I'm in a very dark night at this time, after the ebullience and optimism of Valentine's Day. My heart is wounded and I wonder how to cope. Then I saw this photo from "my" beach in Seaside near Monterey, CA, with the weather-beaten wooden cross and the beautiful sunset, and some kind of eerie spot on the photo. A spot on the lens? The Moon? What is that spot?

I love someone who seems unable to relax into the love. This is hurting us both, and I am beside myself with sorrow today.

A dark night

Another silly, happy cousins photo of me and Laurie. These fezzes (great word!) belonged to our grandfather, whom neither of us met. He died before we were born. We enjoyed wearing these and being together, as always.

Cousins together in January...I had such a relaxing, fun time with my dear cousin "sis" Laurie on my visit that I forgot to blog about it. We bring out the best in each other. Here we are just before getting on the road to the airport to return home. I love Laurie's expressions!

Can you see our family resemblance? I think you could hear it, if you heard us laughing together!

Sometimes my boyfriend does this little dance I like to call his "rodent dance." It's one of the silliest, cutest things I've ever seen. Of course I'm utterly besotted with him at the moment so everything he does makes me smile. But trust me, it's cute!

Thus, for me even the word "rodent" has taken on a romantic, silly feel to it. So today I was in a silly, lonesome mood and google'd "Rodent Dance" and this is what came up. It's a set of instructions for keeping your rodent happy. I believe it was written by a British schoolteacher of elementary school kids, some of whom are learning to care for their pet rodent at home.

Well, I may be one silly Valentine's girl, but to me, this could easily apply to your rodent boyfriend. So, what follows may be read as "Things to keep your boyfriend happy". Enjoy, Ladies!





Things to keep your rodent happy

Make your Rodent's life wonderful with our great tips!

When you first get a rodent it might wriggle around a lot. Don't worry. That is only because it may not have been handled before.

Sing to your rodent.

Exercise your rodent by building an assault course.

Read poems to your rodent.

Share a book with your rodent.

Put some music on for you and your rodent to dance to.

Share your salad with your rodent.

Find a suitable video for your quiet night in, The Rescuers Down Under is popular.

Take your rodent on walks around the house.

Remember to feed your rodent healthy food.

Never let your cat near your rodent because you don't want a cat to have your rodent as a tasty treat!

Get your rodent to model for some pics.

Clean out your rodents cage reguarly or it might end up smelly.

Let your rodent watch a television programme.

Listen to the radio with your rodent.

Create a special game for your rodent to play.

Train your rodent to do tricks.

Give your rodent plenty of treats.

Put tubes in your rodents cage (If it is a Gerbil, toilet roll tubes are good. If a guinea-pig, ones from pet shops are best.)

When you get out your rodent, stand still with it and stroke it for a bit so it calms down.

Draw pictures of your rodents.

Switch off the T.V. and play with your rodent instead.

Basically just sit back and relax with your rodent!!

Do something surprising this Valentine's Day.

I'm going to pull off a VERY big surprise for my sweetheart. He has no idea what's in store for him. I can't wait!

Some more relaxed moments from the Vancouver weekend...

Images of our family, gathered in Vancouver this weekend for the world premiere of "I Send Only Angels," an orchestral work by my cousin Marcus Goddard. The Vancouver Symphony performed the piece on Saturday night and again on Monday night. It was a huge success. We had an energetic congratulations party after Saturday night's concert. These photos are from the party. I love that we all dressed in the same color scheme without planning it!

My wonderful friend Pam and I in front of the Inukshuk sculpture this weekend in Vancouver, B.C.