Tag Archives: nature

My computer crashed the other day: locked up with a blank screen and humming motor, and refused to boot again. I don’t like to speak ill of my MacLemon, but this latest episode makes hard-drive number four in as many years – and I have also replaced a battery. What is worse, of course, is that without my Mac, I […]

View full post »

Florida welcomes you to the state with fresh orange juice and glossy brochures, and then subjects you to mile-upon-mile of billboards advertising everything from alligator airboats to the power of prayer. Endless highways and turnpikes are bounded by garish plastic storefronts advertising all manners of food, tacky souvenirs, alcohol, and entertainment. I found it vaguely […]

View full post »

It seems like half the North Americans I have ever met have at least a drop or two Irish in them! Not surprising, I suppose, in view of the continued growth of the Irish diaspora.  Three million people outside Ireland  (a country of less than 5 million internal residents) have legal claim to citizenship, and between 80 and 100 million more have […]

View full post »

There is something special about whales. Granted, except for trips to the Vancouver Aquarium many, many, years ago,  I’ve only ever seen bits of whales – a dorsal or a tail or a flipper – as most of their huge bodies stay submerged. I’m still waiting to see a whale breach; I’ve seen some magnificent photos, but when […]

View full post »

It is spring in Australia; has been, officially, since the first of September – even though the mercury might disagree. I’ve been asked, from time to time, what the weather is like “Down Under” – I guess by people who haven’t looked at a map or globe recently. After all, the great southern land reaches well into […]

View full post »