Yeeeesssss!

Un poste en français.

Salut!

Comment ça va?

Hier, je suis allé à un festival français. C'était une fête de tous les francophones locales; les gens de Québec, de la France, d'Algérie, du Maroc, de l'Acadie et d'autres régions de langue française du Canada et d'autres pays.

Je suis allée parce que l'amant de ma soeur est un francophone d'Ottawa et il vendait ses poteries et jouant de sa guitare et le chant.

Il a été un moment de plaisir et j'ai pu rencontrer des gens agréables et la pratique de communication en français. J'avais l'habitude de bilingues! Mais pas plus ... si je peux le comprendre, j'ai perdu la capacité de le parler.

Je ne suis pas sûr de ce que d'une unité d'élimination de la bombe a à voir avec les francophones? Je suppose que c'était la façon dont le gouvernement fédéral a fait don au festival. Bizarre, non?



Il avait de la nourriture, la musique, des artisans et des kiosques d'information.

Malheureusement le temps était un peu humide et la batterie de mon appareil photo est mort, donc je n'ai pas de photos. Mais j'ai trouvé cette vidéo ... J'aurais pu utiliser hier!

A humdinger of a day!

Today while out on a leisurely stroll, I heard that sound. That low and lovely vibration of a hummingbird. I see and hear them a lot but it's often fleeting, more like, 'ooo, there goes a hummingbird!'

However, today I got a very nice treat! This hummingbird buzzed overhead and landed in the brambles right beside me. I stopped and watched... lovely. A 'Anna's Hummingbird' and a very tame one! And! I had my camera! I sloooowly get my camera out of my pocket thinking the birdie will shoot off at any moment. But nope, the birdie was still there, so I took a piccie.



Then, I hedged my bets and flicked the switch to 'video'... and OMG! The birdie is still there! So I filmed this:



I get sore arms holding my camera at a weird angle and so stop the David Attenborough impression. I say thanks to the birdie and walk on. As I do, I tell a couple walking towards, that there's a hummingbird there. They stop and watch it... cos it's still there!



Then I wait some more and see that they've told another couple... it's still there!



Aww. It's lovely to see the pleasure of a wee, teeny, widdle bird can bring.

I wish the pics and video could have captured the hummingbird better. Especially the red iridescent throat and forehead. Alas, it's an old cheap point and shoot that I had... it has it's limits, as do I! But here's a wonderful video another local got out his kitchen window of the same species building a nest over ten days last spring. It's gorgeous.



When I lived in Britain, I was so surprised to learn that there were no hummingbirds there. I shall pack and release some when I next visit. ;-)

I wish I still had my cat.

She would have loved this!

Ok... I would have loved this. ;-)

A Valentine's Day Confessional

Move over Robbie Coltrane, Jeff Bridges, Mike Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe (yes, I know, I'm now a pathetic cougar), Stephen Fry, Eddie Izzard, Rick Mercer, etc... I'm adding a new 'I Would' to my list:




Why? You might ask.

I have been reading 'The God Delusion' and I've become quite smitten by Richard Dawkins' writing; so articulate, well reasoned and humorous. Plus, his book has put into words, thoughts that I've had my whole life though he's expressed them much more clearly and with much more substance. It's like looking into a mirror and seeing yourself, magnified and more beautiful than you once believed. His passion for life, or rather, his very existence as a biological life form in the natural world, is very contagious to me.

Though I'm devouring the book, atheism is not new to me. I've never believed in God/gods. I was never convinced of their existence and I've never had the need or desire to believe in supernatural entities.

I've never really advertised my non-belief and have just considered religion irrelevant. BUT! I think my perspective on that is changing. I just might be turning into a Raging Atheist! ;-)

And here's part of the reason why:

Isn't he just dreamy? ;-)