This is the first day back from our vacation for us, and I got a wonderful welcome back to the coast from a pod of orcas (see Chris' post on May 21)

I saw them this morning on the 6:30 boat frolicking out in the straight between Horseshoe Bay and Snug Cove. I got the impression that there were larger and smaller ones (maybe some kids?), and that there were between 4 and 8 of them.

Life's to short to spend it wound up in a knot of needless fury. - James Gosling

yep - theres better things to be doing.

I think looking like a computer geek god is a good thing... And he *does* look friendly...

I can immagine him and my former fearless leader Tim Bray (co-inventor of XML) busy with their heads together having a great time inventing more stuff - Tims at Sun now too.

This last equinox weekend we went to the petting zoo at Stanley Park.

He was not quite certain about the goats, etc. He fed them a little straw, but it all was a bit tentative. Luckily, this time the goats were quite reasonable - we have been here (with our god-daughter) when they were full-on shoelace eating fiends, and that wasnt really so good.

After, we took a ride on the little train too:

In this picture Tali is explaining to Mama exactly how the drive-rod works. Pappa thinks this engine is pretty nicely put together - given that its actually got a gasoline engine on the inside.

I need an excuse to try out a new blog edit function, so heres a picture of the aforementioned spring:

I split up the boat page, and added new photos. See the last bit (March 2004 - removed plywood deck) for the latest.

Heres our home - snapped from up in the sequoia in the middle of the property:

• far right - the end of the driveway
• far more right - woodshed
• far left/center - yes, you guessed it - the house, along with Emily and Chloe and Taliesin and Juniper
• near left - fruit trees
• center - shed of all containing
• near center - vegetable garden + fallen cedar + yellow power cable to the boat

What you cant see here:

• spring - far far left
• field - straight down
• pond - behind

One evening, waaay back when Emily and I still lived in Burnaby and werent married and had no kids and no dog, and only 1 cat (Moonshadow) our friendly upstairs neighbours invited us to a closing ceremony. Luckily Emily knew what this was, and we went.

We were treated to a west coast first nations salmon feast and a chance to experince a parst of their customs and beliefs. After that it was off to the forest for singing and sweat lodges. Nobody looked at us twice - all white and clueless come to eat their salmon and absorb their rituals. We were treated with generosity and friendship. That night we were shown something very special I always think. I am grateful for that.

Ok, so why do I go on about such things? Because these people knew something that I didnt until then: Eventually all things need to be put to rest. And that is good. Sometimes, as in the case of this ceremony and celebration, they need to be helped along a bit. This particular closing ceremony was for someones son who had vanished a few years back. It was time to let go.

And how does this apply to me? After all, there must be a pint to all this blab. What it means to me is that closure is important in my life. Little closures and big ones. They complete things. They release pressures, balance imbalances... stuff like that. If I've lost something, I fret and obsess. Closure comes via finding it again. Even if its ruined cause I've left it out in the rain, it fixes things. Another example (Emily's favourite) is the broken coffe cup. I smashed it by accident at some point at work. Then I was a crabby old fart for a week, and Emily was really beginning to wonder if I was worth the bother. Luckily, eventually, while washing the dishes It suddenly dawned on me that I had broken my cup. I had forgotten about that, but apparently that didnt keep me from feeling grumpy about it. After remembering that, and telling Emily, everything was fine again.

And what made me think of all that? Well, waaaay back when all this goofy boat business started, the first thing I thought I ought to do, is get rid of that old engine sitting on the back deck of the boat. It turned to be totally impossible. that thing weighs enough to make me and my brother in law together straining away at it think it was nailed down. I ended up bulding a frame around it so it wouldnt fall off as we moved the boat, and its been sitting there ever since, until this Friday when I finally attacked it with an oil pan and all the wrenches I owned. I took off absolutely every piece I could, and in the end it was light enough to simply heave off the end of the boat. It buried itself in the ground there at a jaunty angle. On the way back to the house, I found myself to be quite cheerful, and I thought that was a bit odd. After all, all I did that afternoon is waste my time telling a bunch of bolts how much I hated them, and trying to twist their heads off. Not only that, but in the end, the bolts whose defeat would have allowed me to reduce the weight the most defied me. But later, I realized what it was. The evil engine chapter of my life is done. Its all nice and wrapped up and finished and CLOSED.

You might have noticed some changes:

• I realized that nowhere does it say who we are. So, at the top there now a [very] little blurb.
• I am slowly transmogrifying things a bit. One of those transmogrifications is the change in name. StinkyCat, quaint as it may be, is not the right title for anything but the experiment this blog initially was. We are now well out of that stage, and the new name is Dragonfly, which is a reflection on one of the things we love about our home.

[added later] This, by the way, is from about 1/2 way between Horseshoe Bay and Bowen Island looking south. See this map on the Sewells Marina website. (we are right where the N for north is)