Dear Friends

When last we spoke, Lee and I were camped out rather elegantly in the Plateau section of Montreal while our house sat empty and devastated. A fire in the house next door had completely destroyed that dwelling, and our nearly-hundred-year-old place was extensively damaged by smoke and what the firemen had to do to stop the fire at the common wall.

This year I'm pleased to report that we've been back in the house since August 1--nearly eight months to the day after the fire. The last of the work was finally finished three weeks ago, and the place is looking pretty good. My wild front yard of perennials proved their worth this summer since I had no time to garden: it even looks not bad now, with my rock sculpture slightly dusted with snow.

Lee spent most of the year deprived of his workshop in the basement, and only slowly has been able to get back to work on projects more interesting than repairing work not done properly by the contractor. I did get some writing done, but wasn't able to work as hard as I wanted to during the Canadian federal election last spring. We both were flabbergasted when the New Democratic Party swept Quebec and for the first time ever became the official opposition in the House of Commons.

But, as the old proverb cautions, perhaps we should have been more careful about what we wished for since Stephen Harper's Conservatives got a majority government although they only polled about 35 per cent of the vote. This has meant that the government can do just about anything it wants, including denying that climate change is ocurring and passing a draconian crime bill. No matter that crime is at an all time low in Canada or that, most years, by now that rock in the picture above would be covered by a good foot of the white stuff.

Other notable events of 2011 also came with their good sides matched by some
scary ones. The Arab Spring was a magnificent outpouring of pent up desire for reform that was a joy to watch. Watching thousands camp out this fall during the various Occupy demonstrations also lifted the heart. However, the jury is out on what will happen as free elections bring in Islamist governments in Egypt and elsewhere. The people have spoken but who can not help being worried that things may get worse instead of better in many places? As for Occupying: my guess is that unless more of the demonstrators listen to voices like Paul Krugman's, that wave of protest will accomplish very little.

Jeanne, Elin and Emmanuel's daughter, is too little at 16 months to spend much time on politics, although she gets excited when the newspaper arrives. On one of her first visits after we moved back in the house, she saw some photos of dogs in Le Devoir, and ever since wants to check to see if there are more. Grandpa brings the paper in and she goes "woof woof." He and Grandma are charmed, of course.

The swings are down in the nearby parks, but Jeanne's discovered that rocking chairs make a decent substitute. She's also good at taking off shoes, although she's decided that putting on a hat and a snow suit are good things to do when it's cold outside--she tries to do it herself, but so far has only succeeded in wrapping a scarf around her neck.

Lukas continues to slave away on his Ph.D. thesis, while Sophie is teaching Grade One. They will be by for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning too so we can watch Jeanne (who, Lukas says, is more fun than television) discover the joys of Christmas trees and presents.

Best wishes to all of you, and may the things you wish for be unadulterated successes when they arrive.

Mary