Almost the end of summer...

This past weekend was a busy one as I headed home for a long weekend at my parent’s place. Much of my Saturday was spent driving to and from the university as well as the Toronto airport. My father has had a visiting research in town for much of the summer and I offered to drive him to the airport. On the way back, we stopped in at Whole Foods and I was able to restock on some Earl Gray Nourish Tea. The highlight of Sunday was heading over to a local dairy to have one last peach sundae as there are hints of fall in the air. In keeping with tradition, G, had his own peach sundae minus the whipped cream and nuts. He normally would have been a couple of times this summer but the car was always full with the foreign guest. On Monday, we headed south-west to Long Point Provincial Park on the shore of Lake Erie. My family camped there was we were young kids and it was great to get back there for a day trip. On the horizon, I’m looking forward to a couple of trips to the US in the fall.

The Beach

Today, I noticed that the beach along my daily bike commute looked different. It looked unkempt. The groundsman hadn't leveled or smoothed the sand. The buoys were absent from the Ottawa River and the life guard towers were no longer within inches of the Ottawa River. After a closer look the flag pole no longer flew a red or green flag. The nearby restaurant on the beach had shuttered for another season. The swimming season was coming to an end. All that was left, as I took a last glance was an old geezer wanding the beach with his metal detector in search for some sunken treasure. Futher along the path, the trees were starting to show the first hints of fall as there were specks of red in the leaves.

Swing dancing floors

Over the weekend while swing dancing, I experienced a new type of dance floor, a homemade one made out of particle board and a 2x4 studs. The venue was along the Ottawa River at Britannia Park which is close to where I live. The forecast for the weekend was a 60% chance of thunderstorms so the organizers opted to hold the dancing under a tent and to build an impromptu dance floor which was bouncy in some places and stiff as a board in others. Midway through the afternoon Alaina, one of the local dance instructors, came out with a 10lb bag of corn meal and poured it all of the dance floor. The floor suddenly became very slippery which made for a new dancing experience. There was a side benefits as little kids saw the corn meal as a play toy and made piles and figures out of it while their parents were dancing nearby. This got me thinking about the other two dance floors that I regularly dance on. The Ottawa Swing dance society moved in the spring to a social hall attached to an old church which has a sprung floor. I really like the floor as it hall a nice give. OSDS's previous home was a community centre which had a parquet which sat on a cement pad which was hard on your back and knees after a while. I wondering what other dance floors are out there.

The Beach

Every day, I cycle by the Westboro beach twice, once in the morning and on the way home after work. Some days I catch the groundsman cutting the grass, usually on Monday. I can usually tell if I can running early or late based on whether the beach has been raked and smoothed. If I'm lucky, I'll catch the groundsman, in action, dragging the rake behind his tractor. It has been so wet this summer that I haven't been able to enjoy the beach first hand. As I write this entry, I'm sitting at the beach for the second time in two days as the hot summer days have finally arrived in Ottawa. People are coming and going with some carrying a once burdensome cooler back to the car that has been sitting in the sun for too long. It's so hot that there are the same number of people in the water as lazying on the beach. The two lifeguard are sitting up in their chairs with water cans ready for deployment at the first cry of urgency. On top, cyclist, roller bladers and joggers trundle by in the unbearable heat. Close to the shore children are building sandcastles under the watchful eye of their parents. The lifeguards finish another shift and head to the portable shelter to gain some relief and his replacement reluctantly leave his oasis . Slowly, the sun descends towards the horizon and the children and parents take a final swim before packing up for the day. Soon the beach will be deserted and the lifeguards will announce that another day has come to an end. The sun finally dips below the horizon and a marvelous sunset graces the Ottawa River. It is dark. Another day await the groundsman as a new day will break soon.

Happy Birthday Wordabble

Today, I achieved two goals one of which was expected and the other a surprise. 365 days ago I played my first game of Wordabble which is a word game that Jason Lancaster and Adam Douglass released a year ago for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. I've played every day and enjoyed the 300 word games almost as much as the games when there are fewer than 100 words to find in the 5x5 grid. There is one mystery I discovered today that I have been waiting for quite some time and that is, what happens when you find all the words. Today was my chance when there were only 19 words to find. I can say with a smile that it was worth waiting 365 days to see what was behind the magic curtain. Over the past year, I have earned281,268 points with an average score of 771 points per game and in theory played for 56 hours which I think underestimates the actual time. I close by thanking Jason and Adam for a year of challenging fun.

Ottawa -- July -- Record rainfall

One of the things I like about Ottawa are its weather extremes. In the winter we get a lot of snow and cool temperatures (-13F/-25C). During the summer months it gets hot and sticky (93F/34C). This July has been different as we have just set a record for rainfall (234mm/9.21 inches) surpassing a record set in 2002. The meterologist mentioned on the radio this morning that we had rain on 24 days this month. This is in contrast to a "normal" July when our average temperature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa) is (80F/26.5C) and the grass should be yellow, dead and straw-like and not a lush green that it currently is. During a wicked rain storm earlier this week we saw our first "snow" in July. A quick check with google said that there are only two months on record when it hasn't snowed in Ottawa. The wet weather has made the daily bicycle commute challenging as I was constantly dodging puddles. I'm hopefully that we will have a "normal" August with long, hot and dry days.

Almost Wordabble's first birthday

In 15 days or so Wordabble with celebrate its first anniversary of operation. It is hard to believe that 349 days ago Jason sent me an email at 11:30 pm to say that he and Adam's game was available for sale on the iTunes Appstore. With 30 minutes to go it would be a hard challenge to beat either Adam's or Jason's score for the day. I can say with a smile on my face, that I have enjoyed all the games that I have played. I've enjoyed the 300 words games as much as the frustrating ones where you have to find under 50 words (Argh!). Over the year, I have learned many news words and probably used the familar ones too often. I've also used Wordabble as a way of testing my mental acuity each day. There is still one challenge that I have to overcome and that is to discover what happens when you locate all the words. I know that something mysterious or magical happening but I'll have to keep playing to find out. I'll close out this blog by thanking Jason and Adam for almost a year's worth of daily challenges.