HOMEMADE PUMPKIN SPICE

In the fall, everything seems to turn to pumpkin spice. Lattes. Cookies. Candles. Coffee beverages. I had some leftover pumpkin puree from a favourite lentil recipe, and I thought I would try and make my own syrup. It was not an obvious winner, but if you look past appearance and texture, the flavour was perfect for the season.

 

I got this 4 ingredient recipe from It doesn't taste like chicken. It requires no cooking. I actually used canned puree, but the results was very sludgy, so I ended up putting through a sieve, but it remained a clingy consistency. I enjoyed it with my coffee. One time I tried a latte. I think I overdid the time! It was a pumpkin latte fail!

RIGAUD IN THE FALL

We have had the most beautiful October, and the longest colour festival for fall in a long time. Every drive, walk, hike, train ride, I think, "this is it, it's going to be over", and then I find another tree in all its yellow, orange, red, and purple glory.

View from the Sanctuary 

Last week I hiked the summit of  Rigaud's Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary Hill, and it was stunning. At the peak of pilgrimage, the sanctuary must draw incredible crowds. We were just a few cars that day, but hundreds could park in the lot below. My dear friend made the longer trek to meet here from Ottawa, but was happy for the experience. I was relieved, as it was competing with a bakery in Cornwall and the Gatineau Hills! We were niced fueled by sandwiches, salads and baked treats from Croissant 21. We made our way to the cross from trails that led through the granite rubble of an old quarry, and got lost around the back for a while before backtracking to the summit. Next time we will try the hiking trails that actually have a map for it! It was overcast, but just the right time for the fall colours.

The Cross with a gaggle of students at the lookout

From the lookout. My pictures don't do it justice.

If the path feels like you are walking on sand, you have gone too far ! 

INSPIRATIONS AND GRATITUDE

I am inspired by the late crickets, still chirping.

I am grateful for the Terra Cotta woods, and that the smell of fire today was just a firecracker.

I am surprised when people follow through, and when they say yes last minute, and love them more for it.

GARDENS OF LIGHT AND THE MYTHICAL HE LUO YU

Every year I like to take my daughter to the Botanical Gardens and the Chinese Lanterns. There is always a story, and the lanterns are always glorious. Normally we go in October and visit the rows and rows of decorated pumpkins, and run the obstacle course that they set up near the entrance. This year we had more time than usual, and we wandered further than we had ever wandered before. We played some of the games in the pumpkin patch, but never did go back inside to see the jack-o-lanterns. We did find a mildly disappointing Odyssey, but it lead us to the coolest installation of animal and bird habitats, human sized!

Bears hibernate in small spaces

Moth cocoon

Entrance to this year's Chinese Garden of Lights

Snake and Tortoise (not a sign of the zodiac)

Ox or dragon?

This year the story is the myth of He Luo Yu, a fish with ten bodies that transforms into a bird to escape the fisherman's nets. As usual, the preceding year was spend in designing and transforming the Chinese garden into a glowing delight. It is a thing of beauty, and is best seen in the day and then again in the night!

The centrepiece, He Luo Yu, with the ten-bodied fish metamorphosing into a bird.

Cute crabs

ADVICE FROM A 56 YEAR OLD MARRIAGE

RUTEN TOOTING

After 70 years of uninterrupted residency, the last Ruten has left Burkina Faso, a place dear to my heart. My aunt and uncle were teachers at a french university years ago, and my friend Stephen grew up in rural Burkina. The Fulani people, who I remember as the politest greeters, were nomadic, and I met them in Nigeria where I visited later. Now they are  involved in the growing instability the country is facing with violence and extremist ideology. The Rutens, who welcomed me to their family reunion in 1993, have reluctantly left this past year. I will always remember their ability to eat cayenne pepper by the shakerful, and the wonderful connections they made for me with Franche- Comte and the Burkinabé.  I always think that PE Trudeau called me to learned French, but maybe it was a small town pastor, and his gracious and hospitable family that did!

ANNUS MIRABILIS VEL HORRIBILIS

"The Battle of Quebec became part of Britain's Annus Mirabilis ( Year of Wonders) that saw it win victories against the French in all theaters of war."

-cited from ThoughtCo.

"1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis'"
Elizabeth II

-cited from The Phoenix File

How is your year going?

ARCHITECTURE AND ART:THESE ARE TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

I have discoved two documentary series that have solidified my love of art and architecture, and they speak to daily life in Montreal and Quebec City. Both were found on MATV, and I hope to see them all again one day.

The first is a six part series about certain metro stations called Métro Voyage Dans
le Temps. It covers the stations Berri-UQAM, De L'eglise, Pie-X (Pee Neuf), Jean Talon, and Namur .

The metro opened on October 14, 1966, with 20 stations and three lines; orange, green, and blue. The invitations to the inauguration suggested "tenue de ville", or informal dress. A plaque marking the event now sits in the middle of a "rondelle", or puck that is used as a meeting place at Berri-UQAM station to this day. Since the beginning, there have been 4 different eras of building, and 4 architectural styles.

The latest one I saw was on the Montmorency station, that I have used once to get to the Bell center for Skate Canada last year. It interviewed architects, artists, and a performance artist. Montmorency station is the only one that serves Laval, and is the most recently opened, in 2007. Not only is there a CEGEP nearby by the same name, but the University of Montreal has a campus nearby as well.

To look at the design, it feels dated, and not the inspiring influence that I have come to love of the 1960s decor of Lionel-Groulx. But as it was described by the architects, the colours in the vertical brick stripes were inspired by Gauguin and his painting Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?, and replicated in the colour sequencing of the irregular stripes.

From the blog Poutine at Midnight

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
Hanging in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

 The enormous art pieces hanging over the escalators dwarf in the space, carefully hung with the CSST present and very tall scaffolding. They are by Hélène Rochette and are called Les Fluides.

Personally, I prefer the original artwork in many other stations. On our way to the botanical gardens recently, we exited through the turnstiles of Pie-X and went  by a wall of brassy looking concrete with the lofty Olympic motto as it's title Citius Altius Fortius from 1976. Since we had taken the train downtown, and wanted to walk to the Old Port for lunch, we also had the occasion to walk by these these beauties from 1966 at Peel station with versions  on both the walls and floors.

Circles by Jean-Paul Mousseau

For a list of artworks by metro station, check out the STM site, which does a great job at celebrating its many historical and artistic treasures.

For good luck, touch the hand of Mother Emilie Gamelin's bronze statue on the way in to Berry-UQAM from St. Catherine's Street.

The second doc series is Des Chemins, des Histoires, and it took us through a Quebec City neighbourhood with some interesting features. Hospital Enfant-Jesus is in a the area called Maizerets. It was founded by Quebec's first female doctor, Irma LeVasseur during the war years, with a paediatrician Dr. Fortier and an arthropod Dr Samson, after founding the Montreal Pediatric Hospital Saint Justine, where she was exluded from the surgical department, less than one year after she brought the hospital its first patient that she had previously been caring for in her own hom. The area is marked by a wide street called De La Canardiere, with an interesting diagonal direction, resulting in several flatiron buildings to optimize the acute angle formed in at least two directions. It begins at 3e Avenue and 6e Rue, with two functional flatiron building at its origin.A nearby church had the most interesting geometric pattern of triangles and a star of David, with the windows repeating the stars that build horizontally skyward in the church's bell tower at St Pascal. Oddly, the rules of naming business have changed with the increasing presence of the OLF. KFC was called Le Petit Colonel, and the new rage to hit Quebec in the 1980s was pizza, with a Western Pizza positioned in this area. The same building still sells pizza, under the name Le Maizerets. China Gardena nd Le Voyageur hotel were mentioned, and the documentary really is a walking tour from west to east of this boulevard named after a very long duck hunting rifle. Two parks were highlighted, the largest being the Domaine de Maizerets, were the English were identified as using in their advancing into the fortressed city of Quebec.  Honestly, I haven't found anything to corroborate that. I remember monuments at the base of the Montmorency Falls where English had camped, and see something called the Saunder's (British) diversion into the next city over called Beauport. In any case, these were areas occupied by French troops until the Battle of Quebec on September 13, 1759 in the Seven Years (French and Indian) War fell to the British on the infamous plains of Abraham. The park has a 16th century mansion, an arboretum and 11 km of walking trails. All in all, this is a neighbourhood I wouldn't mind checking out for myself next visit.

A LITANY OF GRIEVANCES

I paid for the wedding (helped out by my parents)
He quit his job the week before the wedding.
I paid for the honeymoon. I would come home from work and he would still be in his underwear in bed, watching tv. Okay weird way to honeymoon, but I had already committed to the work.
I paid off his student and car loans.
When we were dating, he took me out for dinner, bought gifts, went to parties. After we were married, he took me out once, bought gifts with my money, and never went to parties again.
He spent hours a day on the computer, blogged occasionally  but never had anything to say.
I would come home from work, and have to cook and clean and shop and manage our finances.
He never encouraged my daughter to bond with me, and discouraged me, preferring to isolate me from their growing intimacy, in my own house.
Our neighbour joked about how lucky he was, as though he chose to stay home. I thought it was a joke, but in retrospect it was totally a choice, and it harmed me and benefited him.
He didn’t work for 11/13 years.
He spent his time absorbed in himself. He loved photo booth. The last holiday we took together as a family had more selfies of him then pictures of us.
If he needed something, he’d drive straight to the store and get it immediately, driving right by the place I had been asking for weeks for something.
I earned less because I was with him. I spent more time, energy and resources on his career than on my own. I put his needs before mine, which he felt entitled to, but he saw my capability as something to take advantage of.
I paid for his going back to school.
I worked.
He made me feel wholly responsible, insecure, and unheard.
He would offer to "help me out", as though the responsibility was not his but that I should be grateful for his contribution. He never created a shared responsibility. He lived as though he had none, despite marriage, despite fatherhood.
He was unreliable.
He would say no by saying yes and then time would pass and the thread would be lost.
He overpromised and underdelivered.
He earned 1/16th (see above-this was not his potential) what I did but left with half.
Both mediators have told me he is entitled to spousal support but neither have called him out on his free ride.
My financial advisors and bank account managers calculated my retirement predictions and took my management fees, but never once mentioned caution in the biggest financial disaster that would decimate my savings worse than any bull market.
I kept the house and all it’s costs, took out out a loan that I can’t seem to pay off and he has a savings account I filled to buy him out.
Every penny of appreciation in my house was lost when I bought him out, and the law calls this fair.
When he puts her in daycare on the weeks he has her, I am mandated to pay the bill, even if he doesn't inform me, even when it is her birthday and I had planned to have her after school.
We have two cats, that my daughter adores, and he never considered taking care of one, so she would always have company.
He never cut her nails, and let big knots grow in the back of her hair until I had her, and I had to cut it out.
The first months my schedule was already set, so I had her half time minus shift days, when he would take her. He was mystifying, crying unfairness over my having her 13 days to his 17!
When I offered for him to talk to a therapist he said no, but when I told him it was over, he couldn’t believe it.
He couldn’t be trusted to pay the bills, incurring late fees, and preferring to leave the budget to me, but when I worked out the split, and was splitting everything in half, he accused me of hoarding money but wouldn’t look over the numbers.
After we first split, he complained that I didn’t let him have the car enough, but he returned it full of dirt after camping, and scratched it on our neighbours car, but never made reparations.
I pay child payments and cut budget costs, and he dates a woman with 2 kids. I don’t think he spends enough on my daugher. I pay her dentist, eyeglasses, school expenses, daycare. He justifies that she lives in his apartment and sees it as her share of the rent.
His parents pick her up from daycare up to 5 days a week because his job goes long, but couldn’t watch her so we could go out on his birthday when I asked.
I bought all the gifts, cooked all the food, paid our way to special events and prioritized his family (mine lives far away), but I was cut off completely when we split.

She adores him, says he’s fun, and can’t wait to talk to him. He can’t pay her bills. How could I not share custody, despite the above?

Since we separated, the things he does validates my decisions.

Today, I am divorced. I have been separated for over four years. I am no longer grieving, and have let most of the anger go. He finally moved all the residual money out of the last shared account (which I advise against having alone, btw), so I have finished paying his way in life for good. I will continue to pay child support to Voldemort until he reaches my salary and Princess Pirate is independent i.e. for a while yet, but my unhappiness is no longer tied to him. A dear friend, also in the process of an inequitable divorce, celebrated with me, as I broke the ugly moldy wedding invitation plate that I hated for 15 years (the spirit and gift was lovely). We opened a Chardonnay Champagne (and lost the cork in her neighbours back yard) and fêted the end of an ordeal, which I needed, after so much loss and regret.



It is done.

INTERNET SEARCHES I HAVE MADE IN THE LAST YEAR

www.ilesaintbernard.com  AIM to visit south shore fauna park
opentable.ca Schnitzels AIM to find perogies in Cornwall, ON
plant based iron rich foods (images) AIM to send to Princess Pirate and broaden her food palate
mydisc.ca Canadian frisbee AIM in search of a disc with recyclable potential when it breaks
bat costume DIY AIM Halloween costume
Lewis Capaldi Someone you Loved AIM to relisten from Songland, heard on the ER radio
compos mentis AIM spelling it right
Trans-Siberian Orchestra AIM 2019 tours
Kismet AIM origin language: Arabic
Ecksand.com AIM ethical jewelry
Le metro Voyage dans le Temps AIM 6 stations: documentary of art and architecture MATV
Limited Palette Unlimited Colour AIM Uncle's most recent project
NaNoWriMo.org AIM prep 101 6 weeks before November
Depot du projet de loi no 43 nursing
mtlblog.com Quebec City is Hosting a Free german Christmas Market This Winter
Piru, CA filming location
darwinproject.ac.uk To Charles Lyell 1 October [1861] "But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything. One lives only to make blunders."
sillon French groove, as in tree bark
how to connect to a bluetooth keyboard with iPhone
dictionary.com words without rhymes: bulb, angel, month. Orange rhymes with Blorenge and sporange
Yukon ultramarathon
egg drop challenge
project Gutenberg ebook Mill on the Floss (at my optometrist's office), by George Eliot
name-generator.org.uk AIM pen names for Megan Bloggs
mcgill.ca beatty lecture YouTube Jane Goodall convocation speech
bianchinis planisphere
Förena thermal city spa near Montreal
cbc.ca Power of Play:Risky Play
10 amazing hikes near Montreal- Explore Mag
Cevennes National Park, France
reporter.mcgill.ca First Peoples' House
Jordan Law (Murphy's law)
Sapiosexual
Orient Express
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin Opera stars husband and wife Dupuis/Car
board site.lbpsb.qc.ca Major School Change MSC 2019-2020
elm tree Tree Musketeers
Dr Ruth Pfau: Google Doodle
Shabanu
slow-cooked rice pudding Ricardo
aldabra giant tortoise
Notre Dame de Paris Placedesarts.com August 2020
mcgill.ca Kinesiology and PE
How to figure out what your bathtub is made of
historicplaces.ca Family Museum Montebello, Qc
mcgill cybersecurity sitcom
Invisible Women - 99 % Invisible
Ios
a priori
carre d'as Final Four (tournament)
Canada Fitness Award Program beginning
J. Robert Lennon
Why Annie Lennox
Legally Blond Scribt at IMSDb
Meewasin valley Authority, Saskatchewan
ASUS C202SA 11.6" Rugged Chromebook
Quarries and Plants polycor Natural stone
symbols of Saskatchewan
Virtual Museum of Canada
Bodybreak
regina.ca
Lilas Torrance Newton
Jim Gaffigan Colonoscopy
The 36 Questions That lead to Love
Alan Bean Art, Astronaut
Ecrabouiller French Squish
Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary and Campsite
Chris Colfer author The Land of Stories
LBPSB commissioners support proposed lawsuit
Cinnamon Roll Microwave Mug cake
Camping Laurentien, Val-David
Wasted book on alcohol
Joggins Fossil Cliffs, NS
Zoo sauvage de Saint-Felicien
Little Ray's Reptile Zoo
The Great Canadian Chopstick war of 1986 cbc.ca
Parthenon, Tennessee
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels
Constellation zodiac symbols
ecocenter.org
new study rates best and worst garden hose
old-fashioned potato candy
Jardins de Quatre-Vents, Charlevoix, Qc
reporter.mcgill.ca AIM Une semaine, une lecture: un été letteraire avec le French side
Horaire des films du Planeterium
s3.amazonaws.co/tc-global-prod/download AIM terracycle GoGo squeeZ
Women's biggest Risk Betty-Ann Heggie
Cegep Andre-Laurendeau
Elite Matchmaking
Sankofa Dance
About The Compassion Machine NFB
astrolabe statue major hill park
iustitia translation
Canada Day Weekend City of Ottawa
IPA transcriptions
RecoVR Mosul
MD Are you taking the right vacations?
yellow swallowtail
Achille Talon bande dessine AIM follow Sophie's lead
Hatchet AIM follow Adle's lead
Aurelie Laflamme AIM follow Sophie's lead
2 be or not 2 be abc.ca
Karl Pilkington An Idiot Abroad, Sick of It
afdc.energy.gov AIM Which is greener: idle, or stop and restart
toybox.tools.bbc.co.uk
Heloise and Abelard: Fated Love in Pere Lachaise
my-luxurious-africansafari-from-canada.com
Maison Saint-Gabriel
publications.mcgill.ca New Institute of Health Sciences Education
margueritebourgeoys.org
high five
tremblant.ca lodging
Caesars' Campaign agains the Helvetii
Fluevog West Island
Prisoner's Dilemma
Spelling Bee game
frenchpod101.com 100 core french words
red panda
Parks Canada Reservation Service
Macleans.ca How public libraries are reinventing themselves
packhorse librarians
Petits Fruits St-Louis and haskap berries
gorilla step ladder Home Depot
Habitat ReStore 4399 rue Notre-Dame
Green was the earth on the 7th day Thor Heyerdahl PCPL
Liriodendron Tulipifera
Why should I know the lowest Common denominator
Full Moon 2019
Victoria Day Barrie 360 Why?
L'histoire de Mont Royal en 10 temp
clue live Montreal
Belmont Park Montreal
Shengen Area
Get_Fit_Fast.pdf
HeritageMontreal.ort
alpine gems
Ministers Island
Serenity Prayer
spaghetti squash burrito bowl recipe
Smithson
fly magazine sky express.gr
whelk egg case
Canadian Library Association
Fight Song
Recycleacrossamerica
rewire.org
fly or drive popular science
diy camera lucida project
conrad black
make your iphone read anything out loud
indian restaurant near snowdon metro
Phone charging stations kiosks and docks Chargebar
Carrot flower knife techniques
Steven Pinker books and Tedtalks
Ju Ming
To Do: A book of Alphabets Gertrude Stein
Centaur Theatre 27
British Porky Pig Chocolate
Tutorial: Invisible Seams, The Hidden Stitch
Smart Tools track air pollutions around the world
Burglary Crime Vicim Services
Capsule Wardrobe
Believe it or not Greatest American Hero
The Knossos Labyrinth Rodney Castleden
The Bull of Minos Leonard Cottrell
The Stronghold Xan Fielding
Tasmania
William Ernest Henly poem
Wait for me to come home lyrics
unigear traction cleats
The Hero with a Thousand Faces Campbell
How to hit your fitness goals in 22 minutes a day
vimeo the play ART by Yasmina Reza

THE TRICKSTER

Recently I was at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, and I read an origin story there from the Cree, a large nation that dominates the indiginous nations in Saskatchewan, and a fairly large nation in Quebec, located North near the James Bay. The story names a "trickster". Honestly, I didn't think that I had any use for a trickster in stories, or in real life. The gingerbread man didn't need to be tricked and eaten by the fox crossing the river. Pinocchio shouldn't have been tricked out of money, and caged for someone else's purposes. It is mean when people would take advantage of someone's innocence, for their own amusement. But it clearly seemed that the Cree felt the Trickster was part of the story. They named him Wi-sa-ke-cahk, and he caused the flood at the world's creation. He ordered his companions to retrieve a piece of earth. The Beaver and Otter failed. The Muskrat suceeded but died. That piece of earth was used by the trickster to restore the land (Turtle Island) and its inhabitants. To me, this confirms my dislike of the trickster even further.



Then I listened to the rantings and ironic contradictions of Emily Levine's comedy in a lofty titled TED talk called A Theory of Everything. She makes a very strong arguement for the value of trickster, and I have to admit that, in the way she defines it, I too have been a trickster, and that may be valuable.

Her ideas are based on a book I have not read called Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde. She calls the "trickster is a change agent". She feels that as a comedian she has a quality of the trickster in that she not only crosses boundaries, but "like[s] to cross boundaries". She says, "I think it's good to talk about things I know nothing about because I bring a fresh viewpoint to it, you know? I'm able to see the contradiction that you may not be able to see."

She argues that a trickster has to act as a go-between. You have to create a paradox between realities by denying someone's reality, therefore allowing at least one other reality to exist.

She also grants that sometimes it's dumb luck, but these accidents happen more often to a trickster because their mind is prepared for the unprepared. "The trickster has the ability to hold his ideas lightly so that he can let room in for new ideas or to see the contradictions or the hidden problems with his ideas."

She warns, however, that tricksters have to walk a fine line. For herself, she is "constructing [her] performance so that it's prepared and unprepared. Finding the balance between those things is always dangerous because you might tip off too much in the direction of the unprepared. But being too prepared doesn't leave room for the accidents to happen."

On some level, I identified for the first time with this idea of a trickster, and acknowledge the benefits of a little scepticism, planning, openness, irreverence, and willingness to test out an idea even if it doesn't end up to be the final truth. Clifton always loved to watch me rock the boat. Speaking against the majority in business meeting helps others state their (differing) truth. Vacation is a whole lot more fun when you deviate from the schedule. But sometimes people just like to go from point A and to B by the shortest route, and most of the time, that works the best anyways.

FOUR IN THE MORNING

I was making carrot muffins, and went looking for a TED talk that had been suggested to me about teaching introverts. It wasn't trending, or obvious when I opened the app, but as I was browsing, I found a talk that caught my attention first. It had a romantic quality that I love in a title: The Museum of Four in the Morning.  I love the idea of museums and libraries, and lofty titles. A Cabinet of Curiosities. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. The Cemetary of Forgotten Books. A museum is a place I love. It's a place I want to go to, and return to. It's a place I want to bring others. It reminds me of travels to New York and Regina. I can walk through every room at the Redpath in my minds' eye. It makes me think of my days working in the library. Visiting libraries in Europe. Watching the heros of the series The Librarians or Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol looking things up in the Library of Congresses archives. So instead of looking further, I pressed play, and was treated to a storytelling arc that rivals most.

Rives begins the talk like this:

"The most romantic thing to ever happen to me online started out the way most things do: without me, and not online."

How is that for a great lead!

He goes on to talk about a poem that he read by a Nobel laureate poet named Wislawa Szymborska that goes like this:

Then he introduces a mystery that we the viewer are not even sure is real. Has he heard this poem before?

Like all good thoughts that cannot be answered by google, he had no choice but to let the notion go. But like all good thoughts, the best was going to bubble to the surface again, and in this particular case, eventually become a geyser.

He had been invited to speak at a TED talk FOR A SECOND TIME, and, as a self-proclaimed "authority on nothing", he was looking for a niche, and used some of his collected FOUR IN THE MORNING examples. The response started looking like a full-blown meme. Rives had the good sense to embrace this unexpected collection and started archiving.

So the next time the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon (or frequency bias) starts happening to you, and the confirmation bias that follows helps lead you to yet another obsession, enjoy it. You never know where it may lead.

In poet Rives' case, it led to a brilliant TED talk, and enough of a collection to make a cultural museum that gave me great joy tonight.

Turned on its head, this is a perfect example of how your interest in anything could drive the breakthrough you are looking for. So if you wish you had a collection of elephants, ask people about it. Tell people what you wish for. Research your most desired ideas. Be open to others' feedback. Write it down. Share your idea. It just might become a gift of a meme.

My motto is "Beauty is not Optional". I don't just want to survive in life; I want to thrive. I don't want something just to function, I want it to be beautifully designed. This talk was beautiful. It should not be optional. Watch it, and be amazed at the beauty in the mundanist detail.

In the middle of the night, while on call in the hospital, a fellow resident would always say: you know how truly alone you are in the world when you are awake and alone in your bed. He didn't give a precise time, but given natural sleep cycles and circadian rhythms, I don't doubt that, if given another chance, he would declare this to be especially true at 4 in the morning.

Editor's addition November 19, 2019: 4 in the morning features in Kinsey Milhone's life at the end of chapter 18 in E is for Evidence, a Christmas based event
Also, wrote it in a speech I am preparing for the residents, if they ever ask to hear me rant (so far 3 staff asked).

CREW CAFE: WORKING LUNCH

Crew Cafe is the newest permutation of the gorgeous Royal Bank Building on St. Jacques Street in the Old Port. I have enjoyed the front end with coffee, and the back for a meeting. Recently, we had a meeting at noon and I ordered a lunch bowl with their wifi on their webpage. It was delicious!

Quinoa/Rice Bowl  #2 with mushrooms, kale, dragon dressing and a poached egg. Delicious!

The interior of the original tower is endlessly wonderful, being built in the 1920s, and described as the first building to exceed the height of the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

PUMPKIN ROLLS

Princess Pirate was going through some magazines to recycle, and came up with a few recipes. This one is from Clubhouse. It was delicious.

2 1/4 tsp (3 x 3/4) yeast

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

4 T margarine (try oil)

1/4 c sugar

2 eggs

4 cups flour

1 t salt

pecan pieces (or half peanut)

In a food processor with dough hook, combine yeast, milk, pumpkin, margarine, sugar and one egg. Graddually add flour and salt. Knead on low speed until dough pulls away from the bowl. Rest 5 minutes,  then knead (with no extra flour) for 5 minutes by hand until smooth. 

Move to greased bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour. 

Punch down dough. Divide into 16 and shape into even balls on two cookie sheets lined with silpats.

Flatten balls, cut 8 slices in each, and indent the middles. Cover and let rise 1 more hour.

Preheat oven to 350F. Brush with remaining egg, beaten.

Bake 15 minutes, until golden. Add pecan stems and serve warm with honey butter.

Peanut half stems, and pumpkin buns of perfection (batch 2, for tomorrow!)

Cut into 8ths, poke a hole in the centre, and egg wash

First batch without enough time to rise or stems, but made hot and in time for afterschool snack!

PINTEREST FAIL: RAINBOW LOOM CANDY CORN

Fourth time's the charm

LEMON POPPY SEED SCONES

Lemon juice and poppy seeds (2 T) make these scones special, but next time I would use lemon zest. The juice evaporated too easily.

MOVIE REVIEW: YOU'VE GOT MAIL

Upper East Side stops from the movie extras. I feel a roadtrip coming on!

This perfect time capsule from Nora Ephron is still one of my favourite movies. From the book Pride and Prejudice, the movie Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart, and the musical She Loves Me, this remake is just the right amount of fantasy and imperfection. It's funny and heart-warming. It makes you long for autumn in New York. It takes two warring personalities and allows them to fall in love over time. An imperfect story with the moral being that love can conquer all.

LIFEHACK FOR A BROKEN FITBIT STRAP

Somewhere a second strap exists in my house. A replacement is half the price of the fitbit I bought in January. Time to problem solve with tiny brads and the leftover bits, since sewing embroidery string broke the first day, fortunately at home where I could find it.

Heart shaped brads and an elastic string from something I saved

EXPECTATIONS AND A PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE (OR COFFEE DATE DOESN'T GO TO PLAN)

I love the fall. Living in Quebec the last 23 years, I never tire of marvelling at the colours that line our streets and highways. I walk to the train or the library or through a nearby park, and the reds and oranges and yellow and greens are continually changing. Today there are burgundy colours and topless trees, as though giraffes came by and ate only the leaves higher up, leaving only the low lying leaves for today.

View from my kitchen window. My weeds have never looked better!

It has been raining for 24 hours, and the winds have strewn branches across driveways and lawn. Not the best weather to go out in, but not a bad evening to dress up a little warmly, and go for a Starbucks coffee.

Today was a slow start to the day. I changed the batteries in the furnace thermostat (why are rechargeable alkaline batteries 1.4 V when you need 1.5 for remotes and thermostats?) and was woken up in the middle of a hot flash at 3:30 am, exactly 3 hours and 30 minutes into my sleep. It was not because I am hitting menopause, although the thought did cross my mind. It was because the thermostat refused to acknowledge the 24 hours clock, and had start to pump the house full of heat to reach the 20 degrees meant for the afternoon, but inconveniently began in the middle of the night. Needless to say, it took me a while to fall back asleep, and then I was awoken yet again by the early rise neighbour whose car is tricked out like a motorcycle with a muffler that is unnecessarily noisy, before falling asleep for a few more hours. I woke to an alarm that allowed me time to shower and make a coffee, and then I had a meeting that I was able to do from home, saving me a 2 1/2 hour commute.

I had the time to finish a craft Princess Pirate and I had tried yesterday, but failed.

Candy Corn from Rainbow looming

         

I tried a recipe that was made with pumpkin and looked like a pumpkin. It was a hit!

I had my girl over after school with a friend, and they ate celery peanut butter boats and foamed chocolate milk and loved the pumpkin buns. I had a couple dear friends text me as I was thinking about how to describe myself tonight at a coffee date that I did not have high hopes for happening.

When I was asked to pick a beverage of choice, and to meet, I chose Starbucks, and the first available evening, nearly 3 weeks away. I wasn't sure if that would be taken badly, but I am looking for a secure guy, and Nick said great. I picked a place with mugs and have looked forward to a pumpkin spiced latte ever since. We were supposed to meet tonight at 8 pm.

I started watching a movie I have been thinking of since the temperature started falling. It's a fall classic: You've Got Mail.  I ate homemade pizza covered in mushrooms, changed my clothes, primped my hair and face, and walked through a cloud of vanilla perfume. I left without any expectations, and with most of the movie left to watch.

Tall Pumpkin Spiced Latte with whipped cream: 380 calories!

I was just a little early, but found a couple of chairs to save. The crowd was young so it was easy to see I was the first to arrive. We had moved the time to 8 so neither of us would be late. By the time I sat down, I was starting to wonder, but I had brought a book and drawing material, and had a latte to enjoy. A few sips in, and a few minutes after 8, I checked my email. He was making an apology, and excuses, but he wasn't going to make it.

I remember a time in the late 1990s when my friend Lui and I had made plans to meet the next time he was in Montreal. At the time, he was travelling through Europe and the States, and knew he would have the same conference the following year. We made plans to meet, never checked, and we were both there one year later. Times have changed. 

I had a few thoughts about work and dating that I jotted down. I enjoyed every sip of the coffee. I texted with my two friends, and felt grateful for my life, my kid, and the tier of good friends that fill my life with joy and reasons for gratitude. Then I came home and watched the end of this great movie that is a total fantasy, but a wonderful one.

The parallel to my night was my favourite part. When Meg Ryan's character is stood up, her employees/friends try and make her feel better but also make her feel worse! They keep using the phrase she dislikes, "stood up". She makes herself feel better by rationalizing that "something terrible and unexpected that made it impossible for him to call" must have happened, so that she can hold on  to the ideal of this man she has fallen in love with in correspondence. When she worries that maybe "he showed up  and took one look at me and left", her friends reassure that that's not possible, and come up with explanations like, " the train got trapped under ground" and he touched "the third rail" and "he's toast", or he was in a "car accident", or his "elbows are splinted so he couldn't call" or he's "unconscious", "in a coma", "in the intensive care", or he was the "rooftop murderer" and now he's "in jail".  "You are so lucky", they say. "You could be dead."

I am a big fan of principles. I love that Lui kept his word. I am proud that I remembered to bring a coffee mug, in case they didn't have a ceramic one I was hoping for. I would have be impressed if Nick was on time. I was lucky that he didn't show up. He had work going on at his house. I would understand that he couldn't stay. That he came late. I would get if he had rescheduled. Said something like, I need it to be closer to home. It may have to be another day. But he didn't. Everything was okay. The date. The place. Then suddently, it wasn't. Really, it is a gift to know that he lacked the integrity to show up.

When Meg Ryan's character, Kathleen Kelly, has to face the fact that her beloved bookstore has been driven out of business by Tom Hank's character, Joe Fox, her bookkeeper validates that "Closing the store is the brave thing to do", even though she and the viewer knows that she would say the same thing no matter what she chose to do. Kathleen recognizes the grace of the statement, and expresses gratitude, but my favourite lines are what follow,

"You are daring to imagine that you could have a  different life. Oh, I know. It doesn't feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure now. But you're not. You are marching into the unknown armed with nothing." 

So to marching into a brighter future with nothing, but the gift of myself!

STABAT MATER DOLOROSA/CARMINA BURANA

I grew up in a Protestant church, with music that ranged from hymns to praise and worship songs. The hymns became less and less sung over my growing up year, but when I attended a Luthern high school, liturgical sermons and hymns were more the norm. The Christmas concert was a choir event that included bells and acoustic pieces. The soundtracks of movies from that era often included classical music. It was a familiar, and enjoyed genre of music, but not as much for my peers.

So when I invited a friend to a recent ballet with medieval music like Carmina Burana and Stabat Mater, I wasn't sure what she was thinking during the show, but I was elevated to another plane with the performance of the orchestra, choir, and soloists. Montreal tends to react negatively to religion, and push boundaries that I would consider nearer heresy than secularism, so I wasn't sure how the show would be, nor how it would be received.

Piano Nobile bar above the orchestra floor(A quiet floor, perfect for a drink before the ballet started)

On Friday at Les Grands Ballet, the Opera began with what seemed like the whole company of dancers. The stage was filled with dancers before we even sat down. The costumes were muted and simple. This is the second time I saw the Latin phrase Stabat Mater, and remembered it was Mary Mother of Jesus' song. It means "Grieving Mother Standing". It's from a fourteenth century poem, and it has been set to music by multiple composers. The teams were equal of men and women. The ballet this past weekend was the version done by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, written in the 1700s.I am listening to a recording of it offered on youtube.  It's a beautiful arrangement, and it was staged, a little surprisingly, in a religious theme, complete with aa clear story of the crucifixion.

Carmina Burana was a work done by a German composer, Carl Orff,  in 1935-6, and first performed in Frankfurt's impressive Alte Oper. This was the second act of Friday's event, and my favourite half. The feature that was most noticable was a large ring handing over the stage that represented a "Wheel of Fortune". The opera was inspired by a collection of stories, and begins with a piece called O Fortuna. It is a dramatic beginning to an emotional opera, and the recording brings it to memory, but its real life was in a silent Wilfred Pelletier, with exquisite voices raised in excellent acoustics. On stage the ring, resembling a giant magnet, descended from the ceiling and lowered to contain some dancers, and exclude others. At one point, the tenor onstage links hands with the dancers on either side, while singing exquisitely all the while. The latin lyrics cover  the gammet of topics from fate, springtime, attraction, dance, love, virginity, misery, taverns, and joy. It was easy to stand for an ovation with such an ending.

Thankfully, taking my friend was a great idea. She loved it too!

YESTERDAY ELIUD KIPCHOGE BROKE A WORLD RECORD, AND TODAY BRIGID KOSGEI DID TOO!

The sub-two hour marathon has been an obsession for many, and on October 12th, 2019, a 34 year old Kenyan man ran the fastest marathon ever in Vienna, Austria. Obviously a modest man, Eliud credited his team of pacers for his remarkable feat. He beat his own record, given that he had run the Berlin marathon in record time just last year at 2 hours and 1 minute. Every report emphasized, however, that it had not been an official race, the route was chosen for its flat nature, and credit was given to Nike's newist technical pair of shoes called Vaporfly that will be all the rage henceforth. All discrediting comments aside, it is an amazing moment of human achievement! Trevor Noah's take on it was bang on!

I wasn't around for the sub-4 minute mile, but I have long awaited the day when the sub-2 hour marathon was run. I cannot imagine running a 4 minute kilometer, and I am impressed beyond words for a four minute mile, but to run an average of 4.52 minute miles during a gruelling 26.2 miles is mind-blowing! It's hard to believe that in the first modern Olympics in 1896, the Greek runner to set a record ran it in 3:11:27. That's a big difference from today's top athlete!

When I sat down to write about this remarkable day, I saw that today the women's world record was broken in the Chicago marathon by Kenya runner Brigid Kosgei! This was for the first time since 2003 when Paula Radcliffe broke the record in London. She was awarded with a bonus of $75,000 for beating the course record as well, over the equal gender prizes of $100,000 each. That's a long way from the female entrance to marathons, paved by Kathrine Switzer, who was harassed and assaulted for having the audacity to run as the first woman in the Boston Marathon in 1967.

Congratulations, Mr Kipchoge! Congratulations Ms. Kosgei! Congratulations to Nike and all those scientists and engineers at INEOS 1:59 that made this day possible! I cannot be more proud!

THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

On Canada Day this year, we spent it in Ottawa. Our party noticed a tour of the Supreme Court of Canada, and were game to spend the time. It was the first time I had noticed the building, set back impressively from Wellington street, and visible from the riverview in a less obvious view.

The entire building is symetrical, symbolizing the balance of justice. Outside were two statues: IVSTITIA and VERITAS. The hooded foreboding man above IVSTITIA puzzled me, as I struggled to remember there is no J in Greek, or V for that matter.

It was was right up my alley of favourite architecture and symbolism, with its Château Style roof and Art Deco interior. The first stone was laid by Queen Elisabeth I in 1939, but was not used as a court until 1946, having been delayed in construction by the war.

The SCC was designed by Montreal architect Ernest Cormier. He is known for designing the art deco U of M main building with tower that stands out against Mont Royal from the North, and lived in the house he designed for himself (Ernest-Cormier house) on Pine Avenue, previously owned by Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and now apparently owned by Sacha Trudeau. He also designed the second Quebec Court of Appeals in the Old Port of Montreal, across from the Palais de Justice (Montreal Courthouse).

The first Saskatchewan judge was a lawyer named Cathcart in 1912.

The first female supreme court justice was Bertha Wilson in 1982.

Initially there were 4 judges, but a tie could never be settled, so an odd number was chosen from then on. 3 out of 9 judges must be from Quebec. Usually 3 others are from Ontario, 2 from out West and 1 from the Atlantic provinces.

Deliberations happen around a round table.

Each chamber of appeal and lower court are judged by 3 judges.

In Canada, under common law, there are three levels of court in each province and territory: lower, superior, and appeals.  In Quebec, given a different type of law (civil), the highest court is La cour supériere du Québec.

INSPIRED BY KIM CAMPBELL

I turned on the radio, and heard a woman speaking with an interviewer on CBC radio yesterday. It didn't take me long to figure out who it was, because we have only ever had one female prime minister in North America, so it wasn't much of a logistical challenge. Kim Campbell was talking on the show Out in the Open.

Honestly, I was reminded that Kim Campbell's short run in leadership may have had an influence on me in ways I am just beginning to understand.  I think it was a short lived belief of its normalcy, but it was shattered when she lost the election to Cretien in 1994. I realize now that I was disappointed, but that I had no idea what sexism was involved in the aftermath. I understand a little better now what it means to be scapegoated for your gender. I understand her thoughts on feeling isolated. It especially resonates that when you are different, you give people a feeling of discomfort from what they are used to, and that feeling translates to dislike and exclusion, based not on any personal failing, but simply because you don't look like what they are used to.

Conscious bias still exists, but is less and less tolerated. Unconscious bias is the sexism that still exists today. Kim's wikipedia bibliography links to this interesting article.

I remember people making a big deal about her showing her shoulders in her lawyer garb, and I was probably in agreement with them. Now, a little smarter and openminded, I laughed at her response to the comparisons made to Madonna. She wore "a strapless gown" compared to Madonna's "gownless strap"! I didn't think to ask the context of the photo, which was an artistic photo for a book on unconventional women (the rebel girls of today!) Seriously though, her thoughts on dress in positions of authority are in line with mine. In a venue where the majority of politicians with power are men in suits,  there is a power differential that is accentuated when women are not dressed similarly. It is still uncomfortable that some feel their feminine power is in the dress, but in my peer group and position of authority, I abide by the same idea. Distraction is not helpful in the power struggle women still lose at. Maybe some day, with power redistributed, could the fashions change.

What I find interesting is what happened in the aftermath of losing the election. She wrote an autobiography called Time and Chance. She worked internationally in politics and teaching. She and her husband launched a musical called Noah's Ark. She has a collection of honorary degrees from across North America.

AXEL : CIRQUE DU SOLEIL ON ICE

Cornwall is almost exactly half way between Ottawa and Montreal, with a drive of about an hour for each. My friend organized for us to meet last Saturday for the newest Cirque de Soleil show.

We were glad for any excuse to see some of our favorite people, and we have see some amazing shows (Allegria, Varekai). It was supposed to be on ice, which is not the kind of show we usually go to, but it sounded interesting, so we ate supper at Thum's for Thai, and then headed to Cornwall's arena.

The first thing I remember was thinking that the arena was warmer than I expected for a show on ice.

The second thing I remember was the light show. It was geometric in black and white, amd became colourful as it went on. It was so different and mesmerizing that I found myself willing my attention back to the characters at hand, who were doing impossible things on skates, but it didn't translate well from the complexity of what they were doing and the mistakes that looked simple to avoid.

The third thing I noticed was the music. A lot was copyrighted music, and the main character, Axel, an androgynous character in jeans and on skates, sang a lot of it. He was not a alone, with a live band that moved around, and were part of the show at different moments.

Mad World Gary Jules 2001
I Feel Like Dancin, by All Time Low 2011
Jump Van Halen 1984
Creep Radiohead 1993

The story seemed lacking, with stereotypes of superheros and villains, and two female characters that seemed identical, but while taking bows at the end, clearly weren't.

I am still not sure I liked it, but there were interesting elements, and the girls (ages 11-14) loved it! I would pan it more, but the performers gave it their all, no matter I felt about the arrangement.  It is so easy to be a critic, but, although this may not have been the greatest show on earth, I would do the evening again, but maybe this time wait until it came to the Bell centre.

LOOKING FOR RAPTORS (RAPACES)

I am not sure when the term started to mean birds of prey, but much like we were obsessed with dinosaurs, Princess Pirate is obsessed with the modern raptors (birds of prey). So it was with great excitement that we returned to St. Bruno park for a demonstration put on by the park.

There were taxodermy models, posters and binoculars (jumelles). There was a whole new vocabulary to learn.

 



Can you tell the differences in the silhouette?

La crécerelle d'Amérique is the smallest, also known as the kestrel. We know it from Granby Zoo and the Forestry Farm as an endangered species.
Le faucon émerillon is a merlin.
Le faucon gerfaut is the gyrfalcon, the largest falcon.
Le Faucon pèlerin is the peregrine falcon.
Le Pygargue à tête blanche is the bald eagle.
L'aigle royal is the golden eagle.
L'urubu à tête rouge is the turkey vulture.
Le balbuzard pêcheur is the osprey.
La buse à queue rousse is the red tailed hawk.
La buse à épaulettes is the red shouldered hawk.
La petite busse is the broad-winged hawk.
La buse pattue is the rough-legged hawk.
Le busard Saint-Martin is a hen harrier. Its genus is Circus, from the circling behaviour common to birds of prey.
L'épervier de Cooper is Cooper's hawk.

These are all birds we can see in eastern North America.
The eight highlighted in orange were the diurnal ones to look for in Quebec.
Mostly, we saw vultures and crows!

SPOILER ALERT!

1. Buse/Hawk
2. Epervier/Eagle or sparrow hawk
3. Faucon/Falcon
4. Urubu/vulture

SEASON ENDERS

A few crickets still chirp.
I heard geese leaving.
The painted ladies still flit, but the monarchs are gone.
The tiniest caterpillar was looking for lunch.

THUM' S KITCHEN, CORNWALL

My experience with Thai food is not extensive, but it usually involves heat, so when we were invited to eat in Cornwall by friends equidistant coming from Ottawa, I thought I'd better take a look at the menu and find some kid-friendly alternatives.

There was no problem on a menu this long, and Princess Pirate surprised me by ordering a dish I had a hankering to try as well. The restaurant had some nice details, the servers had traditional dress, and the food came hot, fast and tasty!

Chicken satay (SatauGai) with peanut sauce
This was a very generous portion for an appetizer price, served on crispy rice noodles, in a boat! Not sure if it was the fish sauce, but the sauce tasted a little stale. It was a very good choice for a hungry girl.

Pad (Mee Koret) See Eaew
I liked the noodles, PP the omelette. I was hoping to try a kind of egg pancake I had seen on a travel show, which turns out to be Vietnamese Banh Xeo. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it fed us well.

Gang Garee Gai: Yellow curry with chicken and potatoes.
The portion was modest but the curry was hot and smooth. Served with a side of tiny dry sticky rice (Kao Neaw), the extra vegies were necessary but disappointing.

VICTORIA PARK, REGINA

Across the street from the Hotel Saskatchewan is a park that I identify as downtown. I suspect consumers would argue that Cornwall center is, but this pretty park, flanked by a CP hotel and the library, was the center of the universe to me. Books and architecture and Saskatoons at the farmer's market. This is my happy place in Regina, with Wascana Park a close second.

I worked at the Regina Public library in high school, rewinding and repairing films in the AV department, back when projectors were the norm for showing film in class, not a tv! It is classic place, and it the bones of it are not much changed. From memory, I am sure that this interior is the same:



From the date on the wall, this probably is not changed, but the brick seems to be from a more modern era than my time there.


I honestly don't remember these ruins. There was a time when it was all the rage in canada for the wealthy (I learned this from William Mackenzie King's estate) to recreate their own ruins. Maybe this was always there? The courtyard was for sure. Ancient Greece and Rome was not on my radar at the time.



One of two churches on the park is the Knox Metropolitan United. Like many others, it had to rebuild after a tornado struck Regina, in 1912. In retrospect, this boded ill of a wedding to take place on June 30th, 2002.

The wedding cake building on Scarth Street, as my mom would call it. It is a goverment of Canada building that is, of course, Art Deco. This space, however, has a more infamous claim to fame. It the site of the building, where in 1885, Louis Riel was "tried" and sentenced to hang.

There is no statue of Victoria in the park, but there is one of John A MacDonald, looking a little like Lewis Carroll in his jauty pose.

The stark central figure of the park: the war memorial (cenotaph).

This exhibition was a yearly event, just like mosaic was.