It's been snowing for the last 36 hours, off and on. The Weather
Channel keeps telling us that it's a "snowfall warning," as though this
was a startling event in March on the prairies of Canada! The world
outside is pristine white, and everything appears to move more slowly in
the deep snow. I know that when I walked my 3.5 km yesterday in two or
three inches of the stuff, I was slow…and I wearied! I shovelled once
yesterday, and realized that my back could take no more of that, so
later in the day
I fired up the snow blower and plowed through snow that was, by then, melting and wet and heavy. "Heart attack snow," I have always called it, since I saw a neighbour in Ottawa collapse in the middle of a 'big shovel.'
For some reason, the arrival of anow brightens me up, as it brightens up the world outside. The higways become treacherous, or at least the foolish speeders on the highways become treacherous, and the death toll rises. One sees the "benefits" of civilization when nature decides to flex her muscles. What makes us speedy and sharp in fine weather, turns us into uncontrolled missles in the snow and wind.
I slep late this morning (5:30 AM) and so didn't attempt to walk. The plan, at the moment, is (having eating my healthy breakfast)to wait for 8:30, and then snow blow the driveway and sidewalk. Later, after the children have packed down the path to the Middle School where I walk, I'll travel in their footsteps around my walking course.
I am finally drawing near the end of Umberto Eco's book (The Prague Cemetery), which unpacks the hideous anti-semitism in France and Germany in the late 19th century, hinged around the focal point of the Dreyfuss Affair. Dreyfuss was a Captain in the French Army, and was accused of treason because a note he - supposedly - had written about the Jewish plot to take over the army, was given to his superiors. The note was forged by the 'hero' of the novel, and he is implicated in the long struggle Dreyfuss had to clear his name.
Currently, our 'hero' is in the process of draftimg the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a document which documented the Jewish plot to take over the governments of Europe and destroy the Christian religion. These were used to condemn Jewish bankers, merchants and any highly placed person as potential treasonous citizens. They formed the backbone of Hitler's developing anti-semitism in his early years. The Protocols purport to be the notes taken at a clandestine meeting of rabbiis, jewel merchants, etc, in the Prague Cemetery in the middle of the night. Hence the novel's name.
The only thing of Eco's that I have enjoyed was The Name of The Rose. This current novel is a trial. The vitriolic anti-semitism of the characters, and the constant voicing of it, I find demoralizing. It reminds me of the kind of gay-bashing that emergges in the local press periodically - all voiced in the name of 'caring' for the poor misguided sinners.
Well, snow awaits, and I can feel sixteen again while wrestling my machine through the drifts and blink at the snow crystals swirling round my face. I'll be back soon, energized!
I fired up the snow blower and plowed through snow that was, by then, melting and wet and heavy. "Heart attack snow," I have always called it, since I saw a neighbour in Ottawa collapse in the middle of a 'big shovel.'
For some reason, the arrival of anow brightens me up, as it brightens up the world outside. The higways become treacherous, or at least the foolish speeders on the highways become treacherous, and the death toll rises. One sees the "benefits" of civilization when nature decides to flex her muscles. What makes us speedy and sharp in fine weather, turns us into uncontrolled missles in the snow and wind.
I slep late this morning (5:30 AM) and so didn't attempt to walk. The plan, at the moment, is (having eating my healthy breakfast)to wait for 8:30, and then snow blow the driveway and sidewalk. Later, after the children have packed down the path to the Middle School where I walk, I'll travel in their footsteps around my walking course.
I am finally drawing near the end of Umberto Eco's book (The Prague Cemetery), which unpacks the hideous anti-semitism in France and Germany in the late 19th century, hinged around the focal point of the Dreyfuss Affair. Dreyfuss was a Captain in the French Army, and was accused of treason because a note he - supposedly - had written about the Jewish plot to take over the army, was given to his superiors. The note was forged by the 'hero' of the novel, and he is implicated in the long struggle Dreyfuss had to clear his name.
Currently, our 'hero' is in the process of draftimg the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a document which documented the Jewish plot to take over the governments of Europe and destroy the Christian religion. These were used to condemn Jewish bankers, merchants and any highly placed person as potential treasonous citizens. They formed the backbone of Hitler's developing anti-semitism in his early years. The Protocols purport to be the notes taken at a clandestine meeting of rabbiis, jewel merchants, etc, in the Prague Cemetery in the middle of the night. Hence the novel's name.
The only thing of Eco's that I have enjoyed was The Name of The Rose. This current novel is a trial. The vitriolic anti-semitism of the characters, and the constant voicing of it, I find demoralizing. It reminds me of the kind of gay-bashing that emergges in the local press periodically - all voiced in the name of 'caring' for the poor misguided sinners.
Well, snow awaits, and I can feel sixteen again while wrestling my machine through the drifts and blink at the snow crystals swirling round my face. I'll be back soon, energized!
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