Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 3

Saturday Photo: The Kind of Thing Libraries Need More of, Not Less

At a time when libraries, archives, and, yes, even National Parks are under pressure in the US to "forget" important parts of the past that should be remembered, I was pleased to attend the launch of Fred Anderson's memoir Eyes Have Seen: From Mississippi to Montreal.  A story that should be told, and heeded. 
 

Saturday Photo: Duck Pond?

 

Went for a walk in the Mount Royal Cemetery this morning.  Signs of spring included robins singing, racoons courting, and earthworms wiggling around on the pavement.  And there was this big puddle where two pairs of mallard ducks were checking out the amenities.  

There's a stream that runs through the cemetery and most years at least one pair of mallards raises a few ducklings.  But it is down hill a bit, and this where meltwater (later on, rain water) pools no matter how hard the groundskeepers try to clean out the drains.  Looks as if this couple of couples thought they might have found another place to nest. 

Saturday Photo: The Rink at the End of Winter

Looks pretty sad, doesn't it ?

But that's what happens when the ice finally melts.  Spring (maybe) is on its way.
 

Saturday Photo: Listen, the Redwing Blackbirds Are Back

No photo because my hands were too cold to get the phone out for a picture. But trust me, there were some red wing blackbirds scouts at the Lachine Rapids this morning, calling and calling. The males arrive first in the spring (usually the last week or so in March) and stake out claims for good nesting sites. Hope these guys don't freeze to death: they looked really cold.

Saturday Photo: First Sun, Or Stonehenge in Outremont

 The sun in its progression around the  heavens shines in our back bedroom window just about the first of March every year.  It was right on schedule this year, a true sign of spring.  But as you can see out the window, there's still a lot of snow around!

Saturday Photo: The Meeting of the Planets...

I didn't take the photo and it shows only Venus, but these evenings there has been a wondrous display of planets in the sky.  The other night--when it wasn't snowing for once--I saw Venus, Jupiter and Mars as the sun was setting.   Quite amazing, and this despite the city's lights.

 

Saturday Photo: On the Right Path

So 11 days after the operation, I'm walking quite well with a walker, and even made it to the corner outside since the sidewalks have finally been cleared. 

Spent a couple of hours in the kitchen doing whatnot, and now I think I'll take a nap....
 

Saturday Photo: Not a Place to Break a Leg

 It was cold Saturday morning at the Parc des Rapides de Lachine, and the going was treacherous. Last time we'd been there in the winter, the paths had been cleared but either they aren't doing that this year, or the recent winds had blown snow into ferocious piles. 

I made it this far, leaning on my walking stick, but decided this was far enough. Going to have my right hip replaced on Tuesday after all. Would have been terrible to break a leg before hand.

Saturday Photo: Down the Rapids toward a New Book...

 Okay, the next step is taken!  Friday morning I sent off the completed (but unedited) manuscript of my next book Thanks to the Memories: How Remembering Will Get Us through the Next 75 Years. Dundurn Press will publish this book about individual and collective memory a year from now. In the meantime here's one of the images that I'm suggesting for the finished product for reasons that will become clear as the book's production progresses.

Saturday Photo: Ducks and Oil Sands This Wednesday

A heads up: the Atwater Library book group will be talking about Kate Beaton's graphic novel Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5. It will be a Zoom meeting, so register with Jason Grant-- jason@atwaterlibrary.ca --to get the link, which will be sent out shortly before the meeting. The book, which won a slew of prizes after it came out in 2022, is more relevant than ever.