The temperature in Alberta during April is notoriously unreliable. It can change twenty degrees (Celsius) within hours. This week on my Facebook feed, friends in Red Deer showed pictures of snow while some of us in Edmonton had endured only a little rain. I am trying to persuade some vegetables and herbs to grow from […]
In one corner of my living room is an easel holding a blank canvas. It has been there for a couple of weeks. I keep meaning to get out my paints and brushes to actually create something on it, but my lack of imagination holds me back. I have no idea what I want to […]
Here are three more books that I recommend. They all explore the complications around belonging in a variety of circumstances: in a new country; in a small community; as descendants of immigrants; as refugees; in unanticipated roles. Each of these books presents with sensitivity, concern, and brutal honesty the challenges experienced by people we might […]
Today I was delighted to hear from the doll collector who now has my old doll, Nurse Nan. I had written about the doll in a previous blog post and explained how I came to donate her to a local doll collectors’ club. After she had been picked up from my home, Nurse Nan was […]
It has been quite a year, hasn’t it? We have all adjusted to new truths, new living situations, and new restrictions. As I look back on my year, and as I try to stay hopeful, I want to review what has changed in my life and how my life has changed me. I do this […]
I have a fairly new camera and a very new lens which I tried for the first time today. After a walk to Borden Park, I sat down on a bench to get myself sorted out. Much to my dismay, I realized that I had left my camera on after I had used it two […]
Q: Who is dumber than a box of rocks? A: Someone who packs a box of rocks around for forty years. And who do you know who has packed a box of rocks around for forty years? Yours truly. That’s who. I have often picked up and taken home attractive rocks. Once, on a trip […]
Several years ago, I initiated a free library at my condo complex in San Jose. I asked the Home Owners Association Board for their approval, and they were kind enough to donate some shelving that was in the community room. I moved the shelves to a lounge area, put up a notice about it in […]
A couple of days ago, I discovered something I wrote when I was in my twenties. It was an essay entitled “Why I Am Not A Feminist.” It represents a moment in time when I had mixed feelings about the women’s movement. I did not think about women’s rights when I was growing up because […]
I once took a course, many years ago, that required me to write poetry. I have never considered myself a poet or a connoisseur of poetry, but I did as I was asked. That poetry was put into a ring binder and added to a box of miscellany that I recently rediscovered. Here are a […]
On a bright but chilly day this week I walked with my younger son through Strathearn and into Forest Heights Park. It was a longer walk than we expected, covering 4.7 km (nearly 3 miles), but very enjoyable. We saw some new views of the city and got caught up on all our news.
If you like books that keep your stomach tied up in knots, then you will enjoy all of these. The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan. A young mother is repeatedly told she is overwrought when she worries about her son’s new granny. The problem is, both his grandmothers have died, and one of […]
After a suitable interlude, I have resumed my memorabilia winnowing. A few months ago I sorted through and discarded about nine boxes of miscellaneous documents. Most recently, I abandoned an attempt to sort out “The Box” and my eldest son relieved me of it in its entirety. You might have thought this would have cured […]
Suddenly today the temperature went up to 14C and nearly all the snow disappeared within a few hours. The sun was shining and the sky was blue as my eldest son and I went for a walk in Whitemud Park in Edmonton. The river still has a frozen surface, but everywhere else we saw bare […]
It’s gone. That box that I have talked out in a couple of blog posts (here and here) and that I have been packing around for fifteen years, is finally gone. I opened it up, looked superficially at the contents, and decided there was too much to sort through. Inside the box were three big […]
