Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 95

Tha's me and our dog Trout Fishing in Canada on March 4, 1971.  The storm in progress was a big blizzard, called by some The Storm of the Century.  It left 43 cm of snow, a record which was broken on Thursday when 45 cm fell,

I'd forgotten about the photo--can't even remember who took it, but I don't think it was Lee since even though he was doing a lot of photography, even then he went for landscapes and not people.

The pix was taken near the corner of Prince Arthur and Aylmer in what was/is called the McGill ghetto which is where we lived then.  Took a long time to clean up the snow, but I don't remember being inconvenienced much.  Part of that has to do with being 28 at the time (28, can you imagine!  Much younger than my kids are now) and also because we really didn't have to go very far for anything.  The advantages of living in the center city is a lesson I've never forgotten and which has guided my choices of where to live ever since. 

By the way, Trout couldn't wait to be let off her leash.  She just loved snow and would go dolphining into snow banks up until the winter before her death at 13.  A wonderful dog, who taught us a lot and who was great with Elin and Lukas when they came along.

When people learn that we came to Montreal from California, they often say what a big, disappointing change it must have been, given the difference in climate.  But I've always liked the difference.  Not only are winter storms frequently exhilarating, particularly if you're in no hurry to go anywhere, the high pressure systems that follow can be marvelous.

Usually the temperature drops after a storm as a cold front moves in from the north.  Today it's not particularly cold for winter, but the sun is out and the light is absolutely fabulous.  I've often tried to capture it in a photo, but it seems to be beyond my skill. 

This photo, taken two winters ago, gives some idea of the pleasures of sunny winter days, though.  Why not take a sunbath, after all?

Muito obridgada para a Immigrercom.

Lots and lots of snow today--glad everybody made it home yesterday from the holiday festivities.  I was out for a while this morning, and ended up taking buses on a route I usually walk because the sidewalks hadn't been plowed. 

Therefore it's a good afternoon to stay inside and work on stuff I should have done some time ago.  It won'ted by until the storm stops and the snow removal crews are out that the going will be easier.

(The picture was taken several years ago after a really nice, bit storm. )

Dear Friends

Got to wrap a few presents and make potato sausage before everyone comes over, so there won't be much blogging for the next few days.

Best wishes from our house to yours, and here's the link to our holiday blog, in case you're interested.

Mary  

Fiscal conservatives and the Mayan calendar nuts: both wrong in their prophecies, Paul  Krugman says once again:


" The key thing we need to understand, however, is that the prophets of fiscal disaster...are at this point effectively members of a doomsday cult. They...will hold to their belief no matter how many corners we turn without encountering that crisis.


"So we cannot and will not persuade these people to reconsider their views in the light of the evidence. All we can do is stop paying attention. It’s going to be difficult, because many members of the deficit cult seem highly respectable. But they’ve been hugely, absurdly wrong for years on end, and it’s time to stop taking them seriously."

So this is Christmas...  or at least the Christmas tree as it looked when the gang finished putting it up last Saturday.  There are some presents under it now, to which will be added quite a few more, I expect, before Tuesday morning.

The reasons we put the tree up last weekend was so that Sophie and I could make pickled herring, which requires at least a week to marinate for optimal eating.  But, as it turns out, we made the right call: Jeanne, who usually comes over to play with us on Saturday while Elin teaches here, is home with a cough and Lee is dragging around with a fountain for a nose.  Much better for all of us to rest and not share microbes so we'll be in fine form for the holiday itself.

Hope your end of year festivities are shaping up well.

And this is cool too:

Not quite sure where this was made, but it is great

About ten years ago, I started my travels with a trip to Aisa. My first venture outside of North America was to Singapore, which meant involved taking Korean Airlines from San Francisco to Seoul and changing there ot Singapore Airlines. I was charmed by the Koreans, and emboldened to try a small escapade that one of my guidebooks suggested.

Since I had 5 hours between flights, I got a temprary visa and took a local city bu into downtown Seoul. It was about 7 a.m. local time when I started and it was obvious that the pasengeres were regulars with nearly everyone nodding greetings to the others.

 I tried to take in as much as I could, and when we got to the centre of the city, I got off thinking I could take the same bus back to the airport. Alas, it was not to be. Given more than five hours I mih have found where to take the return bus, but I had much less time.

So I decidend into the subway system, trying to remember exactly what the subway map had said about getting to the airport. As I stood in the car, staring up at the subway map, a yount man asked in very good English if he could help me. He didn't understand my accet, but when I showed him on my map where I was headed, he was most helfpful.

There, he pointed out, that's where I should change trains. And there was the spot where I'd be just steps from the airport check in section. How much he understood of my English is unclear, but what is certain was his delight in helping me. What a contrast with the heavy weapons on the bridges over the rivers, andmy own memories of the Korean War.

When the gangnam style video began makin its appearance in the cybersphere, I  wasn't keen on seeing it,.  Yet this is wha is coming out of that country, 60 years after that war.

The moral?  Well, maybe that if fi you wait long enough popular culture will triumph.