November 2016
Saturday November 26
One of our geraniums (now safely indoors)
I'm publishing this page a day early this week as I missed last weekend and I'm about to leave for my annual trip to the Netherlands. However, there isn't a lot to report as Ann and I have both been working during the days and collapsing early in the evenings.
On Thursday evening, Ann and I drove up to Wolfville after work to watch James playing trombone with the Acadia Jazz Band at the Axe Lounge in the Student Union Building. We grabbed a quick dinner at the Naked Crèpe beforehand. The concert was very enjoyable with a mix of standards and tunes that I hadn't heard before.
I've been following the world chess championship on the internet all week. It has been a very tense affair with the current champion, Magnus Carlsen, failing to win a couple of very promising positions early on, then losing from a drawn position in the seventh game of twelve. On Thursday he managed to eke out a win, so the match is tied with two games to go. I should be able to follow it using the wifi in the airports over the weekend.
Sunday November 13
Remembrance Day at the cenotaph
Ann and I, like most of the rest of the world, are trying to get over the shock of the American election. I stayed up quite late on Tuesday evening (actually Monday morning) until it was clear that Trump was going to win. Ann, more sensibly, went to bed at the usual time. I have heard a few news stories trying to put a brave face on it but I don't think it can be anything but an unmitigated disaster. At least, since he won, he has become a little more statesmanlike (there was a lot of room to improve), but his choices of advisors for the transition to power don't inspire any confidence that he will provide rational leadership on the most important files like defence and climate change.
James had some time off this week so he came home for a couple of days. I drove to Acadia to get him after work on Thursday and Ann and I took him back again yesterday. He is still enjoying university life, is happy with his choice of courses and is doing well in them.
On Friday, a statutory holiday in Nova Scotia, we walked down to the cenotaph for the Remembrance Day ceremony. They made a few changes this year, for the better I think. The hymns were no longer so overtly Christian and they no longer required nonagenarian veterans to climb up and down several steps to lay wreaths.
The world chess championship started on Friday so I watched the first couple of games on the internet: two draws without much in the way of fireworks but hopefully the games will become more exciting as they settle in. James watched some of it with me but got bored by the slow pace and went off and did homework instead.
Sunday November 6
This year's Jack O'Lanterns
On Monday we stayed at home to dole out Hallowe'en goodies. We had a few more kids this year than in the past few: about 70 or 80, up from about 60. We ran out of candy by 8, so we closed up shop and went and watched a show on Netflix.
Ann started her new job on Tuesday. So far it is going well as she learns the ropes. We are both readjusting back to schedules with both of us working.
We had good news from my brother Simon on Wednesday: our niece Kristen and her husband Paul had a baby boy, Leo. He is very cute in the only picture we have of him.
Yesterday Ann and I were at Neptune again for the seond weekend in a row. This time we were at the main stage to see Stones in His Pockets, a play about a small town in Ireland that is the set for a Hollywood movie with mixed consequences for its residents. There were only two actors to play thirteen different roles We went for dinner beforehand at The Wooden Monkey with Moira, Kim and Glen, and Mike and Ingrid.