Daytrips...

As the summer crawls luxuriantly along, I find my workspace looks increasingly like this: 

No complaints about that.  The kids have done a pretty good job of keeping themselves occupied with outdoor crafts, reading, building stuff in the workshop and generally being decent siblings toward one another.  Every so often, however, we need a day trip.

Last week we went here:

Luther Marsh is part of the Grand River Conservation Authority.   The Marsh boasts numerous trails, sight-seeing towers and a host of wildlife.  Birds abound and the air is filled with song.  There's a lake:

The dog just couldn't resist...

We saw frogs, fish, hundreds of birds and a host of insects who obligingly stayed very still to have their pictures taken.


There were scores of these little guys:

And this pretty little thing just begged to have its picture taken:

Unfortunately, there has been so much rain lately that the Marsh proved too...well, marshy to navigate.  The trail we were following had deep muddy sections that soon proved impassable.  We will need to plan another visit after a dry spell.



Next time I'll talk about something I've notice about my reading habits...

I write like...

There's been lots going on with the kids and I am actually getting a bit of writing done on the second Loremaster book, but I stumbled across something fun I'd like to share.

I found this website - I Write Like

The site makes this claim:

Check which famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of the famous writers.


Now, I don't know what research, if any, has gone into this analytical engine.  I took a goodly hunk of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother and plugged it into the engine.  It told me Cory Doctorow writes like David Foster Wallace.


Oddly enough, much of my work, when placed in I Write Like's analyzer, comes back with the same result.  


Different writing yields different results:


Herne  is apparently written like H.P. Lovecraft


From My Father`s Hands compares to Margaret Mitchell 


Sweet Jesus - Pact reads like Margaret Atwood


The beginning of Loremaster looks like Dan Brown and the end, according to the analysis, reads like Shakespeare. 


The Witch  looks like David Foster Wallace
As does The Platinum Ticket, Just Business, The Rat Dog and Root of Evil.


I've never read any David Foster Wallace - looks like I might have to.  


I'll say one thing, he has a great first name...

Paris in the Summertime - and snakes, too!

Having the kids out of school is challenging, exhausting and deeply, deeply satisfying.  Since last post we travelled on a day trip to Paris(Ontario, that is).

This is the Grand River (the same river that runs in front of our house) as seen from downtown Paris.

This memorial park is nestled in the middle of Paris.  The ball atop the pyramid spouts water in a never-ending cascade.  Gotta love any park with a water feature.

I'm also a sucker for libraries - especially stately ones like this:

Speaking of libraries, our own stately library in Fergus kicked off the summer with a display at our local Legion.  It was part of a summer library program sponsored by TD Canada Trust that actively encourages summer learning.  What was on display at the Legion?

Snakes!   Lots of snakes.  Here, the kids hold a very heavy Boa.

Next, my son makes friends with Ontario's largest snake, the Black Rat Snake.

It seemed only fair that my daughter make her acquaintance as well.

The favourite was, of course, the Boa.  She was tremendous and lovely.  She was a kind of "rescue snake" who had been overfed by the previous owner.  Apparently the Boa has been on a diet - she hasn't eaten since Christmas.  

Gotta love the local library.