It is odd living in Kingston sometimes and no odder when there is a foot or more of of snow within fifty miles as the crow flies but nothing here. That is from WWNY TV from Watertown, NY up top and to the side is the scene this morning in Ottawa. Here is the Ottawa Citizen's report on the snowfall …

I know this is grim especially if this is Katrina II, but is it possible that the response to Gustav that may hit New Orleans this week could be a defining moment in the Presidential election? Apparently George Bush has canceled his trip to the Republican convention. At what point does the …

Well, I suppose that the promised break in the days of rain that have been mid-July in Easlakia has to stand for something. I can't think when I last took a summer week off and did not load the family for somewhere - which is just as well as a van full of damp is not a happy van. It has been a …

What joy! A stranded Tuesday off - even though I took Monday off, too, to smoke a chunk of pork for five hours. This morning I was asked what smells like bacon. Me, I replied. More great Canada Day photos here from three years ago when I was a much more clever blogger. We are off to be in a canoe …

I like the heat but maybe not from early June to late September. Over 30C on Friday night and about the same today. You forget pretty quickly how cold the second half of May was and start thinking that the climate changers are right and it will be 45F by next week, 57F in August. We're all gonna …

Is there a lazier day than Victoria Day. First it celebrates nothing we much like any more - social frigidity and colonial empire. Then there is that honest truth that for most of the Canadians out there, you have hungover. May 2-4 and all that. God has even blessed us with a rainy day so there is …

Is May the best month? Every year I get to March with gasping relief that the piercing cold is gone but it is only 60 days later that you can relax - just yesterday there was snow and hail...the size of corn kernels, too. No canned hams or golf balls but definitely corn. The crocus is done and …

I have no idea what this means, what the 7.8 expresses or even what the units are but apparently things are looking up:  •  “Americans are feeling slightly more optimistic this month as they come to grips with a struggling economy and an uncertain future, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released …

Having a week off is swell and all but I really have never taken one off without any plan to do some travel or big project. The only plan was to explore my idleness. Has this been wise? Let's review:  •  Until about 11:00 am yesterday, I was going to Syracuse to see the game between UMass and the …