The Walkable City: From Haussmann's Boulevards to Jane Jacobs' Streets and Beyond
This group of kids (from the daycare which our children attended decades ago) were doing all the kinds of things they'd do in the park in the summer, only instead of grass to play, they have snow. Easier to build things with, softer when you fall too. It's great that snow suits are as warm as they are: it's rare that you see a kid who has not flung off his or her mittens who is crying with cold because the material the snowsuit is made of is so warm! Luck us!
We are going to have to learn to live with rising waters. Doing so will require some changes in the way we build our cities and live our lives.
Best wishes for a good one to all...
Confession: the photo was taken some time ago when we actually had some sunny weather. It's been gray and rainy for the last couple of days and all the snow is melting. Would love to have the sun greet the new year, but the forecast says no.
Whatever, best wishes for a splendid 2023.
Here's the link to our holiday blog, too, in case you're interested.
But I'm not going out until the sidewalk tractors come by. Snowy sidewalks are a good excuse to stay inside and read.
Spent a good part of the morning filleting and cleaning them, and now I have four large jars of sil in the fridge, ready for celebrations later this month.
But I'm up and around, even walking outside with a cane, despite snow on the sidewalks so it's time to catch up....
I talk about them at length in my new book Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters that will be out in February from Dundurn Press. Not a moment too soon...
Love plant that comes back every year. I don't know why people bother annuals in this climate go-around.
My contribution is this photo of the perennial plant, Queen Anne's lace, which is just finishing up its reign as queen of wild spaces just now. A member of the carrot family, it supposedly is named after Queen Anne, the wife of England's King James II. She wore a lot of lace ,it seems.
The connection with the monarchy is clear, and so is the beauty of the plant.
When you get to the end of the road at Kegaska, you can continue by going out to sea. Manypeople must have considered doingtht, becausethe harbourhas many inukshuk, those Inuit cairns, that show the way. 
This is as far as you can go on a road up the north shore of the St. Lawrence river. To reach the small villages beyond, you have to take a boat, or fly in.
Kegaska is about 1300 km from Montreal, and we took three days to get there and eight days to come back. Wonderful weather, great scenery and generally a good time.
More photos to come, as fall approaches and the world closes in upon us.
