This month I have read two books, each of which disturbed me for different reasons. I also re-read a book that I have previously enjoyed. The Widow by Fiona Barton Fiona Barton was a journalist before she became a novelist, and this book brings to the fore the complicated relationship that the press has with […]
On Saturday morning I lined up with a lot of other people to get a Covid-19 test. I had flu-like symptoms and the online health check advised me to get tested, so I went. Ahead of me in line was a father pushing a wheelchair designed for children with disabilities. In it was a boy […]
I am Isolating, more or less. When I picked up my on-line grocery order, I told the man who brought the goods to my car that “I am supposed to be isolating so I didn’t want to go into the store,” but he was too busy apologizing for keeping me waiting fifteen minutes. This all […]
My eldest son recently met an older woman who shocked him by saying “Our Prime Minister should be hit by a car and run over.” She was deadly serious. Her information sources had led her to believe that Justin Trudeau was such a threat that he needed to be eliminated. My response was first shock, […]
In my explorations this week, I checked out Parksville which is north of Nanaimo. I went there because I was told it was a place that was popular with retirees. I probably should not have gone there right after seeing Cathedral Grove because that was a sight that was hard to beat, but Parksville was […]
Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park on Vancouver Island is glorious. The tree canopy in some places is eighty metres high and some trees are as wide as cars. When I was there this week parents delighted in taking pictures of their children sitting on huge fallen tree trunks and climbing over vast root systems. […]
Tonight, I learned that smoke suppresses rainfall. How ironic is that? (Scientific American) All day I have been living under a smoke-filled sky. I first noticed it this morning when I saw that the rising sun was orange. I knew from past experience that this meant the smoke from western wildfires was now over my […]
Months ago, when I first read about the Imagine Van Gogh exhibition, I was keen to experience it. It was originally scheduled to be shown from March 27 to May 2, and I bought tickets for the family. Then, it was postponed for three weeks because of Covid-19 restrictions. Our tickets were transferred to the […]
A couple of years ago I took some photos of the lovely LaMarchand Mansion on 100th Avenue in Edmonton. At the time I promised myself that I would take a look inside one day, and today was that day. I had a few minutes to spare before an appointment nearby and so I went in […]
I gained weight during the last sixteen months of Covid restrictions. Not only that, but I was already above my fighting weight before all the isolation and social distancing started. So, about a week ago, I signed on with an app that is very popular in helping people lose some of those pounds. Here is […]
Edmonton has some magnificent bridges and one recently caught my attention because it has a shared used pedestrian/cyclist path underneath the track for the light rail train. I had seen pictures of it and I wanted to walk across it to see what the North Saskatchewan River looks like when you are right in the […]
What is your opinion worth? If it is in the comments section of an online news article, it is not worth much at all. No one cares what you think unless you insult someone’s entrenched point of view. In your Direct Messages or email or apps, though, you might think your opinion can actually help […]
A couple of days ago I wrote about a building near my home which has no name. It is a three-storey brick building on a large city lot in a residential neighbourhood, but there is nothing to indicate what it is used for. Yesterday I took another walk in the area and it seems clear […]
When I was out for a walk yesterday I went further afield than usual. I wanted to check out the free-share offerings of a local resident. He has been giving away clothes, food, and miscellany to anyone who wants it for the last few months, and I wanted to see what he had and what […]
Last night I was awake at 3:00 AM as I often am, and was about to go back to bed at 5:00 when I saw a fabulous sunrise just beginning. So, instead of getting more sleep, I took off my night clothes and put on some jeans and a t-shirt, grabbed my camera, and went […]
After a week of unbearable heat, we were about to have a thunderstorm. We were excited. It felt as though all was right with the world once again. I could hear the thunder and felt the first few drops of rain and then … nothing. All that buildup and anticipation for a very little satisfaction. […]
For some time now, years actually, I have failed to recover my pleasure in drawing and painting. I have all the gear, but I am not using any of it. My spare room houses brushes for oil painting, watercolour, and acrylics. It has blank canvases of various sizes, sketch pads, watercolour paper blocks, and palette […]
Viburnum Opulus is the Latin name of this plant that has been growing by the front gate and is now about ten feet high. I don’t know what the locals call it, but PlantNet tells me it is also called Snowball, Black Haw, Guelder Rose, Red Elder, Gemeiner Schneeball, European Cranberry, and Crampbark. It has […]
Snowbird of Paradise 