Skate your heart out kid

As one friend pointed out to me, in Canada we don’t say “ice hockey” – it’s just plain old, hockey. Because of course, what other kind of hockey could there ever be?

Although when you are on an outdoor rink and some of you are wearing figure skates, do usual naming conventions still apply?

There’s a beautiful rink in our neighbourhood & I had forgotten how much I love skating. I grew up on an outdoor rink in our backyard, so it makes sense that it felt at home.

Also, do you know how much energy it takes to skate and hold a stick and chase a puck all at the same time?

Way too much energy.

The Dog Days of Summer

This post is dedicated to the dog days of summer.

Dog days mean different things to different people in different climates, but here these are the days where the evening starts to linger, and the air has a general haze about it. In the moments experienced while sitting on your front steps in the twilight, you are caught between a stillness of the moment and yet you can feel how the minutes before fall’s arrival are numbered.

These are the days when school is about to start and a calendar of activities awaits you. It’s hard to imagine that the day light will fade from dinner hour, and we’ll be left rushing from piano lessons, to skating and then home for supper in the darkness.

Not A Care

In the dog days of summer you begin to feel hungry again, and all of a sudden pasta dinners like piping hot lasagna out of the oven seem like a good idea… and you spend time daydreaming about hot apple crisp, pumpkin loaf and apple pie.

All Roads lead to Somewhere

The dog days of summer trick you because you set out for school in your brand new outfit, (more temperately suited for fall temperatures), only to find yourself sweating by lunch time.

Flower gardens start to look tired in the dog days of summer. Brown-eyed Susan’s and sun-flowers begin to dry out, and you give up on the weeds.

Summer Garden

Sunset Blvd.

In the dog days of summer, you get excited when following dusk, you can slip into your hoodie. You start to forget that only a month ago, wicked humidity and 40 degree temperatures kept you motionless in the heat. The dog days make this seem like a distant memory that was talked about in the headline, one that you only read about and never experienced.

My sweet nephew

Dog days fade away, and suddenly Autumn is welcoming you around the corner, with vibrant colours of reds, yellows and browns, and even though you know things are beginning to die, you feel like a whole new chapter of life is in store.

Dog Days of Summer