Today in Edmonton the temperature is -20C (-4F) with a windchill ‘feels like’ temperature of -28C (-18F). This distinction between the nominal temperature and what it actually feels like has always left me slightly bemused. In my world, only the ‘feels like’ temperature matters. When Canadians check the outside temperature they want to know not […]
Today I have three books ready to give away and before I do that I thought I would write a short review of each of them. Where I live, the libraries are currently closed as are most retail stores, but thankfully Indigo (aka Coles, aka Chapters) bookstore is available online. I sometimes also get books […]
There are a lot of workers in Alberta who are without jobs right now. Aside from the cutbacks due to Covid-19, the resource industries are in decline. In January 2017 there were 297 active drilling rigs but by June 2020 there were only 11. (Government of Alberta) That number has gone up slightly since then, […]
Edmonton has lots of great parks and yesterday I visited one that is a popular site for festivals, walks, skiing, skating, and picnics. Hawrelak Park has hosted ice castles, Shakespeare festivals, Heritage Days, and the International Food Festival. It is named for a popular Mayor; William Hawrelak who was quite a character. He was mayor […]
Just suppose for a moment that you want to find out the price of a new car. Not a loan for a car; just a car, outright. But, when you ask, the dealership does not give you a dollar amount. Instead, they ask you first to tell them how much money you have saved, how […]
The moon seemed larger and brighter than usual this evening. Here are a few pictures and a little Bing Crosby.
After several days of bitterly cold weather, today was a balmy 4 C (39F). The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the North Saskatchewan River was white. It was a perfect day for a walk, and I took lots of pictures. Here are some of them.
Everywhere we go in any city in the western world, we are being video-recorded. In stores, outside banks, at intersections, and anywhere near a doorbell camera or security camera. We have become so used to it that we don’t even think about it any more. Yesterday, though, I was given a reason to think about […]
There is a word in the English language that is a kind of verbal Get Out Of Jail Free card. It is also quite delicious to say out loud. The word is ‘notwithstanding‘. It means ‘in spite of’ and is used when you want to recognize that something can be true regardless of the fact […]
The snow, ice, and cold weather have kept me indoors for a few weeks, so I started looking online for boots that would make walking safer. I have had a couple of bad falls, so I have become nervous about walking on sidewalks, especially since not everyone clears away the snow from in front of […]
They meant well, but sometimes meaning well does not mean well-being. I was presented this week with two contradictory images. One was of a sculpture representing the work done by Catholic nuns in Alberta. It is called Service Through Christ and is by the artist Herman Poulin. The press release from Covenant Health says: “The […]
A fascinating art work that appeared recently in Edmonton is called The Meeting by the artist Wang Shugang. It is made up of seven crouching figures in a circle. An eighth figure is placed alone across the street from The Meeting. At one time, one of these figures was holding a circular mirror but it […]
Yesterday, I visited a local cannabis dispensary in order to buy some CBD cream because cold weather has made the joints in my fingers very stiff and a little painful. I have osteoarthritis in my hands and it has become progressively more of a nuisance over the years. So, when I heard that someone I […]
A new art installation has appeared less than a block from my home. It is called Walking Figures and it is by the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. I saw a television news item about the installation and one of the comments that stood out for me was that the figures represent our shared humanity and […]
So, how are you filling your days now that it is winter and the election is over? Me, I’m just killing thyme. (Ba-dum-tss!) Before we had a huge snowfall and the temperature dropped to minus double digits, I managed to take the herbs out of our garden and put them in pots. My plan was […]
Like most people, I’ve been watching the US election results trickle in over the last few days. It is a very close competition in some states as I write this, and the media exaggerates this by referring to it as a race. So, it is exciting both because of the significance of the vote and […]
Here are a few photos of miscellaneous images in my world this week.
Some of my neighbours have really scary stuff in front of their houses. Most of it has to do with Hallowe’en. But then there is this. What is it? And, more importantly, what the flaming heck is it doing in my residential neighbourhood? The canoe and the propane tanks make me think it is someone’s […]
Information is coming at us from all sides. We get news from traditional media, and news from non-traditional media. We get tidbits of stories from our friends and family in person, and we get them from strangers on Facebook/Twitter/Reddit/QAnon. Some sources clearly have a bias, some claim to have no bias, and some have a […]
