Friday, June 24, 2005

Fawn-eyed Girl With Sun-Browned Legs

Okay, this isn’t right. My legs are still burning a bit this morning from the morning jog two days ago. This means I let myself go waaaay too long without regular exercise.

Speaking of burning, last night, instead of cooking supper Francine and Alexander and I headed off to Dairy Queen. Okay, we stopped at Harvey’s on the way there (because despite the fact that she’s a beautiful and sexy woman she does secretly chant the manly “long live the grill” Harvey’s catchphrase when she thinks that nobody is listening. I held out for a Flamethrower burger at Dairy Queen -- a double patty, bacon, cheese and a very spicy delicious sauce. Yummy, yummy yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy. We followed that up with a round of ice cream, and Alexander enjoyed several tiny mouthfuls of soft serve, delighted about the experience. Since Francine often sings “Scary Queen, Scary Queen” to the tune of the old 60’s cartoon Spider-Man theme song on the way there and back, I think she was delighted about the whole thing too.

I got up early again today (this time only at 5:00 AM), but not to jog. Fran and Alexander are coming in to Toronto to see me this afternoon, so Fran will end up parking at one of the GO lots (likely Burlington or Appleby) and we’ll ride home together tonight. So I hoofed it to the GO station in Hamilton. It’s actually a nice picturesque 20 minute walk down the mountain (it’s actually the Niagara escarpment but us locals call it the mountain) - there’s a set of stairs that run from Upper James on the mountain and down to James Street in the city. Part of my route takes me along the Bruce Trail for a few metres, which is a nice reminder of the natural splendour I live so close to. Heading down the escarpment, I was amazed by the advancement of the undergrowth since I’d last taken the route and I took a moment to appreciate it and count all the blessings in my life that I mostly just take for granted.

The song "The Analog Kid" from Rush's Signals was in my head for some reason.

You move me - you move me

With your buildings and your heights

Autumn woods and winter skies

You move me - you move me

Open sea and city lights

Busy streets and dizzy heights

You call me - you call me

That's why, when I got to the train and saw the young nursing student who sometimes rides the train in the morning with me and Norm, and I couldn't remember her name, (I think it might be Carrie, or perhaps Kari, but I honestly can't recall) I just kept thinking of her as the fawn-eyed girl with sun-browned legs.

5 comments:

Jean-Pierre Krijns said...

- hehe - That same song was on my mind today so I googled for 'fawn-eyed' and found this blog *lol* But remember: "a hot and windy AUGUST afternoon has the trees in constant motion"

Greetings from Europe dude!

Mark Leslie said...

LOL - I'll also remember how the trees rock in the breeze "with a flash of silver leaves"

Greetings from Canada right back at you in Europe, Jean-Pierre! Glad to meet another Rush fan.

Funny that this blog post from 5 years ago came up in a search.

I sometimes wonder about where the fawn-eyed girl from the train is now. (Though I did learn from reading one of Neil Peart's books - it might have been TRAVELING MUSIC - that this particular lyric was inspired by a girl he met one summer as a teen)

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark!

You can actually see me (use strong magnifying lens) on the Snakes&Arrows dvd wich was recorded in Holland over here LOL!

Always loved the romantic lyric of 'Analog Kid' apart from that it's a ginormous pleasure to fire up my amps and play that guitar riff!

I think we all have a fawn eyed girl in our lives ;-)

This blog actually not only came up in a google search, it was the first result actually - try it for yourself for ego or other reasons!!

Grz,

JP

Mark Leslie said...

Hmm, so it does come up first. Interesting.

Now I've got to watch that DVD again to look for you. (I checked the cover art & figure the baby crossing the highway can't possibly be you)

Jean-Pierre Krijns said...

Hahaha,

No, I'm not part of the cover art; I was in the audience when the DVD was recorded. The south park intro/Tom Sawyer completely blew me away that night. I think my then girlfriend draws more attention: a russian woman with long black hair and covered from head to toe in tattoos...

But what the heck, I shouted "Hello Canada!" as well ;-)