Sunshine

The sun is shining bright this afternoon! The price for bright is cold. Not only is it much colder today than it was yesterday, tonight it is going to get a lot colder. The low, the weather people say, will be -18C on the thermometer, and -26C with wind chill. Not a good night to lie under the stars enjoying the heavens.

My Mom recently sent me some old school class photos. I did not know she kept them, I thought they had perished. I am surprised at how many of the names I remember, and that all but one or two faces are familiar.

The teachers are interesting. I had three outstanding teachers during my primary public school years, grades one through eight. The first was my Grade One teacher, she was an older woman who loved kids, and we loved her right back. The second was my Grade Six teacher, who had escaped the Holocaust in a coal car with her parents during the Second World War. She was a lovely, compassionate, insightful teacher. I even had the sense to appreciate her at the time. The third was my Grade Eight teacher, who was also the principal of the school. He was tacitern, remote, fair, and strict. He was a talented teacher and administrator. He encouraged my love of learning, and I have felt grateful to him for that gift ever since.

I also had three abysmally small minded and cruel teachers. Other than to acknowledge I noticed, they don’t get any air time. Their brief influence had lasting effects for my brothers and I.

Recovery from my fall ,on the basement floor, is going well. I have a shiner, which has gone from black and blue to an odd shade of brown. The scabbed areas on my face are itching, which means the scabs are about to fall off. My old glasses are working just fine as a substitute for the scratched pair. Best of all though, the headaches have disappeared! I feel great.

Canning season has been over for a few months now, I’ve had a bit of a break. Now my mind is wandering through possible canning projects. Soups seem interesting. Canned soups from the grocery store are too high in either sodium or fat, so I no longer eat them. I miss the convenience of opening up a can of soup, so why not make my own.

The neighbourhood is much quieter now that the first tenants have moved into the new rental complex. Construction noises have ceased for the most part, temporarily at least. Since only 10 units were completed and rented, very little additional traffic uses our street, for now.

The Holiday Season is pleasant in so many ways, but I am always glad when life gets back to regular program.

Worldly

Weather

-7°C
Date: 12:00 PM EST Thursday 10 January 2019
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.3 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: -6.9°C
Dew point: -12.7°C
Humidity: 64%
Wind: NW 29 gust 41 km/h
Wind Chill: -15
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”
Henry David Thoreau
1817 – 1862