B.A. Johnston

B.A. Johnston at Lola's Pub and Grub, Cornwall, Ontario, 5 April, 2026

 

First crocus of 2026

Cool and rainy so they weren't open

 

Made a little heart

I made a little hanger in memory of Krystal at an arts gathering at Carrots n Dates hosted by Yafa Gowily.

 

Not the Easter Bunny digs a burrow in a lake

 

Peter Edwards' excellent book on Banks that corrected some errors in the NFB's documentary, Canada's Sweetheart. (1985) 

Hal C. Banks lived near my family's home in Pointe-Claire, a suburb of Montreal. He was an American mobster and labour organizer who came to Canada with the approval of Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent and Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis to bust the Canadian Seamen's Union, which their governments thought were controlled by Communists, and replace it with the Seafarers International Union . My mother told me that Banks was a nice guy when he wasn't beating up members of the CSU, loved giving out candy on Hallowe'en, and every few weeks there was a new Mrs. Banks at his place. He lived on Lake St. Louis and had a big boat that was too deep to dock by his house, so, without asking permission, he brought in a dredge on Good Friday and started digging a channel through the lake to his dock, finishing up on Easter Monday. Of course, no civil servant was working on the long weekend, so he got away with it. He ultimately fled Canada after being charged after one beating, and stayed in the USA after his extradition was refused by Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State.

First robin of spring. In crabapple tree.

 

First robin of spring. In crabapple tree, near Akwesasne, Ontario. Merle d'Amérique (Turdus migratorius) Some robins do overwinter here.

Ravens roost for the night, January 11, 2026. Next to Winners store, Cornwall, Ontario

 

1947 Emerson model 553A

I learned a new word from this 1947 AC/DC 1947 Emerson model 553A portable radio - 'hanked' - coiling rope so it's neat.

It was portable, and could run on AC power as well as batteries. The batteries were  large 'A' and 'B' cells batteries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube_battery