Bracing for Impact

Fall is, like, *here*. It's not a grand, glorious fall with warmness, apple-picking, and the uncontrollable urge to drive around and see the trees - mostly it's been a lot of cold, dismal rain - but there are sunshiney breaks that reveal the lovely changing maple leaves (not to be confused with the maple leafs)that I've been promised since childhood. One of those sunshiney breaks occurred last weekend when E was here (coincidence? I think not) and we ran out and took pictures:

Yeah, it looks like Chambana. The second to last one is the exhibition hall at Lansdowne Park that Monty and I can see when we stroll to the mailbox - built to resemble the Crystal Palace (the building was, not the mailbox). I learned that some people want to tear it down because it's kind of useless and takes up space but others want it to live forever as a relic of Victorian exhibitiana.

What I learned on my bus tour of the city given by one of the Ottawa historians in the department (tour was actually really fun!) is that this confused, schizophrenic, under-and-overconfident approach to Ottawa's public spaces -- and the concept of the city itself -- is really its defining characteristic. Various landmarks, particularly from the late 19c and early 20c, reflect the muddle of ideas on what, exactly, the city was supposed to represent: a knock-off version of DC or New York (there's a Central Park here, for example), a little London (our gothic-style Parliament buildings), neo-Georgian neo-classicism (which is dangerously French/republican), a would-be industrial center a la Pittsburgh (? they had a dream), a military stronghold (post 1812), or naturalist styles meant to capture/reflect the "rugged Canadian wilderness." And those are just the official visions. It's so Canadian, isn't it?

I didn't take any pictures of the bus tour because I wanted to pretend like I was cool (I'm sure no one was fooled but grad students are so scary!) but I should have. PERHAPS I will try to replicate the tour, or at least walk some of it, when Mfree+Pumpkin blow into town on Saturday! And leave on Tuesday. Mfree wants to experience a true Canadian Thanksgiving which, indeed, it is this weekend but I don't know how I can really deliver this because 1) Cdn Thxgvn is so subtle you might not even notice it except for the turkey and 2) she doesn't eat turkey or meat of any kind or sugar or gluten. Avocado salad? Am still trying to think of what to do. But also I know that making plans of any kind re: mfree is like planning a hurricane. I don't know what is going to happen to me and Monty this weekend but I do promise two things: pictures and a blog post.

Oh, also!!!! I SAW A SNAKE!!! It was sunning itself on the sidewalk IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE (!!!) when I walked home on Monday, it being unusually lovely Monday afternoon. The snake was maybe a foot or so long, very thin, and was green with yellow underneath. I was maybe three feet away when I saw it and I just stopped and stared with my hands over my mouth for maybe 10 minutes. Then I went inside and changed my pants. I thought about trying to take a picture of it but I was too fucking scared. I know that it is probably not the phantom variety of poisonous Ottawan serpent that I've never heard of, or the Ottawa River Ogopogo or anything like that, and is most likely a harmless, tiny snake that was innocently sunning itself on a nice day. I know this. But I have not used the front door since Monday. (What's stopping it from coming into my backyard, you ask? Well, Melissa S told me that snakes don't like dark, dank places because they like to sun themselves so they would stay away from my backyard and she only speaks the truth and if I see a snake in my backyard I'm going to fly to Illinois and slap her). My biggest fear is that Monty will find a snake and pick it up and then I will have to do something about it like pull it out of his mouth - and I'll probably die if that happens. I guess that's not really a very big "greatest fear" in the whole scheme of things but I think about it often and am looking forward to winter for that reason.

In other news, I went to a really good talk last night and I don't know how long it's been since I can say that. It was given by the Barbados scholar/activist Sir Hilary Beckles (http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/principal/biography.asp) on “The Great Divide: Africa and the African Diaspora on Reparation” and it was completely fascinating. What a great speaker! If you have a chance to hear him or engage with the issue, I'd highly recommend it. The topic itself would be wonderfully teachable and he makes a claim for how 20c world history should actually be all about Africa and diaspora, by which I was enthralled and energized. Me! It was good times and reminded me why I like/do this stuff and that really is the best kind of talk ever.