Squares and Rectangles

Posted on 12 March 2022 by Isabel Gibson

Spring is coming. Breathe.

Indeed, in some places Spring is already here.

In a previous post I tentatively identified this as a hibiscus: heavy on the tentative since I was pretty sure that was wrong but couldn’t think what else it might be. A neighbourhood mail carrier whom I accosted as a potentially in-the-know local suggested it might be Bird of Paradise. Not. But I appreciated his willingness to lean in.

I now identify it less tentatively as some sort of azalea. Or maybe a rhododendron, which category includes azaleas much as rectangles include squares but not vice versa.

But whatever its botanical classification, it does the northern heart good, doesn’t it?

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Flora, You are Here | Tagged | 6 Comments

Free-range, low pulp, and added fluoride, please

Posted on 12 March 2022 by Isabel Gibson

I start with the trail mix. How hard can that be?

Oh. Harder than I thought. I just want a snack for the Interstate. Maybe I’ll get some jerky instead. Where’s that stand?

Oh. It’s not a stand, it’s a whole aisle. I couldn’t get far enough back to show all of it, but you get the idea. There were:

  • Different brands. Jack Links. Tillamook. No Man’s Land. Old Trapper. Something abbreviated as CC and presented graphically as a cattle brand.
  • Different textures. Tender bites. Leathery strips.
  • Different shapes. Rough chunks. Cubes. Sticks.
  • Different sizes of bags. Snack. Meal. Party. I’m guessing here.
  • Different flavours. Original. Sweet and hot. Teriyaki. Peppercorn. Wild heat. Jalapeño. Chocolate. OK, I made up that last one, but for just a second you weren’t sure, were you?

Continue reading →

Posted in New Perspectives, Thinking Broadly | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

The Answer

Posted on 06 March 2022 by Isabel Gibson

Che Guevara and Michael Jackson

No, it’s not the response to a challenge to name two people you’d never think had anything in common.  It’s the answer to this question:

Who tall are you?

That, in turn, is not a question from a three-year-old (akin to the canonical, “How high is up?”). No, it’s the title of a wall plaque in a fabulous Tex-Mex and seafood restaurant (somewhere) along Interstate 10.

Turns out I’m the same height as Che Guevara and Michael Jackson.

Imagine the fun the creators/perpetrators had, choosing the pairings.

The Penguin and Mother Teresa.

Madonna and Gandhi.

Ewok and Wile E. Coyote.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Murray.

Heisenberg and Taylor Swift.

Darth Vader and LeBron James.

Nelson Mandela and Quentin Tarantino.

There are so many ways to find fun connections in a world that needs them badly.

Posted in Day-to-Day Encounters, Laughing Frequently, New Perspectives | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Sconce Face

Posted on 06 March 2022 by Isabel Gibson

It was the scalloped eyelashes that got me. That and the expression, with eyes demurely cast down and a shy smile.

And is that a curled-up moustache and goatee?

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Photos of Faces | Tagged | 8 Comments

All Over

Posted on 05 March 2022 by Isabel Gibson

From even a mile away, Whitewater Draw is not just un-remarkable, it’s darned near un-visible in the surrounding desert. As we drive through un-changing, scrubby landscape, we trust Google Maps only because we’ve been to this nature reserve before. But we’re not the only ones who are having trouble spotting the reserve: A half-mile short of the target, the app throws up its hands.

Good luck, guys! It’s around here somewhere . . .

The turn off the dirt road onto a dirt trail is marked discreetly by one of those amazingly free-standing three-log arches/gates/entrances/whatever that in other places announce the name of the ranch. In the scant widening of the road that passes for a camping area, the permanent outhouses are out of paper; of the four temporary port-a-potties, one is on its back. Not an inspiring foyer for the site.

Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Nature Videos | Tagged | 12 Comments

Miss Elenie

Posted on 26 February 2022 by Isabel Gibson

Cell phones are awful, except when they’re not. As, for instance, when they’re being a low-overhead camera, allowing me to capture images when I wouldn’t otherwise have a camera with me.

What did I see recently with my phone in hand? Two reflections: one optical, one philosophical.

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged | 7 Comments

The 1980s Called

Posted on 26 February 2022 by Isabel Gibson

Sometimes day-to-day life offers patterns; sometimes day-to-day life can be squished into a pattern; sometimes day-to-day life just is. But there are always connections, even if I have to reach back a few decades to find them.

It’s 1985 and my father is driving a then-teenaged grandson from Banff to Calgary and finds the right moment for a pop quiz.

Which pair of mountains is furthest apart?

The reference point is the three mountains that make up the formation known as the Three Sisters. After carefully gauging the distance between mountains #1 and #2, and between mountains #2 and #3, the grandson pays his money, takes his chances, and makes his guess: Mountains #1 and #2 are furthest apart.

Nope. Mountains #1 and #3.

You might almost think that the old guy had played this game before.

Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Laughing Frequently, Photos of Built Stuff, Photos of Flora | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Sharing Size

Posted on 24 February 2022 by Isabel Gibson

I’ve written about extraneous communication driven by a desire to avoid legal liability.

For heaven’s sake,
and for the happiness of our shareholders,
don’t ingest this obviously indigestible packet of silica gel!!!

I’ve written about extraneous communication driven by a desire to promote content with not-false-but-irrelevant precision in scale.

73 tips for a neater kitchen!
19 ways to build confidence in kids!!
52 places to visit before you die!!!
(And yes, we know you can’t visit them after.)

I believe this is the first time I’ve written about extraneous communication driven by, well, I have no idea what desire. Let me explain.

Continue reading →

Posted in Language and Communication, Laughing Frequently | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Never Spent

Posted on 19 February 2022 by Isabel Gibson

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
– God’s Grandeur, Gerard Manley Hopkins

This week’s trip to Gilbert Water Ranch saw a blue-sky day and several cooperative subjects.

Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Feeling Clearly | Tagged , | 12 Comments