12th June 2008

Beware the wild quillcaster

The wilderness is encroaching on my neighbourhood. It’s been only a couple of weeks since the family followed a skunk, complete with it’s own trap, through the neigbourhood. Then this afternoon, another visitor, just a few doors away: the common porcupine. Or not so common, because outside of roadkill and the odd zoo, I’d never seen one in situ. This one was only a few metres away, perched on the front doorstep of a house and I was suddenly very glad that the dog stays inside.

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posted in environment, politics | Comments Off on Beware the wild quillcaster | 309 words

26th May 2008

Be my friend for at least a year

Tonight I’ve set aside my spy novels and adventure potboilers, because the news channel offers far superior material to anything available at the local bookstand. The current government seems to have a certain amateur air about many things including the “dating game”, if revelations from this evening are credible.

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posted in politics | Comments Off on Be my friend for at least a year | 459 words

25th December 2007

A moment to reflect

The bird has been served and its remains packed into cold storage. The piles of giftwrap have been sent out to the big green bin (oddly enough, most special papers don’t recycle, yet). The dog has a new enemy, in the form of a weight bag with a chain that she imagines as a dangerous adversary. We’ve been on the phone, and the web and in videoconference.

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posted in environment | Comments Off on A moment to reflect | 229 words

18th September 2007

Reflection without a mirror

Our world is turning upside down. Proof. Lots. Let’s see: yesterday we had three byelections at the federal level in Quebec and no candidates from the “Natural Leading Party” won the toss. However, veils may be to blame. The loonie has grown chubby from all the cheap job food we’ve been serving, and may close at par with the neighbour’s currency real soon now. The thermometer is down to within a degree of freezing at night, and we’re still technically in summer. Global warming except for us. And on and on.

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posted in politics | Comments Off on Reflection without a mirror | 317 words

19th August 2007

What did you do today?

A parent asks and a child gives the simplest of answers to the most mundane of questions: What did you do today? But what if you couldn’t answer, because you can’t remember. This weekend’s video rental dealt with that dark area known as neurological damage. What if you couldn’t remember? What if the act of sequencing was derailed?

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posted in media | Comments Off on What did you do today? | 351 words

9th March 2007

And on this channel, my childhood II

  • Petticoat Junction 1963-1970
  • Hogan’s Heroes 1965-1971
  • Gilligan’s Island 1964-1967
  • Beverley Hillbillies 1962-1971

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posted in history, media | Comments Off on And on this channel, my childhood II | 416 words

31st December 2006

Different ways of doing things

Remember when people used to send birthday greetings by the postal system. Back when stamps cost a nickel. And people signed their names with a pen, and XXX didn’t necessarily get you rated as adult content. Well, there are different ways of doing things now.

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posted in genealogy, media | Comments Off on Different ways of doing things | 262 words

18th August 2006

Road trip redux

Camping trips that end with sunny weather are a blessing from Heaven. No packing of wet tents under sullen skies, while memories of the trip are slowly washed away. We were up while the dew was still heavy (meaning, before noon) to stuff the sleeping bags into their tiny sacks, deflate the air mattresses that have been slowly shrinking for better than two weeks, rolling tents and stowing them on the roof. Twice makes perfect, if the keys to the van are stowed on the roof at the same time. The bright yellow scars of the tenting ground will soon heal, because grass is a very strong weed.

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posted in travel | Comments Off on Road trip redux | 458 words

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