paper napkins

Spring is in the air! Or at least the possibility of spring is in the air. It's already been a few days since the geese started coming back 😀 

There was some sad news in the obituaries today… my old boss, Jack Drawbridge, passed away a few days ago. I'll time travel back to mid summer in 1981 while I was between the last days of high school and starting my adult life. I know I've shared the story of Mr. Jenkins, my friend June's dad, who heard me lament on my lack of direction so offered me a temporary job as a contractor to the government 'documenting master files'. I had no idea what that meant, but started the job anyway. The contract was working for Jack in the Data Management branch of Industry Canada (or whatever it was known as way back then) and I was to comb through listings of files to figure out which were the main data files. I had no idea what I was doing, having had NO, ZERO, NADDA, experience in computing. 

With Mr. Jenkins, and Jack's help, I managed to bumble through! As the contract neared completion, Jack came to me with an offer - if I'd take a typing class he'd hire me (on contract) as a data entry person. So I took that class and started a 29 year career in Data and Repository Management. Jack was a true mentor, often dropping in to my office with pen and paper to talk about data architecture, data and information management, methodologies, data redundancy, documentation, system life cycles, etc. He never talked down to me or made me feel like I didn't know anything - I was part of the team. Our informal meetings were instrumental in developing my passion for data dictionary and repository management. He pushed me to become more than a data entry clerk, getting me involved in managing and developing the software that we used to accomplish our goals, designing data structures, and more importantly helped me to develop a view of the bigger picture.

I was just 19 years old when I started working for Jack and living on my own in the city for the first time. I remember one day being so exhausted from whatever was happening in my life that I fell asleep at my desk… Jack walked in, saw that I was asleep and tiptoed back out! Yikes! He was so understanding. A few years later my boyfriend Steve broke up with me and I was devastated beyond words. Jack was there with a shoulder to cry on. In some ways he was like a stand-in dad when mine was cities away. He was always kind and supportive.

I am blessed in so many ways to have had him as my mentor. And I've never looked at a paper napkin the same again! Jack couldn't talk without drawing it all out and many a lunch was spent doodling on a napkin as we tried to reshape the world.

Chapter 42 Cato and Bailey Learn about Freezing Rain

It was darker in the house than normal so Laura turned on the lights around Cato, Bailey, and Grace's cages. Cato wondered why it seemed so dark and knew that it wasn't sunny, then Bailey pointed out that the windows on one side of the room were blurry. Laura and Carm were talking about freezing rain, which they figured was regular rain but frozen. They all wondered what that would be like but were glad they were inside as it didn't sound like a very good thing.

It was so dark that all the animals in the house just felt like sleeping and napping all day.

Later in the afternoon, Laura put Adia & Lupa's travel clothes on them so the parrots knew that they'd be alone in the house for a little while. They wondered why Laura and Carm would go outside when there was freezing rain but Laura said there was more regular rain and not as much ice as was expected. Bailey wondered what it would be like outside if ice was coming from the sky. It seemed that it was different from snow which they knew about from looking out the window.

Cato thought that it was a good day for warm glop and was surprised when Laura didn't warm it up enough. She had to spit it out because it was so cold. Thankfully Laura realized what the problem was so warmed it up properly. It was much better then and warmed Cato's tummy. It was still warm when it was Bailey's turn which made him happy. They wondered if it was a good day for Laura and Carm to have warm glop - they called it soup but it seemed just like chunky glop to the parrots.

https://youtu.be/MdhRhGX3AG4?si=Qx15_6HktY_ZQyD3 (Rainy Day People Gorden Lightfoot)

Chapter 43 Cato and Bailey Hear Geese

For a few days now Cato and Bailey could hear a strange honking sound whenever Laura or Carm opened the door to outside. They could even hear it sometimes when it was quiet in the house. It sounded familiar but they couldn't quite remember what made that sound. Grace told them that Canada Geese make that sound when they are flying in big flocks! She'd even seen them flying overhead in the fall. Laura had told her that the geese were flying south for the winter and that they'd come back in the spring.

The parrots were very excited to hear this as it means that spring is coming! It seemed almost impossible as they could all see that there was still snow on the ground outside, although there were lots of spots where the snow had disappeared. 

Cato wondered if the geese had gone as far south as she and Bailey had gone the year that they all went to Florida as she remembered seeing some out the window when they were there. She wondered if they'd maybe even seen some of the same geese that she heard flying overhead! Bailey thought that it was impossible as it was way too far to fly. The parrots all agreed that flying that far would be difficult and that they'd rather drive in the car to go so far away, and that maybe everyone should go south for the winter where it's warmer out.

https://youtu.be/ZtUDEEBagxk?si=jWlVNkoe6hNCxAVP (Hot hot hot Buster Pointdexter)

Awesome!

"not as much ice accumulation as expected"

"comfort food"

"ice on the trees glinting in the morning sun"