crash and smash
dan and i lovingly assigned these names to our meticulously realistic chimney swift decoys. during the problem-solving phase of fixing their faulty pole, they made a good number of nose dives to the ground that sent wings flying. there were many rehabilitation sessions requiring gorilla glue.

and they're working!! this week we had a breakthrough, as the swifts are starting to pair off and they began more intense interaction with the playbacks and decoys. i was beside myself with delight when they started repeatedly calling and circling and "diving-in". here's a photo from on top of the mariposa market in orillia, where we have a tower on the roof. i'm holding crash and smash, although they're a little difficult to see. maybe next week i'll post a link to some more photos.



oil pulling
i've started oil pulling after some discussion with jesse and reading up about it online. you basically just swish oil in your mouth for 20 minutes and then spit it out. i was pretty skeptical, but i had trouble finding anything written about it that didn't involve claims of wide-ranging health benefits and wild accolade. i'm tempted to write a lengthy synopsis of my findings, but if you're interested you can check out these links and then go off probing on your own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_pulling
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html

i figure: if it does work, awesome! if it doesn't, what's the harm in sucking on a little oil?

wood thrush
this week i found the hiking trails at trent, and once again i was off and running through the trees. i stopped in mid-bound when i heard a wood thrush calling back in the woods. their call is definitely one of my favorites and i closed my eyes, allowing the eerie vibrating notes to envelop me with a contented sigh.
i found a clip of their call for you if you're unfamiliar with them, although the experience of hearing it echo through the forest on a quiet spring or summer afternoon cannot be captured in an online sound bite.

mr. something something
this tortonto-nian band is so terrific. their music is dance-happy and complex and superb, but what pushes them over the top for me is that they have bikes up on stage hooked up to their amps. members from the audience come up and ride the bikes to literally power the show.
:) :) :)
here's a link to some of their songs on their webpage.
http://www.mrsomethingsomething.com/music/

efficiency
most of you are probably aware that i'm very keen on multi-tasking and productivity.

well, last week i went to the doctor for a raging kidney infection (i won't go into all the symptoms, but they were horrific).
i showed up at 11am and
did a urine sample,
met with the nurse,
met with the doctor,
went downstairs to the lab to drop off my urine,
went over to the ultrasound department to schedule a pelvic ultrasound,
and was out in the sun again by 11:30. !!
that, and it was all free with a flash of my health card.