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 1997 the former Canadian naval vessel HMCS Saskatchewan became an artificial reef east of Nanaimo. This mural on Front Street by artist Jeff King portrays that vessel in situ, continuing to be of service.
While visiting Nanaimo, British Columbia this week I spent a morning at Departure Bay. The bay and the neighbourhood surrounding it were incorporated into the city of Nanaimo in the 1970s. The Trans-Canada Highway on Vancouver Island terminates at Departure Bay where the BC Ferry Terminal is located. The ferry connects the island to the […]
Imagine for a moment that you are a seasoned solo traveller. You have been to a lot of places and done a lot of things, and you have pretty much figured out travel by road, air, and sometimes train. You also have a good handle on computer and cell phone technology so you can do […]
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. […]
Yesterday I started out on a little adventure. I took a trip to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. “How lovely!” I hear you thinking. Well, it may be lovely eventually, but yesterday was a bit of an ordeal. My first flight took me from Edmonton to Vancouver, and then an hour after I landed there I […]
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 […]
All three of the books here deal with historical narratives. The statement that resonated most for me, and which applies in some ways to all three books, is from Josephine Tey: “Truth isn’t in accounts but in account-books.” It is another way of saying “trust but verify” when someone tells you what they remember. The […]
K and I enjoyed a nice walk in this new-to-me park today. As we approached the park we passed a golf driving range, a nordic skiing area, and a snowboarding park. Because of the season, the winter sport areas were not in use, but when we arrived at the parking lot for the Strathcona Science […]
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 […]
Edmonton’s High Level Bridge takes traffic southbound on 109 Street. It is an unusual bridge because cars and small trucks use the lower level, not the top. The upper level is reserved for the Edmonton Radial Railway Society‘s historic streetcars. One of these days, I want to take a ride in that streetcar.
