Don’t get me wrong. I am still reading, but lately I’ve been abandoning some books. It all started when I thought I should work my way through some of the un-heard books in my audiobook files and unread books in my e-reader. Most of them have been there for many years, silently waiting for me […]
A couple of days ago, I told my eldest son that I wanted to thank him for being so supportive of his wife’s success. She recently had some good career news, and we were enjoying a celebratory dinner. My son said it was a “no brainer” to compliment her accomplishment, and I pointed out that […]
I sometimes feel as though I want to cry and all the normal emotional and physical triggers suggest that I am about to cry, but I don’t. I am told it is a side effect of one of my medications, and most of the time I am fine with that. Sometimes, though, I really need […]
When I checked in with family and friends on Facebook Stories a few days ago, I saw a beautiful sunset in Hawaii, a message about racism at the border of Ukraine and Poland, and an image of a golf resort in England set to relaxing music. It struck me that these three messages encapsulated the […]
Yesterday, Eminem took a knee at the end of his half-time show performance at the Super Bowl. This should not be newsworthy, but it was. Here is what I wrote about kneeling at public events back in 2018. ********************************************************************** All the brouhaha about the new Nike ad using Colin Kaepernick’s image has raised again the […]
These are two books that I heartily recommend, and both imagine worlds that could improve people’s lives. One is a fictional child’s world, the other is a social economic possibility. My grandmother sends her regards and apologises by Fredrik Backman Elsa is a bright and strong-willed seven-year-old who has an eccentric, devoted, grandmother. After Elsa’s […]
My doctor invited me back to her office this week so that she could share with me the results of my annual checkup. I knew this invitation was coming, so I prepared by looking up the results on the Alberta Health website. I saw that my blood test was mostly OK, but my urine sample […]
Today the temperature rose to 7 C and it was lovely to get outside in the sunshine. The sky was blue and the air was warm as my eldest son and I took a walk across the Tawatinâ Bridge. (Tawatinâ is the Cree word for “Valley.”) I have wanted to walk here ever since this new […]
I’ve been making hats. It’s a pastime I began a couple of years ago and I picked it up again this winter. When you arrive at the confluence of time, isolation, terrible weather, and a supply of random leftover yarn, that’s what you do. I’m not a great knitter or crocheter, but I can handle […]
On Christmas Eve my son drove his family and me out to my daughter-in-law’s family for the holiday. They live in Blackfoot, Alberta and the drive took about three hours. It would normally be a quicker journey but we were slowed down by ice on the road part of the way there. Or, as Canadians […]
After I hung a bird feeder in the tree outside my window, I expected to see magpies because they are the neighbourhood bully-birds, and they did not let me down. After that first day, though, it has been a delightful surprise to see some of the smaller birds also getting a chance to eat a […]
Last winter the springs in my recliner-couch lost most of their oomph and so I went online to buy a replacement. From a popular furniture store sale, I bought an armchair recliner and a loveseat to replace the uncomfortable old couch. I thought I had bought a matching set, but it turned out that the […]
After I hung out a birdseed feeder, I watched two magpies taking turns to eat the seeds and nuts. They ate about a third of the seed ball in less than an hour.
These two books were both recommended to me, and I am happy to recommend them to you. They are both enjoyable and engaging, although they are very different in style and tone. One is about staying in a home town and the other is about travelling all over the country. Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout […]
It was unusually warm for a November day and was about 4 C (39 F) as I walked in Borden Park. It began to rain as I was leaving but I managed to get home before the roads became covered in freezing rain.
Is there such a thing as empathy burnout? If so, that is what I am feeling. All my get-up-and-go got up and went. For the last couple of months, I have received one piece of bad news after another. People I know and love have died, are dying, cannot get the surgery they need, or […]
Here are two books that I have recently finished. They are both well-written and engaging, but I am left wondering why I want to like the protagonists in the novels I read. The Last Trial by Scott Turow This is one in a series of books about defense lawyer Alejandro “Sandy” Stern. He is eighty-five […]
Recently I have been getting very frustrated with my phone and computer technology. They keep upgrading and making matters worse. I know you know what I mean. After every upgrade some key programs or settings get changed and it takes forever to figure out what happened. To add to my frustrations, I switched out my […]
Last week, I was idly looking for useful things to do when I opened the cupboard doors in my TV stand to see what I could clear out. (I’m experiencing a combination of Covid isolation and a late-life decluttering urge.) Inside the TV stand were some DVD’s that had been out of sight and out […]
Originally posted on Snowbird of Paradise:
Image courtesy of Tam Gorzalka From the moment a child is born, we want to reassure ourselves that our baby fits into our perceptions of what is considered normal. Normal numbers of fingers and toes, normal weight, normal health, and normal gender. The problem with that is that we have…
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