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Monday 30th September 2002

I haven't done much gardening at all .. and the front looks a mess as a result. It has just been too hot with the "killer heat". I wouldn't even try. Mowed lawns yesterday, but they too are a mess. Only the most hardy weeds and crabgrass lives in this dryness. Anyway, it's cooling off now and I'll just have to re-seed and "Weed'nFeed" the whole lot. I could certainly use a grinding machine. The fruit trees and hollyhocks make such a lot of little sticks.

Went to see Jacky Chan in "The Tuxedo" this afternoon. Really fun movie. He's obviously very popular, the cinema was quite busy - in what I consider to be a very quiet time. I couldn't even get my usual back seat all to myself.

Last week I went to see "Fast Runner". The photography was beautiful and the story was very strange. There were subtitles, as the language was of northern people, Inuit? I enjoyed the movie very much. It must have been very difficult to make - as I noticed two In Memorium notices at the end - people who died in the making? I am not sure, but wouldn't be surprised.

Although it has been very hot and dry, most of the trees and fruit bearing plants seem to be making masses of seed. I notice I said something similar in my diary I think in '98. This is supposed to be a sign of extreme winter weather. It certainly was then.

Sunday 8th September 2002

This week I saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". What a good-hearted cheerful, funny and altogether delightful movie. The sort of people you would like to know better. I went in feeling overheated and a bit grouchy. .. Came out feeling much better!

It's still terribly hot over here and in Guelph they have not had any water for such a long time even the trees are beginning to die. Still the local authorities are giving planning permits for large housing estates. Can only suppose they don't read or take notice of scientific predictions. This morning at 9 I went for a short walk - it's too hot to go far. Found myself humming the desert theme from "Laurence of Arabia"!

Friday 6th September 2002

Still very hot - about 90ºF (30ºC) and dry. We could certainly do with some rain. They said on the news this morning that the Canadian Grain Marketing people would be withdrawing from international markets. Our grain growing areas have been so hard-hit by drought. Usually Canada sells grain to Russia. This year we will be buying it.

Last night I watched a documentary about archeological research into the cause of the fall of the society on the Easter Islands. The scientists seemed agreed that it had several related causes: overpopulation, religions, greed, disregard and over-use of natural resources, arrogance of leaders. Well, at least the Easter Islanders had the excuse that they had no hindsight or precedence. We are headed in the same direction on a massive scale and do not have that excuse.

Sunday 1st September 2002

My movie this week was "Serving Sara". I had not expected to enjoy this entertainment so much. It had an interesting story, with twists and turns, trickery, deceit etc., providing surprises and comedy similar to "Hopscotch" - which I also enjoy from time to time. The story is that an agent is employed to serve subpoenas (a subpoena is a written legal order directing a person to appear in court to give testimony, show specified records etc). At the time of service, an actual photograph of the person has to be taken of the service and the time. This is very difficult to achieve -(and funny to anyone watching). He competes in his work and is continually undermined by a fellow employee. The result is, I think, very funny. The plot also informs of interesting legalities concerning serving subpoenas in the USA or abroad.

Link to the Movies Pages at "movies.yahoo.com"

Visit a site for many photographs of North American Birds and animals.

Rhona Raskin Home Page at http://www.rhona.com.