The weather is warming up and I'm able to spend more time paddling on the lake. Last night I paddled 6km to the west and was loving every minute in my tank top and shorts. I had to coach at Sunnyside so was limited on time and turned at Petro Canada's pier. As I made the turn and the Toronto skyline swung into view I had the briefest of brief nine-eleven moments. A plume of black smoke poured into the sky from the base of the CN tower. I realized immediately that it was just a really big fire somewhere in the vicinty of the city lakefront but it's amazing how locked into our subconscious the image of the two towers is!
The fire was out long before I made it back to the club.

Mary was well loved  - the line-up outside the church extended around the building and across the entire parking lot and it was SRO in the church. I was a little late by the time I found a parking spot and walked back to the church so never did get to talk with Courtney, Kirsten or Mark. Still, it was good to know they've got such an extensive support system. Mary comes from a big family with lots of sisters.

A memorial mass for Courtney and Kirsten's mom will be held Tuesday April 27th at 11am. More information can be found here .

It's starting to feel like summer! The weather has been amazing and people are gradually turning up at the club - Chris & Dana have been down regularly. Matt's been back since yesterday and there was a K.C. sighting. So the midgets won't own the club completely this summer.
I've been paddling every day but the lake's still pretty cold and I'd much rather paddle in a tank top and suffer the drag of the river than cover myself in neoprene to go out on the lake (it's been flat anyway).

For sure I see funnier stuff on the river. Last night as I approached the 1000 on my last lap, I could see Dean doing endless crazy loops and s-turns in the motorboat. I was turning at the thousand anyway so slowed down to see if, you know, he'd had a stroke or something. No, not a stroke. He was just chasing two ducks. Yeah, Dean. The guy who brings stale bread in the motorboat so he can feed the ducks & geese while he coaches was now tormenting them. I dodged around the motorboat and the ducks who were trying to get away from the crazy and raised an eyebrow at him. He explained that those two ducks had been pecking and chasing an injured duck - broken wing - on the shore so he was chasing them off. I didn't actually say anything but he put up his hand and said "I know. I know what your'e thinking, I should let nature take its course. Well, I'm part of nature. This is me, nature, taking it's course."  It didn't seem worth pointing out that he would probably stress two healthy ducks to death in order to save one wounded duck that will die anyway.

Tonight it was time controls for the HP group so I spent more time on the lake and didn't see any more weirdness. The wind is starting to come up a bit so there were some fun bumps in the harbour. You can sure tell the spot where the drop off is though - the water gets cold immediately. I pretty much stayed in the area bounded by the Ridgetown to the east and the first pier to the west. Apparently the wind is supposed to be massive on Friday.

I suddenly remembered that it was the first night for coaching at Sunnyside tonight so only did about 5-6km before I had to head in. On my way out I spoke briefly to Chrissy and then ran into Eve. So great to see them there! There are only 2 wics coming up at the club - Nina and Krista (and I've seen Krista out in K-boats twice) so it's good to have a couple more around. Eve's using Jess' boat while Jess is in Esquimalt for her training - did I mention she's joined the naval reserve?

We had a going away party for Jess at the Crooked Q on Sunday. Tamlyn and I made an awesome frigate cake for her - the HMCS Rando. I have some photos on my camera and will add them later. Chrissy & Jeff, Jess' sister Diana, K.C., Tamlyn, Evenclifford (Eve & Clifford, that is), Del, Katy, Scott, Harley & me. Nice to see Jess before she leaves. She says she's going to start a blog so we can follow her adventures. I'll add a link once she's sent it.

There's an article in today's Globe about William Shatner being a potential candidate for governor general. Wouldn't that be great? And there was something else I wanted to mention that was in the news. It'll come to me, I'm sure. Oh, I know I wanted to mention that planes were grounded worldwide because of that volcano erupting in Iceland. But that wasn't the thing...Anyway, clearly time for bed.

Strange coincidence...last night I caught a few minutes of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (just the clip below) and then today I watched an episode of Bones online while I was at work. Okay, that's not strange, the strange thing is the fact that within a 24 hour period, I was twice presented with the story/myth of the origin of love. (even more strange, Hedwig, a trani cult-classic from 2001, was on CHCH tv during prime time.)

The myth, as presented by Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium, is that humans originally consisted of four arms, four legs and a single head made of two faces. Zeus, fearing their power, split them in half, condemning them to spend their lives searching for the other half to complete them. (this myth also outlines why there is hetero & homosexual love - not all humans were composed of male-female halves. Some were male-male or female-female)

Here it is as presented by Hedwig and the Angry Inch;



I've been a jerk with regard to my recent (romantic) relationships, not bothering to maintain or nurture them. Is it weird that as I fail at relationships, I've gotten better at taking care of my plants? Anyway, I think divorce lawyers beat all the romance out of me and this is the face smack I need. Whatever coincidence brought it to my attention, it's obvious I need an attitude adjustment or I'll be on the road to becoming a lonely, bitter, old woman.

Now get off my lawn!