Hell of a day out there, considering it’s almost 5 days into January. But I always remember that the first week of January can be mild. I remember with odd vividness, closing the door to a small rental van full of my belongings and getting sopping wet from melting ice off the roof of the Old Jail Hostel in Ottawa. I had quit my managing job of that 160+ year old hotel for travellers and was moving back to Toronto at the start of a new year and a new life bla bla bla. How very Mary Tyler Moore!

Today Sharkboy and I are walking through the park to work:

“Beauty day!” I offer.

“Yup.” Pause. “You’re not going to go all Al Gore on me, are you?”

“Nah. But this whole warm thing makes me think of Joan Crawford.” I say, staring at a semi-fat squirrel trying to decide weather or not to remove Hidden Nut #223 for consumption.

“How so?”

“I see the earth as Joan Crawford these days. She’s all sweetness and light but one day she’s going to burst into our rooms and start hitting us with stuff.”