frost fairies

Last month we had an amazing hoar frost. I'm not usually into snow and ice, but when I was out walking that morning I was gripped by the beauty of it and inspired to take some photos.

I meant to post them right away, but got distracted and forgot about them for a while.

Here are a few of the best ones:





As the temperature increased the air started to move, lifting the ice crystals of the branches and swirling them around like a snow storm under a clear sky.

It was all magical.

a pinch of this and a dash of that

Yesterday I was cleaning out cupboards to get ready to paint my kitchen.

It was then that I discovered I own 3 grocery bags full of spices.

That's in addition to all the vinegars, sauces, spreads, dips, mustards, chutneys and pickles that fill the rest of my kitchen to the point of bulging.

I may have gone too far.

well it sure ain't disco fever

This morning when I woke up the sun was shining.

I could see a sliver of blue sky and the green fuzz of a spruce tree between my bedroom blinds.

There was a chorus of birds chirping, and for a brief, beautiful moment my sleepy brain thought it was spring.

I felt like I was waking up from months of hibernation, coming to life again.

And then I came fully awake, and remembered the date.

Then I shook my fist at the birds in the spruce tree for taunting me that way.

It's these last two icy months that are the hardest to get through.

I love my veggies

I bought a beautiful kabocha squash and some lotus root (rinkon) in Calgary last week. We feasted on them all weekend, culminating in a tempura marathon on Sunday night. We cooked for an hour and a half, but the crispy goodness was worth it!

We sat down to salted edamame pods with beer, and a heaping plate of squash and rinkon tempura with Japanese candies for dessert. We even watched anime.

I was really impressed at the results of our first tempura effort. It can't compare, though, to what we had in Tokyo.

a fine line

We've watched two film clips recently in my Mass Media class. One was about Hitler's propaganda films and the other was about Coca Cola's international marketing. It was unsettling to me how much these two have in common.

Now, before you start writing angry comments about how I shouldn't compare the horrors of Nazi Germany with something as trivial as soft drinks, let me say that I'm not putting the two on the same level.

But I need to ask why we view Hitler's propaganda war against the mentally and physically frail as a menacing evil, but sit passively as Coca Cola wages cultural warfare across the globe?

Why are persuasive tactics deemed sinister or saintly based on the motives of the speaker? What exactly is the difference between propaganda and public relations?

It keeps moving when I try to put my finger on it.