It's sad and more than slightly unfortunate that for a wealthy democracy in the western hemisphere Canada is in a parlous state. Not unusual with a Liberal government, but this particular government under Justin Trudeau has exacerbated the usual tensions between various parts of the country, succeeding in alienating the west from the east. He's gone his father one better in the extent of the damage he has overseen. He has also on several occasions interfered with the justice system which is supposed to be neutral, reflecting the law of the land. Advantaging friends at public expense another nail he's hammered home. 

He uses taxpayer-funded federal treasury at his whims which steer toward his advantage at the polling booth. During the current novel coronavirus crisis afflicting the world community he has made decisions reflecting poorly on the image of a wise and reflective leader. A scattergun approach to handling the country's economy through the meltdown of COVID-19 has resulted in Canada spending more than any other G20 nation, and having less to show for it, while leaving future generations with the problem of paying off a massive debt.

His decision-making over how best to protect Canadian lives threatened by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been faulty and faulted leading to failure. Canada is now far, far behind other countries in their vaccination progress resulting from the Trudeau government's poor reasoning and lack of attention to the real world of politics impacting social-welfare outcomes. Government departments under his rule have become shabby in their principles; the Canadian military a case in point where corruption, harassment and failure to address the needs of military personnel has become scandalous.

He smiles through every one of the missteps and false calculations he has made. From embarrassing Canada with his outrageous costumery on a state visit to India, and while there flirting with Indo-Canadian criminals and violent separatists, to his unabashed use of blackface as a thespian attention-seeker, much less his manhandling of a female journalist, explaining that away by baldly stating that men and women 'experience' things differently.

His promises that might be of some advantage to Canadians have not been fulfilled, but under his mandate, Canada had the first federal laws legitimizing the growing and sale of cannabis, and legislated the de-criminalization of assisted suicide in the medical profession. The LGBTQ-2 communities' human rights were championed by this prime minister and genderless language is now the law of the land. I'm sure I've forgotten a great deal that distinguishes this man as an outstanding prime minister. 

His self-confidence and egotism are outpaced only by his lack of attention to the damage he has wrought in this country. With the considerable assistance of a largely incompetent cabinet. But he smiles and carries on, the man whose past experience as a drama teacher, snowboarding expert and eventually, thanks to the inheritance of that famous Trudeau name, a public speaker evidently prepared him for the responsibilities inherent in administering the affairs of a nation.

As for us ordinary folk, we're getting on, the more we see, hear, and experience under the Trudeau watch the more we wince in pain. The pain can be assuaged however, by taking ourselves out to the ravine with our little companions, Jackie and Jillie, for an afternoon tramp through forest trails on a winter March day with a high temperature of -8C, and winds gusting up to 30 mph. for a really 'cool' wind factor.

Jackie and Jillie couldn't give a fig for the politics and how it affects the social weal of this country. They love the country and all it provides them with, and take great joy in expending canine energy on these daily excursions. And so do we.

The suspense is not yet over. Who might have imagined that the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election would be dragging on for so long? It's a situation that perhaps might not have occurred had the entire country be governed by a single election-processing body overseeing conformity in the process instead of having each state and territory mount their participation in the general election with their very own state-specific rules and regulations. The end result is controversy galore. Not that controversy given this very partisan election would be entirely avoided, but perhaps a little more clarity in procedural norms.

We're curious, looking in from the outside, just as most other people are, wondering when it will end, feeling sympathetic to those for whom this wait is excruciating. It appears a given at this late date that a new president will occupy the White House come January. But on the way to that occasion there is little doubt that much will occur to further infuriate supporters of each of the parties that exemplify the polarizing issues and events that wrack the United States at the present.

We slept in this morning; correction, I did. When I do occasionally, my husband listens to National Public radio on one of his transistor radios that is able to capture the signal. So that when I awake finally, he informs me of what has been happening. I can recall that happening four years ago when I was speechless with incredulity as he informed me that yes, Donald Trump won the election against Hilary Clinton. Not that we have personally any stake in who directs the affairs of our direct continental neighbour to the south but we do watch closely such events and it was our opinion that the two candidates were both flawed, each of them less suitable than should be expected for a world leader, but Mr.Trump seemed by far the more improbable of the two. 

For four years the world watched agape as open nepotism, corruption in taking advantage of position to further business interests, unsavoury past revelations of an uncouth personality, and combustible denunciations of global relationships roiled the United States as the population became increasingly divided over domestic issues. There were previous administrations whose inappropriate and ill-thought-out decision-making impacted the world community, and how the president of the day and the country he led were viewed abroad. One thinks of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and even Barack Obama; one of whom led a weak administration, the other a questionable moral character, and one utterly failing to live up to possibly improbable standards of astute decision-making.

Gives us much to muse over, and to discuss in our conversations, whether in bed, building up the momentum to decide to finally meet the morning head on, or in casual conversation with others, all of whom appear to share a universal opinion on who should go on to lead the United States into the near future of COVID, internal social unrest, and handling the world's trouble spots which has always been America's strength. 

After breakfast my husband headed downstairs to his workshop to continue yet another project he's involved with that will take him through the winter months to complete. Over the years he has assembled a range of tools, both hand-tools and electric, and he depends on them for many uses. He enjoys working with wood, fashioning items, designing things, carrying those designs through to completion.

For my part, it's the kitchen that draws me primarily and Friday is one of those days of the week when I plan to bake something a little different to close out our Friday night dinner. I usually also prepare a bread dough to be refrigerated, so the dough can be used in a variety of ways from pizza to dinner rolls throughout the week. Today, for a change I baked a lattice-topped berry pie, a filling of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, frozen in a pouch, to which I add sugar, cornstarch and cranberry juice to simmer into a thick filling. I usually use a pottery pie dish that our younger son made for me decades ago.

In the mid-afternoon we accompanied Jackie and Jillie for a leisurely hike through the ravine on another superb fall day. We've left the numbing cold behind temporarily, stuck in a high-pressure zone of dry warmth that is set to linger, we've been promised, for much of the rest of the week and on into the first few days of next week. Because it was so warm at 17C, no sweaters for the puppies, and off we went, strolling up the street and veering off into the ravine.

Where poplars predominate the forest floor is now covered with dried foliage rapidly turning dark dirty-grey, nothing like the glorious golds and yellows when they first came down. And where there are many maples in other areas of the forest, colour still remains, with patches of dusty-red stubbornly retaining some brightness amongst the pale yellow of the birch leaves.

The sun struggled to burst its way out of the low cloud ceiling, and from time to time managed to find a niche for itself before disappearing again. It's notable that all the thriving green vegetation that normally crowds the forest floor is now entirely absent, absorbed back into the soil to await another spring's wake-up call. The oldest of the wild apple trees, now completely denuded of its foliage, thrusts its bare limbs in every direction as though to call them back home again.

On the rotting old crotch of another elderly tree, a tiny green apple nestles that may or may not be enjoyed at some time by wildlife during the scarce food-resourcing months ahead. While Jackie and Jillie were absorbed in the panoply of fascinating odours delivering their canine messages, my husband and I continued our conversations focusing on the tension to our south, the uncertainty of future protests turning into riots, and the final culmination of the heatedly-contested race for a new occupant of the American seat of power.