Déneigement, or snow removal in Montreal

Last week, we got a combination of ice and snow, but mostly snow. In total, we got around 30 cm ... everyone keeps assuring us that this is nothing.


At some point after the snowfall, an orange no parking sign appears on your street.


At this point, everyone scrambles to try to move their car to the opposite side of the street. This results in cars parked in every which direction, in snowbanks, etc. One of the most interesting aspects of this part of the process is that people need to work together to get the street clear of cars - pushing out cars that are stuck and making room for others to park. Still, it is very chaotic.


Then a truck with a siren and a guy on a platform comes by. We don't completely understand its purpose yet. However, we suspect that it is (1) sending the last call ... move your car or else; and (2) surveying the street for any potential obstacles.

Then, little snowplows come through and move snow off of the sidewalks and away from the curbs.


Then, bigger snowplows come through and move the snow into a mound which runs down the center of the street.


The world's largest snow blower (as they call it) sucks ups the snow and shoots it into a dump truck.


The dump trucks haul the snow to some central snow dumping location. We saw one in the spring when we visited. We thought it was either a landfill or a large hill with snow on it. It was actually just a big pile of snow - the size of several football fields.


Finally, the salt trucks come through and spread salt over the somewhat snowless streets.


The whole snow removal process is quite fascinating, really. In fact, many have blogged about it (e.g., Chicagoan in Montreal) and others have posted videos on youtube - which have taught us a very important lesson ... if you don't move you car, it will be moved for you via tow truck, or even worse, snowplow.

Half Way to the North Pole

The way back from Boston was a bit rough. You may have seen in the news that the Northeast got hit with an ice storm. Well, we drove through that. Massachusetts - rain. New Hampshire - more rain with sleet, ice, and snow. Vermont - no rain, just sleet, ice and snow. Most of the trip was at 30 to 40 mph. Fortunately, Quebec mandates snow tires by December 15th - so we had them and the scion handled beautifully. The windshield wipers, on the other hand, did not and the windshield spent most of its time covered in ice. We ended up stopping south of Burlington, Vermont around midnight to check into a hotel and get some sleep. Friday was still slow going. We were going slow enough to notice that we passed over the 45th parallel in Vermont. Confirmed by a road sign...


Further confirmed by our GPS...

Rob in Boston

Last week, we were in Boston for the Society for Risk Analysis conference. We drove down Monday night - when it was -9 degrees Fahrenheit. While we were there, we saw several friends - some who we went to grad school with and some who we have worked with in a variety of places. In particular, we got to hang out with Rob a couple of times. Here, we are at Union Oyster House - apparently America's oldest restaurant (established in 1826).


If you happen to bump into this man - please remind him that he owes us a visit in Montreal!

Noël dans le Parc

We just got back from Noël dans le Parc. It was just 6 or 7 blocks from our apartment.


We had chocolat chaud. Yes, those are sheep behind us.


This is the live music stage. Yes, it is in a heated hut.


And, all of the trees had objects hanging from the branches. This one has odd faces on boughs. One had bird houses and other odd mechanical objects. One had oranges. Odd.

Roadsworth

We watched a documentary about a Montreal street-artist. It was pretty interesting and thought-provoking - and especially cool because it featured so much from our every day lives - like an abandoned lot (or public park?) half a block from our house which is filled with wacky sculpture, apparently the work of rogue artists like Roadsworth.


Sadly, imdb hasn't heard of Roadsworth - so I'm guessing it's not coming to an arthouse theater near you.

Thanksgiving in Montreal

K's parents are in town for Thanksgiving!

Thursday, Thanksgiving, we made a big meal and invited a few new friends over. We had a wonderful time.

Friday, we took Bert and Cindy to our favorite park in the city, Parc du Mont-Royal.


Saturday, we visited l'Abbaye Cistercienne d'Oka - the monks there belong to the Cistercian Order and are called Trappists. The guide book told us that a friendly monk would greet us when we got there and show us around the grounds. That didn't happen. And, since they take a vow of silence, it was pretty unlikely in the first place. We did go to the gift shop and found out that the Monks are moving. Apparently, monk numbers are declining and suburban sprawl increased the population around the abbey, making it more difficult for the monks' commitment to silence. (We learned this and stole the following photos from someone else's blog).


Sunday, today, we went to the l'Île Sainte-Hélène, where we saw the Fort de l'Île Sainte-Hélène and the Biosphere.

(photo borrowed)

Christmas since Halloween

In Canada:

Second Monday of October - Thanksgiving
October 31st - Halloween
November 1st - Christmas starts

Actually, on October 31st, K visited a cafe that had gingerbread man cookies. So, Christmas actually starts on Halloween. Christmas decorations start filling store windows immediately after Halloween. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays - I didn't realize how important it is in delaying the start of Christmas.

(Notice the owls)

Addendum: Canadian snow mystery. Just as it was starting to get cold, the Rona people (home store by our place) started to gird their windows against possible wintry assault. Or did they? What is this for?

From Tampa Bay to Winter Coats

I spent the past week in Tampa Bay for work ... taking in the sun and warmth. I mostly enjoyed walking around without a jacket, eating outside, and finally seeing The Phantom of the Opera. I returned on Friday. It was in the low 70s when I left Tampa Bay and in the upper teens when I got home. The reality of it all slapped me in the face - time to fork out some dough for a proper coat.

Yesterday, we shopped. Surprisingly, there is a lot to think about. Goose down is the warmest. However, if you are going to move around a lot, it may be to warm, and you may sweat, in which case, the down will get wet and you will eventually get cold and the coat will stink. You want it to be snug so that you don't create a cold zone between you and the coat. But not too snug because air in an insulator. Most of the Canadian brands come with components of a dead animal wrapped around the hood.

So, I really wanted this one. It's the Canada Goose Resolute Parka. It has reflective tape all over it, D rings for hanging stuff on it, a crazy long tunnel hood with a coyote-fur ruff, lots of pockets and velcro ...

The best part is that it has the Canada Goose disc on the right-sleeve.


Canada Goose is based out of Ontario. We also checked out a few Quebec brands, including Kanuk (ugly, expensive and warm) and Lolë (sporty, less ugly, expensive and warm). In the end, we both are getting coats made by North Face. I suspect our warm clothes shopping has just begun.

We did see many odd things while shopping. For example, one store had a wall of animals furs. We both felt like we traveled back in time to a trading post. We also saw a wonderful x-country child transport system (CTC). We didn't have a camera with us. Fortunately, someone by the name of Stephanie Kerwin had uploaded photos of her daughter Chloe enjoying the CTS.


I think we all know what Sam is getting for Christmas now!

Police Strike = Camouflage Pants?

Recently, we have noticed that the police are wearing colorful camouflage pants. Odd, we thought. Last week, K's union voted to change their constitution, providing a route to strike if the university does not come back with an acceptable salary increase offer. You may be wondering how these items are related. Today, we were at brunch with new friends. We told them about K's potential strike. And they asked if it would be like the police strike. The police are on strike? Oh, dear.

Apparently, their strike comes in a colorful camo pattern. You see, Montreal police officers have been working without a contract for almost two years due to a labor dispute between their union (la Fraternité des Policiers et Policières) and the city. By law, the officers cannot strike because they provide an essential service. So, they have been using a variety of tactics to pressure the city. Apparently, the camoflauge pants are the latest.

(photo stolen)

It seems this tactic is actually getting some attention. At a Conseil des services essentiels du Québec meeting, the police chief made a statement against the camo pants - stating that the pants would remind immigrants from countries under military regimes of the violence and repression they faced. This pissed people off (the type of pants probably aren't the problem, eh?) The council decided that the pants can stay.

So, my point. Will we soon see Professor Schmlloyd donning camouflage pants?

By the way, the camouflage pants were preceded and joined by a variety of other styles, for example, plaid shorts over tights and pink parachute pants (photos from random sources).

SAQ Dépôt

Yesterday, we went to the SAQ Dépôt - Société des alcools du Quéec, the provincial liquor monopoly in Quebec. This should not be confused with the SAAQ, which we blogged about a while back. SAQ good. SAAQ bad.

The great thing about the SAQ Depôt is that they have a vin en vrac (bulk wine) zone.

First, you clean your bottles at the bottle washing station. We skipped that step, since we washed our bottles at home.

Then, you select a wine and fill you bottles, we got 6 bottles of the Côtes du Rhône AC and 6 bottles of the Bordeaux AOC white wine.


Then you go to the corking station.

(1) Load the bottle


(2) Insert the cork.


(3) Push the cork into the bottle.


(4) Et Voilà - a bottle of wine.

École nationale de cirque

Last night we saw a show by graduates from the École nationale de cirque (National Circus School) - we very well may take you a show when you visit. The show was actually free to residents of St. Michel and Montreal - it was at the TOHU pavillion and at least partially funded by the City of Montreal. I think the Centre des arts du cirque de La Bréche en Basse-Normandie (in France) were somehow involved, but I really don't understand how.

Here are videos of some of the performers that we saw (video downloaded from ENC's website).

N.B. The show we saw was really, really weird. And awesome. But weird.

to put it another way...

Oui, nous le pouvons.

We spent last night at the Americans Abroad party at the Burgundy Lion in Little Burgundy (historically known as Sainte Cunéonde). At the time, we didn't realize the significance of being at this place at this time .... in the late 19th century, most of Montreal's black community lived in Sainte Cunéonde, with immigrants coming from the U.S. and the Carribean. Many activist groups as well as Montreal's jazz scene had roots in this neighborhood. (For more, check out: melissa arcand)

It was crowded - mostly U.S. citizens living in Montreal, but a lot of Quebecois too. We met quite a few people. The early evening was characterized by a mixture of hope and anxiety. The early results roller coaster was surprisingly short lived. Three states held significance for us. Illinois, our beloved home state, was called early. Pennsylvania, where we fell in love and have a family of dear friends, made a strong statement (by the way, we knew it would). Ohio, where we lived for two years, where the polarization is a bit in your face, where you know you are in the battleground, made a decision, which changed the red state-blue state divide and made it pretty clear that Obama will be our next president.

I am not the type to put my hopes in an individual or to be emotional about politics. So, I was a bit taken aback by the relief and joy that I felt. It made me realize how much I long for healing in my country ... and perhaps this is a step in that direction. But also, that this is a historic day - one that I will recount to my nephews and nieces and (hopefully) my children and grandchildren.

We have enjoyed catching up with family, friends, and colleagues today - hearing their story ... where they were and how they felt. We look forward to talking more.

And, in case you wondering what Montreal is saying ....




... oue, nous le pouvons.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Last night, we got decked out and went to Rocky Horror Picture Show. For those of you who don't know about this (like S), Rocky Horror Picture Show has become a cult film , it is shown with a cast performing on stage while the movie is played on the screen. Also, the audience participates, by throwing rice, toast, and toiletpaper; screaming obscenities; spraying water; covering themselves with newspapers; dancing; etc.

The best part this year, was that it was shown in The Rialto Theatre, which is a wonderful old theatre 2 blocks from our house. It has recently been renovated and is fabulous.

(photo stolen)

Parc-nature du Cap-Saint-Jacques

Yesterday we went hiking at Parc-nature du Cap-Saint-Jacques. It is Montréal's largest park and is on the western tip of the island, at the junction of the Lac des Deux-Montagnes and the Rivière des Prairies (at the blue marker in the map below).


Most of the hike was along the water, which was actually moving pretty fast.


The trail did go through a ferme écologique, where we got to see a Highland cow, which is a beef cow from the Scottish Highlands.


Apparently, they had an Angus bull, who was very successful at breeding with the Highland cows. So, most of what they have are actually crossbreeds.


They also have French Alpine goats. They have great beards!


They also have a cabane à sucre (sugar shack), where they will be making maple syrup this winter. So, I am sure we will be back.

Joyeux Halloween

We hung our skeleton guy in the tree, put our skull candles out, turned on all the lights in the house, and waited for the trick-or-treaters to come. They did not. Our neighbor finally came by with her son and his friend. She informed us that kids will not knock unless it is 100% clear you want them too. She noticed that our porch light did not have a light bulb, so she got her ladder and a light bulb and fixed that problem. She also told us to stand outside. This all helped a bit. However, many families were still passing us by - despite my attempts to wave them down. Then we noticed that a neighbor across the street had a string of blue lights on her porch. So, I ran to the basement and got some Christmas lights. This worked! We probably had between 50 and 75 kids come by. This experience was very different than anywhere I have lived before, where, if you didn't want kids to come by or if you ran out of candy, you had to turn off every light in the house and hide in the basement.

New Hiding Place

Our bathtub has an odd wall built on on side of it. Little Bit recently discovered that it is great fun to hide on it, in between the shower curtains.

It Snowed!

Earlier this week, we were shocked when it started snowing .... yes, before Halloween. We were even more shocked to find that it had snowed the week before when we were in Illinois. So, I guess it is official ... winter has begun!

Popeye's Birthplace

We made a side-trip and saw K's Grandma and cousin Andrea. On the way back, we came through Chester, IL. Every once and a while, a magical thing happens in small town America. In this case, Elize Segar was born in Chester in 1894. He would later create Popeye, and change Chester's identify.


The fun all starts at the Elzie C. Segar Memorial Park, where a six-foot, 900 lb. bronze statue of Popeye welcomes you to Chester.


As you enter Chester, there are so many things to see and do.





And, on ocassion, you see non-Popeye attractions ... for example, an attractive, not so intelligent woman being all cute in front of the local GOP headquarters. Odd, really.


If you are interested in seeing more of Chester in film, check out:

- In the Heat of the Night (1967)
- The Fugitive (1993)
- Hoop Dreams (1994)
- Poor White Trash (2000)