Train is the most civilised form of transit. Enjoy!
It’s quite serene. I’m enjoying it. Mind you I’ve been up since 5:00 this morning and am still an hour to my destination.
Thursday night it snowed. Thursday night I skied. The universe is once again in balance.
Well, my golf clubs have been put away for the winter, so my universe isn’t quite in balance.
Leaffan, where are you going on the train?
Maybe he’s emulating another famous train trip?
“A train! A train!
A train! A train!
Could you, would you, on a train?”
“Not on a train! Not in tree!
Not in a car! Spoons!. Let me be!
I would not, could not, in a box!
I would not, could not, with a fox!
I will not eat them in a house!
I will not eat them with a mouse!
I will not eat them here or there!
I will not eat them anywhere!
I do not eat green eggs and ham!
I do not eat them, Spoons-I-am!”
“Say! In the dark? Here in the dark!
Would you, could you, in the dark?”
“I would not, could not, in the dark!”
Northern Piper, I am laughing out loud! Very well done!
I have to respond somehow. Ah, let’s see…
*Ridin’ on the Lakeshore Limited
Via Rail, Monday daily trip,
Just three cars, and fifty restless riders,
But headin’ to T.O. at a good clip.
Good mornin’ Ontario, how are ya?
Say, don’t you know me, I’m you native son?
I’m the train they call the Lakeshore to T.O.
I’ll be gone three-fifty miles when the day is done.
I’d be dealin’ card games with the old men in the club car.
But Via don’t allow gamblin’, so that’s kinda not allowed,
Passing through Belleville, I see the limestone station,
Just one taxi, ain’t no sign of a crowd.
Good mornin’ Ontario, how are ya?
Say, don’t you know me, I’m you native son?
I’m the train they call the Lakeshore to T.O.
I’ll be gone three-fifty miles when the day is done.
Nighttime on the Lakeshore to T.O.
Conductor calls, Toronto in five,
Then in French, 'cept it’s “en cinq”,
In any language, T.O.‘ll be rumblin’ and alive.
Good night Ontario, how are ya?
Say, don’t you know me, I’m you native son?
I’m the train they call the Lakeshore to T.O.
I’ll be gone three-fifty miles when the day is done.*
Best I could do on the spur of the moment. Thanks, NP, for giving me the inspiration!
I rode the Lakeshore (and the Lakeshore Limited) many, many times when I lived in Toronto. It’s a great train, a traditional and historic train. I’m glad that it is still in service.
I took the train from Ottawa to Sarnia and back. I enjoyed it, although it takes about 10 hours, versus 7 to drive.
We’re slated for about a hundred refugees here in a couple of weeks. If you don’t hear from me in December, you’ll know that they blew us up. Either that, or we all froze to death – last Nov 30 was -27.
Despite the temp, here’s to offering a warm welcome to people desperately in need of a safe haven.
A friend in Toronto had need of an old cell phone for use in video recording and calling 911, so I said I’d send her one of mine. Her daughter’s friend was flying to Toronto this weekend and kindly offered to drop it off. I put it in a addressed opaque bubble envelope, and dropped it off in her daughter’s mail box. Her daughter then dropped it off in her friend’s mail box. Her friend’s roommate arrived home at night, found it in the mail box, and while picking it up turned it on (I had forgotten to take out the battery), causing it to start blinking.
Did I mention that all these people are Muslim, and are rightly very nervous about the risk of racial attacks against them? And that my friend’s need for a vid/911 device arose out of a racial incident?
Well the roommate didn’t know what the fuck the blinking device in his mailbox was, so he quite reasonably called the police, who of course responded.
It’s all been resolved. A lot of laughter about what was a comedy of errors, but at the same time a sober reminder of how racism combined with the threat of terrorism is harming our country.
I’ve got to stop causing these unintended bomb scares.
Wow Muffin!
We live in different times for sure.
In the interest of continually fighting ignorance, I’d like to point out that a person can’t choose what ‘race’ they are (we are all one race, btw), but they can choose what religion they are. If someone attacks a person because of their religion, it isn’t a racial attack. And the easiest way to prevent someone from being attacked due to their religion is to choose a different religion. It’s not as if there aren’t a plethora of religions that humans have invented over the years that one can choose from and would fit their needs. Or they can invent their own if they really need to. It won’t make a bit of difference in the end.
Now, if they are being attacked due to their skin color, then I’m fully on board with their being concerned.
RedBlacks v Esks in Winnipeg next week for Grey Cup
As an Ottawa native, I’m still in shock. Tie game, less than 90 seconds remaining, 2nd and 25, buried on the 17 yard line and going into the wind. They were dead. They were going to have to punt it away and Hamilton was going to get the ball on the cusp of field goal range.
And then Ellingson happened.
The party probably ends next week, but for somebody who originally got interested in football because of the Renegades, that was a real fun game.
Uzi, in the matter at hand it is racial, for the Muslims in question are all brown. Culture, religion, skin tone, language and language all factor in together into what colloquially is termed racial.
As far as your proposed solution being to change religions, I hope you are joking, for it you are not, you simply do not understand how people tick. I say this as an atheist with no love of any religion or religion in general.
Race is related to things that are out of our control to change, the same as age or sexual orientation. Culture, religion, and language are all things we can change.
If you are afraid people might hurt you because you wear a silly hat then the obvious solution, at least in the short term, is to wear a different one or take it off completely. Something you can’t tell someone to do if people don’t like their skin color.
Are they? How many of their fellow Canadians do they think are out to get them?
This is a very odd winter.
I’m grilling a burger on the BBQ in the back yard for the Cub’s supper.
Normally that’s not doable this time of year because the backyard is covered in snow.
This year, just a light dusting that has mainly gone away. Went out in my shoes and sweater, no boots or coat.
Odd.
Just a fine mist of rain coming home from work today, but I guess it had been misting for a while, as the sidewalks and residential roads were slick with ice. I wiped out crossing the road on the way home from the bus stop. Then I called my Dad and told him that I wasn’t leaving the house tonight - I’ll drive over and see him later this week.
Looking at the weather forecast I suspect that this won’t be the only ice rain we get this month.
My parents decided to sponsor some refugees. My parents have room, but it has required moving some things around and there are still a few issues that need to be sorted out.
The latest word is that the family is supposed to be arriving next week.
Good for them! 
What a neat experience they’ll all have, sharing each others culture and food, taking them sight-seeing etc.
Went to the Cub’s Christmas concert tonight.
When we came out, it was raining heavily.
Rain. In Regina. In December.
Okay, I’m convinced. Global warming is real.