Ottawa is too cold for Bing cherries, the sweet, dark kind that come from Washington State, but the Montmorency variety — small, sour, light red — doesn’t need as many frost-free days so it does well there. I’m not sure my new back yard is big enough for a Montmorency tree, but I can try.

My Mennonite friends came this morning to play tunes, a very welcome break from the Sturm und Drang of the move. We did not say good-bye, just au revoir until next summer, when I intend to make the trip to Goderich again.