Wednesday, October 6, 2010

not too distant views

A few days ago after an especially nasty period of grinding, the workers actually spray washed our windows on their way back down the front of the building. In a very happy convergence, that evening showed us one of the prettiest sunsets we've ever seen anywhere. Nice, eh?

Don't worry. This giddiness about being in a new place will soon end and I'll get back to the grim business of paying attention to American politics and general evilness once again. In many ways I feel more like an ex-pat USarian than a returned home Canadian, a fact which is only natural in view of having lived on that side of the border most of my adult life.

I've been keeping track of the news these past weeks and it doesn't appear that my having left has improved things at all. (It had been a faint hope.) There was another huge rally of progressives in Washington last weekend that was either ignored by or ridiculed by the media so everybody went home again frustrated about the same things they'd been aggravated about previously - and now short the amount of money they'd spent getting there. I've never written about politics much around here but that doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention. It's just that so many others of you do it so much better and it's the one thing that makes me lose my sense of humor. Today I read March to Nowhere by Chris Hedges and to say he's irritated would be an understatement.


Maybe I should just stick to taking pictures of our weird neighborhood where holiday cruise liners can be found parked next to our grocery store. It's amazing the lengths some people will go to buy a nice 2 kilo bag of Canadian potatoes.

  ☀

13 comments:

  1. Wow, that IS a fabulous sunset!

    I know, politics do make one so irritated. I follow that of the US with absolute astonishment and horror. Meanwhile Canada's PM would like to follow some of the US model so that gives me the willies, so do keep an eye on him, please. I rarely write about politics on my blog, partly because I'm already all over the place and off the supposed main subject of printmaking, heh.

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  2. Isn't it amazing how much we hear, see, and read about a Beck rally, but a progressive rally is all but ignored. We aren't primarily white, male, and upper middle class or rich so we don't matter to the media, and the media owners as well.

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  3. That sunset is really gorgeous. What color!

    Politics? Bah!

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  4. are the potatoes in the supermarket from PEI? y'know, "Bud the spud from the deep red mud" I had a fellow in my ReStore today looking for a scrap of plywood to use for a Stompin' Tom number he's whipping up for some local event.

    the sunset from your DUST FREE (woo hoo!) window is luscious.

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  5. What a shot! That is one spectacular sunset, and I am so glad the workers actually washed your windows so you could enjoy it (they must be trying to keep the peace).

    Chris Hedges' War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is one of my husband's favorite books. I interrupted my comments to follow the link to the article and we just read it with great interest. Thank you.

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  6. A wonderfully beautiful photo. It can take your breath, or at least give you something to do, to just look at it and savor it until it's gone, knowing thereb will be another, if not tomorrow, but maybe the next day or the next.
    So tell me, are those potatoes really that good? When I lived in Eureka, CA, they talked about trying to get cruise ships to stop there. The scene you show us would have been repeated there, but they never came.
    I am like you. Although I used to write political articles all the time, I don't anymore. And also like you, I still pay a lot of attention. I will, however, write my own personal op-ed piece just before the next National election. I like my opinion, and like that we agree.

    Peace.

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  7. If those are your views, please, save your soul and avoid politics.

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  8. marja-leena - I've been keeping an outraged eye on Mr. Harper for quite some time and look forward to voting for any Party other than the Conservatives.

    One thing about phantsy is that it's always been all over the place :-)

    liberality - It's pretty damned insane that Rupert Murdoch has so much influence. That compounded by the fact that all the major media outlets are owned by a few corporations keeps honest reporting at bay.

    lisa - They aren't quite like that every day but it's very nice having a big sky again.

    gfid - The spuds around here seem to be from everywhere but I think I was out sick the day they taught how to make a Stompin' Tom in Home Ec. can I copy your homework?

    lydia - Yes, that was a happy event but there's more junk again now. Hopefully, there'll be a proper cleaning once all the work is finished.

    I'm glad you and your husband enjoyed the article. Chris Hedges is right on the money as far as we're concerned too.

    spadoman - Whenever there are clouds in the sky at days end the sunsets have been pretty good. This one was better than most.

    The cruise ship thing is pretty funny as they seem to come and go more often than the trains. There's only two of them daily - leaves for Montreal and places east at 12:15 and another arrives at 4:00. It a beautiful station too.

    I comment at others blogs about my political opinions - I'm so far left, I'm a Canadian :-)

    randal - You're not fooling me or anyone else either :-)

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  9. I have often wondered where the term "progressive" came from, and what it is supposed to mean.
    Canada has about the only relatively conservative government in the western world, and oddly enough, it's doing not too badly.
    Maybe progressive means en-route to oblivion, or something.
    Odd word to use, eh?

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  10. I'm avoiding politics. It makes me cranky, to say the least. I'm trying to keep myself positive, all the while signing petitions, calling my representative, giving money to one candidate because the alternative candidate would take us back to the early 20th century. Otherwise I avoid all news programs and limit my news reading. You simply cannot have a peaceful and happy life and immerse yourself in US politics. However, it would make me happy to see something like that ship docked next to my grocery store - it would mean I was very close to the ocean.

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  11. that is one cool sunset. makes me wanna take off my shoes and have a beer.

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  12. I don't blog about politics for the same reasons as you. I feel defeated when I try to make sense of what is really senseless. There seems so little anyone can do to turn things around and it's worse than ever.

    I did my stints in D.C. many years ago and I quite believe I'm done. If I thought it would do any good, I would make a bigger effort but I am no longer hopeful that things will change as a result of such actions. I hate feeling that way...

    That sunset is spectacular, Susan.

    Gina

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  13. the crow - I'm not especially fond of the 'Progressive' Conservative government in Canada since they've always been the same sort of reactionaries as the Republicans. We've got a bad one in Stephen Harper, the current PM but I'm hoping he's a brief aberration.

    nancy - Politics is either best avoided altogether or whatever they say taken with a large dose of salt. Unfortunately, there's no reasonable alternative but to do what you do and hope things get better in time.

    okjimm - That's a good practice in most circumstances.

    pagan sphinx - All I can think is that it will eventually all collapse in on itself because of sheer inertia. Then perhaps there'll be room again for all the rest of us.

    Yes, it was a pretty stunning display. They're rare.

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