Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 83
June 4, 2010
SNEAK PEEK: "Until the Deep Water Stills" Online Companion
FAITH'S LETTERS TO HER MOTHER
RUINS
Online companion entry corresponding to Part One, Chapter 6.
Listen to the recorded version of this entry:
http://mdyetmetaphor.com/blog/faiths-letters-to-her-mother-part-1-chapter-6
Dear Runaway Mother:
It wasn't anywhere near as difficult as I thought it would be. The Private Investigator I hired tracked you down in less than a week. I thought you would have moved as far away as possible. Who would have thought you've been here – Manor Haven Crescent in...
May 28, 2010
MACS, GRETZKY AND VAN GOGH
And she said…
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen.
The Late Harry Chapin, Songwriter and Recording Artist
Hmmm, it seems that the "round hole" school of thought just won't go away even in this Web 2.0 generation in which there are so many venues for personal expression.
I'm referring, of course, to the viewpoint that all of us should be uniform round pegs that fit perfectly into the...
May 22, 2010
MUSIC OF THE WOODLANDS: A Serenade for May
Hmmm, is there anything quite as soulful as the avian music of the woodland in the early hours of an awakening May morning?
Sunlight filters through the leaves in search of its awaiting choir in the Willows, the Maples, the Birch and the Oaks. The wind sighs in the forest awning in the opening movement of nature's spring symphony.
The Red-eyed Vireo sets the rhythm. Here I am. Where are you? Here I am. Where are you? Its cousin the Warbling Vireo takes its cue and unfurls its languid, untiring ...
May 15, 2010
RANDOM ACT OF METAPHOR: An American Bittern in the Weeds
Hmmm, what was that American Bittern doing scurrying across the gravel path into the weeds on Leslie Street Spit this afternoon?
A bit of background information is in order. An American Bittern is a stocky, yellowish-brown heron normally found only in marshes or reedy lakes. It's a secretive bird that would much rather not be seen – and it's rather good at hiding. It will stand dead still in the marsh with its long neck and bill pointed skyward. You would be amazed at how well it blends in...
May 8, 2010
RANDOM ACT OF METAPHOR: Live Oaks
Hmmm, what tales could the great Live Oaks tell of years gone by? What secrets do they harbour in their roots sunk deep in sandy, southern soil? How many storms and wars have they withstood in stoic defiance?
One of the vivid memories I treasure of my Texas bird watching week are the great Live Oak trees of the Southern U.S. Massive, aged and noble creatures often adorned with garlands of Spanish Moss.
Their name is derived from the fact they are evergreen Oaks which remain alive and green...
May 2, 2010
Texas Postcards and the Heart's Desire
Hmmm, what are the odds that I'll see that very same Kentucky Warbler, who dropped by to bathe at The Drip in High Island, Texas, in one of my favourite bird watching spots back home in Ontario?
As I compose this posting, I'm sitting in Chicago O'Hare airport waiting for my connecting flight to Toronto. I've just finished a seven day bird watching extravaganza on the hurricane battered Texas coast.
The seven of us on the tour parted company a few hours ago at the Houston airport heading for...
April 22, 2010
Facebook, Avatars and Fair-weather Friends
Hmmm, are we riding the social networking tidal wave into a new era of human relationships?
Web based social networking has gone supernova in the last few years. Just a few Facebook statistics to demonstrate what I mean:
400 million active Facebook users of which 50% log onto Facebook in any given day
The average Facebook user has 130 friends
People spend 500 billion minutes on a month on Facebook
Facebook has been translated into more than 70 languages
We can now, at the click of a mouse...
April 17, 2010
By the Grace of God, Fortune or Chance
Hmmm, are we born with a pocketful of free credits that we can use however we see fit? Can we multiply those entitlements by achieving fame, fortune or wealth?
I've been thinking a lot about the notion of "entitlement" lately because I see so many examples of its apparent existence. People who spend themselves into debt they can't get out of believing they are entitled to a certain standard of life. Others who foolishly burn their bridges thinking that they'll always have that bottomless well ...
April 10, 2010
The Last Day: Our Living Legacy
Hmmm, if you knew your life was winding down – and you could choose when your last day would happen and what you would do on that last day – where would your heart's desire lead you?
Some may have an aversion to that question in principle. Death is something that most of us would rather not think about. Quite frankly, it's not something I spend much time contemplating. But I am not frightened by the prospect. I know with something close to certainty that there is an afterlife which surpasses a...
April 2, 2010
MOTHER EARTH: At the Mercy of Her Children
Hmmm, is this early bloom of spring at the dawn of April good fortune or a reason to be worried?
Like most of us, I'm more than happy to get a jumpstart on spring. By mid January I'm winter weary and counting the days until the sleeping lakes thaw and the birds begin to warble in earnest.
Yes, it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a nature nut who would rather watch birds and butterflies than almost anything else. But it goes deeper than that. Spring is season of renewal literally and...
