Last weekend, our niblings “Felix” and “Jenesse” came up to visit, coinciding with another canicule. It was ludicrously hot and humid, and yet we managed to fit in a lot of good activities.… [Read More]
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A Visit
Author: Sylvain Descartes
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Bug Season
It’s a hot summer, and the insects are flourishing. On my exploration of Parc Natural Bois-de-Saraguay, I inadvertently fed a lot of mosquitos, and the same happened yesterday at the Jardin Botanique (despite wearing repellant).… [Read More]
A point in the St. Lawrence River, that is, or, to be more specific, Parc de Dieppe…
Across from the Vieux Port, there are several finger-like projections into the river. These peninsulas are just beyond the locks for the Lachine canal, and are largely quays for the original port.… [Read More]
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about exploring new parts of town or sights on the island. The fact is, I haven’t been on very many this year. A family situation which required me leaving Montreal for three weeks in June, busy times at work, and unseasonable heat and humidity have all prevented expeditions.… [Read More]
(If you didn’t see them, here are part 1 and part 2)
Jumping back to Mona Awad’s reading list, we’ll start with The Geography of Pluto, Christopher DiRaddo. You might think the story of a gay man breaking up with his ideal boyfriend and losing his mother to cancer would be awfully bleak, but this book manages to make the protagonist’s struggles with loss and grief into something oddly optimistic.… [Read More]
(This is a continuation of the Montreal Reading List, part 1).
In the last installment, I was using Mona Awad’s Reading List as a starting point for my own. So far, most of the authors and books mentioned were from the 1940s-1960s, and described the Montreal of those periods and earlier.… [Read More]
I’ve been meaning to write on the subject of fiction set in Montreal for quite a while. I’ve been trying to read as many books as I can that are set here.… [Read More]
I’ve been trying to write a post here about the situation with the unhoused in Montreal in comparison to Los Angeles. It’s turning into a term-paper-like research project, though.
So in the meantime, here are some nice spring flowers at the Jardin Botanique.
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A Day in Brockville
For Sylvain’s birthday, Manon organized a day-trip to Brockville, Ontario, “City of the Thousand Islands” — a historic town on the Saint Lawrence.
Some of the 1000 IslandsWe took the train from Montreal, a two hour journey, arriving mid-morning.… [Read More]
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Crabapple Redux
In response to my Crabapple evolution post, one person commented to me that “[T]he trees are ugly 51 weeks out of the year. They’re only pretty during the one week that they bloom.… [Read More]