After several weeks of cool windy weather we have 'summer'. Lord, what a difference. The response in myself and others makes me wonder if this is the ideal state that, if pursued and achieved and maintained year round, would be a most worthwhile endeavour for the individual, for the world. My 'snowbird' friends seem to think so. I am thinking thuswise, sending out antennae as to how to accomplish this. Maybe some of us are more sensitive to climate than others. The weather in Ontario was distressful to my nature. Clues were the angst I would start to feel in August about the approaching winter, as I was sweltering in humid heat. The tears that flowed as I stepped off the plane into Florida's warmth during March break with the realization that 'summer' was here, was now. One factor in moving to Toronto from Georgetown being that the temperature always seemed to be ten degrees warmer in that city. Finding myself standing up against the south facing wall of the house outdoors in January with face to sun while bundled in coat and hat and boots and gloves and scarf. Hearing of roses in gardens at Christmas on the west coast and truly listening. The 'straw' that broke, not the camel's back but my ribs was falling on ice in March and deciding I had had enough of winter! That is why I am in Victoria BC. When I return here from a visit to my beloved Southern Ontario and step from the plane and take a breath I feel I am filling all my lungs with air. Still the 'call' continues. Year round doors and windows wide? Ah……… I will have to give it a try…….

Floors/Carpets/Dust!!!!

If I don't dust long enough the dust collects into nifty balls I can pick up and toss outdoors – with some thought of birds lining their nest with such bounty. But this only happens on bare floors and as I stoop to pick up the obliging clumps I notice that there is a layer otherwise. A mop run quickly and lightly over that surface whisks dust away. And when I shake the mop outdoors there is the most satisfying cloud that blows away. Even more astonishing is the cloud that happens when I shake the mop after running it across floors like the kitchen and bathroom where no dust was apparent.
I have long been suspicious of carpets and look forward to the time when the few remaining wall-to-wall ones in my home are gone. Oh, carpets look okay, I guess, and can be cosy, and in one house I did install new carpet on an entire floor and up a stairway – but they don't seem a good idea if you give it some thought. New carpets and their underlay smell weird and make my nose run. Old carpets have underlay that disintegrates into powder that also has made my nose run when I've ripped up old carpet and encountered it. And carpets, over time, collect all that dust that is evident on bare floors. But they don't show it. Yes, of course I am aware of vacuum cleaners – I actually have two, one an ancient upright Hoover that still works but is 'out to pasture' as display only now. But I have had enough experience of vacuuming a throw rug and then shaking it out and seeing how much dust was still in that rug after vacuuming to be – suspicious! – of wall to wall carpets. And floors need not be bare -area rugs are delightful. I have one somebody's son made many years ago: I bought it from his mother at a sale and learned its history: it is gorgeous, woven, a natural shade, makes me think of tents on the desert for some reason. And I have one made of strips of leather woven into a pattern. And some I have knit myself from very chunky wool on gigantic needles. All can be easily shaken. And all enhance the beauty of the red fir floors.