of course his name is Woody...

ever wake up feeling like someone lit the fuse on an ACME bomb, and your skull is containing all of the explosion? my sinuses do not do well in Winter... which makes it near impossible to sleep most nights (or days)... which tends to result in the most dangerous pastime of all... overthinking!

i do that a lot, apparently. at least, that is what the animator always says, and mom is quick to agree, so i guess it must be a thing.

the one positive to this recent attack of sleeplessness is that it gave me a chance to catch up with a friend who is more of a morning... uhm... person? so, there i was, lost in ponderance against the backdrop of sunrise, when my overthinking was interrupted by a quick flash of movement. 

i am developing an appreciation for the the noble art of birdwatching, especially when it is like subscribing to a delivery service. i sit here, sipping hot beverages, and the birds come to me. Uber Tweets? InstaOrnithology? DoorTwitch? HelloBird? somebody needs to make this happen!!!

most of the birds fly South for the season, but there are a few hardy varieties that hang around for Winter. i recently found myself in a staring contest, from like two meters away, with a blue jay. it went on for nearly five minutes, and it seriously felt like he had been given the assignment to study me and report back to headquarters. i was afraid to even reach for a camera... so we just sat there, exchanging looks, until he blinked and flew away. 

i even see the occasional bird of prey soaring by, especially when the snowy landscape makes it easy to spot their next meal. this time around, however, my morning visitor was a male Eastern Downy Woodpecker. it is nice to finally put a face to all the noise. 

i guess no one explained the concept of a still life to Woody, because he just really wanted to hop around. and, yes... of course his name is Woody!

if you squint a bit, you might spot a few black dots on his outer, white tail feather(s). that is how you distinguish between Hairy and Downy woodpeckers (according to the folks at Cornell, so blame them if that is incorrect). 

i was looking up, while he was upside down, tapping away at an old branch. is 'bottom-up top-view' a thing?

so far, i am resisting falling further down the birding rabbit hole. i mainly try to appreciate those moments when they happen.

best of all, my cat (Cordy) does not seem to get that she is supposed to be some sort of mighty predator. so, she just snuggles under the blanket with me, and watches the birds... or the bats... or the squirrels. her other hobbies include laying claim to my stuff, and being told that she is the 'Sweetest Cupcake in the World'. seriously... can you think of a better birding buddy?

knowledge is worse than vampires...

oh, yeh... i am into whittling now. trust me... i am fully aware that i need to be stopped for my own good. 

i bought some 1/8" thick, hardwood boards, and i made the mistake of asking him to cut them down to 1 1/2" wide starting blanks. 

him: why are you even whittling anything?

five minutes later...

him: did you look at those whittling videos i sent you?

i should point out that he is not really a 'splainer, but more of an enthusiastic-enabler. 

me: nope. i did not open a single one of the links.
him: why not? i'm just sharing information and knowledge. 
me: i'm starting to think that maybe knowledge is worse than vampires.
him: how so?
me: vampires wait to be invited in.

then he walked off, muttering something about 'what kind of so-called educator turns down the offer of knowledge'. but, mostly, i know that he was probably going to write that down, because seriously... that was brilliant!

this is hardly whittling. mostly, i needed to taper the edges to prevent snagging on everything. 

by the power of Grayskull...!

then came a few passes with some fine sandpaper, and a quick coat of wood wax to seal.  

it may not look like much, but they will (eventually) be used as pickup sticks and beaters. and, yes... i know how that sounds, because i am a forever-child. unfortunately, it is just bits for loom weaving. then, i started watching videos about wave stick weaving, so i had to whittle some more. 

i want to add a bit of snakeskin texture to this one, soon as i figure out how to make that happen... on my own, thank you! 

have i used any of these objects? of course not, but now i have even more crafting equipment to ignore. 

meanwhile, the animator has gotten back into painting miniatures. he has been stockpiling 3D printed models, like these ones. we tend to take things to the extreme, so the studio will most likely be acquiring a 3D printer real soon.

this is my favorite finished one so far.

next to a can of orange Crush, for scale.

i like that the head detaches from the roboty bit. i would ask what it is called or where he bought it, but then he would start talking to me about miniatures. so... pass!

best part is, now he keeps seeing the potential for "props" in every chunk of wood he sees outdoors. i have never been for walks with a hyperactive puppy... but i can imagine how it goes. 

him: ooh... we should take that one home. you could carve it into like a gnarly old dragon, and i can paint it and add some minis to make it look like an army of troll hunters are trying to take down the dragon. 

it is like staring into a mirror of absurdity. seriously, people... we both need to be stopped! 

Montreal is like the mob...

have i ever mentioned that we fell in love with this place because of the view? 

we were not even planning on staying in Montreal when we moved here. we had a list of open houses to check out over in Ottawa the next day, when we happened to notice a listing for this place, and it was just a few blocks away. what could it hurt, right?

then got we got here. 

the building is a hundred-plus years old, and you have to walk up four flights of stairs (oh, yes... there is no elevator). it was absolute love at first sight. 

this building... this neighborhood... this whole ridiculously cold city is just so damn charming!

i love old architecture. this is something i tend to blame on my mom's little brother. he is an Architectural Engineer. back when i was a youth, i used to love driving around NYC with him. he would pull over in random places, and get out of the car to point out all those tiny, inconsequential design elements of the older buildings around us. it left me with a lifelong habit of always looking up at those little structural touches. should i ever accidentally bump into you, because i was staring at the trim on a roof, or studying the design of a window casement... that is not my fault. just send him the dry cleaning bill.  

still, there is one frustrating thing about old buildings. no one seems to have anticipated that electricity would be such a hit. who knew, right? it probably took us more than a year to figure out the different combinations of appliances that could be turned on at the same time. the fallout from countless failed attempts has left us both so traumatized, that we still make a point of issuing a verbal warning before plugging anything into an outlet. most of all... it is firmly understood that you ABSOLUTELY MUST pause the washer-dryer before turning on the kettle or... well, just hope you saved whatever you were working on, because all the computers would definitely have turned off. so much fun! 

and, ridiculous as it sounds, that is part of the charm of the thing. we absolutely love this place. neither one of us has any real connection to Montreal, and we have already decided that the next time we move, it will be out of the City... which is what we were trying to do when we found this place. 

turns out, Montreal is like the mob. just when we thought we were out, it pulled us back in. so, here we will remain for now.

sure, there are zero electric outlets in the bathroom, and i still do not want to know what would happen should we ever open that old dumbwaiter door in the kitchen. but, seriously... check out that view. 

[sunset, Dec 10, 2023. edited to correct the year.]

be SAD with me...

there are some conversations you should never be having. but, here we are. 

me: oh, good! the balcony door appears to be unfrozen today, so i can finally get a few shots in the snow of that yarn i just spent the weekend spinning in a desperate attempt at hanging on to some thread of sanity amidst all this gloom and misery you call a country. 

him: okay, but make sure you hurry up and do that... before the Arctic Rain starts.

seriously!

so, i wrapped myself up in my favorite fleecy blanket, and went silently out into the (slightly less) gloom and cold. i considered weeping, but tears would just freeze. 

how much do i love this man, you ask?

yes! 

so, i took my photos.

those tracks in the snow belong to Norbert. we have lunch together some days. like i said... stuff should not be happening. but, here we are.

then i went back indoors, to reexamine (yet again) every single decision i have ever made in my entire existence.

craziest part is... i keep commenting about how mild this Winter is, relatively speaking. sure, we had TWO ice storms last week, but they did not even bother closing the schools or anything. so, really... no big deal, right? i mean... we have not had a single Polar Vortex yet. that is when the locals become concerned. until then... it is just me here... alone... losing my mind one gray, sunless day at a time. 

did i mention that we had like ten days of anything resembling "sunshine" for the entire month of January? madness.

so, please.... come be SAD with me, as i endeavor on a month of daily posts (which i am already regretting). there will be a lot of complaining about the absence of joy that is Winter in Montreal, but (mostly) it will be me documenting the random nonsense i do in the name of Sanity. 

i am awesome...

we are hours away from the end of a year that i look forward to bidding a bon adieu. this is usually when people work overtime, finding fault in themselves, and making half-hearted promises to do better in the new year.

screw all that nonsense!

i cannot let the year end without mentioning that time i saved someone’s life in The Great Ice Storm of 2023. true story!

picture it. Montreal. mid-April...

that is when the ice and snow ends most years (although, it sometimes lasts well into May).

this time around, we were absolutely deluged with freezing rain days before a whole lot of people were planning to travel over the long Easter weekend. most of those plans got cancelled.

this was not snow, or even stinging pellets of hail. this was a steady, heavy shower of molten ice that crystalized the moment it hit anything. and it just kept on falling, encasing every surface it met in a solid shell of ice that was reported to be four centimeters (~ an inch and a half) thick in some areas. sheer madness!

then the bough broke... literally.  

it was like being at the center of an orchestra composed entirely of giant glass chandeliers being dropped from great heights. you could hear the buildup to every single crash from miles kilometers away. it was completely insane!

first there would be the ripple of ice cracking under the strain, followed by the explosive pop of massive branches snapping, and the frighteningly glorious crescendo of ice and wood shattering on sidewalks... and streets... and cars... and homes.

total madness!

there were official broadcasts of every type warning the public to remain indoors, and drivers were told to find a safe place to park their vehicles, and seek emergency shelter.

naturally, i was seriously tempted to grab my camera and head downstairs, but my Self-Preservation Society membership is paid in full, so i stayed put. [random aside: The Italian Job (1969) is one of my favorite films EVER, and i especially love all of the music! Getta Bloomin' Move On! (the Self-Preservation Society theme) is a thing of sheer genius. well done, Mr. Jones.]

where was i, again? oh, yes... i saved a person's life.

i went out on the balcony to try to get a few shots of the icy scenery. this was the view to the right...

to the left...

and looking up at the top of the massive old maple tree. 

this was when i noticed that a massive chunk of the old maple had mostly broken away from the tree, and it was just waiting for the slightest whisper of air to send it crashing to the ground. which happened at precisely that moment, as i stood there watching the spot where it would fall.

unfortunately, someone had just exited the building next door, and they were standing there, in that very same spot, head bent, staring at their phone.

luckily, the falling branch was being slowed in its descent by the tangle of lower tree limbs, leaving just enough time for me to scream LOOK OUT... which he did!

he jumped out of the way a split-second before the ice-coated branch exploded right where he was standing. part of it pulled his hoodie back from his head, and hooked onto the collar of his coat on the way down. dude was so stunned! he collected himself long enough to get out a shock-filled "merci", before turning to run back indoors.

that sounds pretty life-saving to me!

the situation was so dangerous, the Emergency Services were advising their own personnel to remain indoors. basically, if you needed 911... you were on your own! and, all you heard was the orchestra of chandeliers, accompanied now by a horn section, courtesy of all of the honking and blaring alarms from all the damaged cars. it was next-level atmospheric insanity.

then the power went off! almost half of Montreal was without power... for DAYS!

did i mention that it was meant to be a long holiday weekend? people will be telling how i survived the great ice storm of '23 stories for years to come. good times!

it took weeks for the power to be fully restored, and months for all of the debris to disappear. Montreal zoned out the use of wood-burning stoves and fireplaces several years ago, or we would have stockpiled enough logs to keep our fireplace blazing all Winter. le sigh!

most people's holiday plans were (naturally) cancelled, and many businesses and services that would have normally closed for the whole weekend, remained open to provide shelter for the public. even major fast food chains that would normally be closed on Easter Sunday, were asking any employees to come in to work so that they could provide food and a warm space for anyone who needed it.

imagine being a kid who got to spend Easter weekend eating free McNuggets. one person's chaotic nightmare is another person's Nirvana.

despite all the property damage, the storm proved to be a (relatively) harmless one. there were the usual vehicular pile-ups, thanks to black ice on... well... EVERYTHING! people around here understand the hazards of Winter storms, so they (mostly) heeded the warnings... except for one guy who simply could not wait for the ice to melt from his car... which was parked under a very large, ice-covered tree. sadly, no one warned him to "LOOK OUT".

so, instead of pondering all the shoulda, woulda moments from a (mostly) underwhelming year, i choose to close it on a positive note. seriously, people... i saved someone's life!

yes. i am awesome!

Happy New Year!!! hopefully it will be a better one.

(those are swollen, springtime maple buds encased in ice... because i can hear you asking from all the way over here.)