February 2016
Sunday February 28
A winter aconite in the back yard
Despite the prognostications of Shubenacadie Sam, our local groundhog who shied at his shadow a few weeks ago, it seems that spring is on the way. The winter aconites appeared last week but, at first, hedged their bets and kept their flowers closed. But today it was gorgeous and they decided it was safe to open up. However, after last year, I am touching wood as I write this.
I was away for most of the week at our lab in Valcartier, just north of Quebec City. I flew up Monday afternoon and spent the next three days teaching our Publishing Officers how to use a document preparation system called LaTeX, much beloved by scientists because it is very good at typesetting equations. We stayed at a hotel near the airport and didn't have time to do anything much other than have dinner at one of the local restaurants. I flew home again on Thursday evening.
Last fall, Ann and I joined a group called Heart of Dartmouth which is sponsoring a refugee family from Syria. Yesterday we found out that the family will be arriving on Tuesday, so there was a meeting to organize the things that still need to be done for them. I will be acting as a general gofer but Ann is leading a small sub-committee to handle their educational needs. We are all quite excited now that they are actually on their way.
For Christmas I gave Ann a new bicycle to replace the 20-year old one she is currently riding, though we have not actually acquired the new one. Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the nice weather to check out a bicycle shop in Truro that had been highly recommended to us. I think Ann has now decided on the bike she would like but we have to decide which shop we would like to buy it from.
When we got back we went to a birthday/music party at our friends Sandy and Thomas'. As she has done the past couple of years, Ann baked a birthday cake. I had fun playing tunes with different combinations of the other guests. We didn't get to bed until about 1:30 AM which was tough for Ann as she had to get up early to attend the monthly Early Risers' Breakfast at the church, then sit through the church's Annual General Meeting after the morning service. Of course, I simply slept in.
Sunday February 21
A surfer at Lawrencetown Beach
A week ago Tuesday we awoke to another snowstorm which kept us both at home for the day. We had quite an accumulation by that point with the banks getting high enough to impede the lines of sight at corners, but since then the temperature has risen to double digits and there has been plenty of rain, so nothing much is left at all.
This week was reading week for James. Ann picked him up on Friday afternoon and we all went to a Symphony Nova Scotia concert featuring the music of Queen. They put on a concert of popular music every year to drum up interest in their usual classifcal fare. This one was with a front band called Jeans and Classics. The singer did a passable job of imitating Freddy Mercury but the guitar player was really good and had all of Brian May's licks down pat.
On Sunday afternoon we went for a walk on Lawrencetown Beach. The surf was up and there were several surfers enjoying it despite the temperature. We didn't last nearly as long as the wind made us all cold very quickly.
James went back to Acadia on Monday.
Last night Ann and I went to Neptune Studio to see Marion Bridge, a play about three very different sisters who return home to Cape Breton to look after their dying mother. It was well done and quite funny in parts despite the serious subject. We went for dinner beforehand with Kim and Glen to Two Doors Down, a fairly new restaurant not far from the theatre.
Sunday February 7
Louie
Ann and I have had a cultural weekend, starting with Stag and Doe at Neptune, a comedy about getting through weddings. Quite funny. We had a nice dinner beforehand with Ingrid, Mike and Maiga and Inara at Tempo, a restaurant we hadn't been to before in the Delta Barrington Hotel.
This afternoon we went to a concert of baroque music — Handel, Telemann and Bach — by Symphony Nova Scotia. It was at the church at the corner of Robie and Coburg Road which provided a much nicer atmosphere than the usual Rebecca Cohn.
Tonight we are staying at home for a bit more culture of the American kind, the Super Bowl, just so we know what to say by the water cooler tomorrow. (Not very impressed by Coldplay at half-time.)
I spent much of the week with a nasty cold, staying at home on Monday and Tuesday with a sore throat. I thought that I had missed a briefing I'm required to attend (they are changing our pay system and now we have to be taught how to be paid; sometimes working for the government gets a bit surreal) but when I returned on Tuesday I found out that the presenter had cancelled it due to illness. I also found that Mark, my office mate, was also at home, so it seems to be something that is making the rounds. Ann has felt the effects a little bit but not enough to keep her at home.