two trouts swim free, with the spirit of another in their hearts

I had a sad return home to the South Cariboo last week, when I visited my out n’ about trout only to find him badly battered... He’s definitely hurt, but somehow still swimming. I don’t know who wanted to harm my sweet, little, water-treading friend, but their malice definitely put a bit of sadness in my heart. Perhaps, one day, I will bring some media and fix him up, but for now I am mourning.So, it was a welcome treat to have two friends send me e-mails this week that had my trout’s brothers swimming far, wide and FREE. Live on with the memory of your sibling my little ones! First to cheer me up was Marcus Jackson (aka @luckyjackpress) of Yellowknife, NT who wrote a charming little note about his trout habitat site selection.  ”Hi Jess! I finally put this little guy up on a bright blue post at the museum to help direct the traffic! There is a lot of vandalism in Yellowknife so  I wanted to make sure he’d be someplace safe. The dumpster across the parking lot is covered with spray painted ravens so he has company but they can’t eat him!” Rad. May he swim on forever, leading people towards discovery and knowledge at the museum. The second is my robotic friend Ezerd (aka @ezerd) from New York. She found a lovely spot for her fishy friend that allows him to be quite camouflaged. Here’s what she had to say “Hey hey! I got ya trout right he-a… This is a section of uptown kingston known for its graffiti. I like how the trout is subtle. You can’t see it until you get pretty close to it. Sneaky trout. Yeah yeah. Love love.” Fabulous! If you would like to see more photos of trout, swimming in public places all around the world, please visit the original post out n’ about trout which has links to all 25 participating artists fishies (including the original, gorgeous state of my poor little trout).

harper & row’s complete field guides

Larry Rode (the morning show DJ who works with my beau at the Wolf 840AM) is hands down the coolest guy we’ve met here in the Cariboo. He has a warm heart, has mastered the art of good conversation and often burns CDs for us on our weekends. So, when he recently gifted me two incredible books this past week, I wasn’t totally shocked by his generosity… it’s in his nature. Larry is cleaning house and has decided that if he hasn’t touched or used a book in over a year, then he’d look for the right owner to give these “untouched” books to. I think he found the perfect candidate for these two beauties because I was seriously over the moon when John brought them home for me. Honestly I don’t think Larry understands how much these kind of volumes mean to me! Two editions of Harper & Row’s Complete Field Guides to North American Wildlife: one that chronicles wildlife of the west, the other of the east. The information in them is quite diverse, especially in comparison to some of the other bird/animal information/reference texts that are already sitting on my bookshelf. In the Harper & Row’s guides there’s much more about sizing, tracks, calls, diet and habitat. Apart from being super informative, the illustration plates in these volumes are simply GORGEOUS! I could seriously oogle at these Audubon-style images all day. I thought I’d share a few for your viewing pleasure. These volumes are a great source of information and inspiration! Tons of gratitude goes out to this generous man who has made me my beau and I feel welcome and appreciated in the South Cariboo. Thanks again Larry!!!