What's going on - Jan. 5

• I'm baaaaaack! I know you missed me. I spent a lovely week or so at the farm, avoiding the frosty outdoors as much as possible. I did, however, make time for some reading, in between watching disaster coverage (for a wonderfully pointed review of Canada's response, read the lovely words of Rex Murphy. The man knows how to write - it's always such a pleasure to read his columns or watch him commentate on the CBC). A brief sampling: "It is an axiom of this world that the worst things happen in the poorest places to people in the weakest circumstances."
• A wonderful book that took me away from tragedy in the last few weeks: American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Brilliant premise, sparse, compelling narration, a real treat. Read the review at Amazon.
• One of my resolutions this year was to start a dream journal. Those of you who know me know that my dreams are oft-bizarre concoctions that stick with me for years (my high school friends might remember the weird dream of the double-amputee gopher, tooling down the highway in a mini wheelchair). I've not yet decided if I'll post the journal here, or create a separate blog to house them. Time will tell...
• Had lunch with a colleague and found myself tripping over my old-fashioned notions. Her husband has taken time off to raise their new-born son, as he did when their daughter was born. In this case, she took only a short leave, to coordinate with the maternity leave of another member of her team. I found myself listening to stories about how her husband spends his time and caught myself wanting to ask what her contribution to the new child was. What a bizarre notion - I fully support parental leave, and think the world might be a different/better/more interesting place if more men decided to take on early parental responsibilities. Yet, when faced with this very plan in action, seeing that it works very well for both of them, I found myself surprised and almost disappointed in her willingness to step away from the hands-on parenting of the first year. This, when many moms I know couldn't wait to return to the workforce - sure, they were guilty being away from their babies, but they were going nuts at home with no one to talk to, decreased family income, and expectations that they'd suddenly turn into Martha Stewart. I guess the lesson for me here was that I should dust off my ideals a bit more frequently, so they aren't so rusty when I see them in action.