A Small World

Dating Laurie was my introduction to a world very different from the one I’d grown up to. I was a good eighteen inches taller than her, so to me she seemed quite small, and lived what I assumed to be a life typical of most small people. She drove a small car. She lived in a small house. But the thing that struck me most was her kitchen: the top shelves of the cupboards were all empty! She couldn’t reach them, so she didn’t use them. If I was small, I think I’d at least buy myself a little ladder.

Thrushed with Pride

Our English relatives often send us greeting cards with pictures of robins. The English robin is a much smaller bird than our Canadian variety, ours being more of a thrush. The birds are indicative of the general size differences between our countries. Houses, tomatoes, cars, roads and pop cans all are larger over here. There’s something precious about their diminutive bottles of dish washing liquid and tiny toothpaste tubes. I might also say that Canadians are fatter but from what I’ve witnessed it’s a close race. It could be because pints of beer and chocolate bars are the same size.

Good Omens

I am pretty sure I saw a robin yesterday. It was across the back laneway, but I swear I could see the red breast. It flew off, landing in another tree where its round-belly silhouette looked right for a robin. The earliest I have seen a robin. And it was in a tree. Rachel Curry, our cleaning lady when I was a kid always said it was good luck if the first robin seen in spring was in a tree. Yes, I am positive it was a robin. Or maybe I am just desperate for any sign of good luck.