Something happens in the spring. I like going to get up in the spring. I am about to get warm in the Spring. I love to see water, trees in bud, flowers and leaves. Butterflies and birds are flying all the way to my house. Do you like to see water,trees and birds? I love to! Do you like to see something in the spring? I like to!
Jon
(On Thursday night Jon’s school presented a spring concert “We are the World”, featuring songs from different countries around the world. Jon’s class joined three other classes in a rousing rendition of Australia’s “Waltzing Matilda”. Very sweet! —L)
I like going to see the spring contseret. everybuddy was at the gym. then everybuddy was singing a song called Walltzing Matilda. I like to see the rest of the spring contseret. everybuddy finshed the song Walltzing Matilda. I am about to sing the song Walltzing Matilda.
Jon
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Note the jolly swagman sitting near the coolibah tree (blue billibong in foreground) about to get accosted by the squatter on his thoroughbred and three troopers in straw hats at far right. Not visible in photo: Jumbuck in tuckerbag. Yes, we know all the words by now!
Note to relatives: you are not, I repeat, NOT getting Jon one of these for Christmas!
In a twist of fate likely predetermined by their names, our huge goldfish Sid died sometime overnight, a few weeks after we lost Nancy. They are survived by The Loach, their tankmate until recently.
Sid was tough and mean for a goldfish, having gone through three Nancys as he would bully them to death. The last one was resistant to the bullying, but was sensitive to disease. Sid and The Loach were transferred to a hospital tank, but Sid began to unceasingly bully The Loach, who is gentle in his catfish-like ways. Sid was tranferred to his old tank, which despite many cleanings, must have harboured traces of the disease. He looked fine yesterday, dead today.
The Loach was unavailable for comment.
Not a bad job considering it’s gotta be most unnatural thing to camouflage against.
Alayne sends this site, The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, which begs the question, which is more endangered, the Tree Octopus or the Mountain Walrus?
But in wandering the page, the most interesting thing I found was real: a link to a study about cuttlefish and their abilities to camouflage themselves on the sea bottom (especially since they are colour-blind). The best bit? An absolutely stunning little Quicktime movie of a cuttlefish doing what they do best.
Laura’s grandma, Jon’s beloved O-Bachan, is thinking about moving. The house she’s lived in for the past 46 years is getting a little big for her now that she’s 94. She’s an incredibly tough lady who has lived a life of amazing challenges.
So Uncle Dave, Aunt Ann, Uncle Reg and Auntie Mich were in Toronto just before Easter to start the job of looking for a senior’s home. As things were being organized in the old house, there were some papers slated to be thrown out that were rescued by Auntie Mich. It was a 1960’s insurance envelope that had a couple of Japanese characters written in pencil on the back. Those characters turned out to be “Naturalization Papers”. Of the documents inside, only one is fully in English: Laura’s Grandpa’s Canadian citizenship certificate, from the 50’s. The rest of the documents were in Japanese, and all turned out to be from the 1960’s. All save one. That one is her Grandpa’s passport from 1920’s Japan.
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Click on picture for enlargement
Since no one in the family can actually read Japanese, I sent scans of the documents to Erik (who teaches Japanese at Ryerson and U of T while he works on his PhD). He said that seeing the passport gave him chills, because everything on the document is plainly from the Empire of Japan. Apparently, most of these pre-war passports were destroyed in shame by their holders with the fall of the Empire. While not being something that you’d run to the Antiques Roadshow with, it is a fairly uncommon document, something that would have been kept only by those who still secretly supported the concept of empire, or by those who emigrated pre-war and thus couldn’t have cared less.
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(Jon picked a picture of a horse for creative writing today. —L)
Horses go naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. People are going on a horse ride. I see a horse. Cow is the horses name. Horses galup. Do you like to galup like a horse? I Like to! I am about to go on a ride with the horse.
Jonathan