Month: October 2019

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Spooky Good Fun

ellenparkerwrites

Halloween. During my lifetime, the celebration has grown from school and after-school parties plus trick-or-treat into a month-long season of decorations and activities for all ages.

Little kids in cute costumes. Older children running down the street high on sugar and good fun. Adults hosting parties with food disguised as classic horror movie items. Midnight (or earlier) showings of scary movies.

A lot of time, money, and effort goes into some of the displays. I rather enjoyed this interpretation done a few years ago at the St. Louis Zoo.

Watch out! Don’t let the skeleton catch you!

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My, What Big…

ellenparkerwrites

Claws? Tail? Shell?

He’s not your typical mascot. Hanging out at the Charlottetown, PEI port, this fine fellow can be seen as either greeting visitors or bidding them farewell.

Actually, I think he’s charming. After all, he represents an island. Water — salt water — seafood.

Lobstermen trap and sell the right-sized ones and they end up on dining tables around the world. Following the rules, the Canadians harvest them in a sustainable manner. Trap, measure (throw back if too small or female with eggs), and sell on the market.

Boil, season, and serve. Eating a whole creature? Wear a bid and use your tools. Lorenzo the Lobster grows a tough, tight shell. After all, it keeps the hazards of the ocean from damaging the tender muscles and internal organs.

Pardon me — I’m off to enjoy a seafood meal.

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A Fiddle Fit For…

ellenparkerwrites

Paul Bunyan? Pecos Bill? Goliath?

Can you imagine the sound as our Giant of Giants strikes up a dance tune?If the people of Sydney, NS built this to impress the cruise ship tourists —             I think they succeeded.

If you were to play a welcome tune on this instrument…what would it be?

A jig? A ballad? A classic lullaby? With practice (and at least a dash of innate talent) a musician can make one fiddle suitable for all occasions.

 

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What makes a Lake Great?

ellenparkerwrites

Is Great only a matter of size?

Or do you need to consider other attributes?

Today we are considering lakes. Do we limit location? Fresh or salt water? Natural or man-made? Historical events? Commercial importance? I’d like to add natural beauty to the list–but opinions on beauty vary more than the question posed in the title. What about a little legend?

The five Great Lakes of North America reach almost to the center of the continent and spread east making a portion of the border between Canada and the US. (Except Lake Michigan — every family has one child that strikes out in a different direction.)

Are there only five? What about…Lake Champlain?

Is it similar? Fresh water. Touches Canada. Four hundred feet deep. Lake monster legend. And a very respectable size of 490 square miles.

Is it enough? Lake Ontario is almost 15 times larger.

Lake Champlain — Good or Great?

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Celebrate!

ellenparkerwrites

It’s Friday!!! Yeah!!!

We made it to the end of another week! (Attitude may vary among readers who work weekends.)

It’s time to put some fun in your life. Perhaps you will take the opportunity to visit with a friend. Eat a favorite food. Browse in your favorite store. Listen to good music. Dance. Or…This happy sculpture demonstrates skill on roller blades in Montreal.

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Changing Appearance

ellenparkerwrites

Humans have been changing their appearance for millennia.

Common methods are cutting or styling the hair. Different materials or cut to the clothes. Dying the skin — either temporary or more permanent.

Many changes are make in attempts to improve appearance — attract a mate. Others are to promote ease of movement. Some of the extreme towering wigs and wide skirts of the noble class did not stay in style for long. I know I would have a difficult time getting into a carriage or walking a narrow garden path in some of the highest fashions.

Humans are not the only creatures which change appearance. In addition to many examples of camouflage in the animal kingdom, some creatures undergo a radical change.

If Mom could only see me now!!!

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Open Air Discussion

ellenparkerwrites

Step back to the middle of the 19th century with me.

Two well-dressed gentlemen cross paths in a public space and pause to discuss the topics of the day.

They have much to discuss from the price of grain, shipping rates, and the route of a proposed railroad. They are cordial, even when opinions on a topic differ. One man listens intently as the other gestures to make a point.

I found this sculpture intriguing. What are they talking about? Are great, sweeping decisions on the future of their country being refined? Or is it a lighthearted, fleeting retelling of an experience down at the wharf?

I like to think that these Northern gentlemen are developing strategies for Canada to avoid some of the problems so evident in the United States.

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Fleeting Beauty

ellenparkerwrites

Life’s Temporary.

A timely reminder from a fictional character. You’ve heard it in other words before.

Tomorrow’s not promised.  Eat dessert first.

Today I urge you to open your senses to the world around you. Pause for a moment to note a child’s laugh, a bird’s song, or the wind passing in the trees. The sky will never be the same again. Or the river. Or the people around you — every day we change in either tiny or giant steps.

Our morning wake — at full speed

Our cruise ship created this beautiful, very temporary, sight.