Saturday Photo (a little late): Bridle Veil...

 

 

The glory continues.  This week it is Bridle Veil that is featured. 

 

Saturday Photo: The Morning of Maximum Beauty

 There are some springs when you hit it just right, and this is one of them.  The many crabapples in Mount Royal Cemetery were at the peak of their glory this morning.  So glad I took a walk there.

Saturday Photo: The Optimal Lawn

 Violets are taking over our neighbourhood!  Or so it looks this spring.  Fifteen years ago or so therewere hardly any: I rustled some from up the street and planted them in our front yard.  Perhaps others did similar things, because now most lawns are full of thm and one street over there are some glorious examples of what can happen when you don't cosset grass.

Undoubtedly as good for pollinators as lawns like this are good for the eye!

Saturday Photo: Spring Is on Its Way...

 Last Sunday at the Lachine Rapids, despite the rain, it looked like spring would arrive soon.  The sun is out now, and the temperature is going up, so it looks like last week's promise is being fulfilled.

Saturday Photo: Standing Room Only at Book Launch

 

Had a great turnout for the launch of Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters last Sunday.  It was raining very hard, but a very nice crowd of friends and people interested in climate change turned up!

Saturday Photo: Early April Morning

 The sun is rising about 6 a.m., so it was well up in the sky when we went out this morning.  Nevertheless the combination of tree, clouds and ghostly sun a pleasing, I think.

Going to rain soon...

Do April showers really bring May flowers?

Saturday Photo: Bixis are Back

Signs of Spring: bees in the flowers and Bixis on the corners! Such a change from a week ago when we were recovering from the ice storm.  No blog post last weekend because of the power outages...but what a difference a week makes!

 

Saturday Photo: Everybody out on a Springtime Sabbath

 Scene from Parc Outremont: the end of the snow, sunshine and walkers of all sorts out on a Saturday afternoon.  Pretty nice....

Saturday Photo: Lonely Bench Waiting for Spring

 Despite a little snow last night, it's clear that spring is on its way.  Not least is the fact that benches in parks are now appearing as snow banks melt.  This poor, lonely bench seems marooned in frozen water, not even attractive enough for someone slogging through the snowy park along a desire line to stop and rest a moment.

That will change in the next little bit.  Haven't seen any robins yet, but yesterday at the Lachine Rapids the first red winged blackbirds were chirping and buzzing to claim territory for the upcoming season of avian passion.

Saturday Photo: Snow Drops, or (more appropriately) des Perces neiges..

 Spring arrives next week, but the snow is receding and the first snowdrops (called perce-neige in French) have come up.  A sure sign of spring...

Saturday Photo: Sledding as the Winter Ends

Beautiful sunshine today, with temperature below freezing. Things are melting in the sun, nevertheless, and the days of sledding are numbered.  Winter is drawing to a close.

Saturday Photo: March 1, the Day the Sun Starts Shining in the Bedroom...

 Actually the photo was taken a couple of years ago, but I'm pleased to report that this March 1 also saw the first forray of the sun into our upstairs back bedroom.

By the solstice there will be several hours of sunshine in this room, but during the winter there is none. Instead, we have this Stonehenge-like moment on about the first day of the meterological spring.

Saturday Photo: The Flowers of Winter

 Outside snow still covers the ground, although the days are getting longer.  Inside that translates into several house plants taking a cue from lengthening daylight and setting forth blooms.

An anthurium that had been in a north window has taken the plunge and sent out blossoms.  Nice to see this time of year.

Saturday Photo: Sunburned Knees from Last Summer

  Summer evening at Sept Iles, sunshine and sunburned knees for the old guy.  A nice memory of a good trip, something to think about as the days begin to grow longer.

Saturday Photo: Desire Lines in the Snow

 

People don't walk in straight lines, even though sidewalks and roads may try to make them.  Uneven ground, small obstacles and even the vagaries on one's gait mean that the paths we take wobble a bit at the best of times.  When getting from here to there is the issue, this means that cutting across a patch of grass or snow will likely not be at right angles to anything.

Urbanists and architects call these paths "desire lines" since they show exaclty where we want to go.  Nowhere is that clearer than in snow that's been on the ground for a few days, giving folks a chance to make their own paths.  Pity the person who went first: given the depth of the snow it woud have bee a slog.  At the time the photo was taken though folks' desires had manifested themselves in a well-trodden track.

Saturday Photo: Baby, It's Cold Outside

 After a winter that so far has been warmer than usual, we are in the deep freeze.  Windows were frosted over this morning.  Glad I was inside and not out...

Saturday Photo: An Afternoon in the Park...

 

Neighborhood park are great things, and we are lucky to have three nearby.  They're used by local daycares and schools too--and not just in the summer time.

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!

Saturday Photo: Zamboni on the Loose

 The photo's not the best, but it makes me smile anyway.  After a spell of terrible warm weather, winter has returned, and while it's not really cold, it's cold enough to go skating outside.  There are year's when this pond is not cleared for skating, but this year the powers that be have decided to do so.  That's  a portable ice-making machine sweeping around it.  Good fun for the kids!

Saturday Photo: The First Books Arrive....

 Wednesday the first copies of my new book, Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters arrived.  Most appropriate as storms batter California, destroying beaches and bridges and badly-sited houses.  

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. 

Saturday Photo: The New Year Begins on a Gray Note...

 The view at the Lachine Rapids on the morning of January 1, 2023.  Going for a walk was a good thing to do, but it was cold and wet and gray, so we didn't go far.  Nevertheless it was a good way to start the new year.

Best wishes for a good one to all...

Saturday Photo: Sun to Greet the New Year?

 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.

Saturday Photo: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Here's the tree.  Don't know who will be around to celebrate tonight and tomorrow, given the weather conditions and Covid amongst us.  But it looks pretty good, none the less.  

Here's the link to our holiday blog, too, in case you're interested.

Saturday Photo: Inside Looking out until the Side Walk Tractors Pass

 Lots of fluffy white stuff has been falling since the middle of the night.  Maybe we'll have a white Christmas...

But I'm not going out until the sidewalk tractors come by.  Snowy sidewalks are a good excuse to stay inside and read.

Saturday Photo: The Jade Plant Blooms, Again

 Always nice to see my big jade plant bloom.  It spends the summer in the sun outside, and then comes in as soon as it begins to get really cool.  After a month or so in a sunny window the little white, star-like flowers burst out.  A nice thing for the end of the year....

Saturday Photo: Sil for Christmas

 In recent years I've had trouble finding salt herring to make sil, Swedish pickled herring.  But this year I hit the jackpot: nice firm, fat herring from Marché Epicure

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.

Saturday Photo: Milkweed, as Beautiful as Butterflies

 We all know that milkweed plants are what Monarch butterflies need to breed, aand I've been pleased to see that several folks around here have been planting them.  They're not particularly attractive for much of the season, but come fall when the seed pods burst, they are truly fantastically lovely.  Took this photo a few weeks ago, after which I harvested some seeds in hopes that I can get some plants going in a sunny corner of our yard.

Saturday Photo: Busy Healing Etc.

This photo was taken about two weeks ago, but I hadn't posted it because I couldn't get near my computer for long enough to play around. Nov. 4 I had hip replacement surgery which seems to have gone wonderfully well, and for quite a few days I was not doing much.

But I'm up and around, even walking outside with a cane, despite snow on the sidewalks so it's time to catch up....
 

Saturday Photo: That Was Some Halloween Party!

 

Saturday Photo: Mangroves Protecting the Coast...

The photo was taken by friends in Jakarta.  It shows part of the remaining mangrove forest that once protected much of the coastline.  Replanting and safe-guarding these wonderful trees that thrive in brackish water sill be a key part of any battle on the effects of climate change.  

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...

Saturday Photo: The Beauties of Fall...

 A number of houses around here already have Halloween decorations up, some of which are particulrly ugly. And then there is this tasteful display on steps not far from here.  Very nice, I think!

Saturday Photo: Because It Never Hurts to Stop and Realize How Well off We Are

 

Saturday Photo:

 Just when you think that the flowers have quit blooming, the asters have their day.

Love plant that comes back every year.  I don't know why people bother  annuals in this climate go-around.

Saturday Photo: Stars of the End of Summer

This is the time for asters, whose name reflect how heavenly they are!
 

Saturday Photo: Queen Anne's Lace for a Time When the Monarchy Is in View

Seventy years is a long a time to stay at the same job, but that's what Elizabeth II did.  There is so much about her reign and her successor in the media this week that is hard to not to think about it and her.

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.

Saturday Photo: Showing the Way

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.  

 

Saturday Photo: The End of Highway 138, a Great Trip

 I'm surprised that it's been so long since I last posted, but here is a photo of part of the reason: our trip to Quebec's Côte Nord.  

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.

When a Veil Is Not a Veil: Fashion, Modesty and Evolving Rules

Just as France begins to consider prohibiting women from wearing niqab, or a full veil, fashion designer Riccardo Tisci features a very attractive young woman wearing a sort of pseudo-veil in his new collection for Givenchy, seen at left as shown in The Globe and Mail. The juxtaposition throws a spotlight on the place where fashion and ideas about modesty—religious or not—intersect. As I’ve said before here, wearing a veil may be a signal of Muslim belief in some quarters, but it doesn’t stop women from caring about how they look. And, as I’ve just learned, the veil is not only a Muslim thing. It has been a strategy to avoid harrassment in other places, and has gone through some interesting transformations elsewhere too. I’m reading Louise Levathes’ fascinating When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433 as I research my book about the Portuguese Making Waves. After the great period of Chinese maritime adventure, its defences against attack from the sea declined until its coastal areas were prey for pirates and raiders in the 16th century, frequently called wako. “China’s coastal famers and fishermen...who had been robbed of their livelihood as well as, at times, their wives or daughters, never forgot the wako. Young girls in the Hui’an peninsula ... to this day tie blue scarfs tightly around their heads, hiding their faces...it has become the local fashion,” she writes. “But the stories, passed down for generations in villages, of a time when yong women fled from the lecherous glances of the bandits who came from across the sea in ships with red sails, have not died.” Hui’an women are reputed for their beauty, and now wear very short jackets which show their navels along with their scarves. “Sexy Lady on the Sunny Beach – Hui'an Women” one story about their traditional dress says. Fashion trumps all! Photos of Hui'an women from Chinavista.com and Chinaculture.org. Photo of Tisci creation from onsugar.com Note from March 6, 2011: for more about Muslim women, the veil and female affirmation see "Good News from the Arab Spring Revolutions: "When Women Change, Everything Changes."

Saturday Photo: Resting Rabbit...

Animals often seem to know when they're not likely to run into danger from humans.  This rabbit is a case in point.  We met him last Sunday when out for a walk near the wild space by the airport.  It is more or less protected, and certainly there are not likely to be anyone hunting for rabbits.

So this guy just ambled out, kept a wary eye on us (who had stopped to look at birds) and proceeded to scratch his belly on the sandy soil.  Trying to remove parasites?  Scratch mosquito bites?  Who knows?  Obviously as long as we were still he felt no fear.  But as soon as we moved he took off...
 

Saturday Photo: Monarchs...

If you look closely, the purple cone flower to the left is the launching pad for a Monarch butterfly.  I think it must have been freshly hatched, as it slowly flapped its wings in the morning sun, and made no move to fly.

This comes as the Monarch is being declared an endangered species, in large part because of wholesale destruction of its breeding fields in North America.    Glad to see that some people are still planting those species that Monarchs like. Very unhappy to see that sometimes the fields of milk weed and cone flowers get mowed by public agencies who don't seem to know what they'e doing.

Saturday Photo: Trees and the City

It's hot today, and the trees in this part of town offer a welcome respite.  The shadows are dense in the morning, and people are seeking them out.

Planting street trees and greening parks are  important parts of any plan to combat climate change.  Besides, they're beautiful.
 

Saturday Photo: Sun and Shade and Water

 These are the days of sun high in the sky, and shadows directly beneath the trees.  It has not been really hot here, but gardens with shade are much appreciated in the middle of the day. An island of cool in the busy city.

Saturday Photo: Fathers' Day Gathering

 Scene last Sunday at the Lachine Rapids: a couple of geese families enjoying a picnic while the Old Guy watches.

Geese are quite tame and not at all bothered by our presence.  Young are of various ages. Nice to see on Fathers' Day.

Saturday Photo: The Best Grass Is No Grass

 Just a reminder that a well-tamed grass lawn is a nuisance to keep up, not nearly as interesting as a wilder collection of plants, and less than ideal from the standpoint of the environment.

Saturday Photo: First Rose of Summer

 The first wild roses are in bloom.  What a wonderful time of year when all the flowers are bursting forth!

Saturday Photo: Goslings on Parade

Sunday morning outing at the Technoparc: mom and dad and six goslings paddling around. 

Just a few minutes earlier a noisy flock of geese landing in a nearby pond to feed and splash around. Why were they not with their partners raising more goslings? I wondered.

 Turns out that for the first couple of years young geese don't settle down to raise little ones. The bird books didn't say so, but it looked like the flock must have been a group of rowdy goose adolescents without responsbilities yet. Wonder what they did on Saturday night.

Saturday Photo: Journée des Patriotes

I've run this before, but it bares repeating: in Quebec  this weekend  is not Victoria Day but the Journée des Patriotes.  It commemorates the Rebllion of 1837-38, which was that nearest thing to a revolution Canada has ever known.  

And it wasn't just the French speakers of Lower Canada who were demanding  a larger say in government,  William Lyon Mackenzie (grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King) was one of the leaders of the uprising in Upper Canada, not to mention Wolfred and Robert Nelson who were leaders here.

Saturday Photo: Still Life with Morning Light, Flower and Clementines

 Lovely Mothers' Day floers and other nice things

Saturday Photo: It's in Bloom.....

 Until this spring I've killed all the orchids that have passed through our doorway.  Can grow a lot of other things, particularly those from dry and mild places like lantana, plulmbago, jade plant, and Christmas cactus.  But I always murdered orchids for reasons I amonly vaguely aware of.

However, about18 months ago I took up the challenge, bought a healthy and blooming plant, and then tried several methods.  Didn't write them down, so I can't really say what worked, but something did.

The plant began blooming this week, and I'm hoping we'll have a couple of months of blooms.  Yay!!