Sure, there was some rain, but we really couldn’t ask for a better Easter holiday. Just a couple of days after there was snow in the air, Ontario didn’t follow through on its tradition of providing a hot, humid, 30’C day just three days later. The sun was out, and we were quite comfortable without our coats. And, really, there are few better feelings than being outside without need of a coat after a long winter.
On Good Friday, we had Pamela and her 7-year-old daughter Esme over to dye some eggs using silk ties (you can read more about how to do this here, and see a picture at the bottom of this post). On Easter Sunday, we headed out to Victoria Park with a kite the Easter Bunny kindly provided (and which Grandpa Michael and Grandma Rosemarie kindly shipped up from the States) to test the wind. The kite was really well built, and took to the air well. Unfortunately, the wind didn’t cooperate so much, and we had a hard time keeping the thing in the air. No matter, though, as Victoria Park’s wonderful playground was open and full of kids.
More pictures of us trying to find kites can be found here…
Today is election day, and the polls have just opened. Today, Erin and I will be taking Nora down to watch us vote. It’s been one of the oddest elections I’ve ever seen, although there are some echos of the remarkable election Ontario had back in September 1990. Who would have thought, when the campaign started, that we’d be looking at Jack Layton as leader of a decently-sized opposition? But I guess it shows what happens when the campaign is mostly a series of two way attack adds within a three party race. And who would have thought that we’d be looking at the end of the Bloc Quebecois as a political force in Ottawa? Once again, Quebec manages to surprise us.
I hope you go out to vote as well, even if it is to spoil your ballot. Early in this campaign, I was seriously considering starting up a campaign for people to write “NONE OF THE ABOVE” on their ballots, but events sort of swept me up. However, I believe that if you simply cannot bring yourself to vote for anybody, you should still show your displeasure by spoiling your ballot in this fashion. Politicians need to hear from you. They might not care to hear from you, but they need to, because you are their boss — or, at least, you should be. For too long, our politicians have been relying on most of us not taking an interest in the political process. They’ve allowed our rights to erode and our democratic institutions to wither by encouraging us to not care.
Well, I think most Canadians do care, and this is an opportunity for us to say so. Whether it is to vote for someone or to vote for no one, I hope that we all go out and vote.
Further Reading