Being an ex-Montrealer I thought i recognized the old Mercier and I also remember those rough winters. Brrrrrr!! I choose only to visit in the spring and summer but Montreal will always be first in my heart.

I survived the largest quake ever recorded in N. America & the 2nd largest in the world. It lasted for 5 minutes. No warning that the ground is going to open under you, or a loved one. I am very accustomed to quakes. Alaska has more earthquakes than the rest of the U.S., combined. We have one 7-8 quake every year; forty five 5-6 quakes a year; an avg. of 1,000 earthquakes a month. Of course, the tiny ones you don't even feel. Hurricanes I've survived, as well, around the world. Warning is a wonderful thing! And yes, we have winds over 100 mph every year in AK, but we don't refer to them as hurricanes. Beginning with the warning & prep for a hurricane, there is NO comparison between a hurricane & earthquake. So I'd take a hurricane every day of the year, over an earthquake. I love traveling & spending time in hurricane-prone areas of earth... but I won't trade the beauty of Alaska, to live in one of them. So it's a good thing Im used to earthquakes. Just pray I will never experience another 9.2 that lasts for 5 minutes, ripping the world apart, that can swallow one child into the earth, while a child 2' away, is just fine. Oh - yes, our structural design in Alaska is made for earthquakes, so you're perfectly safe, if you visit!

I prepared one a few years ago. I used to have a duffle bag filled with what I call the immediate essentials. Flashlight, batteries, portable radio, water, band-aids etc. Then i started thinking on abgrander wcale so in addition to the shuffle bag I have a blue trashcan on wheels (recycle can) in case i need to run on foot with it. Ok everyone calls me "overkill" so in that can i have enough to last at least 3 days, 3 weeks, or a month. Case of bottled water at the bottom, blanket, toilet paper, can foods that open without a can opener, matches, etc.... and most all i think it is important to have a whistle. You might have to blow to make some noise to help someone locate you.....ijs

Nailah, you're going to live with the tree a long time, so get one you like. Bare-root season is about over, so you should be able to find some good deals; I got my fig tree two years ago the first week of March for $10 and a cherry tree for $12.50. You can find a good description of a lot of cultivars on the Dave Wilson site and you can find out about how many chill hours your tree will need. I do know that Babcock is a great white peach, and that it blooms a lot later than most, which means the flowers are more protected from late frosts than earlier types would be. Indian Free is the absolute best of the white peaches, and it also blooms late, but it is unusual in that it needs a pollinator. I have both, and they bloom together but the Babcock's peaches are ripe quite a bit earlier than the Indian Free--so the flowers overlap but not the ripening. Perfect.