Update

This morning, passing the large snowman at the door to the Flying Club clubhouse (still closed to visitors because of COVID) we scraped snow off the wings and tail of C-FPTN; this was our main "exercise" for the day, though we also walked round town and Chris ran on his treadmill, as he now does most days. Walking cheers us up and activates the circulation so that our feet aren't so cold as when we're sitting for hours and hours at our computers. I like the little discoveries we make about town, like the "Fly-In Restaurant" I saw hanging from the branch of a small tree in the Byward Market's pedestrian area, with dozens of sparrows taking turns at its buffet. The birds are hungry, this wintry week.

In the car today, we had to make a detour because of a road block. A small snow-plough had tipped over at the intersection of Coburg and St. Patrick's Street, police cars round it stopping the traffic and no sign of the driver. Did he try to turn on a snowbank? Was he injured?

Meanwhile in Sydney, the Australian contingent of our family are basking in a heatwave under blue skies. Eddie (7) can now swim underwater like a fish. We saw his mother's video for proof. He has been learning to program in Python and to play a piece on the piano with a sharp in it, also playing with a Scalextric racing car set (they've been around since the 1950s) and creating endless Minecraft worlds. Never a dull moment there. We're touched that he wants to show us everything, these days, even at this enormous distance. They're talking of riding on a Picnic Train from Sydney Central to Kiama where there's a blowhole in the rocks. We were there ourselves, once (on a road trip in 2003).

Last week and the week before I had some contact with Thomas, our 9-year-old grandson in London, too, because he and his friend Freddie need help with their French. Tom and Freddie don't like French and I can tell why not. They haven't a clue how the words are pronounced or what a "partitive article" is. I can help them with the former, at least, and their worksheet informed me that partitive articles are the words that mean "some": du, de l', de la, des. I never knew that. My online French lessons have not been an enormous success so far but at least I've been holding their attention to some extent for half an hour a week and am going to try again next week.

My German group, consisting of 11 friends in Ottawa, Normandy, and Texas at this week's meeting (at earlier meetings this month we had women from Dresden, Vienna and Ulan Bator joining in), read a newspaper article about a Quereinsteiger, which literally means cross-entrant, a man in Weimar who had decided mid-career to switch to teaching in high schools. We came to the conclusion that he has what it takes and will make a good job of it.

Since the new year, Gavan, our music teacher, has been stretching Chris' and my ability to perform the Schumann Dichterliebe cycle ... working on nine of the songs so far. That piano part is demanding. I still don't consider myself a pianist, although there are moments when I feel Chris is turning into a proper singer. I can't mention what Chris is working on for his official work but he tells me I can call it modelling, which is vague enough. "Just tell them I'm a male model!" he says. This afternoon I helped him to check through his last batch of slides for the lectures he gives to engineers in Tokyo on Monday evenings (Tuesday mornings, to them). I sent off all the documents I've been working on myself, that will appear in the next issue of the Capital Carillon, the newsletter I edit. It's a longer than usual issue this month. I submitted an article for the Lowertown Echo, our community newspaper, as well; that new issue hasn't come out yet.

I've been reading fiction by Graham Greene (England Made Me, A Sense of Reality) and Jane Austen (Northanger Abbey), quite a contrast. Books in the hand are more soothing than computers on the lap.

My CFUW friends and acquaintances are still talking avidly about regenerative agriculture / permaculture / agroecology (there seem to be many names for the same concept) after the presentation from Marco earlier this month or after watching the documentary Kiss The Ground, which several of us are going to discuss at a ZOOM meeting next Thursday evening. The ideas for alternative farming methods have been around for a long time, but I don't remember such a great deal of talk about the subject before. The new administration south of our border (thank heavens!) and the USA's return to the Paris Agreement seems to have stirred up widespread interest in environmental issues. When enough people are talking about an idea, does it reach a tipping point and become transformational?

Documenting Afghanistan's views

Dr. Tabasum Akseer spoke to a group of us (UWHAW members and associates) from Kabul, today, where it was midnight by the end of the meeting. She is currently Director of Policy and Research in the Afghanistan division of the Asia Foundation.

Tabasum has spent 30 years of her life in Canada, and was a post-doctoral research fellow and consultant at the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University in Canada. At Queen’s, she also worked as a teaching fellow in the school of Religion, of Languages, Literature and Cultures, and of Gender Studies. She spoke to us about the recent survey of the country’s attitudes and opinions, an exercise that has taken place every year since 2006. For the first time in 15 years, a survey on disabilities has just been made as well. These data are for public consumption and shared with Afghan politicians who then publicly endorse the findings. The AF also customizes presentations to make them palatable: abridged as necessary or given in an appropriate language.

Survey of the Afghan People (2019)

A majority of its citizens feel Afghanistan is heading in the wrong direction. There is little support for people moving abroad for their education and the answers to why women are not employed include the popular answer, “because they’re not needed outside the home.” Women in the highlands of the country earn a mere $100 a month. As a rule, the more responsibility they have in their role, the less support they get. Only 71% of women in the country, the better educated, are aware that peace talks are taking place. In the highlands, that is a mere 30%. More men than women approve of talking with the Taliban in the current negotiations. Both Afghan men (74%) and Afghan women (75%) fear for their personal safety. This is the highest-ever percentage. The most common assaults are physical attacks, racketeering or pick-pocketing.

A sizeable proportion of female citizens admit to being afraid of voting. They also say it’s not beneficial or they don’t have permission to vote. Women often have no access to the internet. Those who do, use it to follow Facebook or the news, or to watch videos. 17% of women “don’t know” (or won’t say) what they’re doing on the internet. Re. clothing, the burka or niqaab are for 28% of women the most popular garments; significantly more men than women approve of these.

One hopeful sign: people’s support for peace, and awareness of efforts to achieve peace, is increasing.

Model Disability Survey

The proportion of people with disabilities has risen by 14% since 2005. What determines disability? — marital status, unemployment, overcrowding, dependence, lack of access to assistance.

Disability increases with age and more women than men are affected. The number of disabled people decreases in relation to their level of education, leading observers to conclude that in Afghanistan, a low level of education is a cause of disability rather than a result of it. Separated/divorced/widowed women tend to be more disabled and in the highlands, 25% of people have a disability. In answer to a question about “assistive devices”, 44% of women didn’t even know such help exists.

Marco's talk

On Monday I hosted the best attended CFUW-Ottawa Environment Action meeting so far; 44 people turned up this time, signing in from their homes in Italy, Canada, England and Wales, the Welsh couple being our friends Andrew and Kay who tell me they have become members of wedonthavetime.org. The Canadians weren't just from Ottawa; people from a like-minded, sister group from CFUW-Oakville west of Toronto, and from a Nature Society at Vankleek Hill, ON, are also being invited to these meetings, now. Some of the Toronto delegation belong to a pressure group unrelated to the CFUW, called GASP (Grandmothers Act To Save the Planet).

Our speaker was Dr. Marco Bertaglia (@marco_bertaglia) from Italy, arguing for a transformation of conventional agriculture. It was due to a lucky chance that I managed to make contact with this agroecologist. He is a colleague and friend of my daughter. When Emma mentioned that I was looking for guest speakers for an environmental group in Ottawa, Marco generously volunteered.

His presentation was stimulating enough for many of my Environment Action friends to stay behind and carry on talking about the topic long after he had left. Marco has been working for the scientific arm of the EU Commission, doing scientific research and also working in the field. Literally: he tries to grow his own food and is very knowledgeable about the microbiology of soils. He’s currently on sabbatical leave, but has been taking part in webinars such as the international, "Ask a Scientist" panel discussion last May.

Marco says that everything is wrong with our conventional farming system and believes that, unless we change our agricultural policies, we are heading for extinction, but he also believes that there are viable solutions to feeding the world without destroying it. This was his motivation for joining the Extinction Rebellion movement. On his Twitter page Marco describes himself as a Rebel For Life (this is XR's signature slogan). He also spends a large proportion of his time on something else that’s important to him; he's a Quaker who offers training in non-violent communications. He mentioned Marshall Rosenberg in this connection.

So what solutions are there? The main thrusts from agroecologists are to stop using pesticides and artificial fertilisers altogether (crops don't need them; properly grown plants actually manage better without them) and to ban tillage. The only mulch that ought to be used on crops is hay. "Spontaneous vegetation" growing in the fields should be seen as useful and should not be called "weeds". Abandon monoculture; it doesn't work. If farmers respect the natural structure of soil, an equilibrium can be restored. The more complex the ecosystem, the more produce it will yield and the less CO₂ it will emit (only a sixth as much as conventional modern farms). So the positive consequences of farming in this less destructive way are to diminish the "intensity of climate disaster" and to halt biodiversity loss.

We need to learn to import and export fewer foodstuffs too. Marco "walks the walk" as one of my group members put it, refusing to drink tea, even, until it can be cultivated in Italy. (He knows of someone who's trying to do that.) We wouldn't starve. Properly managed, 1 hectare of land can provide enough food for 15 people. In urban environments we need to develop new farming methods: hydroponics, vertical growing systems, vegetable gardens on roofs, etc. He mentioned the potential for "food forests" in London and certain unused spaces in and around Milan that could be devoted to urban farming.

I and others asked how all this can apply to Canada where the winters are so long and his answer was to say that here, as everywhere, we need to choose crops that suit the place they're grown in. Choose the best possible seeds and the best possible positions for what's being grown. A cold harsh climate doesn't have to be a limitation. He mentioned the Rocky Mountain Institute that's helping cities, communities, states, and regions meet their energy and climate goals, and told us of their greenhouse in the Colorado mountains where bananas are being cultivated!

He mentioned an organic, "agroforestry" research centre in E. Anglia, England, known as Wakelyns. (Ottawa has its Experimental Farm as well, a national institution.)

The UN's Global Assessment of 2019 concluded that in order to effect transformative change, there has to be a momentous "shift in principles" so that transformation can happen. Once before in history, said Marco, there was such a shift — from small to large farms. Only now we want to do this the other way around, and become more self-sufficient. Scepticism about these ideas is still widespread, and some people are deliberately obstructive, of course, the big agri-businesses in particular. This is why the Extinction Rebellion movement (non-violent civil disobedience inspired by Gandhi's example) is obliged to cause a disturbance. It is acting in desperation.

The wildlife's back, again

We're having another lockdown imposed upon us, here, so may only emerge from our houses for the sake of some essential requirement. A takeaway coffee from a coffee shop seems to come into that category because those places are still open, as are the small food shops and bakeries. I bought a latte in a paper cup from a new place on Dalhousie this morning (first opened on December 31st last year — imagine!) and, lifting my mask intermittently as I walked back home, drank it in small sips, rapidly cooling.

Whenever the outside world grows quieter, as it's doing again now, the wild animals and birds come out of hiding. During lunchtime today I watched woodpeckers, tree creepers, juncos and chickadees competing at the birdfeeder. The smallest ones, the chickadees, are by far the most impolite, ganging up on the other birds and shooing them away.

After a day and evening of international Zoom meetings for both of us on Monday, Chris and I urgently needed fresh air. We went for a walk in the dark and were rewarded by the magical sight of a lone fox running around on the frozen Rideau River, below the Minto Bridges, leaving a straight line of tracks in the snow.

Encouraging news from Georgia

It looks as though something remarkable has happened in the USA, in Georgia, this week. Thanks to a 10-year long campaign led by Stacey Abrams, the black population of that state, the women in particular, are at last feeling empowered enough to bring the Republican Party down. It seems they have elected two new Democrat senators, one of them being Georgia's first black senator ever, and that this result will ensure that the Senate as well as the House of Representatives is now controlled by Democrats, thus making it easier for them to assert their authority. 

Last November during the voting in the Presidential elections I was moved to see the black electorate quietly lining up in long lines to make their voices count. They have done it again, and at this latest election many young, first-time voters joined the queue as well. 

When people are listened to they become more dignified, less aggressive, more self-confident. This is a simple rule of the school playground and the world at large.

I feel justified in having supported the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Ottawa (wearing our masks) last June. That too was a powerfully moving day.

This time last year

 

Dave, on the left, sent us this photo of what he was up to with Chris this time last year, on a visit from the UK. Look, no masks! No social distancing at all.

(A few weeks later Dave met us in Ulm / Munich as well.)

Looking at the photo now, conditioned by what has happened since, I find it quite alarming. The plane wasn't in perfect health at that time, either, but has been doctored since and has just passed her "annual" (annual inspection) with flying colours. As it were.

Using Hydrogen

When you look for references to "hydrogen" on the Internet, the pages that come up often link it with the word "potential". This is to do with hydrogen as an alternative fuel, now we realise that fossil fuels are doing the planet no good. A public Webinar hosted last month (Dec. 8th) by the School of Public Policy (their Economics Department) at the University of Calgary, was entitled Canada's Hydrogen Potential  — a "hot topic", they said, and obviously so, for 800 people had registered to join this meeting.

It's a big opportunity for Canada, according to the Hon. Seamus O'Regan from Newfoundland, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, who has also been a journalist. He spoke first, saying that the subject is of "massive importance"; the start of the panel discussion was in fact delayed because he'd been in a meeting "with Washington ... Getting our relationship with the USA right is of crucial importance." 

Is the Canadian government scrambling to keep up, I wonder, now that they realise that the newly elected Democrat administration south of the border is determined to seek solutions to the problem of climate change? 

Oil still counts as Canada's No. 1 export, and where the Minister comes from, oil workers are still flying out to the rigs off the coast every day, but a global price war is being waged over oil, and the advent of Covid makes this a double whammy. We need to follow the money, he said, and (as if it were an afterthought!) take action on Climate Change. Alberta is already taking strides in this new direction. The day after his appointment as Minister, O'Regan had flown to Alberta to talk about reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. He repeated, markets are following the money.

Hydrogen production will lower emissions and improve the quality of fuel. What's more, it creates thousands of jobs. Canada is about to become one of the top suppliers of hydrogen fuel, he announced. He kept quiet about the details of exactly how this was going to happen, perhaps wisely, but gave as examples of demand for hydrogen a Danish university using hydrogen-powered busses on its campus (!) and 18-wheel trucks. Another journalistic statement: supply, distribution and demand must grow together. Newfoundland, he said, has a convenient proximity to the European markets. Of the world's leading carbon-capture projects today, four are in Alberta. Canada's northern regions will reduce their dependence on diesel fuels. We are reducing 119 Megatons of CO₂ emissions per year.

The Minister then spoke of the relative merits of grey, blue and green hydrogen (see below), adding, "We're going to concentrate on the blue!" However, Quebec is going for green. Quebec being the second hydro power producer in the world after China, it can afford to take this more ambitious step.

The other two panelists then had their say. Sarah Hastings-Simon, introduced as an influential writer about energy and climate change, confirmed that progress will be driven by economics. Yes, hydrogen has much potential, but it requires a good transmission grid — where's that? — and what about the transportation constraints. She feels that the excitement about this subject is over-hyped. What will the market actually look like? This is glossed over. 

From the UK, Michael Liebreich of Bloomberg New Energy Finance reminded the audience that this is the world's "third go" at developing hydrogen as a fuel. It was attempted in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. Hydrogen fuel does offer a survival route for "the threatened players" — the fossil fuel and automotive industries. It's also of interest to the aviation, shipping, cement, steel industries, etc. etc. But he cautioned that money and time could be wasted; there had been high hopes for hydrogen in the past, too. We cannot afford to spend a decade building the wrong things, and yet €460-billion is being invested in hydrogen fuel technology in Europe; fuel cells are now 60% efficient. Heat pumps are likely to be more efficient as a source of energy, and industrial heating can be achieved by means of electricity. 

Regarding the colour codes, explained Ms Hastings-Simon, hydrogen is in fact colourless. What we mean by "grey" hydrogen is that this is captured directly from natural gas (so you still need the gas). "Blue" hydrogen capture depends upon upstream, "fugitive" methane emissions; the fact that this too is a powerful global-warming gas counteracts its benefits. "Green" hydrogen refers to the least harmful method of production, using electrolysis (i.e. depending upon electricity). The technology may fail; in any case there will always be residual emissions. The production of hydrogen will require the skills of fossil fuel workers, which is a good thing, but the bottom line is, what will it cost to capture and store it? At present, the cost works out at $5 per kg for "green" hydrogen, $2 / kg for the "blue kind"; the goal is to bring that down to $1 per kg. By 2040, the green option could well be the cheaper solution. 

Wind and solar energy are also making huge strides forward. Chile and Nevada, said Michael Liebreich, are becoming "renewable energy superpowers."

Some exercise

Chris has back ache, not the best thing for New Year's Day. It seems to have been caused by brushing snow off the steps, not very violent exercise, but the twisting motion gave him a twinge that worsened. He's finding it hard to use his computer sitting down, but he has a convertible desk that rises gently so that he can stand at it. (We purchased this when he had a problem with his arm, last year, and Benoit, wearing a mask, kindly helped him construct it.) 

This afternoon we went for a walk with Carol, Laurie and Elva across the MacDonald-Cartier bridge onto Avenue Laurier in Gatineau, coming back into Ottawa over the Alexandra Bridge. Those three always count the steps they take each day by means of Fitbits or similar "activity trackers"; so do my daughter and my sister, and I know someone else who's aiming to cover enough distance to have walked right round the earth. But I refrain from counting my steps. I don't need a machine to tell me when I've had enough exercise. My legs get tired. This evening I also had a go on the stationary bike that Chris has discarded, that sits in the basement next to his treadmill. He was using that for a 15 minute run at the same time. The run doesn't seem to have done his back any harm; that's good. He keeps a record of the statistics of his runs. I hadn't been on the bike for years, so am noticing the after effects. I have no desire to beat previous records of any description.

Last year, at the Librairie du Soleil, I came across a book I liked, in French, very recently published: Le Lièvre d'Amérique, which means The Snow Hare. I don't believe there's an English translation. Set partly on the Isle aux Grues, a small island in the St. Lawrence river northeast of Quebec, that Chris and I have more than once visited, so that I recognise the places very well from their description, this is the first novel written by Mirielle Gagné, a poet, who was born there. It is the story of Diane, a solitary, tense woman, likewise born on that island but living and working in downtown Montreal, who has an (unspecified) operation on her head and a nervous breakdown that seems to force her, eventually, to come to terms with the memory of a tragic experience in her youth. Merging with the narrative is a series of seven descriptions of the snow hares that live on the Isle, how they behave, how they survive, even the Indigenous people's legends about them, and quite soon, while reading, you realise that the woman of the story ressembles a snow hare in multiple ways. It's a cleverly constructed, experimental book, full of poetic atmosphere and wordplay, moving, too; the author must have been thrilled to write it. 

Ce roman, une fable animalière néolibérale, s’adresse à celles et ceux qui se sont égarés.

Chris bought me a second copy of this book for Christmas, since I'd given away the first copy and was missing it, so I'm now reading it for the third time. I was reminded to start doing so today after my ride on the stationary bike, because in one chapter Diane falls asleep while exercising on hers and wakes up hours later to find herself still pedalling.

On dirait qu'elle a pédalé toute la nuit. A-t-elle véritablement dormi? [...] Elle roule sans notion du temps, décalée de la réalité.

Somehow I doubt if I'll reach that point on the stationary bike in our basement.