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Speak to me like you are Barry White. Please.
Jan 18, 2017
If you're going to ask me about all we've got going on this week and next, speak to me like you are Barry White. This week, I've had to ask loved ones to stop talking to me like this: "OH NO!! ARE ...
My dad 19229
Nov 22, 2016
My Mom and my Dad, who turns 80 today, met a couple of young(ish) RCMP officers on Parliament Hill a few years ago, who were astounded to learn that Dad's regimental number was 19229. That means, roughly, that he was the 19,229th ...
Tumble in the cranberries
Oct 11, 2016
This weekend I sat at my dining room table and consumed a pie recipe. It was almost a poem. Especially when I reached this line: Tumble in the cranberries. That is what cranberries do, as anyone who made sauce this weekend knows. They ...
Used books
Aug 9, 2016
The other day I found exactly what I was looking for in a used book store. It was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The store owner, sitting behind his desk pecking away at an ancient computer, jumped to his feet when I ...
Unexpected pleasures
Aug 1, 2016
For a simple trip from Toronto to Halifax, it certainly involved a lot of cancelling, delaying, waiting, boarding, fretting and running. It was easier to fly home from Cambodia. But happily, last in is first out, or so I learned about luggage. ...
I have a favourite editor
Jul 4, 2016
I have a favourite editor. Probably all writers do. But this guy is sunshine. Every time I do a piece for him and read over his comments in the margins, I smile. Here are some snippets from his latest edit: He starts ...
Me and my Mom
May 7, 2016
On a recent day, during a visit from my Mom, we travelled through Toronto via go-train, subway, bus, streetcar, taxi and a big chunk by foot all within the space of a few hours. We reached our destination: Canada Blooms. There we snapped shots ...
A sweet and tender moment
Apr 18, 2016
I had a lovely embrace of a moment with an old friend recently. We encountered each other at a writers conference, after 22 years of living our lives and growing up and out from what we had been when we knew each ...
Signs of the time, and how much I let them bother me
Mar 26, 2016
I have a dear and patient friend to whom I send the pictures I snap of the most annoying decorative signs I find in cute shops everywhere. She rewards me with a "HA!" of solidarity. Janet, I think, is the only person ...
On debates and mission trips. Say yes to things that scare you
Mar 21, 2016
Words that inspire, stuck on my cluttered fridge. Although I do often give myself a day off, I believe, along with good old Eleanor, in doing things that scare you. On Saturday night I was the moderator of a Religion and Society ...
CASUAL E-NEWSLETTER
Every now and then I write a short e-newsletter. I’d love to have you join.