I'm a statistician, a numbers guy. Put a bunch of numbers in front of me and I'll start analyzing them. Here are the numbers I have been puzzling over today: Saskatchewan: number of new cases of COVID - 449 / number of people in hospital due to COVID - 311 / number in ICU - … Continue reading What’s going on here?
Québec
But they don’t speak the same French!
I don’t know how many times I have been told that there is no point in trying to learn French. You see, they say, the French spoken in Québec is so different from the French spoken in France that they cannot understand one another. If you study Parisian French in school, people in Québec won’t … Continue reading But they don’t speak the same French!
Memories of the 1998 Ice Storm
We had been to Saskatchewan to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. We left Moose Jaw on New Year’s Day, 1998 and arrived at our home at Acton Vale Quebec about 3:00 am Monday January 4. There was a gentle rain falling and by the time we were up and around in the morning it had … Continue reading Memories of the 1998 Ice Storm
Francophone Anabaptists
We may think of the Anabaptist faith as having originated among people who spoke German and Dutch. But before them most Anabaptists spoke French. Does that have any significance for us today? Most of the original explorers and settlers of New France were Protestants. The Roman Catholic Church in France soon moved to prevent further … Continue reading Francophone Anabaptists
Too close for comfort
The days are getting short, the nights cold. These are the days when folks used to gather around the Quebec heater to visit. Stoves like the one in the picture below were found in most Saskatchewan farm homes, and in most stores. Most wood stoves still come from Quebec, for the same reason that most … Continue reading Too close for comfort
Midsummer rambles and rumbles
I spent the past few days visiting the brothers and sisters of the congregation at Roxton Falls, Quebec and worshipped with them last Sunday. The purpose of the trip was to wok on the editorial revision of a church history book recently translated into French. The other three members of the French editorial committee are … Continue reading Midsummer rambles and rumbles
I’m taking a break
Plans are that by the time this appears on line I will be sitting in a little church in Québec working on editing a book recently translated into French. Then I will stay to worship with the brethren there on Sunday and do a little visiting around before returning home. I will return – to … Continue reading I’m taking a break
Leaving on a jet plane
I used to get butterflies at the thought of climbing into a pressurized metal tube and being blasted through the skies at 700 kph at an altitude of 12 km. Those butterflies didn’t show up last weekend as I flew to Montréal and back. Maybe I’m beginning to enjoy air travel. Four hours on a … Continue reading Leaving on a jet plane
Two keys
I have two keys that, to my eyes at least, appear to be identical. One was made with a state of the art key cutting machine; the other was made by an elderly gentleman using a grinding wheel. Guess which one works? The machine-made key goes into the keyhole just a little bit roughly and … Continue reading Two keys
Collateral damage – or the real target?
I have been musing about the Islamist terrorist attacks in Europe and North America; who are these attacks really targeting? Is it the terrorists goal to make Western nations more favourable to the aspirations of Muslim people and nations around the world? I think we can give them credit for being smart enough to know … Continue reading Collateral damage – or the real target?
Flatlander Faith 