Buckets, Balls and Birthday Cake

These Recreation folks I work with sure know how to live the department name!

I shot my first bucket of balls of the season this Monday. What an awesome deal - $12 for a large bucket of balls plus an AMAZING burger (sorry, no pics, I was too hungry), at Inglewood Golf Club. They offer this every day 11-2 (till 4 on Fridays). I didn't know why I didn't do this more often!

I was stoked. I got a few great shots. Remembered to open up my club. Address the ball correctly. Swing hard. Keep my eye on the ball. A large bucket is a LOT of balls.

And then the next day, I remembered why I pause between trips to the course. I could barely move. My right arm was pretty stiff & sore...even picking up the phone was good exercise. Which is why I NEED to go more often.

Especially if I keep eating like this. Another month, another birthday in the group, and this time, we splurged on Amandine Bakery's Choco-Truffle cake. Happy birthday Dennis! And me, I'll be booking some more driving range time. And maybe a tee time to boot.

This hand is one year old June 21

This is my niece Zoe's hand. She and her twin sister Sophie turned a whole YEAR old on Sunday, June 21, Summer Solstice. And Father's Day.

They are pretty amazing girls - each very individual - and just because they are amazing.

Sam & Gary, my longtime friends and siblings by choice (love those kinds of family members, don't we?) are such happy parents...these girls are little miracles after Gary's bout with cancer only 6 short years ago.

And Aurora is one happy cousin...grateful to have a pair of understudies. Perhaps they will grow to become "coneheads" just like her...

Bunnies and birds - June 12

I had a pretty extraordinary brush with animal life the first weekend of June.

On June 5, I made friends - albeit briefly - with a Northern Flicker. I was driving by on Highfield Road just off Blackfoot and a nasty magpie and crow were taking turns dive-bombing him on the side of the road. I thought the worst but then saw him flap his wings...and turned around to go get him. I probably shouldn't have but I just couldn't imagine the guy getting pecked to death.

He let me pick him up - no fussing - and I brought him back to the office, found him a box and a T-shirt and let him curl up in there. He was watchful - but the fountain in my office and the quiet of a Friday got to him and soon he was asleep, with his beak under his wing. I figured I'd be tired, too, after getting attacked. He had some nasty peck-marks near his tail, and I know nothing about birds.

The wildlife centre said to take him to the Calgary Avian Pet Clinic for triage - and I hated to do it, but at the end of the day, I had to wake the guy up and take him in. I think the stress of the car-travel did it - when I called the next day they said my little buddy didn't make it. I was pretty sad. He was so gorgeous, with big spots, and nice red markings on his neck - and salmon-coloured tailfeather shafts. My birding friends tell me he was probably a hybrid - which is common in Alberta - of a Yellow-Shafted and Red-Shafted Flicker. And that, for him to have been getting picked on, he might have had issues before I "helped" him.

But Spring is full of life here - and the mama bunny in our neighbourhood (we suspect she is an escaped pet who prefers the wild side - the jackrabbits ignore her) showed up on Sunday with her new baby. They look so soft, and chinchilla-like! The baby was chowing down on dandelions, and mama was pretty watchful. I can't believe how fast he's grown - only a couple weeks later this baby is nearly full-sized (and now, we don't see him as much). But we leave out our wilted lettuce and greens, and somehow they're always gone by morning!

Circle of life.

First BBQ of the season

First week of June, Bexx and the Boyz were in town. Nope, they're not a rock band - but they could be! My dear friend Rebekah and her lovely boys, Alexandre (3ish) and Zeppelin (5monthsish) who live in Kelowna came to Calgary via Ottawa on the Friends & Family Visiting Train.

We were lucky enough to have them stay two nights with us. What joy to have the little ones, to see things from the simple joys of three years old again, to rock a baby to sleep and hear his coos in the morning. And to see my lovely Bexx, blooming into her adult self and being a marvelous mom. To celebrate - we sent them home with a parting supper of our first BBQ of 2009! Burgers, dogs, my secret-recipe potato salad, and fried onions & mushrooms. Classic Calgary fare for our Kelowna relocatees.

What's pretty neat is that Aurora and Bexx have a special relationship. We met in Clearwater, she finishing high school (putting her instructors through their paces with thoughtful questions and not-in-the-pack quiet rebellion), me 28, newly pregnant and just finished my Comms degree - and both of us with a love of post-modern theorists, and admiring her 18-year-old fervor. Aside from being "there" when I was in labour with Aurora, Bexx was the first person besides me, Aurora's dad & uncle to hold my new baby. And when Aurora was only three months old, the sound of Bexx' voice dropping by after school would mean an insisted visit including holding and talking time (or I'd pay the price in tears) of no less than 45 minutes. After high school, Bexx was sweet enough to come & stay with me in Blue River to nanny Aurora - before being wooed by ski resort employment. Still, Aurora & Bexx forged an unbreakable bond - which seems to have carried to Bexx' own son, Alexandre.

When Alexandre was born, with his mama living in Calgary, we were privileged to be able to look after him - and I could see another bond forming between Alexandre & Aurora. Even today, although there are large gaps of time between visits, the two truly enjoy each other's company. Perhaps we need to get to Kelowna more often!