On the line

In the dog days of summer, in the Great White North, we relish all the heat we can get, but the humidity -- oy, it's a killer.

A Jelsi morning

The Jelsi Association of Montréal visits Ste-Anne-de-Prescott, Ontario on the feast of St. Anne, when ornate sheaves are on sale, at prices ranging from $18 to $10. The display case is another example of how the faithful recycle religiously.

90 years young

My Mom celebrated her 90th birthday July 12, and well, judging by this photo, age is just a number.

2 Horsepower vehicle

Al Gore would no doubt be thrilled to see that people in Canada have reverted to proven technology to help the planet survive.

Double rewards?

We were treated to a rare sight -- a double rainbow -- July 1 in the midst of a sunshower.

Discerning taste

Where is the swat team when you need it?

Devil's advocate

A Monarch butterfly would advocate the allure of wild plants such as the Devil's Paintbrush.

No rollerskating

You may not be able to rollerskate in a buffalo herd, but nobody said anything about slaloming around a group of docile bison. Motorists are used to such four-legged road hazards in these parts.

Doorway to an entrance

Like many old rural buildings, this hall near Alexandria, Ontario attracts through its simplicity.

Play misty

And out of the mist, came a canoe.

June, The Best

If June is not the best month of the year, then which one is?

Work and play

Have just finished one of those proverbial easy-to-assemble play structures, which are at once infuriating and humbling.
The maze of plastic, ropes, doo-dads, special brackets, unique drill bit heads and jiggers, could, according to the box that was purchased at Home Depot, be assembled and enjoyed within four to eight hours! Allegedly, two people could accomplish this task, in less than half a day!
Now, this is not to say that the marketers fibbed about the ease of assembly. However, when I assisted a friend in putting together the fun contraption, it required eight hours -- to cut the special pressure-treated lumber into the appropriate lengths.
Good news is that it will be ready when his son turns 7.
Bad news is that his son just turned 5.
(Ouch!)
Thumbless in Seattle

Padding the CV

This week, I expanded my tool kit of mobile skills by helping a friend renovate his house.
This involved moving a board fence, moving boulders which will become integral and large elements in a pond, hanging a door, and installing gyproc, also known as sheet rock, gypsum board and a big pain in the neck, and back and arms.
After attempting to support a full sheet of gyproc over my head for 20 minutes, I began to appreciate the routine of an office job.
Unfortunately, the chore became even more stressful when on one afternoon, a man who was helping me move a stove from the basement, suffered a massive heart attack and died right in front of us.
The experience was one of those moments that remind you that life is fleeting, and in the end,
there is no point in sweating over whether a piece of panelling is perfectly level.

Most wonderful

It is the most wonderful time of the year, for many things, including lumberjacking, and planting flowers. The bugs have yet to invade, and the humidity has not yet descended upon us.

Soon, we will we picking morels and fiddleheads, delicacies that appear for brief periods.

Rat Patrol

Have just returned from a tour of duty with the Rat Patrol, an elite two-member corps of poorly-trained and squeamish rural denizens, on the look-out for vermin, of the worst sorts.
Armed with shovels, rakes, poison, a wheelbarrow, and that versatile household weapon -- a box of aluminum foil -- we have secured the perimeter, to the best of our knowledge.
However, our satisfaction with a job well done is tempered by the sinking feeling that we may have caused collateral damage, and a gang of chipmunks may now be now plotting a counterstrike.
Does anyone in the virtual world have a surefire, bottom-up, green solution to rats?
(Any jokes about politicians do not count.)
Over and out.