Thursday, 4 April 2013

D as in DETRITUS (A-Z Challenge)

Detritus. A nice way of saying debris, waste, garbage. But there it is.


I Would as Leaf See Something Else

We have a lot of trees in River City. Big stately elms, providing wonderful shade in the summer. So far we've been able to keep the threat of Dutch Elm Disease under control.

When autumn comes, the leaves turn from green to brown, and fall all over peoples' lawns. And the get raked up and put in peoples' composters, or tossed in the garbage (boo, hiss). 

But lots of leaves fall on the city's roads and boulevards, and are raked up by nobody. So lots of them end up on the streets under the snow, and in spring become detritus. And cause problems.




Sometimes, despite the leaf detritus, a drain gets open, to let the water get away in the spring. And sometimes not.


Not crossing at this corner!

Dealing with Snirt

Our city is a "winter city," meaning we have winter at least four months a year, and sometimes six. Temperatures are often -20°C (that's -4F), which is a fresh, brisk, and bracing day. But sometimes -40C (or -40F, so it's the same), and things do feel  bit chilly. Time to put an extra sweater on your body, and an extra dog on the bed at night.

Since we're a winter city, and people need to get around amidst the snow, much salt and gravel are applied to the roads. As spring approaches, city crews start the cleanup process, there are huge piles of snirt (snow + dirt).





But with temperatures scheduled to stay below freezing the rest of the week, this snirt isn't going to disappear any time soon. And sone people may get into a snit.

Thus we shall suffer through our detritus for a while longer.

Sigh!

D is also for desire, dull, destitute, diluted, and Dene (and Dakota, too).

Blessings and Bear hugs, folks

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

C as in COFFEE — which most assuredly is not the same as TOFFEE (A-Z Challenge)



COFFEE AND TOFFEE

Coffee
is not
Toffee.

Toffee is
sticky sweet
and melts in your 
mouth,
without pulling out
any fillings.
(Lost fillings would be
yucky!)
Then it rolls 
round your tongue
and slides
down your throat.

Yum!

Coffee is
black and bitter.
Adding sugar,
or milk,
or milk and sugar,
really doesn't help,
though some claim it does.
(That's yucky!)
And coffee can
upset your tummy.
(Also yucky!)

Ug!

Sadly, 
I don't have
any Toffee.

But I do have
some hunny*
So I'll have hunny
with a scone.

And tea**!

____________________________


* Hunny is spelled that way by Bears; Humans spell it "honey," but I don't know why. 

** "Monks' Blend" is a delightful tea. Black, but not overly strong.



Do you prefer coffee or tea? Is there a particular blend you like? If not, what do you drink?

Addendum

This year in the A-Z Challenge, it has been suggested that we try to stick with a theme. Seeing as I  am very suggestible, I'm going to try that. I haven't announced my theme yet, so I had better do so. My theme is "What you might experience if you encountered a 'wondrously peculiar' Bear." Simple enough?

C is also for cranium, cattle, crane, complicated, and Cree. 

Blessings and Bear hugs, folks.