Oh Canada I’ve had a funny relationship with Canada over the course of my life. My first exposure to the great north country was when I lived in Maine from 1966 through 1968. We had moved to Maine so my mother could start the first women’s Job Corps center on the campus of the historic Poland Spring Resort, home of the famous no-mineral water that went from being a unique upscale cure for Nineteenth Century…
Jumping Into Fall I have the feeling that this year, fall will fly by very quickly. Summer threw us one helluva going away party with a one week heat wave and now it is starting to present us with overcast skies and temperatures in the 60’s, fully 40 degrees from where it was just a week ago. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying the cooler weather and I think my succulent garden is happy…
The Joy of Travel It’s 1am at the Toronto Airport and it’s been a helluva trip so far. After spending a week watching the news about the threatened Air Canada pilot’s strike, we got a reprieve in the wee hours of Sunday morning and were assured by the airline that all would be well. I joked to my traveling friends that now all we had to deal with were normal airline delays. Ha, ha, ha.…
Strange Dreams Like most people, if I do dream every night, I only remember those dreams once in a while, usually when I wake up in the middle of one. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about or trying to analyze my dreams, but last night my little Buddy who gets very grumpy when he is awoken, woke himself up and started growling loudly enough to woke me at about 3am. Sure enough,…
Tree Work I believe I have discussed my fascination with trees. My favorite painting is one by an Argentine artist named Rikelme, and it is painted in the fashion of the Group of Seven Canadian artists that painted in the 19th Century in a light Rococo style. It is a lone tree on the rolling Pampas of Argentina. When I went last week to the Mission San Luis Rey and stopped by the grave site…
Weather Watch I am about one week away from our trip to Nova Scotia and several other of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. We will be flying from San Diego to Halifax, Nova Scotia via Toronto on Air Canada. Five years ago, before the COVID Pandemic, we had planned a family trip to Krakow, Poland and I had booked our flights from San Diego to Krakow on Air Canada for some long-since forgotten reason. WIth…
Lightning Strike We are all packed and ready for Nova Scotia on Monday, but we may or may not have that option after all. A few days ago, we got a notice from Air Canada that they are trying to avert a pilot’s strike that is set to begin on Wednesday unless they can all come to terms. By Canadian law, they have to give a 72 hour notice if the strike is going forward.…
A Bright New Day Today is the first real post heat wave day on the hilltop. It is 63 degrees outside and should reach up to about 80 during the day. I just spoke to Joventino the gardener (in Spanish as usual) and he seemed genuinely happy for the heat to have passed. You see Joventino works at least six days a week for at least 10 hours a day in the outdoors. I’m sure…
The Year of the Debate For the second time in three months and for the first time in my life, I am anxiously awaiting another presidential debate. I guess for people who have followed politics for many years, this may not seem so very different form other election years. But for me, this is a strange feeling to be on tenterhooks over a debate. This has caused me to look up the work tenterhooks and…
The Reagan Legacy Today we are going to see the new Dennis Quaid movie called Reagan. It chronicles the life and times of the 40th president of the United States. After the difficult transitional years with Jimmy Carter in the presidency, when so very little got done in what was, admittedly, a difficult moment in American history, it was not at all surprising that America wanted something different. It always does. I remember those times…