Every time we visit Coombs, we have a little adventure. This time it was listening to an amazing musician and sampling some fabulous ice cream. We also found time to trade some books in at the used book store for Bushboy, and browse through the Market. The field of statues in the square is the perfect place to sit with some friends and enjoy the atmosphere of Coombs on a Saturday!

Went out to gather more wood for a friend last night. A friendly competition ensued between the two guys …. “Dad, I’m doing this one, don’t axe it!” Bushboy with wedge and maul, Mr. Kate with ax. Both tenacious and strong! Bushboy won out for sheer perseverance (as he kept pounding the wedge as it disappeared into the wood) but Mr. Kate took held his own, whacking giant rounds in half with the ax. My friend and I were content to stack and collect!

Collecting firewood is a part of the life we have chosen, and is certainly part of this area’s lifestyle as well. Sort of like picking blackberries, and beach combing. If you camp a lot, you need your own firewood!

The Stolen Child, by Keith Donohue, tells an intriguing tale of a changeling and the boy he changes place with, following each boy’s story through the years. It is a most impressive first novel from Mr. Donohue.

This grown-up fairy tale uses the mythology of changelings and hobgoblins to tell a deeply personal and moving story. I was gripped from the beginning and wanted to keep following it right through to the end. The story had just enough oddity to be different, yet enough emotional story to be familiar.

The story is inspired by the W.B.Yeats poem of the same name, and carries a poetic feel, especially in the beginning. However the story is much more than just a poetic fairy tale, as it achieves a pleasing balance balance between dark and light, between fairy tale and modern novel, and between explanation and things left unsaid.

I really enjoyed this book, and think it will appeal to a broad audience. I like that it is written by a man, about young boys (although not just young boys), as it feels very genuine and masculine. It is an adult novel, despite its fairy tale premise. It made me think, it made me laugh, it almost made me cry. All the hallmarks of a very good read.

Spring 2012

Yesterday evening between rain showers we spotted one of the most vibrant rainbows we’ve seen in ages – and it was a double!

It was a complete arch across the sky, as was the double. At one point the bottom, more vibrant rainbow actually had an extra purple section – making it almost a triple rainbow sighting!

Last week the spring weather finally arrived and the garden really came to life. Things happen quickly now, and I have to be fast with the camera. Some days I’ll notice something blooming and before I can get a picture it will be on the way out.

But not the apple tree, that one I caught in full bloom. It was glorious, and although the flowers are already fading this week, we think we saw enough bees around the tree last week that we should have a good apple crop. We’re hoping!

Englishman River Falls Provincial Campground.

Some sunshine, some rain, some walking, some s’mores, lots of campfires, and good friends. The perfect recipe for a wonderful May long week-end camping trip!

Looking out from our campsite.

A borrowed hammock makes it even better!

Hanging out!

Going on a geocache adventure.

Taking all paths available.

We all took a big sigh of contentment when we arrived Friday night, and we have come home with our hair, coats and pillows smelling of campfire, and our bodies at ease.

Have you seen the video of the passing basketball? If not, you can see it here: selective attention test. This book, “The Invisible Gorilla“, is written by the two researchers who made the video – Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. The book continues to explore the concepts of intuition, confidence and memory recall as it pertains to our every day lives.

The book is a fairly easy read, being lighter on the science and using a lot of experiment examples as well as real life examples. The crux of the message is that we don’t have the recall or “trusted intuition” that we think we do, and therein lies the problem, causing us to trust ourselves and others perhaps more than we should. The authors do an excellent job of demonstrating, time and again, how people fail to perceive things, and also fail to perceive their weaknesses. They show how this influences everything from our legal system to our daily driving.

“How is it possible that spending more time with the world in view actually reduces our ability to see what is right in front of us? …. The problem has to do not as much with the limits on attention – which are in effect regardless of whether the readings are displayed on the windshield or around it – as with our mistaken beliefs about attention.”

It is the backing up of their claims with real life experiments and examples taken right from the headlines that made this book come alive for me. I hope to be more aware of what I’m not aware of — it that is possible. It’s a bit of a Catch 22, but as the authors say, it has its rewards as well.

“When you think about the world with an awareness of everyday illusions, you won’t be as sure of yourself as you used to be, but you will have new insights into how your mind works, and new ways of understanding why people act the way they do.”

A fun and thought-provoking read.

As I mentioned a few days ago, Saturday’s Supermoon was a great reason to have our first beach fire of the season. The three of us headed down after dinner, chairs and bucket of paper and kindling in hand (the bucket doubles as our water bucket). Bushboy brought along his flint (most awesome Christmas gift) and worked on his technique.

It didn’t take long!

So in between looking for the moon, we enjoyed the fire and the view. I know I say it a lot, but that’s only because it is so true: we live in a spectacular part of the world and we are so fortunate.