Books and Ducks
First of all I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my last post. It’s nice to know that so many people not only popped by to read my blog, but also took the time leave a kind message wishing us well.
Kelly and I celebrated our anniversary by going out for a very nice dinner on Friday night. We went to a restaurant called per Bacco. You can view the menu here. The atmosphere was great, the service was wonderful and the food was fantastic. I think just about the only complaint we might have is that the tables are a bit wide so we felt we were seated too far apart. But that’s not even really a complaint, more of an observation.
On the drive home I commented that I felt blessed to have the life that I do. That we are able to afford evenings like that, that we have a warm home and bed to return to, that we live in a country where food and water and all the necessities of life are easily available, and that we are fortunate enough to be able to afford them. The thought was triggered by some people that I watched passing by the restaurant while we were dinning. The sidewalk was not too far outside our window, and a few couples made their way up the street as we dined. One couple, quite young, looked as though they were a fair bit less fortunate, and an evening such as the one we were having was likely well out of their reach. I don’t really know that for a fact, it’s just an assumption. But I felt guilty nonetheless. Briefly, sure, but I did. And I avoided eye contact when it seemed like the young woman was turning to look in.
Some of what I was feeling might have also been triggered by the book I have just started reading. World Made By Hand, by James Howard Kunstler. The story is sure to make anyone appreciate all that we have and take for granted. I’m not going say much more about it just yet, other than to tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying it. (Thanks Olivia!)
Having said that, yes, the book came in!! In fact ALL the books came in. After all that nonsense Amazon was telling me and predicted delivery dates of late March to mid April to even farther than that for one of Kelly’s books, they are all here. I am pleased but somewhat frustrated too. How can they be so unaware of their own operation? One of Kelly’s books was supposedly out of stock and would not ship until at least 6 to 8 weeks from now. And yet, here it is. I’m starting to wonder if they don’t do it just so you get frustrated and split the order so they can charge you three times the shipping. But I doubt they are that smart. Anyway, no matter, they are here.
Last weekend Kelly mentioned that we had gone to Riverside Marina to see some of the ducks that had gathered there. I returned to the marina on Saturday and this time I brought my camera so that you could see the ducks too. Here are a couple picture I took. I am leaving one of them quite large so you can zoom in and see some detail. You will also notice some ice fishing going on in the background, despite the fact that it was above freezing that day.
AbitibiSouth 
I’m so glad you had a nice anniversary celebration, and that you like the book! I knew you would, and I’ll bet you can’t wait for Kelly to read it too. I was excited when she said she was going to read A Course In Miracles, but that is something more to be read bit by bit so perhaps she’ll have time to read it too and then you could discuss it. FUN!! Enjoy your reading and your week, Peace and love, O
Nice happy anniverary dinner…yes, always good to be appreciative of what we have, such abundance in this country of ours. (USA/Canada)
We do take so much for granted I think. I felt strongly this when I returned from a three month trip to Mexico when I was 19. I saw so much poverty there I felt guilty having a full refrigerator in my parents home upon returning.
Glad your books all arrived. Perhaps they just don’t want people to get their hopes up too high about arrival times…and perhaps more books came in sooner than expected to them. I have always had good luck buying at Amazon whether directly from them or from a used book source through them.
Oh, and ice fishing. Doesn’t one usually do this when it is freezing? I mean it has to be done on frozen ice. I did it once in MN. And it WAS FREEZING probably below zero. Those folks in your photo are awfully close to the water which would worry me about being on thin ice. I hope it did not melt while they were still fishing. Good photos!
Sylvain, I can tell you from my experience as a publisher that Amazon is, indeed, frustrating to deal with on that side of the transaction, too. Julia’s book is available from Amazon, and we are both publisher and distributor. So, Amazon contacts us to order books (more accurately, to ask that we send books to them to sell on consignment–they don’t give us a nickel until weeks after any books leave their warehouse headed for a consumer’s mailbox) and decides completely on their own what their status of our book will say. We always get the books to them within three days, yet the page for Julia’s book will say, “will be available in four to six weeks”.
Dealing with them is much like dealing with Walmart, in the sense that they are so big and sell so much product that the little person buying or selling in very small quantities is not going to attract much attention.
Sounds like you two enjoyed a wonderful evening of celebration! Julia and I both have birthdays in February, so we always go out to a nice place at least twice–we can each claim to have had a special birthday dinner. We ate at a very nice French place last Saturday, and we will enjoy a little bistro-like place Friday night of this week.
I just went back to check out the resturant. Wow the prices are pricy, but it looks beautiful. Perfect for your occasion. I’ll save my pennies for when we come. 😉