Saturday Photo: Gate to Where?

Lots of changes in the world.  Sad news about the past coming out.  Pandemic easing here, but raging elsewhere.  All of this, plus drought and heat waves  come to mind as I wander my neighbourhood.  This is part of the lovely installation off Van Horne boulevard where sculptor Glen LeMesurier displays some of his works made from the castoffs of industrialization.

The gate in the photo is closed, and who knows what lies on the other side?  Not I.  Like everyone else, I go forward, hoping for the best.

Saturday Photo: Gypsy Moths....

 This week I went for a walk in one of my favourite places, the Mount Royal Cemetery.  This time of year it usually is full of flowers and fruit like crabapples setting on.  But, to my great dismay, great swaths of the trees were completely denuded of leaves.

The culprit is the Gypsy Moth caterpillar.  We saw them all over the pavement, and jogging friends have said they've been covered with them after running through stretches where the beasts are munching away.  

Dreadful things, but, I'm told, not quite the disaster that they appear to be.  Most of the trees will survive, many will leaf out again, and this kind of infestation cyclical.  Not quite the 17 year cycle of the cicada, but nevertheless something that comes around every 5 to 10 years.

The fact that we're in a very dry spell won't help the trees' recovery.  Rain last night was encouraging, but the jury is still out.  So is my desire to go walking in the cemetery--just too disturbing to see, perhaps.

Saturday Photo: Mangroves, the Key to Sea Rise Control?

 Firsts installment of the photos some friends in Jakarta took for me, as I try to research what's happening there for my new project, Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Risking Oceans. Mangroves have and could continue to save many shorelines from erosion.  Just one of the things I'm learning about.

Photo by Alya Fauzy

Saturday Photo: Adventure in the Middle of the City

Last weekend we spent a glorious Saturday in Parc Agrignon with some young friends.  It's a very large park by urban standards, and has a Métro station at its edge.  When we arrived in late morning people were arriving with picnic baskets and barbecues, ready to enjoy the first weekend when gatherings were allowed outside in Montreal.  

We had a great time, and our friends, who had to check out everything, particularly liked the wilder side of the lake.  It had woods and places where you could get close to the water, plus grass and weeds to pretend to get lost in.  Their game was some adventure drama that they concocted, vaguely inspired by Star Wars.  A down-to-earth pleasure for all...