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!
Saskatchewan
Seeing French as a Bridge
Some languages are walls, some are artefacts, a few are bridges. A language used only by one tribe or ethnic group is useful for communication within that group, but it is also a wall that prevents communication with, and assimilation by, another group. Some languages are no longer in daily use but are studied as … Continue reading Seeing French as a Bridge
Changes in the weather
Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay It is mid-winter in the great white north country, but yesterday morning the temperature shot up to 6°C and it rained. The rain stopped by dinner time, then the wind came up. It started snowing in the afternoon and the wind came up higher - gusts up to 100 km/hour. We were … Continue reading Changes in the weather
The first car my mother saw
My mother, who was born in January of 1908, told me that the first automobile that she ever saw was a Gray-Dort. Her uncle bought it when Mom was still a little girl and it was a sensation in their little community in south-western Saskatchewan.. I don't know what colour or model her uncle's car … Continue reading The first car my mother saw
Dreams and happiness
Let me ask you a question — if you achieve the thing you are dreaming of, will you be happy? Tom Sukanen came to Saskatchewan from Finland as a young man with immense strength and talent. He was a friend to all. He helped neighbours build their homes, work their land, repair their machinery, thresh … Continue reading Dreams and happiness
Good news, somewhat disguised
1918, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. People began dying from the Spanish Flu in the first week of October. Sick soldiers returning from the European front were housed at the Moose Jaw Armoury and the disease spread from there. The Moose Jaw and District Medical Officer, Dr. Turnbull, ordered all gathering places closed until further notice. That … Continue reading Good news, somewhat disguised
Shelley didn’t live in Saskatchewan
Image by Richard Duijnstee from Pixabay If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? That line comes from Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley. This morning, here in Saskatchewan, spring seems far away. It'll be five months until this snow is gone.
STATISTICS DON’T LIE
BUT HARDLY ANYONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT THEY SAY Public opinion polls are not infallible. At best they give a snapshot of what people are thinking at the moment the polling agency spoke to them. At worst, the snapshot is poorly focussed and the results unreliable. Polling results are presented as being accurate within a certain range … Continue reading STATISTICS DON’T LIE
Seldom Seen Saskatchewan fauna
I have hardly ever seen a live porcupine. They are nocturnal, reclusive and prefer wooded areas. We know they are around by the steady stream of dogs brought to veterinary clinics with their snouts full of quills. We occasionally see a porcupine lying by the side of the road, a result of trying to cross … Continue reading Seldom Seen Saskatchewan fauna
It took twelve years
The photo is from Shutterstock, not from our garden, but we finally have a rhubarb plant worthy of the name. We moved onto this yard in the fall of 2007. The house had been placed here a few years earlier and trees planted around it — poplar, caragana, lilac, Manitoba maple — the kind of … Continue reading It took twelve years
