• Here's a link to Canadian expressions, foods and other charming idiosyncracies. And if you've never tried a butter tart, you are much the poorer. And, for those of you enthusiastic about international cuisine, here's what's what about Canadian food specialties.
  
• I am eagerly anticipating the release of the Narnia movie. Here's a link to the transcript of an interesting television feature about it. (Pssst! The lion is Jesus. Pass it on.)
  
• Kate asks the ultimate questions: Who is the market for testicular implants for pets? And what kind of son sends his mother a link to them? ;-)
• Okay, this is just wrong.
• Coming soon, to a neighborhood near you. (HT: K-Sra)
• Also, at K-sra's recommendation, we have Cooking for Engineers. You knew a site like this had to be out there somewhere.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the loss of the good ship Edmund Fitzgerald, whose story is fixed in our minds by Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad. I say "whose" because the ship was a friend to those who sailed her. Her sinking has always haunted me because shipwreck at sea, seemingly safely distant in another era, came crashing back to my state on the lake that had been so calm when I visited during summer vacations.

Lightfoot's song is one of the best I have ever heard. The music -- hinting at old sea chantey -- is mournful, and the lyrics are poetry. The art of memorializing significant events in song has pretty much died out, but this shows us what can be done.

Let's remember the sailors and the families of the lost in our prayers.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling?

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing.
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya.
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Hat tip to Dale Price, who has some fine links, for the reminder.

I've been tagged by Therese to describe five idiosyncracies of mine. All right, dear, if you say so.

1. Although I am "traditionally built", in the mold of Mma Precious Ramotswe, I don't particularly have a sweet tooth. A pan of brownies is perfectly safe with me. Now a pan of lasagna -- that's another matter.
   
   
2. I am quite extraverted, warm-mannered and sociable. However, I am not particularly gregarious -- by that I mean that I would rather be comfortable with one or two good friends at home than going from person to person at a big gathering.
   
   
3. I like feather pillows that can be punched and molded at will. I prefer them two at a time. I often bring my own pillow with me when I travel, because those resilient foam pillows found in moderately priced hotels and many guest rooms of otherwise estimable hosts are products of the Prince of Darkness himself.
   
   
4. I have never grown up enough to learn to like either coffee or tea. Regrettably, this leaves me with no winter beverage. (See Item #1 for a clue about how I feel towards hot cocoa.) Sometimes coffee shops serve hot cider, and I thank them. But this quirk leaves me in a dilemma -- how do I respond when someone asks me if I want to go out for coffee?
   
   
5. I can't help seeing both sides of conflicts and controversies. This equips me to be even-tempered and a mediating influence, but it hampers me from coming down on one side of a hot issue if that's what's called for. My near and dear ones probably get tired of hearing, "Well, on the other hand . . ."

Okay. It's my turn to tag someone else to do this. I nominate everyone who reads this blog, because there are darned few of you. I know who you are, so no excuses.

Here's a game I snagged from Kate and Mr. Proboque.

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to it).
3. Find the 5th sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Well, here's a link to that post. The sentence is: "Now, thanks to the passage of many years and the counsel of wise friends, I've grown to see it much differently."

I liked revisiting this post. It's a snapshot of a period in which God was doing a bit of an interior overhaul and, in the words of a good friend, preparing me for "the surprises of the Holy Spirit."

Hell is full of good wishes or desires. St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Do not be troubled by Bernard's saying that "Hell is full of good wishes or desires." St. Francis de Sales

Now this is diversity, people. Nothing is so colorful as the kingdom of God.
_ _ _ _ _

A more contemporary quotation with truth that I have learned the hard way:

Sin makes you stupid. Mark Shea

And a bonus from my favorite wit in the whole world:
From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us! St. Teresa of Avila

Hat tip: Enbrethiliel