Word On The Street

I woke up today to the sound of thundering rain pounding on the roof.  It was one of those days where I wanted to pull the covers up nice and snug around my neck and either go back to sleep, or at the very least, lie there contemplating sleep while wiggling my toes in a carefree-don’t-have-to-if-I-don’t-want-to way.  But neither of these options where available to me. 

Number one, because we have two dogs.  One of them we’ve had for three years and is quite well-trained and will only spray urine all over place only if he hasn’t seen somebody for a great long while and feels the need to greet them in a way that will make them feel very privileged to be singled out for this special honor.  Obviously this is his ploy to make them hurry back.  Hmmm…It doesn’t seem to be having the desired effect however.  But now at least we know how he operates, so whenever his very favorite guests, John for example, is a couple of minutes away, he gets on his Blackberry, calls us, and Scooter is sent outside to empty whatever remains in his tiny bladder.  Molly, however is the unknown.  She is a rescue dog we picked up two months ago, and although we’ve been doing pretty well with her training, (Only had her evil way with the carpets 4 times, and the last one was almost, fingers crossed, a month ago.)  I haven’t yet, had the courage to tempt fate and have a nice lie-in.  So that was the first reason I had to get up.  To take the dogs outside for their morning salutations.
The second reason I had to get up was…well, I wish I could say the excitement of the day made me leap out of bed, singing Hosannas, but the fact of the matter is…Word on The Street, in a torrential downpour and wind whipped streets, is no one’s idea of a good time on a Sunday morning when one could be drinking hot cocoa and devouring a good book by a roaring fire.

Well, we went, as did all the other hearty souls who had signed up and volunteered to show up.  The librarians were there with their signs and petitions in the soaking rain, and I have to say, the city better resolve this soon, because what is going on is really not fair!  Not to mention, I grew up in libraries.  How are little kids whose parents can’t afford to buy tons of books suppose to fill their imaginations and hearts if the libraries are shut?

Don and I wandered around in the rain, stopping to chat with the stalwart few who were wet and cold to the bone, trying to keep the rain that was whipping around off of the books, a few depressed balloons in bright colours hung limply from their strings.  I had a good time, but I got to leave when I was done, unlike the volunteers, booksellers and publishers and striking library staff who were committed to be there until 5:30 tonight!  I read.  It was fun.  A tent full of interesting upturned faces.  I was so relieved that my tent wasn’t one of the empty ones with only a couple of bottoms plopped down in the seats.  So thank you to all of you who braved the weather and showed up! 

On the way home we stopped at the market and I got the fixings for a pot roast, because that’s the kind of food one needs when the cold and wet gets all the way into the marrow of one’s bones.  Something hot and savory, cooked with red wine, fresh spices and chunks of vegetable.  And I think I’ll make some Orzo too.  That little tiny Italian pasta that’s almost the size of rice. Cook it up with a little butter, fresh grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper for flavor.  I’ve got the pot roast on right now and it’s just got to the point where the flavors and smells have made their way to my writing room.  Yum!  You know what?  Now that I’m nice and warm in my comfy home, with a delicious dinner cooking on the stove, I’m happy I had to get out in the elements.  My body has that tingly feeling that it gets when I’ve been outside and start to warm up, and not only that, if I hadn’t gotten wet and cold…who knows what we would have ending up eating for dinner?

Oh, and K.C Dyer sent me an email this morning telling me that Porcupine was an Editor’s Choice in the Vancouver Sun!  A recommended title!  Yay!

Posted by Meg Tilly on Sunday, September 30, 2007 in Chewing the Fat