Sterling Elysian presents A DAY IN THE LIFE of PICOIDES PUBESCENS...

haa....the early morming light bathes my humble nest and my little peepers snap open....the misty morning air is all around...my fluffed up feathers keep me toasty warm....a little preening and then I must be off to my days' work....as I fly off, I can see that the other guys are allready busy looking for the ground dwelling bugs and worms....none of that for me....I am a specialist...the cool morning air surrounds me as I streak around the trees looking for that special oak or maple that harbor my favorite food...finally, not far from home, I find it....a robust oak, it seems....but I know better....it's infected with boring insects that will eventually bring this giant to its knees....I am its salvation...the plan for the day is to rid this guy of all the unhealthy insects and at the same time, enjoy the fruits of my labor....peck...peck...peck....my little head is but a blur and as I do my thing, the special muscles in my neck keep me from getting a headache....peck...peck...peck humm, a nice fat insect....peck...peck...peck...then, another.....peck....peck...peck....shit...shit....shit... I must have gotten a bad one, nevertheless, I persist because I am a specialist and must do my job even if the guy over in that house is looking at me and wondering if my little head is going to fall off....peck ...peck...peck...now, I'm feeling somewhat better after covering most of this tall oak and having rid it of its infestation....time to find some dessert.....I fly off and quickly find an ash tree that seems to need some of my special help... as I start my chores....peck...peck...peck I suddenly realize what a nice soft wood the tree possesses...peck...peck...peck...this is possibly the BEST PIECE OF ASH I've ever stuck my pecker into.....

Sterling Elysian presents A Weekend in Montreal...

It all started when Susan asked me if I would be interested in watching some pro golfers doing their thing in the Presidents' Cup which was to be held in Montreal at the end of September 2007....seems that my daughter Jennifer and my son Phillip were hatching a plot to purchase some tickets to this event which is held every two years.....always in a different venue and in different countries...well, since I had never seen a pro golfer in person, I immediately understood what this meant....I would have the opportunity to see all the major players in the world and some legends ( Jack Niklaus and Gary Player ) who were the team captains....Niklaus for the U.S. and Player for the International team....some of the pros scheduled to be present were....Tiger Woods...Phil Milkeson....Ernie Els....VeeJay Signh...Mike Weir.... just to name a few....So, I said yes and the ball started rolling .... the tickets were purchased and showed up at the house....delivered by UPS.....The excitement of the whole thing did'nt hit me until about a week before the event.....Phillip contacted me and asked if I wanted to play some golf on the saturday preceding the event....He made some tee time at a course in the North end of the Montreal Island.....Friday nite( the nite before going to Montreal ) I had a scheduled hockey game and really hated to miss it....so I packed my stuff and headed out to the Scotia rink....about midway in the game, I was carrying the puck up the left side of the ice, made a move around a defenceman towards the boards and without any warnings , my right skate caught a rut in the ice and twisted me around and into the plexiglass...I had no idea of what had happened as I lay on the ice trying to figure if I had sustained some major damage....the first thing that came to my mind was that I was supposed to drive to Montreal the next morning....after a while, I got up and realized that I had all my parts but was a little disoriented for a while....thank goodness the trip was still on....The plan was to get up around 5:00 saturday morning and leave and 6:00 but as usual, the plan failed miserably as I awoke promptly at 6:00.... so, now the revised plan was to eat breakfast at home and skip the stop in Glens Falls at the Silo Restaurant ....something that has become a tradition now for the last 8 years that we've been going to Montreal....It was a departure from the norm but one that was a necessity if I was to make it on time for lunch and golf....Phillip was in downtown Montreal and the plan was to meet at around noon and have lunch.....The ride up the Northway was uneventful and quite enjoyable....the fall foliage turning into the customary display of reds and yellows , not quite all turned but well on the way to entertain all the usual leafpeepers that crowd the New York state roads at this time of the year....the ride north took me about 3 hours on cruise control...mostly just taking in the surroundings and absorbing the beauty all around....the border crossing was quick, since there was just one car in front of me....then, there I was in Canada....I always get a special feeling when I cross the border into Canada....like deep down, I have a genetic link to this country that makes me feel good automatically....sort of a shot of endorphin that courses though my veins...whatever, It feels good....I wish I could bottle it....In any case, the feeling soon went away as soon as I reached the Champlain bridge....seems like the public works dept. was doing some road work on RT 15 and the road had been turned from a 3 lane to a one lane totally locked up mess that probably was backed up all the way to Sherbroke....or at least for as far as I could see....I called Phillip on the cell phone and told him that It would be a while before I could hook up with him....It took 35 minutes to cross the bridge and by now it was almost noon....luckily Phillip was waiting for me near the Delta Hotel on University St.....Driving up University and looking for him....I spotted a tall young man wearing a soft cap tilted slightly over one eye, ruggedly handsome and by the manner of his dress...somewhat exuding a European flair....then I realized that I was looking at my son Phillip....I pulled up ...he got in and said...Hi pops.... We headed west to his apartment to pick up his golf clubs and then out to the East end of the Island where Phillip wanted to eat lunch....One of his close friends' parents own an Italian restaurant in the Italia sector of Northeast Montreal......unfortunately, when we arrived , we found out that it did'nt open till 5pm....no problem...we just walked down the street where we found another place with a small outdoors patio....we could'nt help noticing that everyone there looked like they just came off the movie set of the Godfather....there was even a 80's vintage cadillac parked halfway into the street....the kind of caddy that can hold 3 bodies in the trunck....or was it my imagination running wild on me....we ordered two steak sandwitches and two beers and went outside and sat in the sun all the while taking in this wonderful change of scenery ....it was almost like being in another country as we listened to not english or french but some very neat Italian ....the tee times Phillip had made were for 2:30 and we were at the Montreal Golf Club in plenty of time to check out the surroundings....we finally teed off at around 3:00 and we hooked up with two gentlemen who had come to Montreal from Calgary to see the President's Cup tournament....they had allready played the course earlier in the week and were more than happy to give us some advice on the dreadful nature of this links course...believe me, if you did'nt hit the ball straight, you might as well take out another ball because your chances of finding the one you just hit were slim and none....of course , the fact that my daughter Jennifer now lives in Calgary made us an instant hit with these two gentlemen....we had something to talk about since I was familiar with the area .....after losing several golf balls, we started to hit some straight shots and ended up shooting a decent score....even though we sort of ran out of daylight....on the 15th hole( a short 150 yard par 3 ) we all hit our shots and after every shot there would be the obligatory question...did anyone see where that ball went?????? We went to the green and there was one on the green , two on the edge of the green and mine was about 15 yards to the right of the green.....not bad for some blind shots.....we putted out, shook hands with the Calgary guys and called it a day.....Before leaving for the golf course, we had made reservations at the Vieux Port Restaurant in the Old Montreal section of the city...I had gotten in touch with my cousin Jean-Pierres' daughter Anne-Jose who has just finished school in Montreal and lives near the Olympic stadium .....she was supposed to meet us in old Montreal but since we were coming from the East end of the island and would be driving by her apartment we decided to give her a call and see if we could pick her up on the way by....I gave Phillip her phone number and he dialed his cell while trying to negotiate the super congested highway 40 going west....to see him driving and trying to speak french to Anne-Jose was something to behold....I don't know which was more scary...the French or the driving...in any case, we got the info and Anne-Jose was waiting for us at the corner we had agreed on....I must admit that the young woman that was walking towards the car as I got out to greet her, was hardly the same little girl that I remembered from years ago....22 years old and quite a beauty...soft skin and a perky walk.... as she came closer and now could see her expressive brown eyes, I finally recognized that little girl from years ago....she smiled and I reached out and gave her a kiss and a big hug ....then we were back on the road towards Phillips apartment and to pick up Nadia, Phillips' friend....Montreal born and of Tunisian heritage....her parents having emigrated to Canada years ago....a strikingly beautiful young woman about the same age as Anne-Jose but with a personality that makes it easy to talk to her without being intimidated...quite tall and exhibiting an air of self-confidence and poise of a much older woman....when she smiles, she literally lights up the room and gives you that special feeling....that she's smiling just for you...we arrived at the Vieux Port...and I was quite surprised at the large crowd milling about....must have been the people in town for the Presidents' Cup...we were lucky that we had made reservations....the waiter took us upstairs to a dining room that they had just opened due to the large crowd ....and we were seated at a corner table which was near a large window that overlooked the busy street below....We ordered a bottly of Pinot Noir and made some funny remarks that it was in honor of Anne-Jose whose last name is Pineau....During the meal Nadia excused herself for a few minutes and so did Phillip....I still don't know who tipped off the waitress that we were celebrating my birthday but she surprisingly showed up with a chocolate mousse piece of cake with a sparkler in it..I comically tried to blow it out without success....All in all it was a wonderful meal and being there with those three young people made me forget momentarily that I was celebrating my 64th birthday..... we left the Vieux Port and drove Anne-Jose back to her apartment and then came back to Phillips' apartment where he relinquished his big comfortable king size bed and bid me goodnight as he left to spend the nite with Nadia who lives nearby.....The nite seemed to pass in a matter of minutes...the next thing I knew, Phillip was waking me up saying that it was almost 9am.... I got up, quickly got dressed and we headed out for a quick breakfast at a little place not far from Phils' apartment....we then drove to the west end of the island and found the parking area where the President Cups' spectators were being bussed from...quite an efficient operation with dozens of buses ferrying people to and from the Royal Montreal Golf course....we were there in about 25 minutes....I had brought some folding chairs but after noticing that nobody else had any, we decided to leave them in the car....We arrived at the course around 11am and allready the place was quite packed....we made our way to the tent village and got some coffee and sat in the sun planning our route so that we could move ahead of the huge Tiger Woods gallery that was following him around the course....smart move on our part because when Tigers' group came around the 7th hole, we were allready there and waiting in a stratigically located spot where we could see the players tee off and also see the ball land on the green, since it was a par 3 hole ......Susan had purchased some binoculars for me and they really came in handy....I could see all the action on the greens as if I was right there next to them...powerful binocs in a small package....I just love the technology.....It was a glorious day....the weather was perfect ....I saw all the top players and I was within an arms lenght of Gary Player as he walked by on his way to the opening ceremony....what a thrill....The American team won the cup but Mike Weir defeated Tiger Woods in their match, much to the delight of all the Canadian fans who were there cheering Mike on.....all in all it was a dream finish as Weir defeated Woods on the last hole to the thunderous applause of all the crazed spectators.....We left the venue and not much later we were back at Phillips apartment where we waited for a call from my daughter Colleen who was flying in from Toronto....I decided to lay down for a while and fell asleep on Phillips bed almost immediately.... I awoke to the sound of Colleens' voice and thought I was dreaming because I coul'nt understand how she could be in Phillips' apartment.....She was really there and I finally realized that it was really her....I gave her a big kiss and a hug ....It was dream-like to see her there and even more exciting when she showed me her engagement ring made of sparkling Canadian diamonds....She looked a little tired but the excitement of being there in Montreal kicked in some reserves and with the customary outpouring of energy that she posseses , she motivated us to get ready and off to supper we went....we decided to leave the car parked and look for a place in the neighborhood....after a short walk we found Chez Leveque....at first we thought that the restaurant was named for the owner but upon entering we realized that the prayer kneeler and the votive candles placed on each table , giving the place the ambience of a church, meant that Chez Leveque really meant 'the bishops place'...We had a wonderful meal and a bottle of Philippe de Rotschild Merlot...Colleen graciously picked up the tab saying that it was Phillips and my birthday present....very nice of her and also very convenient that she could be with us during this great weekend....we left Chez Leveque and I offered to drive Colleen to the Omni Hotel where she was staying ( near McGill University ) ...Phillip relinquished his bed for the second nite and stayed with Nadia....I was in heaven and slept till 9:30 the next morning.....Packed my suitcase and headed out....walked across street to my car...put my suitcase in the trunk....put some money in the parking meter and walked down the street to the famous Montreal bagel bakery where I purchased a dozen fresh , right out of the oven assorted bagels...and slowly walked back to the car....Then, It hit me....the sounds , the smells, the hub hub of people all going to work ....taking the bus ....running to and fro... I felt as if I was disembodied...an observer , not part of the reality around me....no one seemed to notice my presence as I moved at a somewhat different pace than everybody else....I walked along Park Ave. all the way to that little restaurant where Phillip and I had had breakfast the day before ....went in and confirmed that I was really part of the reality surrounding me when the waitress asked me if I wanted some coffee...After a nice breakfast, I gave the young girl a sizable tip and walked out ....got in my car and drove away with a full mind of memories that will be with me forever.....Goodbye Weekend in Montreal........