Saturday Photo: Halloween Anyway

 No kids at our house going out trick or treating this Halloween, but I did buy a pumpkin.  The photo is of someone else's house, but I'm sharing it just because I like it.

Take care!

Saturday Photo: Resilience,, Times Two

 This is the Bibliothèque Mordecai-Richler, lodged in what was formerly The Church of the Ascension, an Anglican church that closed its doors something like 30 years ago.

Using the church building as a library was a great thing to do, and the fact that the library now bears the name of Montreal's legendary Jewish novelist is either wonderfully eceumenical, ironic or simply classy.  Certainlly it shows the resilience of several aspects of society: urban planning, cultural continuity, humour....

But the photo shows another sort of resilience: the sunflower growing in the gutter on the roof.  Tried to get a better photo of it, but was too far away and messing with Photoshop doesn't help.  That flowers will grow so far up is really great...

Saturday Photo: Resilience, or Something to Remember When You're Feeling Caged in

 This was taken in a new park in my neighborhood.  The plantings are all perennials, and most are native to the  region.  This has mean that they'd done very well during this hot, dry summer.

So well, in fact, that some of them have sprouted off spring, including this little flower that seems to be overflowing with life.  You can bring beauty nearly everywhere--or at least take a stab at it.

Saturday Photo: Happy Thanksgiving, Despite Everything

 This Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.  The statutory holiday is Monday but we've always celebrated whenever it's convenient for friends and family to get together.  At times we have had big potluck parties (we did the turkeys and several sides, while everyone else brought something to share), but I'm afraid that is behind us, what with Covid 19 and all.

Nevertheless, while I'm far from a believer, I think it's a very good thing to stop now and then to realize just how many good things have come my way.  I invite you to do that this weekend, even if I can't invite you to supper.  Doing so puts everything in perspective....

Saturday Photo: The Streams That Flow to the Fleuve

 I've always wondered at the distinction made in modern French between fleuve and rivière. For a long time I thought that one was big and the other little, but that's not it.

What makes the difference is whether the watercourse flows into the sea. If it doesn't, it's a rivière no matter how bit it is. 

A fleuve, on the other hand, goes directly into the sea.  The St. Lawrence is a fleuve  but all its tributaries are rivières.

 The photo is of a small stream that drains one of the fields along the St. Lawrence.  In this summer of drought, it was very small indeed.