Seen on a walk

Like ducks!

When I was a kid, we use the phrase ‘like ducks’ to indicate that someone was bullshitting.

“My Mom gave me $20 bucks for candy!”

“Yeah, like ducks she did.”

Nowadays, I just call bullshit.

But I still like ducks!

Two ducks cross a suburban street
The view from the driver’s side of my car as two ducks cross a suburban street (There is a pond not too far away, they must have been on a little adventure.)

A longer walk

Yesterday, after a meeting, I decided to walk home.

Most of the year, this walk would be pretty straightforward but with snow still in patches on the paths , it was a bit uncertain.

I still enjoyed it though.

I really like walking for transportation but my ADHD used to get in the way quite often and I would find that I didn’t have quite enough time to get myself to my planned destination and I’d need to take the car.

It was easier if I got dropped off because there was less timing pressure for getting home.

Now though, after years of meditation and conscious work on how to make my own ADHD life flow more smoothly, I can usually plan enough time to walk in either direction or I can decide on the best plan in advance.

All of this is to say that I had an enjoyable walk home yesterday and I felt grateful for a bit of time to move and think and listen to a podcast.

Also, I saw a cool tree.

A grey tree trunk with some parts of the roots above ground
I don’t know exactly what I find so cool but I really like this tree. Image description: the grey trunk of a (currently) leafless medium-sized tree with parts of some of the larger roots visible above ground. The trunk splits into two large parts (branches?) about 3ft from the ground and there is a whole in the branch (?) on the right side that looks like a monster eye. It’s surrounded by dead grass and leaves and there is a big patch of snow and other trees in the background nearby.

Delightfully Creeped Out On My Walk

I’m glad yesterday was such a wonderfully sunny day and I was in a good mood because when I saw this on someone’s lawn I could be delightfully creeped out instead entirely freaked out.

A statue of a little girl is revealed by a receding snowbank
I have a love-hate relationship with this little statue. Image description: an outdoor photo of a receding snowbank with a silvery statue of a little girl kneeling back on her heels in the middle of it. The statue is wearing a dress and pigtails and looking upward, one of her arms is extended as if pointing upwards and the other is cracked off at the end of her short sleeve. She has a small smile on her face which looks either all-knowing or shy. There is a slab of rock near her that could be a tombstone but is probably just a rock.

When I first saw it, from the side, I actually thought it was a child’s doll that had been left behind and had gotten mildewed over the winter.

A statue of a little girl surrounded by a receding snowbank
See what I mean? Image description: an outdoor photo of the side view of the statue described above – a silvery little girl statue surrounded by a receding snowbank.

Luckily, the good weather and my good mood meant that this creepy statue made me even happier.

I love when people just lean right into their weirdness.

Way to go sorta-neighbours!

Weirdness Abounds

A couple of weeks back, on a family member’s birthday, I made a mistake on the card I was writing for them.

(I often draw little cards for people and then write a message myself. This is partially due to forgetting to buy cards and partially due to enjoying the process of drawing one.)

I tore up that card (I was writing in marker) and I either threw it out or threw it in the recycling. I know I *should* have recycled it but if I was distracted, it might have gotten tossed into the garbage.

And I thought nothing more of it…until Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Khalee and I were walking along the sidewalk about 7 or 8 minutes from my house and I noticed a piece of paper with familiar handwriting on it sitting on a little patch of grass between piles of snow.

I picked it up to look closer and it was a piece of the torn-up, first draft card.

How did it get there?

Did our bag of recycling get torn and the piece of index card went flying?

Did a bag of garbage tear open in the truck and release this scrap of paper?

Did I unwittingly put the scraps in my pocket that day and then pull them out with my keys or my mittens as I was walking along?

All of these explanations seem unlikely (especially the last one) but clearly one of them must be true.

Otherwise we have some sort of time travelling/alternate universe/portal situation on the go and I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with that. 😉

Places of ordinary magic

There are spots along a path near my house where you can see the rocks in the river, and the overarching trees and the sight always makes my heart happy.

Ordinary magic is just as valuable as fancy magic.

A photo of a small stream and the trees/shrubs on both banks.
Image description: a view of a section of a stream at the bottom of a short slope. There are some bare tree branches, some evergreen branches, shrubs, and brown leaves and dirt on either bank of the river. Variously sized rocks are partially submerged in the water.