The other day I saw a falcon chase a bus I had heard of peregrines nesting in the city downtown on the roofs of skyscrapers so I don't think the bus was near a nest but I can't account for the run unless she was counting on bigger prey this afternoon I saw a flock of crows flying west they were flying high I know because they were impossibly small like afterthoughts in a well painted sky they seemed to be heading to Carleton perhaps there was a football game or maybe the weather was better there and when I came home this evening the last of the sparrows startled from a milkweed pod brown and ready to make a nice paper once it was hulled and ginned into a batch of pulp in the end the falcon beat the bus maybe the bus driver wasn't trying but I'd like to think it was the indomitable spirit of an apex predator taking her place but this is Autumn and fairy tales don't come true except in Spring and in Summer games of dar...

When you leave town follow the train tracks it doesn't really matter whether they are passenger or freight rails and take note of the telephone poles close in to the city the polls will be tall and the insulators will be white when the insulators change from white to blue you're getting into the country after a while the poles get shorter and may have more than 1 cross don't worry unless you lose sight of the tracks or the poles get taller with their crosses closer to the top and lacking insulators those are hydro poles and it means you are going north or south and Montreal is west once you find the tracks again you will notice that the corn grows as tall as the telephone polls and you may see 3 or 4 or 5 even 6 crosses all supporting insulators but the wires only resting on the glasses of one cross and after the six stacks you are away until you see the flour mill and that's Montreal.

I forgot that without kick or crawl roll or holding onto the coffee table or the couch or those first tentative steps we'd never save time or get where we want to go walking is all about pushing limits feeling oats close races tight finishes narrow escapes we were born to run that race even as we limp towards perfection we see without care for shutter speed f-stop aperture aspect ratio or available light I remember the first time you stood standing under the kitchen table I wondered whether the table was holding you up some sort of overreaching puppeteer but it was you doing it yourself and then I knew as you took your first steps you were off and away and I knew that part of my job was done and the next milestone came into view how to keep you safe when you were more comfortable straying than staying near.

You are a bird you were made to fly so fly away now while the sky is clear uncluttered except the breeze I'll stay rooted and heal I am a tree meant for holding nests in boughs and crooked elbows my wounds are superficial still I wouldn't have you wait to tend me the worst that can happen to me is scars enfolding my bark reminding me but invisible to birds and the passing of leaves so now soar I know you can circle if you will to confound the bats and never look back but keep your compass pointed to warmer climes and the chance of rest before the great migration begins again I'll stand steady stretch my arms wide and catch the next bird that wants to be held in unthreatening arms safe from the wind and the other colds that don't always fit with the season for now I make do with crows or ravens or rooks I never know what to call them they are restless vi...

I'm pretty sure it never occurred to her that a real heart was on the line when we did that dance that's so well known as to be trite to mention in so light a fashion so I hesitate when I say I'm pretty sure to give her the benefit of what she's worth and what was risked anyway in that half lit room perhaps it was migraine that made her dim fluorescents in favour of incandescents or maybe she was going more for mood to make it easier for me to talk and her to listen and occasionally direct or redirect to maximize learning or maintain the flow of unprocessed feelings and measured ambivalence like suits with a bit of room in the back for when we indulge and lie to ourselves about the trade off between what we need and how we'd like to be or they way we'd like to be seen if we had our druthers and nobody was counting or keeping score I was talking about a moment that I wanted to hold up in grateful appreciatio...

Having a soup and a sandwich is never a solitary affair what with MS Glutamate and CA Propionate watching over the feast but there were always others with less auspicious sounding names whose manners were nevertheless livelier and more forthcoming there was always salt and pepper in packets that split along invisible perforations to give a kick and a bite to soup otherwise unremarkable and there were crackers to dip it always seemed a shame to crush and soak what was made crisp and perfectly formed rather petite than tiny and noth the real thing if not with salted tops and there was the cut of the bread Mother Tucker gave you the choice of thick or thin even before the pizza makers caught on and if you were in Poland maybe the rye would have had pumpkin seeds but we were far away from there where we were the issue was alfalfa sprouts and Dijon mustard for a change and we pushed healthy with lettuce and tomatoes and the obligatory pickle ...

I never thought about until now but the Brookses Roy and Reggie made a regal couple 4 kids and a spider monkey going strong Jessie and Leslie were the older boys Charlene may have been the youngest Pal was what his name said Down's didn't dampen his enthusiasm or ours when I raced the go-cart towards the highway detouring into a driveway to avoid a worse fate I did shift the gears while Jessie ran behind I knew the gas and the clutch but not the brake so stalled it out in the end when my foot magically hit the pedal that was unknown to my foot I think Roy ended up hang gliding when water skiing and demolition derbys lost their charm I don't know whether Brooks took Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump which, apart from the coulees under the High Level Bridge was probably the closest he could get in Lethbridge to real height and true thermals in prairies before they stumble into foothills and everything changes where the sea bed has risen and...