After a life of unremitting service to her people, our dear Queen has died. Elizabeth II was always there for us. Such devotion is legendary is so is her love for her husband and family. She and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, will remain a model to the world. We were the privileged witness of an unwavering love story.
As a young woman, Elizabeth promised unflinching commitment to her subjects, but her love for Philip of Edinburgh was as constant as her love for her people. Theirs was the love story of a century. We are privileged to have been the subjects of a Queen whose stability comforted her people, despite a multitude of trials. Elizabeth’s reign was exemplary in so many ways.
Her death saddens us, but she will live in the memory of all who loved her.
Rest in peace, Elizabeth. You will never be forgotten.
“A well regulated [sic] militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
The United States has a well-regulated militia, so “the security of a free state” is not endangered, except by those who misread the Second Amendment. If the goal of the Second Amendment is to promote the “security of a free state,” it forbids the wearing of deadly weapons.
In short, the insufficiently-controlled use of firearms has just led to the death of nineteen (19) innocent children and two (2) teachers. So, the American National Rifle Association could be described as a parallel government. The bearing of arms currently threatens the security a “free state” should promote. Proponents of the bearing of arms have become advocates of social disorder and great sorrow.
My love and sincere condolences to all who have lost a child or a dear one at Uvalde, Texas.
The list of works I had taken from Wikipedia’s entry on Ivan Mazepa disappeared briefly. Yesterday evening, I could no longer find it. I most certainly do not wish to spread hatred for the people of Russia. On the contrary. Vladimir Putin is hurting both his people and the people of Ukraine. The people of Ukraine fell at Poltava, and Putin’s forces are destroying Ukraine once again.
Let us hope the Ukraine crisis ends as soon as possible. Ukrainians are suffering, and the world fears a war. Negotiating with Vladimir Putin is difficult.
Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Emmanuel Macron, of France
I have yet to recover from pericarditis. It was diagnosed on 4 October 2021. Other problems were diagnosed later: an inflammation of the rib cage muscles and broken ribs. However, the initial diagnosis remains valid. It is pericarditis, and it is harrowing. I have undergone several tests, but I cannot say that I have been treated. Life in Magog is better than life in Sherbrooke. I have a friend who looks after me and is good company. If I can use my left arm – I am left-handed – we sit at the dining table and work at our computers. I can barely use my left hand. I am now in Sherbrooke looking after domestic matters. The co-owners of this building were told to get rid of their thirty-year-old whirlpool tubs because they could leak. I was not prepared for this.
Life goes on despite the pain. Canada is spending billions on its healthcare programme. I could choose my doctor in Canadian provinces other than Quebec, but one is lucky to have a doctor in Quebec. It could be that, by now, matters have also changed in the rest of Canada. At any rate, some people are going to private doctors. It may be my only recourse, which should not be the case.
Two nights ago, I was in such pain that I thought no law should prevent a doctor from prescribing medication that soothes a patient’s pain. I phoned a friend and my nephew to tell them that I may have to enter a hospital. However, after I took a muscle relaxant, prescribed, and several tablets of Tylenol the pain was more tolerable. However, this morning, the pain had returned.
I can understand that a government would “crackdown” on opioids. There are dealers making a fortune selling opioids and young people who use opioids for recreational purposes. In fact, it kills. But it is difficult to accept that the sick should pay the price for the criminal and abusive use of opioids. There are times when a painkiller is necessary, just as there are times when a doctor must be at liberty to perform an abortion.
The last time I was in the Emergency Room, the doctor spoke to me aggressively. I left with a prescription for medication that could not alleviate the pain I experienced. So it could be that doctors are afraid. Given the fight against opioids, they hesitate to prescribe them. However, having to suffer needlessly at this stage in my life seems an offence. In the past, I have taken codeine to relieve the pain of migraines, but codeine will no longer be prescribed to me by my new doctor. He had negative comments about codeine. A few days from now, I will know whether my illness is a degenerative musculoskeletal condition, which it may not be. But if it is, and the pain is not constant, i. e. every minute of the day, I will not qualify for genuine relief.
Moreover, a good relationship with my new doctor has now been jeopardized. How can I trust a man who has already shown indifference to the pain I was experiencing. He told me to buy Voltaren and to pay for the services of a physiotherapist. He claimed that my neck was the problem. However, the X-rays did not show damage to the neck. In Magog, I was prescribed Prednizone (cortisone) and morphine, a short course of each medication. That kind of prescription could not be renewed, but it had helped me. Besides, the problem was first diagnosed as pericarditis.
I hope that my next test does not reveal a degenerative musculoskeletal disease. What would I do?
Grief has affected my health adversely, … I was talked into selling my home in Antigonish, and my family bought an apartment in Sherbrooke. I had seen the apartment. It was large, and it had an office. They refused to have the condo inspected, which is a mistake, and, although I hired a notary fearing my father may not read the documentation about the building, I learned, too late, that the apartment could not be sold to a person who needed a mortgage. I could not sell that apartment. So, I lost my equity. Nearly all that my career had earned me. Besides, I was selling the Antigonish house on the condition that my application for disability benefits was approved. I was told that it had been approved, but it hadn’t. The person who bought my house died, but I did not have the money to repurchase it. Colleagues had already fooled me into relinquishing my tenure, but I would have liked to return to my home. What had I done?
It is all incredible. I often wonder why I have retained a youthful face and figure. It seems a lie.
It appears I suffer from a musculoskeletal condition. The pain is genuine, but which condition is it?
My smartphone just informed me that a curfew is effective now. No one can leave home between 10 in the evening and 5 in the morning, which means that New Year’s celebrations had to be cancelled.
But let us hope for the best. Covid hasn’t ended, but a new year brings promise. Life starts anew. It has always done so.
Love to everyoneand a Happy New Year 💕
Claude Debussy La Fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)
My last post may have confused certain readers, which is very sad. I was fully vaccinated but, during a visit to an emergency room, I was diagnosed with Pericarditis. Pericarditis and Myocarditis may be caused by a vaccine, including the vaccine protecting us from Covid-19. I would like to make it very clear that I was vaccinated against Covid-19 too early for the vaccine to be associated with the onset of Pericarditis or Myocarditis. Moreover, my diagnosis was not clear. Therefore, my illness was not associated with the vaccine against the Covid-19 virus.
During two visits to an emergency room in Sherbrooke and Magog, I was diagnosed with inflamed muscles in the rib cage and with a degree of deterioration of my left shoulder. The pain goes from the shoulder to the wrist. Doctors now suspect a musculoskeletal condition. I caught the H1N1 virus 46 years ago and never recovered. It caused Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Although my heart still feels as though it was squeezed by a powerful hand, I suspect a mere continuation of ME/CFS.
In short, the vaccine did not cause Pericarditis.
Please listen to Dr Fauci, the CDC, the WHO, and top doctors in various countries. Since the beginning of this crisis, the words of politicians have been deemed truer than the words of experts.
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Above, we see Clarence Gagnon’s depiction of Midnight Mass. Traditionally, Quebecers used mass as the weekly get-together. Christmas was no exception. They then walked home for the réveillon.
Winter has come. There is very little snow, but it is cold. Storms devastated many American states. I grieve for those who have lost a loved one and their home.
Medical Tests
I went for tests on the 14th and 16th of December. On the 14th, I was in considerable pain when I arrived for the tests. So, afterward, I returned to the Emergency Room. The doctor who looked after me told me, somewhat aggressively, to dismiss all previous diagnoses. She also stated that we did not have a firm diagnosis concerning my illness and that she would not prescribe medication. If my memory serves me well, my doctor also said that she was a young emergency-room doctor and that she did not have the authority to prescribe medication. Other emergency-room doctors had prescribed medication.
But we did have a diagnosis. I had been diagnosed with pericarditis, inflamed muscles in the rib cage, a deteriorating left shoulder, and arm, etc. In rare cases, the vaccine can cause pericarditis and/or myocarditis. However, Covid-19 is the greater evil. Therefore, one gets vaccinated.
However, after my heart was examined and tests performed, this doctor wanted to send me home unmedicated. Pain may sound the alarm, but it can grow into a medical issue. I told her that I could not tolerate this level of pain and needed medical help. I could not understand what had happened to me.
Another doctor walked by and asked, jokingly, if I was the lady with the sick shoulder. How did he know? I said that I was indeed the lady with the sick shoulder and told him that the pain had become so intense that it was crippling. Something had to be done. He said he would look at the papers. In the end, the doctors, or my doctor, phoned the pharmacy to prescribe barely effective painkillers, but painkillers.
However, I still wonder why I was not prescribed effective medication. I am small, but I am not a child. The doctor also said that the pain I felt was not always constant. It could stop for a few minutes and then recur. Therefore, it did not warrant medication. My friend Paulina arrived, caught a few words, and said that for the last few weeks, I had not been the same. I was not at my computer.
One is asked to provide a number from one to ten to describe the intensity of one’s pain, but that is very difficult. I was not being burned alive, yet I was experiencing considerable pain.
Reality has changed, but has it changed to the point where taking a few tablets of codeine is considered harmful? Moreover, although Covid-19 has exerted an influence on everyone, the medical use of morphine for a few days is still acceptable. In rare cases, Covid-19 vaccines can trigger pericarditis and myocarditis which in no way lessens the benefits of the vaccine. This may have led my doctor to a degree of analysis paralysis.
This little post is not under “Medicine in Quebec.” But I am worried. Will I be left to age and die in pain as though I were the epitome of nothingness? It comforts me to think that if there is a God, and there is a God, God knows me.
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This is the month of Christmas and the day of the longest night. The Winter solstice, is very near in this hemisphere.
We are going back to Félix Loriaux. Would that I could find more pictures of his Buffon pour les enfants, One site does show illustrations of the Buffon pour les enfants, but are short of images. So, I may have to order the relevant books, if they are affordable. As you know. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a naturalist. The animals he discussed were animals, not animals in disguise.
Below the video, you will find a page from an illuminated manuscript belonging to madame Marie Hainaut (1285). I love this naive depiction of an angel telling the shepherds that Christ is born.
A picture on our video features anthropomorphic humans, humans disguised as animals.
As for the related articles, they are the story of a Czech gentleman, John Amos Comenius, who may well have been the first educator to state that illustrations helped students to remember. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Livre d’images de madame Marie Hainaut, vers 1285-1290 Paris, BnF, Naf 16251, fol. 22v. La naissance du Christ est annoncée aux bergers, aux humbles. “Et voici qu’un ange du seigneur leur apparut [.]. Ils furent saisis d’une grande frayeur. Mais l’ange leur dit : “Ne craignez point, car je vous annonce une bonne nouvelle [.]” (The Birth of Christ announced to the Shepherds) (Photo credit: the National Library of France [BnF])
Micheline on 23 November 2021 (Photo: J. Prosnick)
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I am still sick, but my friend took this picture of me yesterday. I wanted to smile, hoping it would make me look healthy. I thank John for taking care of me during this illness and for staying with me as I went from test to test at the hospital in Magog. He did not leave me.
Kindest regards to all of you. ❤️
M. A. Suzor-Coté, R.C.A. (1869-1937) “Still Life with Lilies”, 1894 Oil on canvas 25.1/2 x 32 in. (SOLD) (Galerie Eric Klinkhoff, Montreal)
I have noticed that one can no longer “show likes.” It may be a temporary problem and a problem intended at progress. If I cannot see who liked at post, I will lose my community of readers.
Moreover, I cannot be interrupted when I write a post because I lose my train of thought. In fact, after writing a post, I am tired and must rest a little. So, I have writing days and reading days. I am growing old.
It may therefore be a good policy to re-enter the “like shows,” if a permanent change is contemplated. It would also be very convenient of all gravatars led to a page of a pose. One would click on the page. It is extremely usually. Remember proverbs: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (Wikipedia). The French say « Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien » (The best is the ennemy of the good.) This proverb has been anglicized, but it is not necessarily understood.
I have also notice that I lost 1000 readers overnight. The number was 3000 +.
I thank you very much for keeping posting on one’s blog possible.
Tombeau du chanoine Guilain Lucas, cathédrale d’Amiens(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Dear Readers,
As you know, I am on a short holiday. However, I am aware that the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan. I am watching desperate Afghans attempting to leave their country, and it saddens me enormously. If allies of countries that fought the Taliban are not evacuated, they may be tortured and executed.
United States President Joe Biden and many Americans believe that there is no good time to leave Aghanistan. They are quite right. It has been a twenty-year war and many have died or been disabled. Hostilities could continue for several more decades.
It also saddens me that human life is currently threatened by persons who look upon Covid-19 as a conspiracy. How can the pandemic end if people refuse to wear a mask and also oppose vaccination? These individuals are fuelling the pandemic, but do not know they are.
Micheline's Blog 
