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 […]
These two books about migrations within America and to America have given me a lot to think about. They go beneath the surface and find both heartwarming and unsettling consequences. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson Between 1915 and 1970 six million Black Americans fled the South for cities in the North and […]
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 […]
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 you might like and my thoughts about them. Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent. Sometimes children fight for their parents’ affection and/or attention. This story is about what happens when that competition continues into adulthood. It involves three brothers, each of whom is not very likeable but each for different reasons. […]
I don’t dream. I can go for months or years, even, without being aware that I have dreamed. Once in a while I might be startled awake while dreaming, but after I have gone back to sleep I don’t remember the dream. I haven’t woken up in the morning remembering a dream for years, until […]
Today in Edmonton the temperature is -20C (-4F) with a windchill ‘feels like’ temperature of -28C (-18F). This distinction between the nominal temperature and what it actually feels like has always left me slightly bemused. In my world, only the ‘feels like’ temperature matters. When Canadians check the outside temperature they want to know not […]
When I started this blog I had the idea that I wanted to write a book but needed to start with smaller writing projects. Snowbird of Paradise has been a good place for me to gain some writing practice, and I find that I like writing blog-size pieces about my life. The book I wanted […]
Yesterday I went with my niece and great-niece to see Mary Poppins Returns. We all have fond memories of the original Mary Poppins movie and we were looking forward to seeing the new one. These are my thoughts on it, but if you want to experience it without any prejudgements, please be aware that there […]
You know how, when you need some gift-buying inspiration, you go to a favourite shopping website and click on the options? You can select gift ideas for men, women, kids, or a specific celebratory event. Well, the people who put the products under those categories have some really limited perceptions of gender. I have two […]
It has been a long, painful, journey both literally and figuratively since I had a bad fall while in California. It has also caused me to rethink a few things; the fragility of my health, the risks of wintering in the USA, and the wisdom of never again using the expression “A pain in the […]
For the last couple of years, I have mostly kept my comments on Facebook to my day-to-day activities and reactions to the events in the lives of the people I care about. I love seeing their family photos, weddings, vacations, weather concerns, and pets. My thoughts about politics have been channelled into Twitter and sometimes […]
Don’t jump in the puddle. Stay close. It’s not just the cars. There are lots of people here. Stay in front of me. I don’t want to lose you. Where’s your monkey? Do up your jacket. Walking around Monterey recently, on the recreation trail to Lovers Point and in the Aquarium, I saw and heard […]
Houston, you have a problem. You just voted to repeal an ordinance that would have banned discrimination on the basis of age, race, or sex, and I don’t think you know what you have done. You bought into the propaganda that made you afraid. You were lead to believe that predatory men dressed as women […]
The other day, someone was asking me about my family and if I had any grandchildren. At first I said “No.” Then I said, “Well, kind of…” I’m a common law step grandparent, and yes, I just made up that title. My son’s life partner has a son whom I have met maybe ten times. […]
It’s only half an idea right now, but I’m thinking about teaching English overseas. This idea began germinating last year when I saw an ad in a professional magazine. They were looking for retired teachers to teach students in China in order to prepare them for university in Canada and the US. I read the […]
(This post is in response to the Weekly Writing Challenge: Fifty. It is a story in 50 words.) He saved for months, secretly borrowed a dress ring to get the size, and excitedly waited for the engraving to be ready. The proposal was carefully planned, romantic, and successful. Then he realized that her mother wanted […]
When women go through the change of life in menopause, everyone they know goes through it too. When your co-worker keeps adjusting the thermostat in the office, you suffer right along with them. When your life partner suddenly develops insomnia, you both lose sleep. If your sister is uncharacteristically irritable, you are upset and disappointed. […]
Recently I was sorting through a box of miscellany and discovered a collection of a complete stranger’s family photos going back to about 1945. I volunteer at a Habitat for Humanity Restore, and we receive all sorts of things as donations. Although the focus is on reusable appliances, light fixtures, and renovation materials, sometimes people […]
My father was always able to get a practical job done in the least expensive way. It wasn’t always pretty, but it usually involved hard work and making do with whatever tools were at hand. One of the many things he did in the garden of our family home was to create a long concrete […]
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