Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 103

As Exciting as "Garbo Smiles"

Thomas Edouard Soderstrom has begun to smile, and his Grandma spent most of the day playing with him. Therefore no post today, but lots of happy smiles.

Thinking about Maybe Going to Brazil in January

I've got a new non-fiction book project running around in my head.  Called Road through Time , it will be about the marks we humans leave on the world, and other things.

My plan would see me go to Brazil to, among other things, take a two day bus ride from Rio Branco in eastern Amazonia across the Andes to Cuzco. Don't know if it will work out, but I'm going to have to get back to working on my Portuguese. Here's the original Orfeu Negro, the great movie from the 1950s that introduced me--and many others--to the country. Don't be fooled by the 1990s remake, this is the real thing.

Saturday Photo: The Season Advances

It's not even the middle of October, but the Halloween decorations are out, and Reno Depot already is showing some Christmas decorations. 

But the colour are nice, so I suppose instead of railing against crass comercialism, maybe we should enjoy the show.

Apple Time: Caillou, Jeanne and Me

One of the great times of the year is when local apples start arriving at the markets. My favourite is the Cortland, which doesn't arrive usually until mid-October. They were a little early this year, as were most fruits around here, and I've already made apple pies.

Jeanne helped me last weekend. The pies were for Thanksgiving, and she rolled out the pastry dough, in her own wonderful, two-year old fashion. All along she was telling me about something that happened at the day care centre that I really didn't understand until her mother explained later that they'd picked apples (hung from the trees in the little courtyard before hand) and then made some kind of pie or crumble with them.

 Obviously the whole thing made a big impression on her, and perhaps this weekend we'll watch the following episode in the Caillou series. She's currently very taken by the little bald-headed kid, who made a fortune but ended up in the Supreme Court of Canada when it came time to share the profits.

 Is there a lesson there? Don't know except to acknowledge that little kids can be powerful

Reading Groups Next Week: Gotta Get Busy

Next week I have four library reading groups, and, while I've read all the books in question, I like to go through each again to prepare for the discussions.

So right now I'm part way through Le Soleil des Scorta by Laurent Gaudé (Outremont), with Gabrielle Roy's Bonheur d'occasion (Kirkland) cued up right behind.  The English books are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (Atwater) and Nemesis by Philip Roth (Pierrefonds.)  Quite an eclectic collections.  All good reading too... but back to work.

Harvest Time: Buying Local,

When Lee was a boy, buying local meant buying produce from the Central Valley.  That's where his family lived, and he has many stories of going to farm stands for produce and of lucious fruit off his father's half dozen back yard trees.

I don't buy much from the Valley these days: Sunmaid Raisins are the only  consistent purchase.  Anything grown in California has to be trucked--or, even worse, flown--thousands of kilometers to Montreal.  Better to eat locally as mch as possible, I figure.  If root vegetables are about all local suppliers have in the winter, well, that'st the way it has to be.

 The New York Times today has a story about how the Central Valley is being badly treated, It is a cautionary tale, as troubling as the E.coli cases linked to the XL plant in Alberta that apparently processed 35 per cent of Canada's beef. 

The real message may be to buy locally--for everything.

Trying to Make Sense of the World: Why Did the Straw Break the Camel's Back?

The New York Time s has a very interesting story about catatraophe theory, and the way things can jog along forever and then suddenly change. 

Has to do with where lines on a graph cross, it seems.  Don't know if I really understand, but the story is definitely worth thinking about

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Etc.

We are recovering from one of the best holiday of the year.  For some time now, we've been having a Canadian Thanksgiving buffet for family and friends.  This year the final count was 38 adults and 14 children, with the age range from 85 to 4 weeks.  Lots of delicious food--and much turkey left over--plus the company of some very dear people.

Several things of note this year: visiting parents of friends of the kids came along too, which suggests that people really enjoy the occasion, Grandpapa Marc (Sophie's Dad) carved the turkey most skillfully, pitching in  because Emmanuel was off in Williamsburg VA playing Lafayette's interpretor in a historical re-enactment, and Jeanne who spent the night here with Elin, woke up about 5 a.m. shouting "Je veux la fête" or "I want the party."

Little Thomas, who was passed from welcoming arms to welcoming arms, almost smiled at all the attention.  Pretty good for not quite a month! 

And now that things are cleaned up (we rented the dishes and cutlery, but, my, there were a lot of pots and pans) I have no energy for another sort of post!

Saturday Photo: Sitting Pretty

This weekend--Thanksgiving in Canada, Columbus Day in the US--always marks the end of summer in my books.  The weather, even in these days of climate change, is cooling, and the opportunity to sit outside is becoming rare.

So here are two tributes to the pleasures of a small garden in the middle of the city.  Both of these pictures were taken one block over about a week ago.  They are on the sunny side of the street, so the owners should be able to eke out a few more pleasant afternoons in the next couple of weeks.


They're probably inside today though: we're getting rain which is much needed after a summe when I'm sure these little oases got a lot of use.

Bravo 811: Free, 24/7 Health Advice, Courtesy of Québec

What do you do in the middle of the night when your toddler starts vomiting and won't stop?  Probably it's just a messy nothing, but you never know.  A lot of serious diseases start that way.

Jeanne had that problem last night, and after a half dozen episodes of throwing up, in between which she kept asking for water, toward morning her mother called 811,  Quebec's free 24/7 health hot line, InfoSanté.  Christian, the nurse on call, walked Elin through the necessary steps.  Did Jeanne have a fever? How high? Could she move her head without complaiing? Did she have a headache? And so on. 

Then he gave some excellent advice.  In effect he said, I see you live a few blocks away from a drugstore that will be open in half an hour.  Go there, get some pediatric rehydrating fluid and give it to her by the teaspoon ever five minutes.  If she stops vomiting, wait an hour and then give her a cup.  If she continues to vomit or if her fever goes about 38.5 C (slightly more than 101 F) take her to an emergency room.

Glad to say that Jeanne quit vomiting by 8 a.m., and seemed to be her usual self by mid-day, if quite ready to take a nap. 

This is great front line health service.  Bravo![image error]