July 19, 2010 (first observation is that the formatting for my entry does not want to work correctly and my text reads like one long paragraph - but in my attempt to keep life simpler I am not going to fiddle with it today so sorry about that and just remember to take a breath periodically as you read the long not intended to be one only paragraph) - I just had the opportunity to spend a few days at Landlocked Cottage as a debriefing unwinding stop on my way to the next few weeks of a rare writing opportunity (you can read more about that if interested at my writers-blog link on the side of this blog). Stepping away from life, even if it is for a few short days, is the best remedy for a fresh new perspective on things you see day after day and don’t stop to notice. In my quest to slow down my life I am vowing to make an effort to be more observational and purposely made a point of deciding to pay attention to the moment starting the second I switched off my work brain and went to getaway mode. An enlightening experience and I suggest you try.. Here is what I observed from my new perspective: Day one! Notes from the journey: -Perspective is sometimes the only thing going for the scenery on a wide-open prairie drive – that is when you can find something taller than the ground to squint into perspective. -One is always generically notified of a generic impending generic small prairie town with the GENERIC sign “ICECREAM & FIREWORKS ahead” -With the Ipod shuffling I enjoyed the synchronicity of the open road prairie isolated setting in full sunshine and sunroof bared accompanied by the back to back great tunes of America’s Horse With No Name followed by Doobie Brother’s Blackwater and then much to my horror at full blast came Bob Dylan belching his guttural attempt at Dreaming of a White Christmas – scary (thanks to my son for loading that alarmingly dylan’ish festive set to my itunes last Christmas) -Song while pulling up at home at the end of the last workday – just before shutting off the engine – shuffle brought me – “The Last Worthless Evening” -Songs while leaving town on the long and alone journey … in a row (on shuffle Leaving on a Jet Plane, Hold On, I feel the Earth Move, Start all Over– and Ice Cream -I was reminded of the prairie-esque savvy of recycle long before it was vogue as I caught a glimpse (actually tried to put it in perspective) of a lovely claw foot tub re-purposed as a horse trough! -I saw a MOOSE!!! On my sunrise drive – 5 a.m. departure in rural Saskatchewan and did not see one car or one sign of life for ages and then out of the blue while passing through a tiny town – there it was in a yard just off to the left of me – standing there looking HUGE and was bent over and looking into the window of a pickup truck parked in a yard! (I did observe he was way taller than my VW beetle – yikes!) -I observed that the excessive ratio of Blue Rodeo tunes on my ipod to non-Blue-Rodeo tunes is seriously out of balance to the point that they shuffle up about every third or fourth song and made a mental note to attempt to help my ipod live a more balanced existence in the future -On a purely reflective note I always melt when Blue Rodeo’s ‘dark angel’ shows up on the play list …