TSS: Synchronicity in writing

As you know, Gentle Reader, I have just started writing stories again.  I am working on one now, that features a ghost that haunts a china cabinet.  My heroine, the owner of the antique store where the cabinet is currently on sale, has just found a packet of letters stuck at the back of the bottom of the lowest drawer.  The letters date from the 1800's, and she is just starting to look for any family members.

On Friday, while on the bus on the way to work in the morning, I saw someone reading one of Ottawa's free newspapers, Metro News, and saw over their shoulder  this article: "Wallet Found Sixty Years Later Helps to Reunite family".  The wallet was found in an antique black cabinet in an antique store.  I've linked you to the original article.

  I've cut out the article to remind myself that
1) stories are all around us, and
2)  coincidences abound in our lives.  Jung called them synchronicity, when something happens that is similar in some way to something else we had done, but from a completely different source.    Like a confirmation from our  soul, Higher Spirit, the universe, however you want to name it, I think of it as the frisson of energy you get when  something occurs and it answers us in some way about something we had started to do - a yes to a decision made.  Here are various links to synchronicity: Jung's description, (and I like the example given here of the dream a patient had, and then the very rare beetle showing up the next day); a dictionary definition, which comes from Jung, who coined the term; and wikipedia, from which I love this partial explanation: "Jung believed that many experiences that are coincidences due to chance in terms of causality suggested the manifestation of parallel events or circumstances in terms of meaning, reflecting this governing dynamic."  This is because I've met people who have argued that synchronicity doesn't exist, or it's invented because we are looking for it, hence we find it.  I wasn't looking on Friday, I was just seeing what the bus rider's newspaper had, and there it was. I had started writing my story on Tuesday.

I think it's amazing.

Have you ever experienced synchronicity, Gentle Reader? 

I know, some of you might be saying, "but Susan, this happens all the time!  People are always finding letters not delivered from 70 years ago, etc. " That's not the point - yes, it does happen.  It's the connection, the proximity of one event to the other, that matters. The link I instantly felt.  It's like the universe is saying yes, I'm writing what I am supposed to be writing, right now.

and it links to something else I have been doing:
It helps very much that I am enjoying writing it, and having fun bringing in my love of history and research, especially Canadian history!  I am learning about Ottawa's history now, which is not something I've paid much attention to - I know bits and pieces, how Ottawa was once named Bytown because of Colonel By, who built the Rideau Canal from 1827-1832, which is the waterway which links Ottawa to Kingston.  I didn't know it was built to transport goods and soldiers along a defensible line because of the War of 1812 with the US. Here is a link to the wikipedia article on the Rideau Canal, with some lovely old artwork as well as what it looks like today in Ottawa.

 I found the sweetest, dearest old house right beside the National Gallery of Art, where I have spent one evening a week over the last month getting to know early (earliest) Canadian art.

                                      
This picture is by Cornelius Krieghoff, who painted from 1830 to the time of his death in 1872.  He painted mostly rural Quebec scenes, featuring Les Habitants, as the French were called right up until the 20th century.  The house I found on St Patrick St looks very similar to this one in the painting.( I happen to love this painting also. )  It turns out this house, Rochon House, is the oldest house in Ottawa (but not the oldest building, which is from 1827), and a heritage site.  It was built about 1830, so when I look at it, I think of my ancestors who arrived in London Ontario in 1832, and wonder if the house they built in the wilderness, a log cabin, was smaller than this one.  The best link I  can find so far for the house is from the Ottawa Historical Society, here. I can't find a photograph yet.

 I think it's a wonderful, exciting feeling when so many different things I am doing, are all fitting together like this.

What do you think, Gentle Reader? Have you had times like this in your life?

 I've added to my collection of various books I'm currently reading, Capital Walks:Walking Tours of Ottawa, by Katharine Fletcher.  I have to find her Historical Walks, so for now this is giving me a way to learn more about my city, both for myself and for my main character.

So what are you finding interesting today, Gentle Reader?  Have you had any coincidences in your life lately, any synchronicity that has thrilled or awed you?

updates and shout outs

I am so excited for Carl who got a wonderful shout out at Endicott Studios on their April 29 entry.....'My hat is off to the Stainless Steel Droppings blog, which just keeps getting better and better." Wow. Posted by Terri Windling herself. Congratulations, Carl, and well-deserved. He has had an amazing book week, and incredible posts, and is generally as enthusiastic and encouraging towards and about reading and books as you could ever hope to meet. He does so much to let the rest of us find the incredible fantasy art being done, as well hosting the Once Upon a Time and RIP challenges.

Also, in Ian Rankin's Exit Music (to be reviewed shortly), Ottawa was mentioned! Yes, my home city, was in an Ian Rankin novel! One of my favourite mystery writers! It has to do with a Russian poet, so my guess is we got a mention because we have an amazing Writer's Festival held here yearly now, and Mr Rankin came in 2004. I was supposed to go hear him read, with a friend, but she backed out, and as I was very very pregnant at the time, I didn't want to go out at night by myself, so I ended up missing him. To which I really regret, and vow next time he comes, I will be there! I did get to hear Kathy Reichs read from one of her mysteries the previous year, which was very enjoyable. So, Ottawa makes it on the literary map....

Finally, two updates: the new toilets have arrived. They are parked in each bathroom. We are now trying to book a plumber. One would think this would be easier, but it's not,and it's turning into an epic journey. One I would rather not experience! Next week sometime, maybe, they will actually be installed and working.....
And at work, we had our special team-meeting yesterday morning. We all have to work a 9-5 shift for three weeks during the summer. This is the shift I normally work, but can't because of Toby's new job. While everyone was very polite in the meeting, they were rather stunned. Everyone else works 7-3 or 7:30-3:30, so this is a radical change, and previously we could work the hours we wanted. However, we are Operations (code for providing a service to the public) so we have to have staff on during normal work hours. Anyway, two of them did complain, the third who wants to be supervisor next didn't say anything but has avoided me ever since, and the last one made a comment about making sure work (meaning my work, since the work I do has the information needed for the weekends) "should be done as much as possible before 3 pm", to which I'm still furious and am glad he is trying for a job in another department. Just another day at the office!!! But, I will say, my boss and assistant manager went out of their way to point out any new staff have to work the later hours too, that this is required by the department now (ie the directors have said so). They have done their best to accommodate me, and I can't ask for any more. Now I have to hope the buses co-operate and I get to both daycares in time each night!!! The Nanny Diaries didn't cover this aspect of child-rearing, then again, I don't have a nanny!

Happy reading! Hope you have a good book for the weekend! I can pick up The Hero with a Thousand Faces again because it's May - the Non-Fiction Five challenge starts now! - and I'm almost half-way through A History of Reading, and catching up on the stories I haven't read yet in Fragile Things. It's the weekend!

Storm pictures from last weekend

So.....some pictures from last weekend's snowstorm. From Friday evening until Sunday morning, we received 51 cm of snow. That's 20 inches of snow. If you look at my pant legs, you can see the snowline. Here, I am trying to shovel out the driveway. It took almost an hour to get from the front door (where the path is curving from) to the road. I did only the one shovel-width, because we don't drive so don't really need the whole driveway cleared, and I was sick of shovelling by then! My neighbor came and used his snowblower to clear our driveway, unexpectedly, so we got him some Canadian Tire gift certificates as a big thank you. My husband couldn't face shovelling either last Sunday, after having shovelled the Wednesday and Friday mornings before.
Current snow total 407 cm, = 160 inches = 13.3 feet of snow this winter so far.

We are now 33 cm short of equalling the record, the all-time snow record for Ottawa. We have had the odd flurry this week, but nothing major. Here's hoping that all snow will be worth a record, at least!!!
Oh, and Gatineau (the city in Quebec that lies right across the Ottawa river from us, we're like Minneapolis and St-Paul except Ottawa is in one province and Gatineau in another, and people work in one province and cross the river to work in the other, like me!) has decided to quit plowing sidewalks, instead pushing the snow over from the streets in an effort to make them wide enough for cars to go down. This means people have to walk on the road, because the sidewalks have more snow than my driveway after it was all over. Anyway, that is how bad the storm was. On Monday, most of Ottawa was slow to get moving as people continued to dig out, and the city had round-the-clock plowing of the main streets and transportation streets for the buses. None of the side streets were done until late Tuesday or even Wednesday. Luckily it was the beginning of March break for the primary schools, so many many people (and cars) stayed home for the day. I was one of them. Thankfully! Trying to get Graham to daycare through the snowbanks the buses would leave us at, just seemed too much that day. Actually, many bus stops are still not plowed, so for the extended buses, I have to keep remembering to get off at the front entrance, or I end up on the street with a narrow gap between the bus and snowbank. It's very dangerous, but the city has said it isn't going to remove the snowbanks beyond being able to board the bus, because the snow dumps are full now. I am so thankful that getting the kids around by stroller are done now, because I'm not sure I would have gotten through this winter (and or how many broken strollers we would have gone through!) otherwise.

It took until Thursday before Britannia Road's sidewalks were plowed! The main road in the picture is Britannia Road, Sunday afternoon. Barely room for two cars to pass. There is no parking on the streets at the moment. The snow plumes are people using their snowblowers to begin to dig out. And, to the left, the dip in snowbanks is where the sidewalk should be.......

In the first picture, somewhere to the right lies my garden. It has at least 5 feet of snow - in some places between 7-9 feet, I think - so it will be some time before I will getting into it!

So, that's my snow diary updated. On the good side, I've seen the male and female cardinal in our neighborhood again, and today - it is almost 0 celsius, so it feels like spring could be creeping in slowly!! I wore a sweater and fleece vest when I went grocery shopping this morning instead of my winter coat, and I feel ten times lighter in heart just because the sun is shining, it hasn't snowed much this week, and spring is now 5 DAYS AWAY!!!! Although, I am aware, it is March 15, must beware the Ides of March.....

Why Ottawa is the snow Capital of the World

Some snow totals as of last night at midnight, for Ottawa, Canada's capital city, where I live:

-296 cm of snow has fallen so far, this winter. That is equivalent to 9 1/2 feet of snow.
- We only have 48 cm left on the ground, from our two recent thaws in February, one of which was Sunday night through yesterday.
-73 cm of snow has fallen so far in February.
And....we have had 18 days in February, out of 19, where some form of snow has fallen!!!!!

I just thought you, Gentle Reader, would like to know why I keep mentioning snow in my blogs......and this is for my sister Patricia in New Brunswick, who keeps complaining about shovelling out there also.

We are not at our all time record for snow, that stands another 130 cm more - close to a couple of metres of snow would have to fall, that was set in 1971 - but we are surpassing many other Ottawa records set for snowfall.

The only thing we can't complain about is the cold. We really have had only 3 or 4 days of real cold - below -10c for our high, which is just below 0 fahrenheit, I think - not like in the Prairies, where they have just endured a deep freeze for most of the month. I'd rather get the snow than the cold! I could just do with seeing the sun once in a while! I think I wore my sunglasses once, and only on two other days could I have, this winter!

My next blog will be back to books. I am making my way through The Canadian Settler's Handbook with great delight, but as I am back at work now, my bonus time while being sick and home is gone now. And I can't find a copy of Ulysses anywhere, for my February birthday reading, which surprises me. With two universities in this city, I thought copies would be plentiful, but so far , I can't find it in used or new bookstores. I have to decide quickly, I'm running out of time.

So, from cold and snowy Ottawa - we have some more colder days coming now - I bid you goodnight, and hope you have a good book to curl up with, too.