Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 2

We were in Paris for nearly two weeks.  Lovely weather for the most part and many enjoyable experiences.  Glad to visit le Jardin des plantes again, which was the reason I first went to Paris 25 years ago.
 

 Well, spring had better come soon.  A few snowflakes this morning.  But I saw bees yesterday afternoon.  We'll get there yet!

 

Was in Westmount Library (Quebec) last week and saw this wonderful Lego version of the library which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Lovely place, serving readers and inspiring people for a very long time.

https://westlibcat.org/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=home/

At a time when libraries, archives, and, yes, even National Parks are under pressure in the US to "forget" important parts of the past that should be remembered, I was pleased to attend the launch of Fred Anderson's memoir Eyes Have Seen: From Mississippi to Montreal.  A story that should be told, and heeded. 
 

 

Went for a walk in the Mount Royal Cemetery this morning.  Signs of spring included robins singing, racoons courting, and earthworms wiggling around on the pavement.  And there was this big puddle where two pairs of mallard ducks were checking out the amenities.  

There's a stream that runs through the cemetery and most years at least one pair of mallards raises a few ducklings.  But it is down hill a bit, and this where meltwater (later on, rain water) pools no matter how hard the groundskeepers try to clean out the drains.  Looks as if this couple of couples thought they might have found another place to nest. 

Looks pretty sad, doesn't it ?

But that's what happens when the ice finally melts.  Spring (maybe) is on its way.
 

No photo because my hands were too cold to get the phone out for a picture. But trust me, there were some red wing blackbirds scouts at the Lachine Rapids this morning, calling and calling. The males arrive first in the spring (usually the last week or so in March) and stake out claims for good nesting sites. Hope these guys don't freeze to death: they looked really cold.

 The sun in its progression around the  heavens shines in our back bedroom window just about the first of March every year.  It was right on schedule this year, a true sign of spring.  But as you can see out the window, there's still a lot of snow around!

I didn't take the photo and it shows only Venus, but these evenings there has been a wondrous display of planets in the sky.  The other night--when it wasn't snowing for once--I saw Venus, Jupiter and Mars as the sun was setting.   Quite amazing, and this despite the city's lights.

 

So 11 days after the operation, I'm walking quite well with a walker, and even made it to the corner outside since the sidewalks have finally been cleared. 

Spent a couple of hours in the kitchen doing whatnot, and now I think I'll take a nap....