Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I actually brought my camera with me, and ran out of battery two photos into the Biodome. (The charger, of course, is in New York, but even if it had been in Montreal it wouldn't have been in my pocket.) So, I did what I always do, which is just look at the animals.

Fairly early on, I wondered aloud where everyone was, given that it was Sunday afternoon, and papersky suggested that they were off shopping somewhere. For whatever reason, there were fewer humans than usual, and the animals were quite active.

Best, I think, was watching one of the beavers gnaw through a small tree trunk, drag a chunk of it off, dive (presumably to add it to the lodge), and then return to do the same with some smaller branches and then another larger piece of trunk. We all knew beavers did this, but we didn't realize how efficient they were.

The lynxes (or lynges, which would be the valid Classical plural, I believe, as well as amusing us) were amazingly active, leaping and chasing each other and one biting the other on the nape of the neck, and coming down to the area right next to the glass, as well as up on the higher rocks. I suspect they may be thinking in terms of baby lynges. I hope so.

When we walked past the otters, Papersky told them it was 8:15, and one of them stirred a moment later. rysmiel said this was unkind of her, but the otter didn't seem unhappy to be up and about. Far from it: stretches and such, and then sliding down the flume and going for a swim in its pool.

The fish and the golden lion tamarins were good, as usual; ditto ibises and spoonbills. We saw no tree frogs, and the anaconda appears to have had the day, or at least the afternoon, off for a spa visit after shedding.

After the Biodome, Papersky and I each concluded that we had no energy for even a brief stop in a bookstore, so the three of us went directly to Cha Noir. (rysmiel apparently would have found the soothing air of bookshop less so without company, or at least can have it solo later in the week, so declined the suggestion of stopping at Chapters and then joining us.) We drank tea, played Scrabble, and talked. I observed that if I bought two teapots in one weekend, cattitude would accuse me, justly, of starting a collection. There were none I really wanted, so it was easy enough to resist. Z and his girlfriend showed up later than they'd agreed, but they did arrive, and we all had a nice dinner at the Peruvian place, which tried to feed me too much. I cunningly resisted, by giving away the dessert that came with my dinner.

It snowed some during the afternoon, but not a lot; today apparently we get rain for my trip home.

There is a certain temptation to just link to rivka and hobbitbabe's posts, and add that papersky's cooking continues to be excellent, though she could be a fine host and keep people happy and well-fed without wearing herself out so much.

But brevity is not always my failing.

We went to the Biodome--and I renewed my membership, because at the moment a year's one-person membership costs slightly less than two admissions for a non–Quebec resident. We saw the sloth, very clearly, which I hadn't before. rysmiel found it, pointed it out to me, and asked me to stay put and not lose it while they went to find Papersky. There were also two new species since my last visit, the cotton-topped tamarin and the bird, about knee-high, black with bits of blue, green, and purple iridescence, which the zoo staff member who was keeping people from coming too close to it referred to as a "blue trumpeter" (Google is all set to tell me about jazz on this one). It was on the path through the tropical area and seemed quite bold, investigating my daypack while I stood looking straight up to see the sloth. I also came home with a fine cuddly plush tarantula. Rysmiel spotted it on a shelf in the gift shop and handed it to me. When I realized that I'd been carrying it around and cuddling it for two or three minutes, I decided it should come home with me. (I didn't have my stuffed panda, and the bear Papersky kindly lent me, while well-meaning, wasn't quite the right shape for me to tuck under my arm.) This led to a Rysmiel remarking, later, on the number of sentences (like "that's a fine soft tarantula" and "I'm just looking for my tarantula") that were coming up that would not have been part of our normal conversation.

Having Rivka, curiousangel, and their toddler along meant we went into the room full of natural history stuff intended for children. I'd never been in there before, and there's a lot of good stuff in there. I expect I'd get bored eventually, but for one visit I had a fine time looking at moose antlers and shiny beetle carapaces and such.

As Rivka noted, our attempt to visit a natural history museum on New Year's Eve was less successful. If I were closing a museum from Christmas to just after New Year's, I'd mention it on the web site. We had, a few days earlier, discussed doing tourist stuff in the Old Port, but it was snowing and a little below freezing, fine for the adults but not for a toddler. So we took refuge at Indigo, where Alex was happy to sit in the children's book section, and people browsed some, drank things in the cafe (I'd forgotten that they have a nice selection of interesting tea leaves but don't boil the water), and talked. When we got back to the house, Papersky was at a stage of cooking such that she didn't want anyone else near the kitchen, which meant I didn't get tea. Frustrating, in part because I'd thrown away the dubious beverage at Indigo, telling myself it would be fine because I would have tea as soon as we were home. I dealt with the immediate need for caffeine with a can of Pepsi, and talked with Rysmiel a bit--in the midst of which Rivka knocked on the door and explained that there had been a lull in the cooking, and here's a pot of tea. Very welcome, and since we were planning to be up past midnight I didn't worry so much about the caffeine levels. [I was up until a little past one, I think, and then at 7 the next morning--the only day I managed to sleep in was the very last morning of my visit, though the only really bad nights were the first two, before I registered that I had forgotten to pack my valerian capsules. (Awake around 5:30 two mornings running, about all that can be said in favor is that I didn't wake anyone else.) Once noticed, that was easy enough to solve, with a quick stop at a Pharmaprix.]

This year, my Christmas cracker contained a pair of elisem earrings called "Instinct," which Papersky explained she had selected to go with my tattoo. They do--more shimmery, but that's a virtue in beads. (It would be in tattoos, too, if we had the tech yet.) Also, Hobbitbabe gave me a teapot, to which my response was "you're a genius," because I don't think I'd told anyone but cattitude and adrian_turtle that I was wanting a new teapot. I may try the Papersky thing of keeping an eye out for suitable gifts well before holidays and not just presenting the cool things to the people at the first opportunity--I tend to figure, hey, this is right for so-and-so and give it to them then, if there isn't a birthday or holiday coming up soon, rather than focus on holiday gifts.

Both Hobbitbabe, and Rivka and Curiousangel, brought bottles of Voyant Chai cream liqueur. It tasted more like chocolate than like tea, but was quite pleasant, enough so that I not only drank some while other people were having mulled wine on the 29th, I toasted the new year with it when the time came. (I'm not a fan of white wine, which most people were drinking.) Papersky cheerfully got out the very pretty liqueur glasses that she and Rysmiel got as a wedding gift, the ones they refer to as "the broken glasses" because the glasses seem sufficiently fragile that they decided that they had to think of them that way or they'd never use them. Once again, they survived unbroken, due to a bit of care on everyone's part. I don't think I'm going to try to track down a bottle, given how seldom I want liqueur--but if I did feel the impulse to buy a bottle of cream liqueur, it would be this, not Bailey's.

Two wanders through big-box bookstores, and I came home with nothing new to read except the copy of Anthony Price's Soldier No More that Papersky and Rysmiel gave me to read on the plane. (I did buy a calendar, but I seem to have neglected to pack it, and I got zorinth a holiday gift.) We didn't get to any used book shops this time, though.

The only advantage to being unable to do a week in Montreal in winter on a carry-on bag is that checked luggage means I had my Swiss army knife. And that meant Alex could get a taste of the seared edge of the beef sashimi at Kashima, the night we all went out for sushi. I don't think I needed to get it out during the dim sum meal before our Biodome trip: we shared things without trouble, and there was plenty to go around. I even found someone else willing to eat some of the water chestnut cakes, and introduced Rivka and Curiousangel to the superior version of pork buns done in flaky French pastry, which I think I first had in Hong Kong (where they also do a chicken curry version).

embryomystic, who I gather lives around the corner, was there for both the mulled wine party and New Year's dinner, which meant I actually got to talk to him a bit, which I hadn't at the Farthing Party.

[This is in no sense complete, but it may help me remember things six months from now.]

It's 1 January, so I'm in Montreal.

We had an excellent New Year's Eve dinner: papersky roasted a goose that came out particularly well this time. Also nut roast, cabbage, Danish vegetables, roast mushrooms: what by now feels like the traditional meal to me as well as to her, zorinth, and rysmiel. For a starter she gave us three different kinds of roast pork and some raisins. For afterward, a cheese course, then Christmas pudding and raspberry clafouti.

After dinner, we read to each other, and found room for chocolates as the evening went on. The readings included a trio of twilight-themed stories by Papersky, a variety of beginnings and excerpts from longer things, an odd story on bilingualism [I had to ask Rene to slow down, because I can't follow French at his normal speaking speed], and I did Le Guin's "Schrödinger's Cat" and Kipling's "Sing-song of Old Man Kangaroo."

"We" this year also included hobbitbabe and Rene who I don't think is on LJ.

I talked to cattitude and to adrian_turtle's voice mail shortly after midnight, and have caught up with her by email.

The Biodome was excellent on the 30th, with new monkeys (both a baby of one species and a new-to-there species), extremely bouncy golden lion tamarins, and a visible penguin chick.

Addendum: Papersky pointed out guinea hen (which I had some of in pate a day or two ago) as a new food I'd mentioned, and I am now trying to remember whether I'd had caribou before (another pate, this one with cranberry, which I like but my hosts don't, so I may have to finish it before I leave).

I didn't try as many new foods in 2006 as in 2005: what I'm sure of is celeriac root, from linetoinfinity's farmshare box, and birch juice, courtesy of jonsinger, though he wasn't here when we opened it. The celeriac didn't appeal particularly; the birch juice was nice, but I agree with papersky that it's oversweetened, or at least "CMAK" (that's Cyrillic, pronounced "Smack") brand is. Jon, are you aware of other brands, or do I need to poke around Eastern European import shops on my own? (I'd been going to say Russian, but the company is actually Ukrainian, on the evidence of their postal address and URL.)

Rysmiel and I tried going out for ice cream yesterday afternoon, but Maple Delight had closed by the time we arrived; it's a change from turning up on 2 January, because we now know they're closed then. Fortunately, Suite 88 was still open when we got there, though the woman warned us they'd be closing in 20 minutes. They had no gelati out, but the intense hot chocolate was fine, as was Rysmiel's gateau.

It continues unseasonably mild, but snow had fallen by the time I arrived, so it looked like winter in a way New York hadn't by the time I'd left. (Nor, I gather, had Montreal until a day or two earlier.) I've mostly been wearing my sneakers, because they're better for me to walk distances in, rather than my boots (there's only a few centimeters of snow, and not enough slush that I can't step around the puddles).

Mostly, what I did in Montreal was just spend time with rysmiel and adrian_turtle (whose visit overlapped with mine: fitting, since I met her in papersky and Rysmiel's home).

The first thing I did was to arrive quite late (cascading delays on Amtrak), and be glad of Rysmiel's company, and the city, after a couple of days in Niskayuna with almost all of cattitude's relatives. I had decided on the train that I needed comfort food, and after dismissing a few options as impractical, settled on poutine. It did the job, though perhaps not as well as roast duck congee would have.

Rysmiel and I had a pleasant time at the Biodome, but that doesn't count as tourist stuff. Not for me, at least: I have an annual membership (which may or may not prove to have been a good deal in financial terms, but pleases me, and means not having to queue for tickets on busy days). As Rysmiel noted, most of the mammals were asleep, but we got to watch an adult golden lion tamarin groom a very active child, squirming over and under and around its parent. Watching the pacu (a.k.a. giant vegetarian piranha) crack a walnut, using its teeth and the edge of the tank for leverage, was also impressive. We spent a long time watching fish in the big tank, including discussing whether the cod were showing social behavior. In the penguin area, there was a woman behind a table with bits of animal we could touch. When I asked her "is this musk-ox fur?" she took a moment to answer, then explained that she'd been fumbling for the Spanish for musk-ox, because they'd had several visitors who spoke Spanish but not French or English. She was then happy to talk to us about musk-ox (long and shaggy, with an undercoat) and Arctic fox (incredibly soft). There was also a piece of baleen, and a sperm whale tooth, which I'd guess either the Biodome or another museum has had in storage for a long time.

Adrian, Rysmiel, and I went to the Jardin Botanique in a light rain on Saturday, because Adrian and I wanted to see the Garden of the Senses, after Papersky's enthusiastic write-up. We had that area to ourselves, so the staffer didn't just guard the edible plants area: he showed us around the whole place, pointed out things he thought particularly interesting, and answered any questions. I noted that if I'd been planning to cook dinner that night, I'd have dragged my companions off to Marche Atwater, made a really impressive salad (including rocket, though I didn't bother tasting that, because I know I like it), pineapple sage, and nasturtium if available, and leaving Rysmiel with a refrigerator full of greens that might just sit there. However, we already had dinner plans, involving Indian food and then Maple Delight for ice cream or sorbet. First, though, we took the explainer/guide's advice and went to the greenhouses, which are near the Garden of the Senses and out of the rain. They were also crowded, but we had fun pointing out bromeliads and huge leaves and the occasional flowering cactus to each other. The current special exhibit is a celebration of the Jardin's 75th anniversary, in the form of an invocation of Montreal the city as a woman, all blues and greens, at the center of a large area where the plants are sorted by color. Quite impressive.

I also read a few of my hosts' books, as usual; I should probably have finished Midnight's Children there, since Papersky has a copy of the same edition I have, and I seem to have left mine with one of Cattitude's relatives.