Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 111

For the Young at Heart: Images and Songs

Love this photo, as well as the song by the marvelous Chico Buarque.

For lovers of all ages. 

Life without Papers: Campaign to Register Children in Burundi

More than ten years ago now, I spent an amazing few weeks in Africa,  particularly in Burnundi in the central Great Lakes Region.  I was doing rsearch for the book that became The Violets of Usambara, but also trying to make some sense of what foreign do-gooders roles might be in a country struggling with the legacy of civil war and underdevelopment.

Things apparently are considerably better in Burundi now than then, when the country was making tiny steps to overcoming a legacy of ethnic conflict that was reminescnet of that in neighboing Rwanda.  But the IRIN is reports that the trappings and conveniences of civil society are still not in place.

Specifically, there is the question of identity cards.  Apparently 1.5 million children  have not had their births registered, which means that they can not get free health care.  When they are school age, more problems were develop.  Registration is supposed to be free for infants up to two weeks after birth, but costs the equivalent of $21.40 US afterwards, a sum impossibly high for most people. 

However, with the aid of international NGOs campaign is underway in two rural provinces to register children who have no identity cards. 

Strange to think of being without papers...

Another Hot Day: Parks in the Early Morning, and Paul Krugman

Another hot one, and this is what it looks like about 7:30 in Parc Outremont.  Nice, eh?

But these hot summer days are worrying.  Where are we going with climate change?

Paul Krugman writes about this today.  Heat and drought, like that ravaging the middle of the continent "is likely to be the leading edge of damage from climate change, taking place over the next few decades; the drowning of Florida by rising sea levels and all that will come later."

He continues: "Will the current drought finally lead to serious climate action? History isn’t encouraging.... For large-scale damage from climate change is no longer a disaster waiting to happen. It’s happening now. "

Saturday Photo: At the Park Jeanne Says 'Partage!' Or the Beginnning of the Common Good

This was taken about 7:30 a.m. in a neighborhood park where we've spent several lovely afternoons this summer with Jeanne.

We go with sand pail and shovel, which she tosses into the sand box as soon as we arrive.  Then she starts playing with other kids' toys, some of which have obviously been forgotten or lost or contributed and remain from there from day to day.

At not quite two, one of the big lessons she's having to learn  is to share with other children: the swings, the slide, and the toys.  Her parents are constantly reminding her of that, to the point that when we arrive at the playground she's begun to say "Partage!" or "Share."  Doesn't keep her from sometimes being upset when someone takes her pail, even when she busy filling someone else's with sand, but it's a step in the right direction.

Not all of the parks around have the same cache of forgotten/communal toys, nor did this one at the beginning of the nice weather.   What's the difference, given that the social economic status of park users in the general vicinity isn't that disparate?

It's not a question of litter because  there is a groundskeeper in the park for 10 hours a day and it's otherwise quite clean.  I'd like to think that someone left behind a shovel one afternoon, more or less voluntarily, and others have followed suit for the common good.

More Municipal Ridiculousness

One of my neighbors who just spent a pretty penny to landscape her small front and back yards tells me that our borough administration wouldn't give her a permit to fill all the space in front with artfully arranged perennials. 

"The part that belongs to the city had to be grass," the clerk told her when she went in to get the okay for her project, which involved some excavation.  "We don't want people to claim damages if we have to go in and do work on the public land."

She said she'd sign something, agreeing not to do that were repairs needed on the gas, sewer and water lines which come in the front.  But no dice, despite the fact that grass is hard to grow under our street trees, and a good half of the residents have switched over to some other sort of planting. In fact the houses with the worst looking front yards are those where people have tried to grow grass and given up, to let it brown or grow too long.

"The next battle?" I asked her, who has been instrumental in various struggles involving the neighbors and the city.

She shrugged.  Seems before she left someone, whose function and name will remain obscure, whispered that she probably wouldn't get a fine if she planted all the way to the sidewalk!  Maybe there's some sense in city hall, after all.

The Plants Counter-Attack: What's New in Urban Agriculture

Yesterday's post about a small Quebec town forbidding front yard vegetable gardens sent me thinking about the urban agriculture movement.  It certainly is alive and well in Montreal--there will even be a five day conference on it with hands-on workshops next week in the center of the city sponsored by the Université du Québec à Montréal. 

Other efforts: Santropol Roulant, a meals-on-wheels program, has begun a partnership with a group growing food on the island of Montreal commercially.

Hearings on urban agriculture in the city were held in June, prompted by a petition signed by 29,900 who wanted regulations--includingn whether you can have chickens--reviewed and the whole idea of growing your own food in the city encouraged.

About 12,000 people have garden plots in the 95 community gardens sponsored right now by the city.  Countless more grow at least a few tomatoes on their own lots or balconies: 51 per cent of those surveyed last year say that they or someone in their family grows at least a little food.

I must admit that I've switched from vegetables to perennials, because our yard is shady and because the squirrels ate almost everything I grew.  But the two pears trees thrive, with the crop just about ready to pick.  Of course, the squirrels are watching and waiting too....

BTW the photo was taken two years ago  of a small garden next to an auto dealership, where someone had taken advantage of the sun (and maybe absence of trees as refuges for squirrels) to grow some nice veggies.

Why Not Vegetables in Front Yard Gardens?

A couple in Drummondville, a town about 100 km from Montreal, have run into problems with a city bylaw that limits vegetable growing in front yards. Drummondville would like to do away with such gardens altogether--and will forbid new ones in the future--and have given the couple five days to reduce theis to 30 per cent of the space in front of the house.

What nonsense! As soneone who has watched with delight as my neighbors have torn up lawns to make more interesting front yard gardens, this seems to me to be a step in the wrong direction. And, as someone who walks regularly in neighborhoos where people--frequently immigrants--grow vegetables and flowers on every available centimeter of dirt, I can only say: grass is boring, and not environmentally sound.

The photo, courtesy of the CBC, shows just how attractive this garden is.  A  good example of a trend to encourage, it seems to me.

Today Is a Day That Is Filled with Excitment...Anything Can Happen, or How to Be a Writer

Temperature has dropped. Ought to get back to work on the next thing. But I came across this: a great spoof of the writing life.

Ways to Beat the Heat (and Drought) II

Until today, we've had more than two weeks of drought, along with horrendous temperatures.  Water levels in the rivers and lakes are as low as they usually get in August, and there has been much talk about water conservation. 
I got concerned (growing up in Southern California where we were always supposed to be careful with water) and decided to see what I could do about watering my garden without damaging things. 
The answer was simple: the condensation from the air conditioner had been going down the drain in the basement, but slipping a bucket under the hose, turned it into a great source of watering water.  On the hot humid days of the weekend, I ended up with a couple of gallons, even though we ran the AC only for four or five hours.    But obviously I'm not the only person to have this idea.  One or more of the  taxi drivers at the stand at Avenue du Parc and St-Viateur have started a little flower garden in the space around a street tree.  To get water, they are pirating the condensation from an air conditioner in the apartment building on the corner.
It's raining today so we don't have to collect water, but as soon as it dries out, the condensation will do its job.

Ways to Beat the Heat I

Way Number 1: Take your breakfast to the park.

This couple were reading the weekend papers early the other Saturday morning, and I was charmed at the idea of  escaping the heat of your apartment to eat outside.

They were there again this morning  at 7:30 a.m., hidden a bit behind a tree from those who might be jogging around the park.  A little later in the day, the place will be overflowing with kids from day cares and day camps, but at that moment all was pleasant and still cool.