Drought in California, Dry Days Here: What’s the Future of Water Resoures
A friend in California just wrote about their extended drought, just as the first news of brush and grass fires make the news. I spent a couple of hours this…
Mary Soderstrom
Summer Time and the Living Is Hectic…
Running around all day in the hot sun–I’m not acclimatized yet, so no post today…
Why Beekeeping in Cities May Be the Wave of the Future
Seems the Eureopean Community members have voted to ban certain pesticides because they are implicated in the striking bee die-off the world has seen in recent years. Bully for them!…
The Merry Month of May When We’ll Hit a CO2 Danger Point
Lovely soft morning with the trees leafing out and the forsythia in bloom, which are reasons to wait for the beginning of May around here. But Le Devoir reports on…
Call It Geezer Chic or Advanced Style, I’m in
Just came across this video and this story in The New York Times. Makes me feel good just to think about it!
The Rich Get Rich Dept: Academic Gap Widens between Rich and Poor Kids in the US
It’s obvious in some ways, but rich kids do better in school and succeed in all sorts of things more often than poor kids do. We all know that, but…
Saturday Photo: The Scylla of Spring
For some reason, the scylla are particularly nice this year. How I love flowers that naturalize and come back year after year.
Shameless Self-Promotion Department: an Interview about Writing
Mary Eva of the Riverside School Board asked me a whole lot of interesting questions and I went on and on 🙂
Shameless Self-Promotion Department: an Interview about Writing
Mary Eva of the Riverside School Board asked me a whole lot of interesting questions and I went on and on 🙂
Coming up on Sunday: A Blue Met Walk in the Bairro Português
I think there are still places left in the walk I’ll be leading on Sunday morning as part of the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. Called How the Portuguese Saved…
Who’s Winnig the Language War in Quebec?
On Tuesday I spent a fabulous day giving workshops in a large English language high school south of Montreal. The kids were 13 to 15, sometimes rowdy but in general…
A Very Funny Descendant of Zola: Marina Lewycka’s Novel about Quants, Commies and Community
Seems I spoke too soon a bit ago when I asked, rather rhetorically, in my book blog: where is a current novel to compare with Zola’s The Kill when it…
How Smart Is Your Dog? A Scientist Tries to Find out
When Jeanne was old enough to behave like a dog–to go and fetch something when you asked her–we were very pleased and proud. We laughed at the time that the…
Croissants: Now, That’s the Way to Start the Day
Looks like a missed something delicious on the weekend: a dozen bakeries in the Montreal area were celebrating the croissant. The lovely, light bun was one of my first discovery…
Saturday Photo Bis: Bougainvillea
The snowdrops are up. So are a few crocuses. But the nicest flowers around this place are those on my ancient bougainvillea.
Global Deforestation:
The buds on the trees are beginning to swell, so spring is on its way and once again I’m amazed at the way trees around here go from looking dead…
Something Not at All Political: A Short Story in Queen’s Quarterly….
Shameless self-promotion department: my story “Ancient Faults” has just been published in the Spring 2013 Queen’s Quarterly, Canada’s oldest literary magazine. Here’s an excerpt: The tide is out and Rebecca…
Harper’s Attack Ads: Will Cons Profit, or Will the NDP?
Just thinking out loud here, but is it possible that the nasty attack ads the Harper Conservatives rolled out on Monday, impugning Justin Trudeau’s lack of content and maturity, make…
Furher to Bagpipe Alert: Black Watch Pipers Try out Musical Swings
I didn’t hear or see them, but this morning Le Devoir has this great photo of Black Watch pipers swing on Montreal’s musical swings yesterday. The Royal Highland Regiment of…
Preparing for Conflict? Bagpipers in Outremont
Bagpipe alert! Somebody was practising bagpipe scales (very badly) on Durocher between St. Viateur and Fairmount this afternoon. Will be interesting to see if the player persists. In the meantime: