Sorry to disappoint.

For the two or three of you who eagerly come by here each day to read about all the excitement on this side of the pond,  (or maybe,  in this hemisphere?) I just want to say.  I’m sorry.

It’s Monday.  Not much happening,  and I’m not going to try and prolong the agony.

It started out this morning with a temperature of about 9°C,  with something akin to a low lying fog hanging around,  with the accompanying mist that you get with that type of condition.   Now however in the late afternoon,  even though it’s gone up to 10,  (oh goody!) it’s certainly not what I would call a “happy 10”?   We now have wind and rain,  and the only comfort I can take in that,  is that I don’t have to go out again.

Could have used all that rain last spring,  since we damned near had drought conditions,  but no.

It’s starting to sound like I’m complaining.   I shouldn’t.  We’ve had some fabulous weather this summer.  Time to pay.

 

*****

 

On a brighter note,  I checked our nearly always empty mailbox this morning,  and discovered a letter addressed to me!  Turns out,  it was a birthday card from a friend back home.  Yay!

She had written an email last week to pass on some birthday wishes,  and wasn’t sure when/if the card she had sent would arrive, with apologies that it would be late.   Pfft!  No need to apologize,  I’m lucky to get anything!

 

Receiving it on a day like today was perfect timing.

 

The bonus is,  she made the card herself.   I particularly like the Maple Leaf theme.   Not sure if it’s supposed to be a fall theme,  or a Canadian theme.  Either one works.

 

For anyone who doesn’t know,  Canadians do have a bit of a “thing” for the maple leaf.  It just happens to be on our flag.

For the record,  I still can vividly recall standing outside our schoolhouse (Margaretville Consolidated School,  in Annapolis County,  Nova Scotia,  which was closed permanently on June 30,  2004) on Feb 15th of 1965 as the then new Canadian Flag was raised for the first time.  It was a crisp cold February morning,  and I don’t remember much else apart from the fact that I was COLD.   I just wanted to back inside.

 

It’s no coincidence that one of the very first teams (of the original six) in the NHL was the Toronto Maple Leafs.   Notice that they are not “leaves”,  but “Leafs”.   It’s grammatically incorrect,  but it doesn’t matter,  since it’s the name of a hockey team.   You can always tell a foreigner if they ask,  “Are you a fan of the leaves?”,  to which I might reply, “Why yes,  I do love the fall colours,  although I’m not overly keen on all that raking.”  

Then you might give them a minute of stunned silence to see if they figure it out.   Most times they don’t.

“Oh,”  I might go on to say,  “You mean,  the ‘Leafs’?”  “Right. Sorry,  not a huge fan of them either”. 

Sacrilegious, I know.  I’m just not a huge sports fan in the grander scheme of things.  I’m pretty sure I could, if I had some decent television coverage,  follow the game of Rugby, since I began to have an appreciation for that game when we had TV back in the Netherlands.  It’s hard not to be somewhat awestruck when you see Rugby players in action.  No namby pamby shoulder pads or helmets for those lads.  No sir.  And if you’re bleeding badly enough,  you might get what is called a “blood sub”.  Other than that,  there’s no changing lines,  or otherwise warming the bench.  Once you come off the field, you’re out for good,  unless you’re bleeding.  A coach can make up to seven substitutions, and only two of those from the front row, after that it’s a matter of attrition. 

 

For those of you who might not be following along,  the New Zeeland “All Blacks”  just beat the French the other day in the Rugby World Cup.  The game was a bit of a nail biter it seems,  with a score of 8-7.  They hadn’t won this particular event since 1987,  so yesterday was a happy day in Auckland.

 

That’s about it for today kids.

 

Oh,  and just to recap:  I got something in the mail,  and that was the HIGHLIGHT of my day.  Lame.

 

Hope the weather is better wherever you might be.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

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