Bought lime green crocs to wander on the rocky beach of Qualicum. Found them bizarre to swim in, because they were loose, but they stayed on, and they felt nothing like flippers do but anyway. I enjoy those little stands and shops by the sea, selling things like shiny pinwheels and  loud sunhats and bright can’t miss me neon green crocs. Had lunch at a place called Lefty’s, and the menu was peppered with little jabs and facts about lefties, and why they’re better than righties, and that lefties will rule the world one day…

Haven’t yet seen the sandcastle competition in Parksville yet, but the summer is still young.

I like the fact that this blog is both Dev’s and mine-we can each say what we want, and it’s cool.

Went wandering, and you should try ice wine gelato! Delicious stuff, made with real ice-wine.

We stumbled onto fresh fruit sorbets in 1/2 fruit shells when we were grocery shopping once,  and they’ve become one of our favourite treats. They’re so refreshing. I want to throw a party and have those fruit sorbets for a light lovely summery treat. I like them all but I think the lemon sorbet in the lemon 1/2 shell is one of my favourites.

Met Jacqueline Carey-an epic fantasy author. She signed a few books for us, and another of her fans took a picture of us. It was interesting to hear her speak. I thought she was maybe looking at us all as potentially weird characters that may show up in her books…the crazy cat lady with the purple hair and the wailing child and crocheted hat, the gothic teenager with inky emo tears… She was very sweet and had a really funny self depreciating sense of humour. Most of her fans have whole worlds in their heads from reading all her numerous novels…I’ve only read the first two, so I didn’t have as extensive a knowledge to draw on to ask questions as some of the other people there did. Mostly, I thought of some good ones to ask after the Q and A had closed. But she seemed very kind. Though no doubt she’s used to a slightly livelier crowd-I think some people in the crowd were just shell shocked that she’d was actually deigned to visit, that she was here, in the flesh, and were overcome with sudden shyness at being this close to their idol.

…Also, boning up on dinosaurs again, and here’s an interesting link about pterosaurs.

http://naturalhistorymag.com/samplings/292036/sailing-ancient-seas

that website has some fascinating articles-at least I think so because it lets me explore my geek side a little bit. (I’m discovering I’ve always been big geek anyway, but I’ve kept that side of me quiet for a long time. What happens when I let the geek out? Oh the fashion nightmares….)

Saw an eagle today, just drifting stark black and white over the downtown core. No one else looked up and saw it turning in lazy seeking circles. Even though the pace here is pretty laid back, no one had the time to look up and take note of, or enjoy, their surroundings.

We saw one also, before, when we were playing Go on the peninsula. It was silent and smaller than I thought it would be. I almost missed seeing it because I thought it was a gull, there are so many that fly around, but it was darker, so then I thought it was a hawk, but then I saw its unmistakable “bald” head. Tres cool, because I’d heard there were a lot of them on the island, I mean, they even have a sightseeing package where you can walk along their known flight paths, but I hadn’t actually seen one prior to that. Reminded me of the vivid azure Peregrine Falcons that live on the roofs of some businesses in downtown Edmonton…not many people know THEY exist either.

On the UVic campus, they have all these domestic-looking and really cute bunnies, but I found myself comparing these adorable nibblers to the wild, long eared, long legged hares that range over Edmonton, and for some unfathomable reason I prefer those rangy boxing Alberta hares to the cute BC bunnies. I twitch whenever I think of that. Summer is ripening. May 1st was technically the first day of summer, we had no maypole, but there was no snow here;  we had strawberry milkshake pink and white cherry snow and  starry drifts of white daisies, and shocking electric purple violets clinging to drab cliffs. Now, the darker wild pink roses are starting to bloom, and hot orange and yellow flowers I have no name for, burning mini suns everywhere, and the leaves are turning a graphic glossy green, and all summer the blackberries will ripen and swell until they burst into crow-black, juicy berries to stain any mouth or stray fingers in the fall.

Storytellers have value. If they have the courage to use their voice, they really can change the world.

Every musician whose lyrics you never listened to, because you were caught in the beat, in  the cheery rhythms, every incomprehensible poem, abstract art piece, cubist painting, every dance, all these things matter. They are all stories, all songs, all art pieces, and performances and showcases, and lovely larger than life warm sustaining things; even the crazy hippy wailers, strumming their one string guitars in the rain and mist, wearing  bright colours and lovebeads, and wonderful hats, they have something to say too.

I can hardly believe that once, I used to try to make myself to be nothing, small, insignificant, when that’s so clearly just not where my heart lies.