C'était le début de l'année scolaire au Québec

Je viens de m'en rappeler: cette semaine qui se termine marque le début de l'année scolaire au Québec. Parce qu'elle commence toujours la dernière semaine d'août, avant la Fête du Travail. Je trouve que c'est une très mauvaise idée, personnellement. À part pour le lundi de congé qui s'en vient et que nous n'aurons pas ici. Je me rappelle de mes débuts d'année scolaire, je les détestais toujours un peu, surtout au secondaire (anni horribile). Au cégep beaucoup  moins, j'avais même hâte qu'ils commencent. Même s'ils commençaient justement toujours trop tôt. En fait j'ai eu un moment d'angoisse lors de ma première année de cégep, la première journée. Mais je m'y suis vite senti comme un poisson dans l'eau, plus que dans tout autre milieu d'éducation. Et ça compte mes années d'universitaire. Enfin bref, j'ai une pensée pour tous les écoliers, les élèves et étudiants cette semaine.

Wax Anniversary

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary, for my wife and I. It is what we call a wax anniversary apparently, or so I read online. Traditionally, you must give like presents made of wax, which is pretty reductive: that means you must give candles. And the stone that represent it, again according to a quick Google search, is the peridot. I know nothing about that stone, though I do like its green colour. But my wife does not like green things. Anyway, all this musing about wax and stones are pretty pointless: how you celebrate a marriage is truly determined by whether you have children or not. Since Wolfie entered our lives, he became the true reason for celebrating. Last year we went to a restaurant as a couple while he was babysat by his grandparents and it just felt wrong. We still don't know how we will mark our wax anniversary (we are still tired after our holidays), but we know he will be part of the celebration. Maybe by drawing us a card with wax crayons or something.

L'Îlot Pirate

Près de la plage de Weymouth dans le Dorset, il y avait un manège. Comme ceux à la Ronde, que j'adorais quand j'étais jeune. C'était un genre de petites montagnes russes faites de bateaux. Mais ce qui m'a frappé, c'est le nom du manège: L'Îlot Pirate. Bon, les pirates viennent toujours avec les villes balnéaires, je veux dire dès qu'une ville est proche de la mer et veut attirer les touristes, elle sort le Jolly Roger et le met partout, on dirait. C'est du moins mon expérience. Mais ce manège-ci avait un nom français. Ca a fait ma journée. Ah oui, mais nous ne l'avons pas essayé. J'ai passé l'âge et petit loup est encore trop jeune.

Autumn Lights

This post is a quick followup to this Monday post. This evening, shortly before dinner, Wolfie and I went to the home of Blonde Tickler and her family to pay her for cat sitting Domino while we were away. It was around 5:30. The air was cool and for a moment I wished I had put a coat and given Wolfie a hoodie. It felt really nice otherwise. And it struck me getting there and back, after a few minutes of chit chat, the light were already getting dim. Oh, not much, but the sun was not nearly as high. An hour later, we could already see evening was falling. So yes, that was just it, I just wanted to let you know that where I am, autumn lights have started showing up. So yeah, that was another autumnal chronicle.

Phare

J'ai pris cette photo au Sea Life Centre (donc l'aquarium) de Weymouth. Nous n'y sommes restés que quelques heures, notre dernière journée de vacances, mais nous avons adoré,surtout petit loup, bien entendu. J'y ai pris beaucoup de photos, des photos que je veux partager ici. Dont celle-ci. Ce n'est bien entendu pas un vrai phare: il était au milieu d'un étang artificiel où il y avait des bateaux de pirates que l'on pouvait contrôler par le biais d'une télécommande. C'est je crois le seul phare que j'ai vu durant nos vacances, ce qui est ironique puisqu'on était au bord de la mer. Enfin bref...

Celebrating Mary Shelley

Today is the birthday of Mary Shelley. The author of Frankenstein and the famous monster's true mother. During my personal countdown to Halloween, which I start in August, I always observe her birthday as if it was the one of a saint, a saint of horror literature, if you will. I also try to write at least one post per year about her creation during the proper, official countdown to Halloween. Last year, I even went to a special event, "Mrs Shelley in the Library, with a Candlestick" organised by Mary Does Marlow. It was done in the Marlow Library, which was very fitting: Mary Shelley finished writing her most famous novel in the town of Marlow, where she lived for a year. I didn't have time to blog about it, but I intend to this year. I hope the modern Mary will organise something similar round Halloween which I can attend. Anyway until then, happy birthday Mary, wherever you are, you made me a horror fan and send my regards to your monstrous offspring and his daddy.

Vent d'est...(encore)

Après celle de dimanche et celle d'hier, voici une autre photo du vent d'est sur La Baie. Parce que.

The Haunted Hotel (with elusive ghosts)

As you may know, I have started my officious countdown to Halloween already. I do this from at least the beginning of August, sometimes more. I watch horror movies and read spooky stories. These days, I have been reading The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins. I am not saying that I have been influenced by its cover, but yes, I bought the book in part because of its cover and the scary pale female ghost cloaked in black. And because Wordsworth Editions generally deliver when it comes to classic scary stories. But so far, I must confess that I have been finding the whole experience somewhat disappointing. Not because it is not good, but because the supernatural elements come rather late in the narrative around page 80 something of a 150 pages novella. I was half-expecting it: XIXth century ghost stories can often have corner of the eye, blink and you've missed kind of apparitions. Everything is rather subdued and very, very, very subtle. Nothing wrong with that, but I will soon need something meatier and more obviously horrifying. There are other stories of Collins in the book, but once I've checked out of his Haunted Hotel, I will not read them and switch to something a bit more blatantly spooky.

Le Train de Charlevoix

Je viens d'apprendre une nouvelle que je ne connaissais pas: la région de Charlevoix a un train qui est paraît-il assez écolo, fonctionnant à l'hydrogène vert. Il s'appelle le Train de Charlevoix (comme de raison). Ca fait des années que je ne suis pas allé dans la région de Charlevoix, ça fait des années que je veux y retourner en famille. Maintenant j'ai une nouvelle raison pour vouloir le faire: prendre ce fameux train. Si vous l'avez utilisé, veuillez me faire part de vos impressions dans les commentaires.

Doe, a deer...

We spent the afternoon yesterday at a petting zoo, where Wolfie met one of his best friends from school, a little girl of Chinese origins who adores him. I will probably blog about her one day, but this post is about something else. As we were driving home, in a nearby small town not far from our own, I saw a fawn. Maybe it was a doe, but I think it was a fawn, as it was quite small, so much so that at first I thought it might be a fox and a dog. It was walking at a brisk pace on the pavement by the road, looking scared, then stopped in an alleyway further down. It only lasted a few seconds. We parked nearby and we decided to call a wildlife hospital. They could not do anything, not unless it was injured and the fawn didn't seem to be, or unless we had visuals on it. We did not, so we drove back, trying to find it, to no avail. There was a good deal of woodlands and fields nearby, so we hope it managed to find a way back to the wild. We will also keep eyes on local social media, in case the deer has been spotted by others. I just hope the animal is okay.

Vent d'est...

 Après celle de dimanche, voici une autre photo du vent d'est sur La Baie. Rien que parce que.

Autumn Air

Autumn is coming. I could feel it today. It may be a cliché to say it, I mean it obviously is coming, but some year it is more obvious than others and some moments you can just feel it more. Like today. Or rather, this evening. In the very late afternoon, there was not even a breeze, yet the air was cool and smelled of wet wood and old leaves. It is difficult to describe, like a bittersweet smell, but is felt definitely autumnal. Even the fading lights had this autumnal look, something always a bit eerie. We won't have to wait much longer now. And I am very glad.

C'était un jour férié aujourd'hui...

 Bon, le titre dit tout: c'était un jour férié aujourd'hui. Parce qu'ici, il n'y a pas de lundi de congé le premier lundi de septembre, mais il y en a un le dernier lundi d'août. J'avoue que je préfèrerais l'avoir en septembre, mais un jour de congé c'est bon à prendre et ça rend endurable la mélancolie qui me prend toujours à la fin août. et puis je me console en me disant que la semaine n'aura que quatre jours...

The oysters of Billy Winters

As I blogged yesterday, we are back from a holiday in Dorset. I promised I would share some pictures. I'm afraid a lot of the ones you will see are of food: this trip was for me a gastronomical experience. So anyway, we went to Billy Winters and, as they had oysters, I had some as a starter. I know they are out of season, but I hadn't eaten any since, well, years, so I decided to correct this, especially since they pride themselves to have their own oyster farm. I just could not pass on this opportunity. They are served with lemon and their own house Shallot vinaigrette (a first for me). It grossed out both my wife and Wolfie, but even the smell of it made me feel blissful. There is something so... marine, about oysters, which I always loved. And they were not even in season.

Le passeport du Salon du Livre

Petite annonce concernant le Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean:il y a un passeport en prévente. Pour la modique somme de 12$, vous pourrez y rendre les quatre jours de l'évènement. Moi, je n'y serai pas, mais si j'y étais, je n'en aurais pas besoin: j'ai mon passeport permanent, catégorie cégep.

Hunting the Loch Ness Monster

 Some longtime readers may remember that when I was a child I used to be fascinated by the Loch Ness Monster. As an adult, I don' believe anymore in its existence, nevertheless I still have an interest in him, if only because of its place in the Acottish folklore. Well, Nessie may not exist, but its legend is certainly not dead: a new hunt, the biggest in the last 50 years, has recently been organised. Nearly 300 volunteers will monitor the lake and its activities. I don't think they will find anything, sadly, certainly not a long believed to be extinct dinosaur (when I was a child my money was on the plesiosaur), nevertheless it is kind of nice to know that people still chase monsters, mythical or not.

Vent d'est sur La Baie

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo d'un voilier à La Baie, tiré par le vent d'Est. Rien à ajouter.

Back from Dorset

If you were wondering why I was not blogging and were getting worried, I thought I would reassure you: we are back from a holiday in Dorset. Weymouth, to be more precise. I am glad we are back, but I am back we went there: I needed holidays. It is a terrible cliché to say, but it is true. I will share more of our time there in the next few days, maybe show a few pictures too. That should help me catch up with my absence from the blogosphere. Otherwise, how are you guys?

Champignons forestiers

Mon père m'a encore une fois envoyé des photos de champignons, le titre du courriel était "champignons forestiers". Tout ça pour dire que l'automne arrive...

Woodland Trust's Swatch Book

I got so happy a few days ago, when I stumbled on something I thought I had lost: rummagning through one ofmy drawers, I found this Woodland Trust's leaf identification swatch book. It was a gift from Mozart's Girl, I cannot remember why, but nevertheless it was a sweet gesture and a generous present. It is one of those little things you don't need, yet when you have them they are so darn fun to use. I used to carry it with me every time we went on a walk. I used to stop at the trees and see if I could identify them with the booklet. Then after we moved house and Wolfie came into our life, I lost sight of it. Well, not anymore. And I can't wait to learn about trees again thanks to it.