Toronto

Monday, June 25, is my birthday. I will be one year older than I was last year at this time. I hope the coming year will be pleasant and prosperous for all my family and loved ones, and the nation and the world.

My girlfriend Laurie and I journeyed to Toronto in early June for the 50th reunion of my class. I graduated in 1968 at the University of Toronto.

Since then I have been involved in lengthy email correspondence with my reunion classmates. We go back a long way and there has been so much to talk about. Because of that I have neglected the Frog Hospital newsletter these past few weeks. Sorry about that.

I will tell just one thing about Toronto. This beautiful city is on the north shore of Lake Ontario, a lake so big that you cannot see the other side. And it's all fresh water. The six million residents of Toronto run a large pipe out into the lake and they have all the freshwater they need for all purposes. I saw lush, green lawns being sprinkled with  abandon. In Toronto, they flush after every pee, because they can.

The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the fresh water in the world. In a time of climate change, this is an important fact. Fresh water is such a precious resource.

In Santa Barbara, we have had the marine layer and the fog this entire month -- June gloom they call it. No beach time. Not yet.

More news as it happens. Goodbye for now.