Looking for a pit, finding a fire

Posted on January 1, 2012 by doradueck

Yesterday — it being the last day of the year and all — H. presented me with a neat idea. How about we go to Birds Hill Park, he said, and make a fire? Birds Hill is a provincial park about 24 kilometers from Winnipeg, and a favorite destination to camp, hike, bike, swim, and picnic. This appealed to me immediately, it being the last day of the year and all, and the weather relatively mild at a few degrees below zero Celsius. So, come supper time, we were off, with wood and matches, flashlights, chairs, picnic basket with smokies, buns, condiments, drinks, and dessert. Continue reading →

That time of year

Posted on December 14, 2011 by doradueck

It’s that time of year when a blogger feels she ought to say something for the season. Some complaint about the rush and bustle and commercialization of Christmas perhaps, or some contemplation of its real meaning, etc.etc. No sarcasm intended — I like a good rant or new insight as much as the next blogger — but I’ve not only slipped behind in posting, I have neither complaint nor contemplation to share. Same old, same old of the season, and not an original thought in my head, it seems. All I’ve really got — and today’s is a personal report — is this sense of riding a huge wave of gratitude.

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Reacting to the bomb to come

Posted on November 18, 2011 by doradueck

Image from 1990 Newsweek issue on the family

I was doing some research at the public library the other day, paging through LIFE magazines from 1970. Ecology — as in acid rain, etc. — was an issue of great public concern at the time, with predictions that within a decade people would be wearing gas masks to survive pollution. Even more urgent, though, was “population pollution.”

I remember this, of course, and know that my generation was profoundly shaped by it. But I had forgotten the details, and now I saw them again. A biologist saying, for example, “Each American baby represents 50 times as great a threat to the planet as each Indian baby.” Continue reading →