Paper Straws and other Wonderful Things....

 "Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen....."
            -anonymous

 I found paper straws in the store a little while ago. Cue one massive flashback. Summer. Hot July days. Many moons ago. Pavement burning beneath bare feet. And bottles of gingerale from the corner store. With paper straws. All crazy colours.

 The paper straws would disintegrate after a while. They still do. But  I still buy them, cause they remind me of those days. When it was hot on the pavement. And the days were long . And friends were as silly as I. We would sword fight with those straws. Then collapse in laughter. Like the straws. I catch myself wanting to do that again.

 From hot days, to cold falls. Hot sunrises. Thanksgiving. The smell of roasting turkey 
( with apologies to my vegetarian friends). I can still remember the holidays my mother would cook a turkey and stuff towels under the doors to keep the heat in the kitchen. A kitchen with bright yellow sunflower wallpaper.Sunflower wallpaper that kept falling off the wall. I would take paper paste and stick it back up. And sniff at the turkey.

 Outside, cold with snow or driving rain. Inside,  the scent of ginger. Potatoes burping on the stove. And the wallpaper peeling.  I still remember tasting paste on my fingers. My mother wrestling with the enormous bird, so big it would almost scrape the roof of the oven. Just the two of us. How in the world would we eat all of it? And to this day, I can still remember it. 

 I remember our two cats sitting under the table. Probably sniffing the turkey. I don't think they were begging for  paste on my fingers. they licked it anyways.  Their eyes glowing in the dim light.

 The many cats....

 That hover and hang around the yard.Contrary to what anyone may think, I not the crazy cat lady. Well, not much. I swear they all have homes. They just hang around. Happy, I guess.

 If there are birds, they will come. If they hear a soft word, they come.

 I see them  in  the sunrises and sunsets. Mountains glow pink these days. Each and every day. Even though it changes. 

 Especially in winter. When I was growing up I never could see the sunrise or the sunset.  Too many big trees covering everything. And everything hidden under branches and leaves. Pine trees would crack and drop treetops. That's how we got our Christmas trees some years. Everytime I smell pine, I remember those gnarly treetops flung into the yard. And it was Christmas. 

Here  no treetops fly into the yard. Except for branches. Those get tied to the railing outside. And there is that scent of pine. Dark and heady.  

 "How wonderful it is that nobody need  wait a single moment before starting to improve the world...." -Anne Frank

 How can you improve on something so perfect as a raindrop.....

 I find myself running outside in rain storms. Getting soaked. Always trying to find another raindrop.Another slice of ice dripping from branches. That first flower peeking out from the dirt.

 Or sitting on the hill. Outside. In winter. Waiting for the sun to peak.Winter is much more interesting on the mountain, than summer.  Fire and ice.

 Most days there are those furry felines hanging out as well. 

 And how perfect to end the day, when a faithful old friend  comes to say hello.  

 Who can fathom why he does. Except that I marvel at it. I'm not sure Spencer marvels at it. He just wants to say hello. Every day. It's really quite wonderful he reminds me.Just like those paper straws.......

            "May you live your life every day...." -Jonathan Swift

Photographs: M. McConachie Woods 2017 Campbell River, B.C.