2009 Year of the Ox

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my family, all my readers, and to those around the world who are working for peace and harmony in the world. To our Canadian soldiers in Afghansitan I especially pray for a safe return home. God bless you all, have a peaceful holiday season and may something good happen to you! Remember, as we enter this new year - you can make a difference! (If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room). Be the change you want to see in the world! And may all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions! To all the others who support war, kill for pleasure and hate in the name of religion I say to you: stay away from Canada. You are not welcome here. Again to my family I love you all and wish you all the best. I'll be back online when I return from Florida at the end of December so until then, peace gws

Global warming? What global warming?

Well Ottawa is certainly living up to it's reputation as the coldest capital in the world after Ulan Bator, Mongolia! It was so cold this morning (-29C) that I had to drive Marie to work. As she only works a few blocks away she usually walks but even this, this early in December, was too much for her! Hopefully our articulated buses which were not designed for this weather conditions (hello again city hall) perform better this year. Here's a hint mayor - It helps if you have SNOW TIRES!!! One good thing about this weather though it keeps most of the panhandlers, crack addicts and ho's that proliferate this part of the city off the streets. It was nice to see how the city of Quebec has completely eliminated this problem when we were there last week. Of course if you follow the shenanigans on Parliament Hill, just a few minutes stroll from here, or at City Hall, you can understand why this town lacks the drive or solution to clean up the streets and make the downtown into what could be a real tourist attraction...Ah our upcoming trip to Florida is looking really good right now!... I have completed three paintings the past few weeks and am currently working on a large 3 feet by 3 feet landscape. Hope you like them! Comments?... Have a great week everyone and it was nice talking to Carolyn just before she headed back to Utah yesterday, this time without daughter Rachel. God speed to both of them. gws