Bye-Bye, February!

... And Don't Come Back!
Earlier this week. I was preparing a schedule for the next few weeks, and realized it was so great to write ’March’ in the heading.
We have experienced a brutal February.

And, we Maritimers are not alone: folks from New England all the way down to Georgia have had (and are having) record low temps, snow and ice.
Low temps here - minus 30-degree Celsius in Bedford - have persisted since before the last week of January.
Because it affects everybody, certain phrases have re-entered our conversations:
‘Flash-freezing:’ The storms came by from the Eastern Seaboard, and brought: blizzards, with white-outs and strong winds, usually followed by freezing rain,

Our Flag at 50

It may still be called the “maple leaf flag” or even the “new flag” my some of my older friends, but today marks the 50th birthday of our Canadian flag!

In fact, a story on CBC News today by Janet Davidson, “Canada's Maple Leaf flag turns 50, middle age still gives off a nice red glow,” also sets it well.
Sub-heading: “Fought over at first, our new symbol soon won over continents, and even Canadians.”
It won me over early … as soon as the red maple leaf design was revealed back in 1964 … and became instantly recognizable as a symbol of Canada.
Every teaching day, during my teaching career of 31 years, I proudly displayed our flag in a prominent spot in my classroom.
It DOES look great, doesn’t it?
It was born after years of often stormy and divisive debate.

Taking the ‘e-book Plunge’

We have always liked to read, since we can remember … and our house is full of books!

While we were both active teachers, we had to do a lot of ‘professional’ reading: reports, school policies, course assignments, etc., along with our reading to keep up with the news.
So it was a treat to find a nice quiet spot and read a good romantic or detective story (for my wife and for me, resp.).
We have been finding the time lately -- and believe me, it’s tough sometimes, even when we’re retired -- to read our favourite stories.
We cased our local book stores, armed with discount cards, exchanged books with friends, and were active borrowers from our excellent Halifax Public Library.
We were enjoying reading books again.
And, presto, along comes the … ’eBook reader!’
What to do, Dear Reader?

Colin vs. the Dragon!

Over the last three weeks or so, I have been trying to download and install "Dragon Dictation” for Mac, v. 4, with no success.
While my saga is not on the same scale as the trials of the legendary St. George, there are some parallels.
(A second 'St. George' — see below — had an easier time.)

You might ask, Dear Reader: Why do I use dictation software? Because of my poor finger skills on the keyboard, I use a dictation program when I have to write long documents.
I often have to prepare copy to post on our parish website, or the text of readings and announcements for a variety of liturgical ceremonies throughout the year.
Mac has an internal dictation program, which is so-so, and ’Evernote’ uses one which is better.
But neither of them come close to Dragon.

All the Best in 2015 !

For us, 2014 has been an ‘up-and-down’ year.
We welcomed our new family, Chris, Yannis, with Amélie, our grand-niece, now a busy 19 months old. It took place in late February, just after a furnace failure (fixed!) and just before the latest of our 24-hour blizzards.

Neither Mama or la niña had ever seen snow, so it was a treat to watch their reactions!
In June, my wife got to visit Cape Cod for the 50th Reunion of her Band (not a band like the ‘Eagles’ or ‘Rolling Stones,’ but her Class at the Sisters of Charity - Halifax).
In late July, she had emergency surgery, while I developed a flare-up of vertigo.
Since then, it has been a matter of ‘getting better.’

My Fave. Funnies

I love the 'Funnies.'
When I get my hands on the ‘morning paper’, I dive to the 'Arts and Life' section, and flip to the back page -- the comics page.

Here is what's available:
Baby Blues: with Zoe, Hamie (brother-from-hell), Baby Wren.
Born Loser: Wilberforce Thornapple, Hurricane Hattie, greedy / tyrant boss Vebbelfester’.
Overboard: Captain, Lab. dog, guest mice.
Betty: Mom, Dad, nerdy son.
Luann: 1st-year at college, and friends.
Blondie: Dagwood, Herb, Elmo, postman.
Dilbert: kamikaze office politics.
Zits: Jeremy, Pierce, in high school.
Jumpstart: cop, nurse, embryos, 8 pro-football brothers

Ah, the Newspaper …

When you pick up a newspaper, what do you read first?

Front page?
Local News?
Sports?
Obituaries?
Business?
Editorial?
Homes?
Movie guide?
or … perhaps … the Comics?
Even as newspapers shrink (classified ads, in-depth stories, pages, profits, staff), we still take our local daily, the Halifax ‘Chronicle Herald.’
There is still a tinge of discovery as we pluck it out of the box and unfurl the front page, to check the banner headline.
This news junkie also consults their on-line and e-editions several times per day, with alerts from them, and from CBC News, CNN, BBC News and NPR News.