After three long weeks in Spain and France, Sarah returns today. It’s been awful lonesome here without her.

I was in the mood for some hard-hitting political content this morning. Stay cozy.

Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by to visit, especially those who’ve made a comment. Thanks for reading. Thanks to the universe for the wonderful species of which I’m a member, for this planet, our delightful home, and for all the varied life with which we share it.

And finally, thanks to Amazon.com for making The Watch and Circuit of Heaven available as Kindle Books this holiday season. Maybe the thing will catch on, and I’ll finally earn back my advance…. Naw, it’ll never happen.

Eat hearty, mates. Life is good.

Virginia Beach does indeed have everything. We spotted this vehicle while walking the boardwalk. Every town should have one—a Neuter Scooter.

After Capclave, my novel writing was going so well I forgot to blog. This last weekend Sarah and I took Alice down to Virginia Beach. We love the place, especially since there’s a hotel that allows dogs, so aged Alice can be included. We saw scores of dolphins offshore, rode bikes up to First Landing State Park and hiked around. We even swam in the ocean—not bad for late October. I love that in a good Christian city like Virginia Beach there’s a big dramatic statue of a pagan god on the boardwalk. He looks especially fine at dusk when the moon’s coming up.

Neighbors a couple of doors down do great holiday decorations. I particularly like this detail from their Halloween scene:

One of our favorite things in Montreal was the Biodome (not to be confused with the Biosphere) where I took this shot of a sturgeon in one of their terrific aquariums. The museum reproduces several different ecosystems above and below the surface.

This image caught our eye on a poster in Montreal. It’s pretty tough to beat as an arresting political image. Biking in Montreal was a joy compared to any American city I know of. That’s likely due to the efforts of the many bike riders there.

Sarah and I had much too good a time in Montreal to blog about it while there. The people were wonderful, the city beautiful and vibrant. I especially want to thank the young fellow below who leapt into my frame, turning my dull crowd-on-street shot into a demonstration of my photographic skill at capturing the antic moment.

Sarah and I are vacating in Montreal this week and enjoying it immensely. We time-traveled to 1967 to take this shot. I’d write more, but we’re off to rent bikes and exhaust ourselves.