Coming soon!

It won't be long until Halloween is here, and what do I have for decorations? Nothing besides a pumpkin who still doesn't have a face. Luckily, we have neighbours who make up for these shortcomings. Even the skeletons look excited. 

What I do have is treats for any brave, costumed visitors we might get on Thursday night. Juice boxes for little ones, pop for bigger kids, along with chips or Rice Krispie treats (store-bought, of course, gone are the days of handing out anything homemade) as a bonus. 

We don't get as many Trick or Treaters as we once did. I think many of them go to the mall where the prizes are likely bigger. And I don't think the costumes are as good as they used to be. I've always preferred the homemade (maybe last-minute) ones where somebody has too much lipstick on, along with bangly earrings and a witch's hat for contrast. 

Maybe the best costume ever was when a neighbour boy showed up as Kim Jong-Un, right down to the over-the-ear haircut, complete with a passle of would-be bodyguards. I think we probably gave them extra treats for their efforts. 

It won't be long until the holiday arrives, and I'm sure the pumpkin will be smiling by then, probably with the traditional 'missing-tooth' look. Until then I'll be doing my best to keep the treats up on the top shelf of the closet, and not keep giving myself permission to test them. 

The sky says it all

Gloomy looking, with the promise of rain--and today, rain is what's been falling all day. (For the record, the photo is not a black-and-white; that's how the day really looked.)

I heard a rather startling comment during a weather report: that today brings the province's first atmospheric river of the season. I thought such phenomena were a once-a-year (if that) event, but no, that's apparently no longer the case. 

I'd also thought the term was fairly new, but no, it seems it's been around for a while. 

Today's weather seems complicated, as today is also Election Day here in BC, with the possibility of a new provincial government. 

And yes, I can only hope those dark skies aren't promising anything worse than more than wet weather. 

More of the same to come?

Earlier this weekend, this black screen and its message showed up on our tv. Blame for this disruption of service was placed on the sun and an extreme solar storm--as if the storms we're experiencing on Earth aren't enough. A few days ago it was Milton, barely a week before it was Helene.  

Unlike a hurricane which pummels an area with wind and drenches it with rain, a solar storm has an effect on electrical signals like the digital ones that have become more prevalent with every technological advance. 

As we continue digitalizing (or should that be digitizing?) our world, there are bound to be more such messages from our various providers. 

Though annoying, this is yet another example of what we must remember is truly a First World problem--not something to really fuss about, especially on this Thanksgiving Day, when nearly all of us have so very much to be grateful for. 

Comparative wipes

Nope, not what you might first think--not toilet paper. Newspaper. 

Yes, I still subscribe to a hard copy edition of The Vancouver Sun that's delivered here just about every morning. But I also am the recipient of a couple of other papers, shared by a friend after she's read them for herself. 

Today I decided it was time to wash the windows, and I remain a proponent of the vinegar and newsprint school of doing this job. 

The Sun was fine, no streaks or smears; so was The Globe and Mail. But oh dear, the New York Times -- it broke apart into tiny shreds that would be great for making papier-mache, but not good at all for washing windows. 

Some days we discover things we never dreamed of, and this day was one of those. Hardly earth-shaking, but fun. 

A month of books

When I say a month of books, it's not exactly the traditional calendar month that I mean, more of a range of days when bookish events seem to be everywhere. 

Last weekend was the final celebratory day for Word Vancouver, an annual event that used be known as Word on the Street. Some cities back east still have that name, but we've gone (as we so often seem to do) our own way on this one. 

The poetry bus in the photo above had all of its ad spaces above the seats filled with poems by those whose work had been selected for this year's Poetry in Transit awards. A reading by those writers was just one of the sessions at this year's Word event. Happily, the sun was shining and most of the day was even reasonably warm, something that hasn't always been the case for this mostly-outdoor festival. 

Coming up soon, this Saturday in fact, Vancouver Public Library (Central Branch, downtown) is hosting a free event, "Literary MAGnitude: Why Lit Mags Matter." Anyone who writes would attest to the importance of these 'little' magazines. Where else does anyone get their start?

And before the month is out, Vancouver will be again playing host to writers from across the country and, in fact, all over the world with the annual Vancouver Writers Fest. I'm currently reading The Wren, The Wren by Irish author Anne Enright, and I'm looking forward to hearing her in conversation. 

But because I'm an oddball kind of reader, I'd have to say that's not the only book that's currently on the go for me. I'm in the middle of Caroline Adderson's collection of short stories, A Way to Be Happy. 

And on what I suppose is a stranger note, not very long ago, I realized that two books I'd signed out from the library (both about survival after major difficulties) had completely opposite titles. But then, their titles must say something about how my life often runs.