Ice fishing, anyone?

It was truly frigid today, the temperature never rising above a chilly -20�C. I made a run to Costco this afternoon and just walking back to the car from the store, pushing my buggy of groceries, I thought my face was going to freeze and fall off. Incredible. The river is totally iced over, a rarity, and appears to be smoking. O Canada, our home and frozen land. During the unbearable heat and humidity of July we forget that in January we experience exactly the opposite. I always wondered why this latitude was called the �temperate zone�.

However, tonight was spent in the overwarm auditorium at the music department listening to Grandpa Mike and his jazz trio, with Kevin O. on drums and Lorrie G. on organ. They were fine, chasing away any lingering chill we might have had. They played a combination of standards and original tunes, the contents of their soon-to-be-released and much-anticipated CD (recorded last July in the heat of summer). I look forward to owning a copy when it is available. Kevin is in serious pain with an abscessed tooth, and when we left he was smoking a joint in the part-time office with the window wide open in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain. He�ll be getting the tooth pulled on Monday, but until then he is in agony.

A certain professor who missed the first week of classes (it states in the collective agreement that a professor may take a certain amount of time off during the year provided he makes provisions for his classes to be taught in his absence or he makes them up upon his return, except for the first week of term when he must be on campus) and didn�t inform his chair or his dean or his students that he was going to be away, sat in his office during the entire concert, emerging afterwards to partake of the reception laid out and to hobnob with the students, so as to appear congenial. I was not impressed.

My throat is mostly better, but not completely, and so I will go to bed now.

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