This month is named after Mars, the Roman god of war, an apt choice for a month in which we experience repeated skirmishes between winter and spring. So far this year, winter seems to be winning. We know that spring will eventually vanquish winter, but we are now in the fifth month of winter and … Continue reading March
spring
I am a Canadian, eh?
I am a Canadian. Je suis bien dans ma peau (that is an expression that wouldn't make any sense if translated word for word, but means I am content with what I am). For that reason: Find that little word eh, pronounced ay, to be quite useful, and much more elegant than huh? Oxford says … Continue reading I am a Canadian, eh?
Prairie Spring
A few days ago we still needed to run the furnace in the morning to make the house comfortable. Today we have to try to cool it down. The temperature at 11:00 am is 30° (86°F). We had a long winter and a slow spring. But now we hear birds singing at 4:00 am and … Continue reading Prairie Spring
Swan sightings
There is a pond 15 km north of us, near Frontenace Road, where swans pause every spring on their northward migration. I saw a dozen there on Thursday, Chris saw 20 yesterday and today the number was up to 30. I was disappointed when I looked on Pixabay for swan photos. They have very few … Continue reading Swan sightings
The signs of spring
I had some errands to do in Outlook this morning. There has been no highway maintenance this spring and the pavement is breaking up in many places. The Department of Highways has placed red diamond-shaped signs—like the one in the picture, but smaller—on the shoulder to mark these places. There are dozens of them between … Continue reading The signs of spring
More signs of spring
Ever since I was a little boy I have had this urge to get outside and do something on these sunny spring days: dig a little trench to drain a puddle of water or clear snow and ice off walkways. It probably speeds things up by about a day. Today I cleared our front walk, … Continue reading More signs of spring
SPRING!
We heard, then saw, Canada geese this morning for the first time this spring. A reassuring sign that the wild things are carrying on as usual and spring is on its way.
Spring musings
Spring is coming, even here in the Great White North country. Nothing is green yet, but there's a lot less of the white stuff. No song birds yet, either, but our bird feeder isn't emptying quite so quickly, which means the birds must be finding something else now that the snow is receding. Our cats … Continue reading Spring musings
And be ye thankful
Reading the news can can give one the impression that everything around us is changing, crumbling, ready to collapse. But when I pause to reflect, there are a lot of things in my day to day life that have not changed, and I take courage. Here are a few things that come to my mind: … Continue reading And be ye thankful
Winter grumbles
It was -36° when I got up this morning, wind chill -47°. Those numbers are on the Celsius scale, but the Fahrenheit numbers don't look any better: -33° and -52° wind chill. This is the depth of winter, the whole week is supposed to be like this. There can be advantages to days like this. … Continue reading Winter grumbles
Flatlander Faith 