Countdown to Moving: Let’s Hope It’s Not Like This
The clothes, rugs, linens and the like come back on Thursday. Monday it's the furniture, Wednesday the boxes (including 5,000 books.) Maybe it will all be over soon!BTW, the plumbers…
Mary Soderstrom
The Nicest Weekend of the Year? Or Why Countries Have Holidays This Time of Year
This was taken as the moon rose on Thursday night, Bastille Day or the Fête nationale française. The moon was not quite full, but the evening was lovely after a…
Saturday Photo: A Tangle of Hosta Flowers, and Shooting Star Daylilies
One of the joys of a garden full of perennials is that the plants and the flowers come back, even in yars of neglect. I took these yesterday, when the…
Swimming in the St. Lawrence: Not So Crazy as You Might Think
As I write this, at shortly after 7 a.m., some hardy souls are gathering on a pier in Montreal's Old Port, getting ready for the Grand Splash. For the seventh…
The Plumbers Came and (Almost) Fixed Things
Well, actually the plumbers yesterday came to put the radiators back in place. They'd been removed so the new hardwood floors could be installed. It only took two guys to…
Upon the Roof: The Place on a Summer Evening
The last couple of weeks on the Plateau, as the house near readiness. It is very hot, and the apartment is hotter, but at least we can get up on…
St. Basil’s Cathedral and Disneyland: Celebrating Kitsch
Google this morning brings us an image of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (right). Seems it was consecrated on July 12, 1561, or 550 years ago today.It's quite an impressive…
The United States: Classless Coiuntry of Equality?
One of the strange things about the US (and to a lesser extent Canada) is the way this supposeodly classless society dumps on people who would be considered on the…
Saturday Photo: The Eure at Chartres
As the pace quickens in our struggle to get back inot our house, I find myself slipping off mentally into quieter times. This photo is from our trip to France…
Why There’s Nothing Interesting Here Today
Running errands, washing kitchen cabinets, putting out more fires (figuratively speaking) as the countdown on the house continues, so no post today.
Coming Up Sometime: A New Short Story Collection
My big news is a nice grant from the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec to support work on a new short story collection. It'll be called Desire Lines:…
Cool City = Low Rent: Better Times for Detroit?
When Montreal seemed to tank after the various crises about French nationalism, some interesting things started to happen, in part because rents were low enough to encourage edgy young people…
Happy Fourth of July: Is It the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence You Celebrate?
In my Southern California childhood, the Fourth of July was a big holiday, right up there with Thanksgiving, not far behind Christimas. We were taught that it celebrated the birth…
Saturday Photo: Protecting Produce
As we head over to the house early these mornings to see what's happening, we've been going past the community garden at the corner of Henri-Julien and Maguire even before…
Happy Canada/Moving Day: Maybe a Month from Now We’ll Have Moved Too!
In the Rest of Canada, this is the major national holiday, and while there will be some festivities in Quebec, the big thing in Montreal is moving. Most leases run…
Real Bagels Live on in Montreal
Time Magazine is bemoaning the demise of the bagel this week, as one of New York's big bagel bakeries, H&H, goes out of business.The story by Joshua Ozersky begins: "There…
Strawberry Time: Maybe Lee Will Get His Fill, as We Eat Locally
The Jean Talon Market is full of strawberries right now--and I even saw some in a supermarket. The strawberry season is not long here: about a month, except for a…
Health Care Is A Provincial Responsibility Dept: Quebec Drags Its Feet in Going After Medicare Extrabilling, Compared to Ontario
This morning Le Devoir reports that Ontario is going after illegal extra billing for medically necessary services. Last week the McGinty Liberal governments, in pre-electoral mode, announced inquiries into the…
The Up Side of Traffic Snarls: Getting People out of Their Cars
I know, I know, school's out, so there is less traffic on the roads, but the rather speedy amelioration in Montreal's center city traffic snarls these last two weeks is…