Saturday Photo: The Great Influenza Should Be Required Reading…
Like everyone else I’ve been trying to make sense of what is happening and has been happening these last few months. Far too much time spent reading headlines from all…
Mary Soderstrom
Saturday Photo: Forsythia, and Rushing It
Forsythia in bloom in several places this morning! Nice and cheery to see! The other photo is obviously the project of someone who couldn’t wait for spring. I took a…
Saturday Photo: Sculpture in the Spring
An example of making something grand out of nothing: Glenn LeMesurier’s sculptures. For a couple of decades he’s been creating fascinating objects from discarded machine parts. This photo was taken…
Saturday Photo: Lots of These Around
The robins have been back for a couple of weeks, and are singing away early in the morning. Glad some things are happy. There is such a lot of sadness…
Saturday Photo: Geese Flying North, A Sign of Progress?
The sky has been full of geese this last week as Canada geese head north along the great St. Lawrence fly way. They pass over Montreal every spring and fall,…
Saturday Photo: Rainbows and « Ça va bien aller »
Kids here have been drawing and painting rainbows as a sign of hope in these troubled times. Posted in windows, they also are something to look for when the young…
Saturday Photo: Saving Lives in the Spanish Flu Pandemic
Because life right now can be pretty scary, I wrote the following for my grandkids this week. You might find it interesting too. A Story about How Your Great-Great Grandfather…
Saturday Photo: The Winter of Our Discontent…
The photo was taken 10 days ago when we were enjoying our escapade in Quebec City, on Wednesday, March 11 just after the sun came out to shine splendidly after…
Saturday Photo: Ice, Snow and Coronavirus
We spent a wonderful few days in Quebec City this week. The trip had been planned some time in advance, but I think we lucked out since Covid-19 was weighing…
Saturday Photo: Heading for a Little Escapade Closer to Home
This photo was taken a couple of years ago when we made a quick trip to Quebec City. The tourists were having a great time posing in the snow. We’re…
Saturday Photo: The Cover…
So this is the cover for my next book. Pretty nifty, I think. And also here’s a cartoon from the March 2, 2020 New Yorker. The caption is: “You might…
Saturday Photo: Concrete Getting Nearer
Next week I should get suggested revisions to my next book Concrete: From Ancient Origins to a Problematic Future. The University of Regina Press has set the publication date for…
Saturday Photo: Valentine a Little Late
Busy, complicated week, so I’m offering this Valentine a day late. It was made a couple of years ago when I was looking for something clever to send to my…
Saturday Photo: A Walk in the Snow
Well, actually the photo was taken some time ago, after another winter storm, but today when I was out I forgot my camera, so it will have to suffice. Lots…
Saturday Photo: January Morning…
The stark beauty of winter, with, thank goodness, the promise of lengthening days. The sun is coming up about 7:15 these days, which means that there’s a hint of light…
Saturday Photo: Getting Itchy Feet…Need to Start Travel Plans
Last Monday was supposedly Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. Well, my mother always said that January was the longest month of the year, and perhaps its…
Saturday Photo: Okay, It’s Cold
…and it may be colder in the Prairies and, good heavens, what about the snow in Newfoundland, but it’s pretty frosty here too. Just came in. Think I’ll stay in…
Saturday Photo: Oldness, Beauty and Keeping Busy
John McPhee, one of my favourite writers, has a lovely piece in The New Yorker this week. In it he writes about a meeting with the novelist Thornton Wilder when…
Saturday Photo: Against War in Iraq 17 Years Ago, at -26 C (-14.8 F)
Must credit Jacques Sabourin for this photo taken February 15, 2003 when something like 200,000 people turned out in Montreal to protest again a war in Iraq. We were there,…
Saturday Photo: Concrete Really Is the Rock of Ages, until It Isn’t
This is what Montreal’s Turcot Interchange looked in late 2018, when it was being torn down. The design of this elevated stretch of highway probably wasn’t the best to begin…