Sunshine, Writing, Wings, and Beer!

So, I went to the park today. It’s beautiful here. It’s my day off from work, and the weatherman must have taken pity on me because it’s the only day this week that’s supposed to be in any way, shape or form nice. It’s a gorgeous 25 degrees C outside, with just the right amount of breeze blowing. There are a few clouds in the sky, and the look like giant bits of whipped cream, and they are taking their time in lazily crossing the sky.

              

The park is pretty much deserted. It’s one of the few parks here that are usually empty. I think I made a good choice in coming to this one today. I haven’t really gone anywhere solo since we moved here nearly two years ago. There is another park a little way from this one and it has this really silly little water fountain/play place that all the little kids love. But, I’m enjoying this one. It’s wide and spacious and full of green grass (if a little damp) with a baseball field, and walking trails. The Mattagami runs along one side of it and this cute little lady just walked past with her two handsome dogs to go play in the water. A gaggle of daycare kids just made their way down on the walking paths looking for all the world like little ducklings and goslings following the grown up ducks and swans. Oh, look. There’s a woman walking her husky, who’s panting really heavily. As warm as it is for me, I can only imagine how the fur-clad animals must feel.

So, here I am dressed in shorts, tank top and my Eddie Bauer sun hat. I look like I belong down South somewhere as opposed to being stuck (temporarily) in the Great White North of Northern Ontario.

               

My bottle of water has long since ceased being cold. It’s rather warm but still refreshing. I wish I had bought a bigger serving of Greek salad. It was really quite good and clearly not enough. Olives and feta cheese in salad dressing with cherry tomatos, green pepper and cucumber?! Good gods, yes! Every day of my life, please!! I also bought mashed potato salad that had cheese, bacon and green onion in it. I’m trying to be Very Good and not eat the rest of it until supper time.

My only complaint about being outside is the bugs.

"Goddammit Jim, I’m a writer not an exterminator!!!"

They’re everywhere!! Grasshoppers, flies, June bugs and ants … I’ve lost count of how many of these little green things with wings I’ve batted off my legs! And the mosquito’s this year are beyond awful! They don’t just appear one after the other to be a constant nuisance. Oh no, they’re too smart for that this year. If they just appeared one at a time you might have some hope of doing battle with them. Oooooohhhh, no. This year they arrived in SWARMS! Dev and I went for a run last night with a friend of ours and her little dog, too (no, she isn’t named Toto. It’s Rosie) and I tell you there was a constant cloud of at least 10 of those little blood sucking bastards following each of us for the entire time we were out! Of course, Sky had hairspray in her hair and I stupidly wore a somewhat bright blue sweatshirt so it kinda serves us right but you don’t understand … THEY BIT ME THROUGH MY CLOTHES!!!

THROUGH.MY.CLOTHES!!

When I got home I didn't know if I wanted to strip and shower first, or strip and scratch!!

The rest of my day was pretty splendid. I picked up some movies – one for Dev (The A-Team) and one for me (The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy), an iTunes card to buy some more music, and then we went out for supper! It’s been pretty a lovely day, I have to say.

Right now, I’m catching up on the last bit of the Hitchhiker Guide. It’s one of the better movies in my collection and I've read all the books. The first and second were probably my favorites. After that the series took a decidedly sad, downward and depressing turn. I read them, of course, but I can’t say I really enjoyed them as much as I did other ones. But this movie … it makes me giggle. There are some really great lines, and the casting is downright brilliant – most British movies tend to rather fantastic jobs when it comes to casting. I’m nearing the end of it now, Arthur’s just figured out that Earth was built (by Bill Nighy) and paid for by mice and discovering that he loves our beloved Trillian and wants to be with her.

Once it’s over, it’s time for bed.