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Mike Leipe

@mleipe.bsky.social
222 followers 500 following 463 posts

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one." - Voltaire Ottawa, Canada

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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Seven years ago today, on February 23, 2019, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which despite radiation, surgery, and chemo later metastasized to my lungs twice. Today I celebrated my #cancerversary by doing this for 3.5 hours with a group of good friends. #hope
Me at the bottom of the chair lift at Sommet Edelweiss near Wakefield, Quebec.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Good to see that someone's keeping Oscar warm over the winter! 🇨🇦🥶🎹
The Oscar Peterson sculpture outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, surrounded by snow and clad in a toque and scarf.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Okay, so maybe the Rideau Canal Skateway can live without my presence today. 🥶
Ottawa area weather on January 24, 2026, showing the current temperature as -29 degrees Celsius.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Despite this, it was a ton of fun starting the ski season with a bunch of friends up at Camp Fortune this morning. More snow, please!
Weather conditions in Chelsea, Quebec the morning of Friday, December 5, 2025, -22 degrees Celsius!
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
p.s. a Wikipedia edit might be in order. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley'...
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Our cottage neighbours, on whose property this stands, think it's funny as hell. I think it belongs on the cover of a @stephenking.bsky.social novel. #creepy
A tree with a bunch of old shoes nailed to it.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Nice! I'd forgotten about the balloon festival across the river on the Labour Day week end! We attended a few times when our kids were very young. I made the mistake of cycling the Véloroute des Draveurs, northbound from Low, for 3+ hours today. Gorgeous day, not a nice ride. Won't do it again.
My bicycle parked at the Kazabazua rest stop along the Véloroute des Draveurs between Low and Gracefield Quebec.  This is where I ate lunch  - celery sticks, a boiled egg, and a cheese sandwich - today, about 2/3 of the way into my 60 km ride.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
Here in Ottawa today we have both this: - A prolonged period of extreme heat and humidity continues. - Daytime highs of 29 to 32 degrees Celsius and a humidex of 35 to 40. And this: - Thunderstorms may become severe today. - Wind gusts up to 100 km/h - Heavy downpours - Hail up to toonie size
Monty Python's "bloody weather" cartoon.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
The view from my workspace last evening. Some jobs are worth commuting to.
My musical friends Steph & Jeff from Rothwell & Moffat, during last night's gig at the Britannia Yacht Club here in Ottawa.Sunset from my place on stage during last night's Rothwell & Moffatt gig at the Britannia Yacht Club here in Ottawa.'Last night's Rothwell & Moffatt gig at the Britannia Yacht Club here in Ottawa.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
After close friends and family and my health care team, Dr. David's book "Emotional Agility" has been the most helpful resource I've found for dealing with this cancer thing.
"Toxic positivity is forced, false positivity.  It may sound innocuous on the surface, but when you share something difficult with someone and they insisted that you turn it into a positive, what they're really saying is, my comfort is more important than your reality" - Susan David
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
I suspect that if this snow person had elbows, they would be up. 🇨🇦 #ElbowsUp
A patriotic snow person in Ottawa, Canada, on April 14, 2025.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
How cool is finding a Rush reference in the funnies?
A comic from today's Ottawa Citizen with a character named "Bytor the Snow Dog".
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Happy Pi Day!
A freshly-baked lemon meringue pie.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
"Get your mind off wintertime, you ain't goin' nowhere" #ThanksBob
A car covered in snow.A person in front of a snowbank after shovelling the driveway.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Yet another perfect day on Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway.
The starting point of Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway, with the National Arts Centre, the Parliament Buildings, and the Chateau Laurier in the background.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
At least the sun was shining... #skiday #brr
The weather in Chelsea, Quebec, at 8:24 am on February 1, 2025, showing a current temperature of -19 degrees Celsius, -25 with windchill.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
The original plan was to hit the ski hill this morning but that's not going to happen... 🥶
Ottawa weather forecast for January 20, 2025, showing a current temperature of -19 degrees C.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Such a treat to see this again, for the first time in almost three years.
Distance marker at the south end of Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway, Jan. 16, 2025.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
BTW, "Chariots of the Gods" gets 4.6 stars on Amazon, but that doesn't mean that space aliens built the pyramids in Egypt.
A screen shot of the review summary of "Chariots of the Gods" on Amazon.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
It's open!
Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway, January 12, 2025.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Did you expand the "Scoring for Reference Accuracy" section?
A screenshot from the Red Pen Reviews review of Ben Birkman's "Why We Get Sick".
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
When my cousin moved to Mexico she said, "now you can come visit, get away from the winter". Today, up on the ski hill for the first time this season with half a dozen friends, I thought, as I've thought so many times since then, "why would anyone in their right mind want to get away from *this*?".
Camp Fortune ski hill on opening day for the season.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
I don't use Spotify very often; in fact, it appears, only when my Multiple Personality Disorder is at its most intense. 😵‍💫
My top songs for 2024, from Spotify.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Such a treat to skate outdoors again!
Ice skating on the outdoor rink at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Yes!
Camp Fortune announces opening day target of December 6!
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
That's the Christmas baking done.
A plate of Christmas baking.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 23/09/2024
One of the highlights of our cottage season - the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair!
Turkeys at the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair, Sept. 21, 2024.An amusing sing at the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair, Sept. 21, 2024.A mobile chicken coop at the Lyndhurst Turkey Fair, Sept. 21, 2024.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 04/09/2024
Inga & I met in the summer of 1974 on my uncle's orchard in southern British Columbia. She was a 23-yo agricultural exchange student from Denmark and I was 13, with nothing better to do with my summer. Today she, her husband & I hiked up one side of the Mont-Tremblant ski hill and down the other.
With my friend Inga from Denmark at the Mont-Tremblant summit.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 29/07/2024
And still friends and family in British Columbia keep asking when I'm going to move back "home", because it's so beautiful there.
Sunset on Lower Beverly Lake, Ontario, July 27, 2024.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 12/07/2024
This is the closest I've come to getting stuck in morning commuter traffic since I retired.
Canada geese on the multi-use pathway along the Ottawa River near Billings Bridge, July 12, 2024.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 10/07/2024
I can't imagine a better way to spend a Tuesday evening than singing "I Ain't Ever Satisfied" with Steve Earle and a few hundred of his closest friends. Amazing show.
Steve Earle live at the Algonquin Commons Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 09/07/2024
If you're looking for something to do in the Ottawa area next Saturday night, July 13, I'll be playing bass with Rothwell & Moffatt at the Cheshire Cat out in Carp from 8 - 10 pm. Would love to see you there!
Rothwell & Moffatt live at the Cheshire Cat in Carp, Ontario, July 31, 2023.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 25/02/2024
Proof of life from Auckland. "Yes, Mom, I'll send postcards, I promise."
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 25/02/2024
Perhaps the same park, circa 1981.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 22/02/2024
As we sailed out of Pago Pago, someone said, "let's see if we can stay awake until we get to Suva". Our success in that regard meant that my memories of Fiji are pretty blurry.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 20/02/2024
Looks like it's changed a fair bit since I was there in December of 1980!
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 14/02/2024
Valentine's Day tip: you can skip the roses if you're willing to take a shot at making some home-made chocolate éclairs.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 22/01/2024
Welcome back to the Rideau Canal skateway!
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 26/12/2023
Anyone else actually get their Christmas puzzle done on Christmas Day?
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 16/12/2023
A happy camper, up on stage with my friends Rothwell & Moffatt at the British Hotel last evening.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 06/12/2023
My first stab at home-made dinner buns - whaddaya think?
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 03/12/2023
Learning all those songs, the endless rehearsals, hauling your gear around, sometimes it can start to feel like a grind. But when you're in front of an audience, playing with your friends, and you totally nail even just one song, there are few things in life better than that.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 01/12/2023
A fun start to the ski season up at Camp Fortune this morning!
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
Who knew that I had a fresh set of Rotosounds hiding in the closet? Sounds and feels amazing, all set for next month's string of gigs.
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 19/11/2023
So, for example, from www.laviehealth.com/for-individu.... A lot of this is bloodwork that if ordered by my family doc would be paid for by OHIP. Is such blanket testing ordered by docs at "executive" clinics covered by OHIP, too?
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Mike Leipe @mleipe.bsky.social · 12/11/2023
Santa came early this year. 🤞that the snow does, too. ⛷️
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