persiflage
lower case not lower quality
May 7th, 2009
There is no disputing the fact that what hit the people hardest in the Revolution was being deprived of their bells. Alain Corbin is updated on Thursdays. ClassifiedsFor sale: my entire collection of books on tumbling. Over thirty volumes, some in English. I would prefer to sell to a library or school and I will not break up the collection so don't even ask.
Tips For Spring Living:Number 7: Don't be fooled by the nice weather. Mother Nature still dislikes you. ArchivesLinks |
Mister Backyard Goes For a TrundleOne of the wonderful things about spring is that a morning's perambulation through the woodsier bits of my home city requires a good deal less preparation and equipping than it does in the winter months. It is also a good deal more likely to reward one with sightings of the local fauna doing active spring-like fauna things. This very morning, as I trundled along a shaded (although the trees are only yet beginning to bud) path near my house, I was treated to a little ducky improv played out, it seemed, solely for my benefit. Ahead of me, on the very path on which I was walking, a brilliantly green headed mallard hobbled and flummased along. The macho Anas platyrhynchos seemed to be struggling a bit in his attempts to take flight and at first my heart went out to the little fellow. It was then that my keen and practiced eye espied the female attempting a silent creep away from the edge of path deeper into the woodsy underbrush. Aha! I thought. Sure enough, once the virescent-domed drake had "led" me twenty metres or so past his lady love, his injuries suddenly healed and he took flight, proudly honking over his amatuer theatrics. I laughed along with him, ole Mistah Duck! As I moved further along I saw many squirrels, sleek and trim from a winter of living primarily on stored fat (oh- if only I had joined them!). They were now already hurriedly caught up in their renewed concern for their nuts. A gang of prairie dogs (Sciuradic cousins to the chattering squirrels) scattered at my approach, darting into their little holes. A brave rearguard left his tiny rounded head and scrubby ear peaked out to monitor my passing by. Due to my overwhelming respect for all of Nature's darling little creatures, I resisted the urge to stomp my foot and yell "Boo!" I merely doffed my cap and wished him good morrow. |
There are bunnies aplenty in my neighbourhood and although the Eastern Cottontail does not hibernate they seem more plentiful in spring. They all seem to be under the impression that by remaining perfectly still they become quite invisible. One often sees their little flattened corpses on the roadways where this has proven at least momentarily true. The activity level of our avian chums is also heightened this time of year. Just the other day during my mid-morning saunter I saw a crowd of grackles, drunk on winter's long fermented berries, speaking to each other in gruff voices and shoving and tousling in the manner common to intoxicated icterids. A robin watched from a safe distance. A look of disapproval coloured his visible eye. Ah yes, springtime is the right time to amble, trundle, waddle or saunter through the verdant pathways of your fair city. Remember, even if you live in the greyest concrete corner of some built-up burgh, you can still, if you keep your mind and eyes open, witness the miraculous rebirth of Mother Nature in the hopping of a dusty sparrow across a parking lot or in a crow picking at a discarded pizza crust or even in the flight of flies o'er a fresh doggie turd! Mr. Backyard The Mystery of the Lost LenoreA Serial Audio Fiction  Listen to Part Four of the marginally interesting story of The Mystery of the Lost Lenore. Click on the picture. (4:05) |