulled in a cool $33,000 that night. Imagine how much it costs to get one person to Edmonton from here let alone 15 kids and 5 sponsors…at $1,200 return each thats…a lot of $. For me, it was a great excuse to dress up and do something fun. Great food, great company. Proof below.

I was not French enough. So I brought along a mustache or two. Problem solved.

A few Aklak variety party-goers.

First, maybe, we should send them to spelling camp.