November 1st: Time

1. The time changed in the wee hours of the morning, falling back by one hour. It is now not quite as late on the clock as it was at this point yesterday and I still have an extra hour to finish up the things I want to do. It would be wonderful if we could somehow gain an extra hour each and every day of the year. I have four yards of bark mulch being delivered tomorrow and have to get it hauled and in place in case Mother Nature plays a joke with a sudden cold spell, freezing the bark mulch into unmanageable lumps at the top of the driveway! And with an extra hour each day, I would certainly do a better job at getting seven days book loans returned to the library without fines.

2. It is interesting to think about the fact that this time next year, there will be another person in our midst whose name we don't yet know and whose face we have not yet seen. And this little person will quickly become part of the fabric of our lives.

3. Fred pointed out on Saturday that he has been cutting my hair for almost twenty years. He doesn't look much older.

4. The government did an excellent job of creating a heightened, if not exaggerated awareness of swine flu but may not deliver the vaccine in time to spare many people the illness. They now have a somewhat fearful population and after a great deal of bravado at press conferences, they pooped out on their assurance that Canada would be a country that could provide, and distribute efficiently, a vaccine for every citizen in fairly short order. I think we need to tamp down the axiety levels and look at better ways to coordinate services.

5. An RCMP officer, across the county line in Boutlier's Point, swears he saw a cougar recently near the community mailboxes. I may spend less time in the woods collecting evergreens before Christmas this year.