Tag: Weather, Holidays and Seasons

Nova Scotia Snow

First reports are coming out about the crushing wet snow that hit my old home of Nova Scotia with electrical pylon crushing force. Arthur tells us how the storm kind of snuck up on the province. Mike is still shovelling and has yet to post on it. Reports? It’ll be plus ten here in the tropical upper upper-ty-est part of the St. Lawrence Valley today.

Here is the report from Nova Scotia Power.

Polish Union Flags 1991

In the fall of 1991 I was teaching in a city on the Baltic Coast of Poland, a few hours on the train from Gdansk. In early November, there was what was then described as the first Polish national holiday our from under the yoke of some other power or another. These working lads – no doubt pals of Lech’s – were waiting in the line up for the parade in Gdansk.

I am still hunting for the photos I have of the gates of the Lenin shipyards.

And Speaking Of Labour Day

As we wake in our homes made safe by the building code, in our planned communities, sipping a well regulated glass of water, assured by the nearness of universal and excellent hospital care, let us recall those who went before in the cause of a healthy happy community respectful of the workers’ role as a cornerstone in our economic happiness:

  • The US Department of Labor has an excellent history of Labor Day on its website

  • The US Library of the Congress has an excellent exhibit on the Haymarket Affair from 1886 when workers fought for the eight hour day, a blessing to us all.

  • The Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives is a good place to start getting a bit riled up about it all.

  • The British TUC celebrates the right of political dissent crystallized in the anti-WWI movement led not even by the Trade Union leaders but by the shop stewards – guess who sat at lunch with the lads being sent to the industrialized warfare of the trenches?

  • In Canada, the jewel in our socialist crown is medicare and the people’s broadcaster, the CBC, shares the history of the fight for free health care for all here.

Grannie would be proud. The story goes that she was given the job by the municipal council in her role as Bailee (a deputy mayor of some sort) to plan the flag distribution throughout the City for a holiday. Down near the shipyards it was all red banners flapping as the shift ended and the workers filled the streets. Cheers, comradery and, ok, perhaps a small riot…but it was the Clyde in the 50’s and it really didn’t take much to get a good riot going.

So raise the red flag high today, look to that free vaccine mark on your should brought to you by public health served up in the free schools and thank them.

Mirage

This is another picture that begs me to buy a proper zoom lens digital camera. Living by the big lake you see some odd mirages. Sometimes you can see the hills of Pennsylvania floating above the pale horison, sometimes the edge of the sky looks like a saw from the image of the far off deep lake swells. Tonight coming home it was like the far side of the lake was lifted high in a ridge, rising above the tree line of Simcoe Island. The red line is the real horizon as if that is any help.

The view across the lake was clear as today’s WWTI-TV doppler radar from New York shows – Kingston is under the 401 sign and the view of the photo above is to the SSW:

Time Deprived

Like David, I am messed up this week with the clocks going forward last weekend. Losing one hour should not be so dramatic. I didn’t even lose sleep due to my dedication to nap therapy but coming come from work yesterday felt like leaving elementary school at 3:15 pm. Except no one was up for playing before supper. Something to do with the wearing of ties, I guess.