no Trip today

I had arranged to go with a friend today to see "The Trip" - nothing is funnier than a good British comedy, and this is about two very funny men driving around England eating and imitating people, sounds great to me - but phoned to cancel. I just couldn't bear to leave the house and garden today, the Sunday of a long weekend, when, even with the crazy parties and parade of Pride on the horizon, the whole neighbourhood seems drunk with quiet sweetness and bees. And birds, and camellias, and now the tiger lilies are out as some of the roses fall back, the purple clematis fantastic, the little cherry tomatoes coming fast and furious - leave? I think not.

But also, I did have lots to do today, editing and organizing, because next week is particularly busy, with the U of T Summer Writing School starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I have a week with 8 people to teach what takes 8 or 9 weeks in my other classes, so it's intense. Plus tomorrow there's an "instructor/writer reading" - we teachers have been asked to read from our work for only five minutes. With much effort, I have isolated a five minute segment of the memoir that I hope will intrigue and delight. Or at least, not have them dozing in the aisles. But you never know.

What I bought second-hand this week: a "Hello Kitty" sleep mask - "Simply a must-have fashion item!" it says; "Heat," by Bill Buford; an adorably soft Ty leopard for some lucky child; a floaty silk dressing-gown and white silk pyjama pants; a long sweater for my long son that I'm sure he won't wear but it's worth a try; and best of all, 3 Beatles Anthology DVD's for $4 each. I was afraid they wouldn't play on my machine, and I was right, they didn't, so I took them to a store selling DVD players, where we discovered that they had subtitles in Russian, so were a different format than North American DVD's. BUT - they play on the computer.

So I sat yesterday on the deck with computer and earplugs, going through, once again, the early history of the band. I can never get enough. Hamburg; Pete Best; Ringo's childhood health problems; Paul's trumpet, John's Aunt Mimi - and beautiful George, my, what a wonderful face that young boy had. What joy they all took in music, and in each other.

I've lost track of the royals, but my mother hasn't - and I have to say that they're worth their weight in gold for that fact alone. She is thrilled with it all, the documentaries flooding the airwaves about the family - er, the Family - the sightings and reports of Kate's naturalness and Will's manliness. Apparently, some Quebecers held up "Parasite" signs. It seems to me that they may be very rich but right now, they are working extremely hard. And they're making my British mother proud and happy. I ask no more.

Poor Vancouver has had dreadful weather, while so far, we've had the perfect summer. Well, it's their fault if they will live in one of the most beautiful cities on earth. They get beauty and rain. We get an occasional glimpse of something lovely, and lots of sun. Deal.