A Really Big Week
Hello once again, dear reader. Welcome to my ongoing story. This post comes to you in five parts:
- House News
- Weather News
- Fun News
- The Really Big News
- A Deep Thought
Let’s get started!
House News
This week saw the removal of the old fences, gates, and railings (that were falling apart) and the installation of new ones.
The railings over the front door:
The new fence and gate on the west side of the house:
And the new fence and gate on the east side, which replace the old flying buttress:
These are all huge improvements over the old stuff. There are a couple of nits to deal with still. I need to put the dirt back over the post holes, and we need to figure out how to close up under the gate on the east side. The gap below it is large enough that a small dog could get out if it tried. Our current canines are stuck, but visitors and potential future canine companions (or visitors) might not be kept in with that gap. I am pondering.
Regardless, these are a big win, and they look great.
Weather News
It snowed.
There was some accumulation and even a couple of days later a bit remains in sheltered spots around the neighbourhood.
The dogs didn’t care. Such is the canine world.
Interestingly, the associated low temperatures (around or slightly below 0° C / 32° F) are not causing condensation on the new windows yet. That’s good!
Fun News
This past week saw me do two risky things. First, I went to a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert:
The standout piece was Azul, and cello concerto by Golijov. Quite amazing. Here’s a recording.
The other risky thing I did was go to an art show at Emily Carr University, where my art school friend Azadeh was again showing the piece I still hope to own one of these days:
It’s large — over a meter across — but I have a place in mind for it if she decides to part with it. But I am also thrilled to see it shown again, and to know how much it means to her. It’s really lovely.
As for the risk, that’s related to Covid, of course. While I am fully vaxxed and double boosted, I don’t trust that disease. New variants are cropping up all over, and it is only a matter of time until one takes off like the earlier waves. And it gets worse given the weird impacts the disease seems to have, the fact that repeated infection makes complications more likely, and long Covid. I just can’t get comfortable in public at this point. Most people are skipping masks here, but I am definitely not.
The Really Big News
On election day 2022 (in the USA) I became a Canadian citizen. Anne managed the same thing about a week before I did.
We now hold dual citizenship, and in a few weeks we should have Canadian passports in addition to our American ones.
This photo shows the Métis judge who ran the swearing in ceremony that I participated in, along with me, of course:
(Yes, it was held over Zoom — another Covid impact.)
I was going to make this section a longer and discuss why we’re here in Canada, but I decided that was a bad idea. Then I thought perhaps I could put the other stuff in an optional post for some to read if desired. But this morning I found the article referenced in the next section and decided not to do that either.
What matters is that our new status as citizens brings me a lot of happiness. It’s the end of a six year long excursion into the new and different.
A Deep Thought
The article linked below has me thinking about this blog and why I write it. I have a surprisingly large (for me, tiny in the grand scheme of things) number of readers, and I appreciate each and every one of you. In particular I love hearing how your lives are going and what you are doing. To the extent that these posts prompt that sort of interaction, they are a definite good.
But the article addresses a larger and more complex issue, and there is food for thought here.
That winds things up for this week. May you find happiness in whatever you are doing.