Just like a prayer

It was warm and muggy and I had set my mind on kayaking after an early supper. As I put in the water, the church bells were ringing 6 pm. I paddled languidly west on the mighty Ottawa river which at this hour seems as calm as a pond, into the the hazy orangy-pink sun hugging the north bank hoping to catch a glimpse of an otter or maybe a fox. I only managed to annoy a noisy blue heron and scare off a duck.

I gave thanks for being able to cut through clean enough water thinking about those poor souls in New Olreans wading in toxic soup. I paddled past the log château and played hide and go seek all by myself in among the towering reeds.

As the sun dipped further down almost disappearing behind what we locals call the mountain and a fog started to descend, I figured that I better turn back and I pretended to be an athlete training for a competition and sprinted back to the hotel marina. I slacked off a bit but kept up a decent pace as I aimed my kayak at the municipal marina.

I got out of the water as the church bells signaled that I'd been away for an hour. It was only an hour but it was like a vacation. There is an old native saying that goes a bit like this:
For everyday spent on the water , you add a day to your life.

If the day I add on resembles in any way the day I had yesterday, I'll take it.

Back to s.....

If I haven't updated in awhile it's because it's that time again. I have 16 kids in my grade 6 class. They are eager to learn and make going to work a joy every day. With such a small class size, I've been able to put the students' desk on one side of the room and a living room area with cushy furniture near the windows. I hooked up a third computer which was donated last year and I set up a puzzle table.

We will welcom a student teacher who will be with us until just before Christmas. I almost hate sharing this fine bunch of kids with someone else.

I have been pretty glued to the CNN like a lot of folks because of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. Yes, CNN, the CBC employes are locked-out until who knows when. I took a break from the news channel yesterday after coming in from my garden to catch the Agassi and Federer match at the US open. I was rooting loud enough for the neighbours to hear and hopefully Andre too but Federer cranked it up at the last moment.

Souris was sterilized last Thursday and I heard that her brothers were all "fixed" too. She was pretty groggy but life is back to normal and she and Spike are back to boxing. It was interesting to see Spike's reaction to Souris when she came back from the clinic. He sort of "knew" that shw wasn't feeling well and besides coming up to her slowly to sniff her , she was left alone. Tite-Minou would sometimes get in the basket and sleep with her.

Ok, I gotta get another cup o' java and jump in the shower. Monday, Monday....lalaaaaaaaaa, lalalala............