Le temps du Kanuk léger

Il fait plus doux ces temps-ci, il devrait même faire dans les 20 degrés, quoique pas très haut. J'ai regardé, et la tmepérature ne devrait pas changer, alors il est temps de troquer mon manteau d'hiver pour mon manteau d'été. Je dis manteau d'hiver, mais c'est un manteau de printemps Kanuk. Ici c'est assez chaud pour durer l'automne, l'hiver et le printemps. J'ai un manteau d'été Kanuk, acheté il y a plus de dix ans, que je mets de mai à octobre environ. Avec le harfang des neiges inimitable.

Un hiboux de Riopelle

 Mon père a pris cette photo, devant le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. C'est une statue de hibou créée par Riopelle. Je n'ai pas grand-chose à dire, sauf que j'aime les hiboux, alors bien entendu j,ai voulu le partager, et puis c'est un Riopelle, ce qui n'est pas rien. C'est quand même cool que l'on ait accès comme ça, gratuitement, à une oeuvre de Riopelle. Et je trouve que Riopelle a bien montré l'aspect un brin effrayant et toujours mystérieux du hibou. Il a presque l'air d'un fantôme.

The owls of London

 I read some really cool news recently on The Guardian: there's been an increase of owls sightings in London. That's really nice. I love owls. I know there are closer to us than we think: being nocturnal, wary of men and easily camouflaged, we just don't seem them. I think there is one in the neighbourhood, because I heard its cry at night. I should really try to identify it, next time I hear the owl cry at night. Now that London has suddenly become far more atmospheric, I will keep my eyes open next time I go there. I don't think I will visit London by night any time soon, but hey, you never know.

Harfang orange

 Petite nouvelle ornithologique qui a fait les manchettes et sur laquelleje voulais bloguer depuis quelques jours: un harfang des neiges au plumage orange a été aperçu aux États-Unis. Enfin, une partie de son plumage est orange. Il lui reste du blanc, mais c'est quand même très saisissant. Les scientifiques se perdent en conjecture sur les raisons de ce changement de couleur. J'adore le harfang des neiges, notamment parce que c'est l'oiseau emblématique du Québec. J'ai eu la chance d'en voir en vrai, dans son état sauvage, du temps où je vivais encore au Québec. Ils venaient parfois chasser les oiseaux dans nos mangeoires. C'est assez impressionnant. Le harfang "mutant", il l'est peut-être encore plus.

Chocolats de l'Halloween chez Première Moisson

 Nouvelle bouffe trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: ils font aussi des chocolats de l'Halloween. Ils sont trop beaux pour être mangés.

In a Glass Darkly

For today's countdown to Halloween's reading suggestion: In A Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu. It contains a few short stories and novella, all but one are horror stories. It also has its most famous work, Carmilla. Aka that story with a lesbian vampire, which I blogged about recently. A story now in the shadow of a far more famous vampire. While I prefer Dracula as a novel and a vampire story, Le Fanu's creation stands on her own and so does his writing, which has never been surpassed or erased by Bram Stoker, who in the end was a one hit wonder. Carmilla is a deliciously creepy tale of infatuation in an exotic setting, with just enough blood and violence, but the other stories should not be neglected. Green Tea is maybe my favourite, where a clergyman is haunted by a demonic monkey, which may be an hallucination caused by an excessive drinking of green tea. I'm not making it up. It's classic Gothic horror at its best.

The Owlman

 For the people following me for a while, you may know that among all my interests, I have some fascination for cryptids, although very skeptical about the existence of any of them. I don't think any exist, in fact, but love the (ancient or modern) folklore associated to it. I also think they make for great source of inspiration for horror stories. Some time ago, I found out about the Owlman, who was spotted in the seventies in a church of the village of Mawnan, in Cornwall. I know the legent of the Owlman has already been adapted into one horror movie, and the cryptid made his way into other stories, but I think there is more to tell about him. It's just something ghostly and eerie about owls in general, so a mansize, hominid version of the bird is just... Well, really creepy. Especially if he dwells in a village church. I hope he becomes better known and a new character for Halloween. When I go to Cornwall, I hope to visit Mawnan.

October, October

No, no, I am not thinking of autumn just yet. Okay, yes, I am. I always am, when autumn is still a long way ahead. I long for it. No, I am blogging today about a novel I found at random in a garden centre, of all places. Titled October, October. An autumnal novel seemingly not about Halloween, albeit it must show up at some point in the story. It is, from what I understand, a coming of age story about a girl named October who rescues a baby owl. I did not buy it, mostly because from August until, well, Halloween, I read horror stories non stop. But I might buy it next time I see it and add to my TBR list for summertime, just so it can help me get through the hot days of summertime. Just a thought.

The cry of an owl

It happened a few nights ago, just when I was in bed, trying to sleep. I heard a hoot, I think it was a hoot anyway. I heard it before, back in 2016, but I am not sure I heard an owl in the neighbourhood ever since. Or at least I don't remember. I got up and looked at the window, to check if I could see the owl in question. We have a few trees behind our house, I suspected it might be hanging nearby Not a trace, but obviously it was dark. I will be on the lookout for owls in the neighbourhood from now on, will eep my eyes and ears open. Owls are cool, so I'm glad we have one nearby.

Hibou

Mon père a pris une photo de cette girouette il y a quelques semaines et me l'a envoyée. Je crois que c'est une girouette, enfin il n'y a pas de rose des vents, mais ça doit bien être à ça que ça sert. Dans tous les cas, parce que c'est un hibou (avec une aile gauche qui a l'air d'une aile de papillon ou d'une hélice de moulin), j'aime beaucoup.

Chouette effraie

Nous sommes allés pour la première foishier à Hogshaw Farm et ce fut une très belle visite. Ils se préparent joliment pour l'Halloween, dans tous les cas, ce qui n'est jamais garanti dans ce pays. J'y ai retrouvé plusieurs animaux que j'aime, dont les barn owls, qu'on appelle en français les chouettes effraies. Parce qu'elles effraient, justement. En tout cas elles effrayaient: leur apparence dans le noir et leur cri ont été à l'origine de bien des histoires de fantômes. Je l'ai déjà mentionné sur Vraie Fiction, mais je le rappelle encore une fois, parce qu'elle mérite de faire partie de la faune de l'Halloween.

My old Kanuk coat

There is a moment in autumn which I always love, it is the time when it gets cold enough to start wearing my old Kanuk coat. I have three Kanuk coats: one for winter (the very first I bought), one for summer and for springtime and autumn, which in this country I wear from autumn until spring inclusively. Maybe this is why it is the oldest looking one, albeit still in a good state and very wearable. It was my father's coat originally, but it did not fit him very well, so he gave it to me back in 2013 and I have been wearing it ever since. Kanuk is not a brand that is well known outside Quebec, but it is easily recognisable because of the snowy owl it has on its collar (although I think recent models might not have it anymore). Anyway, yesterday the temperature dropped dramatically and for the first time since last April I wore my old Kanuk coat. And it felt so good. Especially since it is fairly early in the season to wear something that warm.

Jade Owl

I found this picture in the Facebook page of the British Museum. It is a pendant, probably reprensint an owl, made of jade. You can read more about it here. As I child, for some reason, I always thought jade was both exotic and mysterious, even though I never learned all that much about it. Be that as it may, this pendant caught my eyes: I love owls and I love jade. So I find it quite classy.

The Owl Game

 Last week, I blogged about the Lava Game, one of Wolfie's favourite games walking back from school (sometimes walking to school as well, which I always fear might get him late). But he has another one he loves just as much: the Owl Game. Basically, he flaps his arms as if they were wings and hoots. Then when we talk to him, he says "I'm an owl" and it's all he is going to say until he is home. Owls seem to have accidentally become our totemic birds in the family: my wife has them on mugs, wallet, jumpers and so on. I'm not sure why, she does not like owls particularly. But I do love them quite a lot, for a number of reasons I will not dwell into, but you will find a good deal about owls on this blog. Maybe Wolfie picked up on that.

Of owls and airplanes

I recently read this article about owls: apparently engineers are studying the wings of owls to invent silent wind turbines and airplanes. Because owls are apparently very silent birds, when it comes to flying anyway. I love owls, so if they manage to make human environment and transport less noisy thanks to them, I love them even more. It will make them even cooler than they already are. Speaking of owls, I suspect there is one living nearby, as sometimes I think I can hear hooting outside at night.

Have a Pagan Christmas

'Tis the season to be... well, a lot of things, but maybe Pagan is the right word. Anyway, I found this meme online and found it hilarious, because it's pretty much how I feel when I get irritated by people talking of Christmas being a Christian holiday (which often implies: "it should be exclusively Christian and no godless heathen should have fun on our Most Sacred Day.") So yes, in these moments I feel like that weird promitive, tribalistic Santa Claus and yes, I feel animated when I have a few alcoholic drinks in the stomach.

Happy Halloween 2021!

Happy Halloween everyone! You see here not a Jack O'Lantern, but a banner which was a gift from Halloween afficionado Wendy the Very Good Witch. I haven't heard from her in years, so please if you are reading this Wendy, thank you for your generosity and I hope to hear from you again some day. I always put this banner up (now that we have a wall where it fits). Halloween this year is on a Sunday, a pretty good time for it, so we have a whole weekend to be spooked. I have been and will be busy this weekend, but I will try to blog again on my fabourite holiday. Have spooky fun everyone and stay safe!

Les animaux de nuit

Image prise dans Les dires de Piloé, le livre de quatrième année de mes cours de françaisque mon frère PJ m'a gentiment acheté. Le module 18 portait sur les animaux de nuit. Je ne me rappelle plus si nous l'avons lu en classe, mais je me rappelle l'avoir consulté. J'ai vu certains animaux de nuit ici, des hérissons surtout (sans compter les chats), mais je soupçonne qu'il y a aussi une chouette ou un hibou, ou en tout cas qu'il y en avait une: parfois j'entendais un cri assez strident qui pourrait être celui d'un hibou (ou d'une chouette). Je sais que je peux trouver les réponses sur internet, avec un peu de recherche, mais j'ai hâte de pouvoir le consulter avec petit loup, dont c chapitre, et de voir si on peut trouver une description du cri ou d'autres indices qui nous permettraient d'identifier l'oiseau de nuit, s'il est toujours là.

The reading owl

This weekend, we went to Cliveden, a National Trust property that is not too far  from home. There is a lot to see and enjoy for the whole family and I was happily surprised to see Wolfie being enthusiastic for even the least children oriented attractions. But I digress and these are for other posts. There is one section of Cliveden that is both fun for kids and seemelessly educational. It's a small playground with wooden sculptures of characters from children fiction. At its entrance, there is this owl, sitting on a pile of classic books, eading one of them. There is a squirrel (I think) next to him, a hedgehog on the cover of one of the books and a toad (or a frog?) underneath. I'm not sure if these are animal characters from a specific book (tell me in the comments if you know), but I find it a subtle and intelligent invitation to literacy. And there is nothing cooler than a wise old owl reading books.

Chouette/hibou au crochet

Ma belle-mère avait fait il y a quelques mois une baleine au crochet (et non pas tricoté comme je l'ai dit par erreur) et l'a donnée à petit loup. Elle a remis ça quelques semaines plus tard en faisant ce hibou ou cette chouette. Au rythme où vont les choses, il aura bientôt une animalerie complète de toutous fait maison. C'est chouette. (Désolé, je devais commettre ce calembour atroce). Plus sérieusement, si vous avez des suggestions en ce qui concerne les prochains animaux de la ménagerie, veuillez me les donner dans les commentaires. Ou encore des compliments à l'artiste: ma belle-mère lit parfois ce blogue.