Autumn has crept into Halifax and I’ve been caught up in the enchantment of this season. Nothing explodes in cries of romance quite like the crisp air and changing leaves. The crunching of the dry ones beneath my feet thrills me and the orange edges seeping onto the trees has me seduced. Take me to the woods!

It wasn’t autumnal seduction that kept me from you, web-bound lovers, I swear. Work for 12 of 14 days has left me little time beyond errands, upkeep and some socialization. Spending time with fantastic people, primarily my roommates and Gwen, has been a blessing. Dripping blood from gashes caused by my cat has been painfully not. I haven’t forgotten you, but I’m still sorry for my absense.

I’m a big fan of open WiFi for many reasons. It was a godsend in the time when I did not have an internet connection at home and should increasingly make our lives more convenient as it becomes more prevalent. FON is one promising global project for sharing WiFi connections; it allows for both private and controlled public access and offers $5 routers through a fair subsidisation program (non-members can pay for day passes on the network). It may not be wifi blimps or a Google WiFi mesh, but it’s a program I fully intend to take part in.

I’ve been meaning to mention Everfree, the latest book by Nick Sagan that I read before the 50 Mile Yard Sale weekend. Part of a trilogy with Idlewild and Edenborn, it’s masterful post-apocalyptic sci-fi that explores approaches to rebuilding civilization through a completely engaging and exciting story. It’s the first sci-fi book I’ve read this year that I was deeply impressed by.
I was struck by the prevalence of quadrant-centric (see AQAL) approaches to creating utopias, whether it was drugging a populace (upper right) or creating social directives (lower left), as well as a number of other dynamics that I’ve been especially interested in. I appreciated his recognition of the fragmentation partial answers bring, though would have liked to have read a broader understanding. I believe we need more writers sneaking some of these problems of partial solutions into our awareness, and Sagan seems to be especially good at this.

When I have some free time I’m hoping to get to work on some crafting. I have a t-shirt blanket and a collaged suitcase planned, both proper nomad items. Do any of you have suggestions for things I could make that would match my wanderlusting heart?

I had a wonderful weekend of yard saling with a bunch of my friends along the 50 Mile Yard Sale route in the Musquodoboit Valley and visiting my parents at the end of the route. Jana, April, Gwen, Pam, Chris, Allison, Andrew, Nathan and I all piled into a van and an SUV for the adventure and played musical chairs for much of the two days. And aside from a spat over a hamster and Nathan annoying us with his new keyboard, everyone got along marvelously, which was heartening.
In the late afternoon, after a day of hopping from one yard sale to the next, we arrived at my parents’ home in Dean. I introduced my friends to them and many volunteered to shell peas as it had been a day of harvest in the garden. My mother had made us all a delicious dinner with other fresh vegetables, so we soon all chowed down on that, which was the start of everyone falling in love with my parents.
After dinner we all explored outside for a while, with Andrew climbing a tree, before I got the notion that some of us should go biking. We filled tires, put on helmets and soon Nathan, Jana, Allison and I were hurtling toward a back road. Nathan, being the wuss he is, gave up as we reached that road, but the remaining three of us went for a fair way before turning back.
When we returned we headed out for a campfire, complete with roasting marshmellows, dogs and apples. I hadn’t been at one for a long while, so that was one of the highlights for me, though being home in general was very nice. Oh, I must recommend roasted marshmellows and chocolate sauce if you are ever without the pieces needed to make smores.
After watching Buckaroo Bonzai for a healthy dose of campy sci fi, everyone went to bed. It was an odd arrangement, with all of us arrayed in the basement, and there was some odd movement. Chris ended up going upstairs to the living room to sleep because Andrew was snooring. Then Andrew and Allison went up there because Pam was breathing like Darth Vader. Chris, of course, returned downstairs.

At five in the morning I found myself unable to return to sleep so I let Gwen know I was going for a walk and left the bed. In the light of the moon and intermittent street lights, I made my way through Dean, the community where I grew up. There was a naked quality to the homes and land, as though lesser light let me see them with clarity.
I continued my trek by turning off onto a road that leads up Lemmon Hill, a place settled originally by my family. Today my family has blueberry fields and maple woods there. I walked the road into mists and saw to my left the cemetery where my grandparents are buried and recalled the warmth of their presence as I passed. There’s no way to ignore my history when I step through that land that formed me early on.
Eventually I made my way to the sports association and spent some time in contemplation on the bleachers, on a swing and on a merry-go-round. In the quiet I greeted the morning light before returning to my parents’ home at seven.

When everyone had gotten up, Gwen and my mother prepared breakfast for everyone. Because we’re a maple family, we had pancakes with Lemmons’ Maple Syrup, the finest syrup that can be had.
Soon we were on the road again, hitting yard sales as we went. Later we stopped at Mastadon Ridge in Stewiacke before dropping by April’s sister’s place in Enfield.
My spoils from the weekend were two monster speakers, a string of amethyst and hematite, a suitcase and a few other small items.

My friends also have shared their thoughts and photos of the weekend, so do take a look at the accounts of Nathan, the happy Casio boy; Pam, the hamster lass; and Jana, my badass biker roommate.

I’ve moved into my fantastic new apartment and have nearly unpacked everything that needs unpacking. I couldn’t be happier with my new place, really. My bedroom has a large loft that I really enjoy. I can’t help but think of Ken‘s infamous loft whenever I’m talking about it. The living room has high ceilings that give it impressive accoustics to match the view the skylights grant. I have two fantastic roommates and Gwen visits often, so in a social aspect it’s a very pleasing place to live. I’ll try to have some photos to share later this week once we have internet access at the apartment.

Before moving into the new place on September 1st, I spent a day hanging out with Sara, April, Pam, Robin, Shauna, Allison, Andrew and Chris for Sara’s birthday. Most of us had a nice outing to Point Pleasant Park, where we toured the Montebello Tower. At the tower a government-employed guide went off about how much he doesn’t trust or need the government for a long while. We then visited the beach before meeting up with Chris, Andrew and Allison for a visit to a coffee shop. We took a bunch of photos during our adventures, and you can find them in the Sara’s Birthday album.

I’ve been reading The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature for the past couple days and have been enjoying it a great deal. Loren Eiseley wrote in a manner that brought evolution and related studies to life as an enjoyable read rather than the dryness many treatments of naturalism and evolution carry. I was heartened to find such a creative voice and even more so to share in his love of the Mystery, however limited the scope of inquiry. Though dated, it’s a compelling and worthy look at evolution, including some comical early interpretations of it.

What happens when the web and its wonders invade your alarm clock? Chumby.

It’s based on open source software, will allow anyone to develop widgets for it and be very easy to mod. It looks like it will be the next big thing in the gadget world. The potential for the little piece of tech looks immense. Last week I discovered the gadget and ever since I’ve been itching to try one out.