holiday relaxation at the Plaza

Plaza Cote des Neiges is within walking distance of where I live. People often go there to shop and relax.

holiday season

Holiday season is happening again, last week of December. Relax, have a cup of coffee. Eat  bowl of soup. Visit friends. Do a self-portrait, using an old Canon powershot and the soap-spattered bathroom mirror.

Randy's Birthday

Wednesday a group of friends gathered at an Irish pub downtown to celebrate Randy's birthday. The fabulous woman who served our table was friendly and provided good service. Happy birthday Randy!

do the laundry

I do the laundry down at lavoir on Rue Victoria, not far from Van Horne in Montreal. I enjoy looking at the buildings and signs across the street. A thin layer of snow made the sidewalks slippery. My clothes have been washed in the soap suds of the machine.

Open Sore

{This is a work of fiction, but such things do happen.}

The old man got up in the night, fell down, tore the skin on his forearm. Joe leaped out of bed and ran to the rescue. His father Bob, ninety years old, lay on the floor. Joe called an ambulance. They sat five hours in emergency. The old man was fine. They put dressing on his arm. Three days later, the dressings came loose and tore away skin, under his pajama, leaving an exposed open sore.

The skin of an old person is sensitive, dry, brittle and easily torn. A nurse came to replace the dressing and cover up the exposed wound. It looked scary but actually wasn't worse than a skinned knee or arm that a kid would get after falling off a bicycle. The freaky part was removing the adhesive from the fragile skin, without tearing off the skin. The nurse soaked the dressing with alcohol and was angry that anyone would apply such adhesive directly to the skin of an old man. It hurt when she removed the old dressing. She  patched him up. Bob felt OK was the dressing was changed.

horsey ride at the Plaza Cote des Neiges

If you're looking for a horsey or piggy ride, Plaza Cote des Neiges is the place to go. There's the piggy near Meuble Cite and the horses in the food court.

bathroom light to kitchen sink

A bright light beside the mirror provided a way out of darkness. Lohbado went to the kitchen and gazed at fluids in the kitchen sink. He washed his hands and then washed the dishes.

body

Image from a painted book, by John Higham.

One day Lohbado stumbled over a rock and fell head first on the ground. He was about fifteen years old. That was the first time he could remember contemplating the nature of the body. Of course, there are bio-psychological explanations. You could rattle off some scientific information, but that begs the question: what exactly is going on? You could specify what is going on, but it still doesn't answer the question. Lohbado lay on the ground a few minutes to feel the nature of body. There appeared to be a separation between body and mind. Consciousness created duality of us and them, self and other.

Rather than attempt to reply to the questions, Lohbado sat up and contemplated his body and tried to look at his mind.

unborn chickens

Homage to unborn chickens, aborted eggs, pause a minute to contemplate the mysteries of life. Where did the chicken lay the egg?

tomato truth

A tomato mandala showed up on the kitchen table. The four petals fold back to reveal a wheel within a wheel. Squeeze the tomato to sauce,  juice or paste. Slice it. Leave it alone. Look at it. Gaze deeply into the brown circle, protected by four copper green leaves. This tomato, in all its redness, doesn't lie still. It easily rolls. The truth of the tomato is something extra, like balsamic vinegar, or mayonnaise. You gotta eat it to believe it.

uncouth

Lohbado had the ability to fall asleep within seconds. A few times, he fell asleep instantly after deciding to take a nap. Sleep began in mid air, before his head hit the pillow and his body flopped on the sofa.
     He dreamed a friend invited him to the bar. The woman behind the counter went into a long explanation about the various drink specials. Lohbado ordered the too good to be true deal: four drinks for four dollars. That could include, beer, wine or spirits.  Lohbado ordered the drink and then waited. Instead of bringing him a drink, the waitress told him that she was being fired. The manager said she was uncouth. Suddenly, her face became emaciated like a skull. Lohbado realized he was face to face with a medieval style personification of death. Lohbado's dance of death, a contemplation of mortality.

D for Desperado

Today's feature at the theater of life, D for Desperado. Yes, it actually happened, I never thought I'd live to see the day when in Montreal, someone would try to rob me. Monday, about 3 PM, down by Champ de Mars, a man, about thirty-five, in a leather jacket demanded I hand over my back pack. I told him to leave me alone. While talking, I walked away. The man followed. I ran into lanes of busy traffic. If he was really intent on violence, I'd just stand there among cars racing off the freeway.

window dream

 Basic everyday nothing fancy windows, monumental, millions of windows and brick can be seen. Pattern, shadows on the blinds, sometimes the blinds appear blue, other times pink, green, beige. Each window goes with a room. Each room provides space for activity. The buildings and windows get old. New buildings and windows are built.

music for urinals

Restaurant urinal, strong smell, a love song blasted from an overhead speaker, a woman singing about love as Lohbado took a pee. It felt absurd. One couldn’t even pee without having to listen to music that was not one’s choice. One never got to choose the background music. One was expected to get used to it. Most people seemed to like it or to tune it out. To not like the background music was considered abnormal. The problem lay in Lohbado’s not liking it.

jar of peas

I bought this jar of peas three years ago. It sits on top of the fridge. One day I plan to open the jar and photograph the contents. For now, I enjoy the beauty of soft, green peas in juice, inside a glass jar, the mystery of the container, kept under a tight lid. OK, it's no mystery on the scientific level. However, I challenge you to look at the jar of peas for five minutes and then write down what you feel.

relax in the park

Beginning of a long weekend, sunny morning, Lohbado walked to the park and relaxed at a picnic table for half an hour. The photos were taken with an 8 pixel Canon Powershot and then processed with a few filters in Photoshop. It felt good to sit in the middle of a huge lawn, after several cool and dark days.

coffee, tea and martini

The coffee pot second from the top and the tea pot were in a Vietnamese Restaurant down the street. The other two pictures were in Mike's kitchen, an empty coffee cup at the top and a martini at the bottom.

blushing tomatoes and bursting bananas

Autumn is a time of blushing tomatoes and bursting bananas, a cornucopia worthy of giving thanks.