There has been a flurry of activity in this household lately to review and purge (more than the usual), thus leading me to more consideration of how to organize what remains. I came across this rumination on how to organize books (yes, we have lots of those in the house). When I read this, I remembered that our friends Marie and Ian did exactly that in their living room when they were still living in Mississauga. I don't know if I could let go of my compulsion to organize by topic, but it's appealing to try.

Posted by lynda at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have returned safely from my latest adventure in the U.S. of A., doing my bit to keep the Internet running. While I was down in Dulles this time, it occurred to me that the whole environment (whose bizarre perfection I have written about previously) was very like Second Life. As I walked with a colleague from the office to a pseudo-Italian restaurant for lunch, past a purpose-built lake flanked by a landscaped garden space complete with fountain and flagstone paths, I was struck by how easily it could be a space I would discover in the game. The people are real enough and very nice to work with, but the physical setup still gives the impression of a world made six weeks ago. Ironically, the problems we are tackling for this job are the same old ones we've had for millennia: how do we communicate accurately and effectively to people to make things happen.

Posted by lynda at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bob spent some time at the Toronto Zoo on Saturday, checking out several of those who don't have to worry about carry-on baggage when they fly. Of course, many of these beauties aren't encouraged to fly too far. I think the new baggage restrictions for people may not be such a bad thing (apart from their value as a safety measure). It got pretty ridiculous when I flew to Washington last month for those of us trying to get by with carry-on bags only. As it was a small plane, we were forced to hand over one of our allowed two bags as we boarded, so that they could be stashed in the hold with the checked bags. Now it's just checked bags or nothing. I'll miss my iPod for the long wait before boarding when I fly out today, but I'll get by with a paperback and bonus time to meditate on life, the universe, and everything.

Posted by lynda at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Long weekends are pretty exciting around here. Bob headed out of town with Lucy to commune with the trees in the bit of Bruce County wilderness we own while I chose to stay home to take care of the remaining livestock. Friday evening's highlight was harvesting worm compost. I got about three small buckets of black gold from my squirm, and it looks like my workers have multipled significantly since I got them in May. I may start another bin or at least put a few into the outdoor composters. I doled out the fine stuff to various plants in the back yard. Among the recipients were these lovely specimens, which Bob photographed when he got home.

Posted by lynda at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)