Traditional Iconoclast

A Task That Must Be Done

Posted on 24 July 2026 by Isabel Gibson

The choice of coffin is often a task that causes emotional reaction among the bereaved. Most large funeral homes have a “casket room,” a display area filled with the variety of available coffins. For many, walking into this room brings the bereaved into stark confrontation with the reality of death facing them. For some, it can be a terribly disconcerting experience. For others, it brings a sense of peace and relief. Whatever the reaction, it is a task that must be done.
– My Jewish Learning

As you see, the excerpt is from a site called My Jewish Learning, but this bit about choosing a coffin is not, in fact, a specifically Jewish learning. Nor is it religious in any sense, really.

For some, it can be a terribly disconcerting experience. For others, it brings a sense of peace and relief. Whatever the reaction, it is a task that must be done.

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Posted in Feeling Clearly, New Perspectives, Thinking Broadly | Tagged Attitudes | 6 Comments

That Moment

Posted on 18 July 2026 by Isabel Gibson

We’re moving from Ottawa to Calgary in August, so my attendance here has been spotty for a while and will likely continue so. But I still see stuff . . .

Like faces. (Scroll all the way down if you want the version with the decoding legend.)

Like reflections and clouds and a teeny-tiny sundog.

Like reflections of clouds. Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Feeling Clearly, Photos of Built Stuff, Photos of Faces | Tagged Attitudes, Pareidolia, Reflections | 10 Comments

Bees, sweat

Posted on 17 July 2026 by Isabel Gibson

Not, you note, “Bees sweat.” Bees do not sweat. Neither, apparently, do insects in general, a fact I confirmed through rigorous Google search. The only exception Google found for me? The arid-land cicada.

Unlike mammals, which regulate body temperature through metabolic heat production or sweating to cool off, insects must use behavioural adjustments
(Ed’s note – flapping wings or hanging out in shady areas) to reach their desired body temperature. – Journal of Experimental Biology

All right, then. Bees, sweat. What do I mean? Based on my extensive bee knowledge, I’m thinking like an index:

Bees, honey
Bees, killer
Bees, sweat

They are usually called sweat bees, although I prefer to emphasize the bee, not the sweat.

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Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Laughing Frequently, Photos of Fauna | Tagged Insects, Science | 8 Comments

What’s the Mother of Peroration?

Posted on 03 July 2026 by Isabel Gibson

Hot weather is the mother of procrastination —
my energy is at ebb tide —
I’m getting caloricly stupid —
Tried to read . . . mind stumbled
on a ponderous perioration (sic) (I think)
and fell in between two paragraphs
and lay unconscious for ten minutes . . .
– Diary of Thomas Edison, July 20, 1885

Thomas Edison kept a diary for all of 10 days in his 84 years, but clearly someone else kept it on his behalf and on ours. I thought it was cute, so I posted it.

I had to look up perioration.
– A correspondent of mine, July 03, 2026

I might have looked it up too, but I had decided to ignore my faint misgivings about the spelling and go with my vague sense of its meaning from context — A long-winded thought or argument, yeah? — because there was a delightful image beckoning to me from the far side of this peculiar word.

(My) mind . . .
Fell in between two paragraphs
and lay unconscious for ten minutes.

I’ve had reading experiences just like that.

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Posted in Language and Communication, Thinking Broadly | Tagged Critical Thinking, Word Play | 17 Comments

Car Reflections

Posted on 20 June 2026 by Isabel Gibson

One advantage of going to familiar places is that I know what to look out for: in this case, the in-full-leaf trees reflected in the sunroof, windshield, and hood of our SUV parked in its usual spot, as viewed from my usual spot on the second-storey deck.

New vistas can be exciting; familiar ones can be exquisite, joining hands across time to draw from and add to each other’s beauty.

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Built Stuff, Photos of Flora | Tagged Reflections, Trees | 6 Comments

Naming the Clouds

Posted on 20 June 2026 by Isabel Gibson

Heigh ho, heigh ho,
It’s off to work we go.
– Song from Snow White

How did the Seven Dwarfs get into things this week? Well, I was reading The Invention of Clouds, a book whose existence I stumbled across when trying to find out whether clouds had seasonally distinctive appearances, in order to justify my belief that a given cloudscape was a harbinger of spring which, in turn, would justify the associated photographically induced departure delay. I was not entirely successful in this quest, which is often the case when searching for self-justification, but I got a new book out of it, so there’s that.

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