November? Fin.

"Parallel lines never do cross over". (Parallel Lines / Nearly Human / Todd Rundgren / Rel. 1989)

What the heck is it about this particular month? Has everyone gone insane? Everything always seems to suck balls in November. To reinforce; I can refer you to Terry & Sab's Dog Dawson 2007, the Silly Fresh Water Riots of 2006, The Month Of The Dead from 2005, also My Cousin Maya's dog Shilo 2005 (Or, for that matter, my last three weeks if you're a particularly avid sadist).

It was also this November where I very quietly noted the 25th anniversary of the passing of my Mom. 25 years! It's just crazy. It still seems like it was yesterday. Also, in 3 weeks, it's going to be the 7th anniversary of the passing of my Dad - just before Christmas. (As a side note, I'm thinking of trademarking December as November Jr.).

A few people who are very important to me have drifted out of my life as well, but hey - it's ok - people come and people go in each others lives all the time. It's the natural progression of things really. The only thing that sticks in my craw is that both are long time friends, and of whom I've invested a considerable amount of time & energy, and *poof* they've just disappeared / dried up and blown away in the winds. That would be the November Winds - if anyone out there is keeping score (or still awake). I feel that November can make one... disposable. Has anyone else noticed this?

Here's another tidbit: although we didn't come CLOSE to the record set in 2006, I'm please to report that in November 2009, out of 30 days - we had 26 of rain, and only had 38.6 hours of sunshine the entire month. The reason that statistic is relevant is that 7.2 hours of that sunshine came last Friday - one of the few days we had more than a few uninterrupted hours of not getting covered by grey skies and deluged with pelting rain.

Last Friday morning, as I was padding around the kitchen before work, making a cup of tea, something made me glance upwards to the ceiling, and there was about 100 fucking larvae crawling around up there! Larvae. Beige colored, about 1/2 inch long. Everywhere. Now, with a nod towards my growing maturity - if this was 10 years ago - I'd have simply moved - that same day. But now, I spent my time cursing, and doing the pee-pee dance obliterating baby whatever they are, and called the building Super. Turns out they are Mediterranean Moths. They most likely hitched a ride home in some groceries, and then set up shop inside my pantry walls, venturing out to snack on various kinds of breakfast cereal and such. I get to look forward to a full apartment fumigation over the weekend, as opposed to last weekend, where I spent it painting Uncle Stan's house (Aka the job that will never end).

Last night, a friend of mine was passing through town for the Whistler Film Festival, called me up, and we got together for a late night spur of the moment cocktail at the Hotel Pan Pacific overlooking Vancouver's magnificent harbor. We're old pals because we gossip like schoolgirls and talk smack like NBA players, so it's always a pleasure to spend some time with KB. About 5 minutes into it she dropped a bombshell - she and her husband of 5 years are splitting up. I was shocked, and obviously more than a little concerned for her. As people often do, we went through the details, dug up the nasty bits, talked about the past and the future. And, as I so often do, I stole the line from Todd Rundgren's great song Parallel Lines (So I send you the gift of empathy), and we talked for a while. We got to talking about the anatomy of a break-up. How it happens, how you are supposed to feel, what do you do with your life now... the usual stuff. Then she asked "What's happening in YOUR life?".

I sort of spat my drink all over the table (mainly through my nose), then blithely changed the subject.

So now, for something completely different, (and to celebrate the passing of The Cruelest Month), captured via a nature-cam, here's a happy young Elk calf playing in a wallow.