September, 2008

It seems impossible that October looms.  Time goes by so fast!  It is Sunday morning, September 28.  At the front of my mind is the death of Paul Newman, the improbable victory of Michigan football (over another of my Big 10 schools, Wisconsin), the massive canning effort we did yesterday, and the upcoming Celebration of the Arts in New Paltz, which I will work on behalf of One Book/One New Paltz.  The COT was originally scheduled for September 27, but the weather forcast on September 26 was so daunting that organizers postponed to the rain date of today.  Of course, September 26 was almost completely dry, even warm.  

We went to Montreal for my birthday last weekend.  The drive was exceedingly pleasant.  The Adirondack Mountains are quite imposing and picturesque.  We stayed at a great B&B in a great neighborhood.  Attached please find a few pics.  

Here in the US, we parse differences by the color of one's skin by and large.  In Montreal, language is key.  On one side of a major north/south avenue, St. Laurent, signs do NOT have to have English translations.  We estimated we heard French around us about 3/4 of the time, but all of the service people we encountered spoke flawless, and often accent-free English.  There was absolutely no hostility to us as English speakers.  Those years have passed for Quebec-ers?  The city was easy to get around and we had no problem finding vegetarian fare.  We did tourist-y things with a bus tour and a tour of the harbor.  Montreal, we were surprised to discover, is an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, which is very big at that point.

We went and watched the Obama/McCain debate Friday at the Student Union Building with a group of people organized by Mary Kahl, a Michigan native (born in Soo St. Marie) who teaches at my college.  It was riveting viewing and I look forward to the next three.  What I'd like is for the election to be over and my candidate - Barack Obama - to have been elected.  We'll see.

I hope your September/October transition is kind.  Enjoy our pictures.  Just think, one of those jars of our American bounty may be yours in the near future:  salsa, tomato/basil sauce, corn relish, pickles.