Well done VIA!

I know it was a marketing thing, but I think VIA Rail made a brilliant move this week when it announced it was offering up youth rail passes for July for only $150 for unlimited travel in July. As most of my friends are aware, I am a huge rail fan and so I am glad VIA is making this option available for more people. I think it should be done more often and my hope is it will revive passenger rail travel. The other good thing is that it will help younger Canadians get to know their country better. I can't think of a better way to spend July than riding the rails through Canada. 

It’s funny but just last night I was out for some beers with a guy from the Globe and Mail. He is travelling to Moosonee to work on a story.  I assumed he was flying. I was pleased he decided to take the train. He said it would give him more time to meet people and talk to people. Exactly. That’s how you get good stories.

Change is good ...

I know there are people who are worried about the idea of letting refugees into Canada. One hopes they can learn to accept a little change. I believe it is a good thing to bring new people to our country. After all, our country was built by immigrants. I was pleased this week to see that a refugee family from Syria has arrived in Timmins. I wish them well.  I have very little idea of what their lives were like on the other side of the world. Let’s hope they find good lives and happiness in our country.

Hard choices

 In other news, as they say, a lot of people like myself are shaking their heads at the antics of Mr. Trump. I said Mister, because this fellow certainly is not presidential. But he has been elected, and that is the price of democracy. People can collectively make poor choices.  It is interesting because Canada is in the midst of selecting new leaders for both the Conservative and New Democratic parties. My concern is whether they are looking for a truly good leader, or merely somebody that can unseat Justin Trudeau. The idealists will say the answer is both, but I have my doubts. Our local guy is Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus who is running to head the NDP. I like Charlie. He has integrity. He’s a good guy. Tough days ahead for him, for sure. I wish him the best. 

Keeping up to date ...

Jennifer sent me a text on Friday. “Question … u still alive?!” Ha ha, funny girl. But I can’t say I blame her because I was definitely out of touch for about four weeks. So I finally chatted with her Saturday night, after assuring her I responded to her text. She said she never got it. I insisted that I sent the reply, but then last night I realized that while I created a message, I never actually sent it. So much for thinking I was tech savvy enough to know how to use my phone. I wonder now why I never got answers for other texts that I figured I had sent out.

She also reminded me that I hadn’t been updating the blog. So I will stay on top of that.

Anyway, good news. Jennifer has passed her provincial exam and is indeed a Registered Nurse. They say pride is a sin, but I cannot help but be proud of what she has done. I am blessed to say at this point in my life my children give me happiness.

I am proud of myself too. Claudette and I were out shopping for dinner. I convinced her she would like pan fried pork chops. I wasn’t sure because she can be as fussy as I am with food. But happily the chops turned out just fine and she enjoyed the mango chutney that gave them a nice flavour.

For dessert we had something we both remember from out childhood … baked apples. Oh my goodness, they turned out nice and soft, but not mushy. We had them with a stuffing of brown sugar, butter, flour and granola. It was great! And the vanilla ice cream was fabulous.