adventure at 3:30 am and 5 degrees C
Occasionally we have an adventure, outside our usual experience. This morning was one of those times.
Call us crazy, but my husband and I joined a much younger group this morning and spent four and a half hours waiting in the cold wind and dark. Our purpose, to get a Super Nintendo Classic Mini for our son for his birthday.
In the electronic gaming world new products are so popular, they are sold primarily in pre-release. Stores also get a few extra products … to get one of these, gamers stand in line, sometimes all night.
We have had some previous experience. Back during the Cabbage Patch Kid craze, I stood in a pre-opening line-up to get Lola Rhonda, our Cabbage Patch doll. And about ten years ago my husband went at 4 in the morning to get a popular toy at Walmart.
For today’s adventure, we arrived, not knowing what to expect, at 3:30 in the morning. It was dark and windy and cold (5 degrees C). At first, it seemed no one was there ahead of us, but then we found the line … seven brave souls, some fast asleep in their sleeping bags, down the side of the building.
To the right of the dark building, down a side alley, are my husband and about 20 other brave souls!
We joined the line. We were warmly dressed and had a folding chair to sit on. We took turns (leave your space in the line and lose it). It was shivering cold and perhaps pneumonia will be the outcome, but gradually I found ways to keep warmer. One was to clutch my pillow (brought in case I wanted to sleep) to my core, another was to remember that your head is responsible for most heat loss (I discovered a hood in my jacket) and best of all, a cup of hot tea from a nearby Tim Hortons and a pack of jumbo raisins from home.
Me, huddled under my newly discovered hood, trying to keep warm!
We had lots to do as we waited … the high school my husband attended was just across the way and there was a clear sky with great views of Orion and the planet Venus. At about seven, there was a wonderful, warming sunrise.
The mood in the line was good and it was fun to listen to the passionate discussion of Nintendo, games won and lost, adventures undertaken.
A cheer went up when the store folk came out to say there were products available for everyone in line (there was some doubt)! This was followed by another buzz of excitement when the store passed out tickets to each person in the line.
The green ticket, first reward for our wait …
Then the line closed up and my husband went into the store to buy the game system.
A happy group, in the line-up to get their game systems, after four or more hours waiting in the cold and dark … my husband is inside, paying for our new Super Nintendo Classic Mini …
The reward for our wait? Besides the game system and a gift for my son’s upcoming birthday, we had a great McDonald’s breakfast and the warmth of our home to return to. Also, an unusual adventure. It’s interesting how you go from ‘no knowledge’ to ‘expert’. I can now write the Survivors Guide to Standing in Line!
Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
cornfields and Canada Geese
I have been away for a while. Off to a driving vacation in Ontario, Canada. We saw the last of summer in the cornfields of Southern Ontario.
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Canada Geese were everywhere. They are considered a nuisance by farmers and almost everyone else. But we enjoyed spotting the flocks in the fields and the ‘V’s in the sky. And once, we waited as a group of geese crossed the road in front of us.
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I will have more about our trip in the next few days, as I check out my photos and process the memories!
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
another virtual bike ride … Ireland
Those of you who follow my blog may remember my virtual bike trips across France, along the Cornwall coast and in northern New Brunswick. I have decided to go virtual travelling again … along the southern coast of Ireland. According to my DNA, some of my ancestors were Irish so this will take me to my roots!
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My virtual trip will be incentive to exercise on my stationary bike. While I am on the bike, I click along my ‘path’ using Street View of Google Earth. With the various tools in Google Earth I can plot my journey, measure the ‘distance’ I have travelled, and take some photos along the way. I began my journey on September 4, 2017 and you can follow along if you like, by following my other website http://www.alexandra128.wordpress.com
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Hi. I would love you to have a look at my wellness blog http://www.alexandra128.wordpress.com
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Best wishes
Alexandra (a.k.a. Jane)
The beginning of my trip, near Donegall West, Cork County, Ireland
low, low water
This year, in New Brunswick, we are happy to see the rain at last. The dry weather means forest fires are a concern and groundwater levels are very low. We hope for regular, soaking rains in the fall, to help recharge our groundwater.
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low water of the Rusagonis Stream, viewed through the ‘windows’ of our covered bridge
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Many streams and rivers in New Brunswick are at their lowest flows. We were in a similar situation this time last year. Low water means wading only, no canoeing in the Rusagonis Stream. Some of the stones in the photo above have never been seen above water before. Low water is of concern for fish since the shallow water means water temperatures get too high for them.
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the brown crescents in the river are sand bars, only revealed at low water
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Even the Saint John River is so low we are seeing sand bars where deep water usually flows.
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We had a good soaking of rain at the beginning of the week, and there is more rain in the forecast, so I will end this post feeling optimistic, and by showing you a photo of my husband as a little boy, fishing below the covered bridge (now gone) on the South Branch Rusagonis Stream!
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
bees in our goldenrod
At our cabin, we often watch birds from the front window. This time of year, the goldenrods grow along the front of the cabin and we are able to watch the honey bees working to gather nectar for the hive. I imagine the bees have come to us from a group of commercial hives not far from our camp. I remember when my dad kept bees and I always admired his ability to remain calm as he tended the hives.
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how to collect honey
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Honeysuckle and amber
coil from the spoon
tangle light
For this
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you charm a bee
to crawl, hexagonal
on human skin
unalarmed
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Adrenalin fear
hidden by the scent
of cherry blossom
and pear
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Published in my book of poetry ‘within easy reach’, Chapel Street Editions, 2016.
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
New Brunswick’s covered bridges … kissing bridges
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A covered bridge is also known as a ‘kissing bridge’ – a place where a couple can steal a caress in privacy. A covered bridge has always been a good place to leave a message about affection for one another.
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During our covered bridge visits, we’ve seen lots of examples of these messages …
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At least two notations of love in the MacFarlane Covered Bridge (Ward’s Creek #2) …
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Ron and Trish, 2014 and WR and EE, years ago … MacFarlane Bridge
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And another way of linking two sets of initials in the Marven Bridge (Belleisle Creek #2) …
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A heart links J G and CW on the Marven Bridge
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‘Just Married’ in chalk in the Moores Mills Bridge (Trout Creek #5) …
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a chalk message in the Moores Mills Covered Bridge
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And, back in the MacFarlane Bridge, an incomplete notation. Who did LANA love?
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LANA + in the MacFarlane Covered Bridge 2015
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
green pepper soup from my deck garden
Since arthritis found me, I no longer keep a big garden. But for the last couple of years, I have experimented with deck gardening. This year I planted pepper and tomato plants in my Veg Trugs (mine are pop-up, foldable raised garden planters bought at Lee Valley Tools for about $70 each). They dry out quickly but otherwise are great and easy to manage. This year I have grown a nice crop of green peppers and tomatoes on my deck.
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This past weekend, I harvested my first little peppers.
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I sliced my peppers and made a nutritious soup for lunch. Ingredients: 2 peppers sliced, 1 yellow onion chopped, 1 clove garlic chopped, water, vegetable broth, gluten-free spaghetti, black pepper, basil, turmeric. Spicy but not salty. Delicious.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
spaces underground – a wasp nest
Not far from where I sit-for-a-bit on my walk in our woods, I found a nest of wasps. Built underground, beneath the roots of a spruce tree, this nest has been revealed by some digging marauder (a skunk or raccoon) trying to get at the wasp larvae. The nest is interesting to watch, but caution is necessary.
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When I found the nest, I took a little time to learn the difference between wasps and hornets. Hornets build their nests above ground and are larger, with black and white striped bodies. Wasps sometimes build nests underground and are small (1-2.5 cm), with black and yellow striped bodies. The insects in the underground nest are definitely wasps.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
in the shelter of the covered bridge – Plumweseep Bridge, New Brunswick
Plumweseep Bridge (Kennebecasis River #9) built 1911, not far from Sussex …
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The covered bridge in its setting … surrounded by trees, river running beneath, a field of ripened grain in the foreground, the rolling hills of the Kennebecasis Valley in the background.
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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims
Green bottles and blue berries
We have been spending time at our cabin.
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In the window, on our bench, the light flows through green bottles.
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Our paths are green tunnels.
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And in the fields and along the trails are blueberries.
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Lots to pick and eat.
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bitter blue
for Mom
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of all the silvery summer days we spent none so warm sun on granite boulders round blue berry field miles across hazy miles away from hearing anything but bees
and berries
plopping in the pail
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beside you I draped my lazy bones on bushes crushed berries and thick red leaves over moss dark animal trails nudged between rocks berries baking brown musk rising to meet blue heat
or the still fleet scent
of a waxy berry bell
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melting in my mouth crammed with fruit sometimes pulled from laden stems more often scooped from your pail full ripe blue pulp and the bitter shock of a hard green berry never ripe
or a shield bug
with frantic legs
and an edge to her shell
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From ‘within easy reach’, Chapel Street Editions, 2016
Previously published in The Amethyst Review 1 (2), Summer 1993
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
