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Snowbird of Paradise

Living and Learning in Alberta and California

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Tag: fear

September 6, 2020September 5, 2020Snowbird of Paradise

Mixed Messages

A woman I don’t know just gave me the finger. The one-finger salute. She flipped me the bird. She flipped me off. She was walking past my driveway in the alley behind my house, and the security system whistled to let her know she had been seen. In response, she made that gesture towards the […]

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July 14, 2020August 21, 2020Snowbird of Paradise

When Guns Are Not Justified

A little while ago, Mark and Patricia McCloskey pointed their guns at some protesters in St. Louis. One of those guns was a semi-automatic rifle, a weapon of war. The protesters were walking together past the McCloskey house towards the home of their city’s mayor in order to show their support for the Black Lives […]

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March 23, 2020March 23, 2020Snowbird of Paradise

To See Ourselves As Others See Us

Until today, my major concern in relation to Coronavirus was to avoid contact with other people. I did not want to bring the virus home and I did not want to carry it to the people I love and live with. Before I returned to Canada I spent a week in self-isolation. I didn’t leave […]

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http://www.wikihow.com/Watch-a-Horror-Movie
April 30, 2019April 29, 2019Snowbird of Paradise

When to Stay and Fight and When to Retreat

Those who fight and run away, live to fight another day.  That little adage was always told to me with a little smile, a knowing wink, an understanding that sometimes the smart thing to do is to save your own skin. When I was a child, it forgave me for not being risk-taking or for […]

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October 6, 2017October 5, 2017Snowbird of Paradise

Unnecessary Scariness

We had a cold day recently. It was just at the change in the seasons when fall turns to winter.  There was a light dusting of snow on some rooftops, and the weather report had warnings of icy road conditions south of the city. Like most people, I put on some gloves and pulled up […]

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Fear
January 29, 2017January 29, 2017Snowbird of Paradise

The War on Terror is Over

Well, that’s it then. The war on terror is over and the terrorists have won. America is now officially in the hands of the terrified. Of course, the terrified are afraid of the wrong enemy. It is not Islam. The enemy is fear itself, and that is exactly what the terrorists hoped to accomplish—hence the […]

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Big black jumping spider
October 21, 2016October 20, 2016Snowbird of Paradise

Big Black Dream Spiders and Other Terrifying Things

Last night I woke up with my heart racing. I had been dreaming about a big black hairy spider. In the dream, I was cleaning my stairs and saw a large, thick cobweb. It was more like a cocoon, really. Anyway, I was about to wipe it away when I noticed that inside it was […]

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http://ultimateclassicrock.com/buffalo-springfield-songs/
August 22, 2015August 22, 2015Snowbird of Paradise

What’s That Sound?

When the house is quiet, I hear sounds that I don’t recognize and cannot place. There are clicks and whirrs from appliances, creaks from wood expanding and contracting, and various other sounds that bother me. It is disconcerting when the fridge sounds as though water is dripping, even though I know it is not dripping […]

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http://www.mgeu.ca/uploads/ck/images/05_14chicken_little.@1x.jpg?t=1400271462
January 3, 2015January 1, 2015Snowbird of Paradise

Is The Sky Falling?

Judging by this week’s news, you could say that Alberta, Canada is overrun with gun-toting psychotic murderers, California is covered with snow, and Play-Doh toys are designed to corrupt children. The truth, however, is not quite so horrifying.  There have been two Albertans who shot people this week, there is some snow in some parts […]

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http://whyleadnow.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/stage-fright1.jpg
March 31, 2014July 7, 2014Snowbird of Paradise

Getting Comfortable With Feeling Uncomfortable

A friend of mine is applying for internship positions and has learned to expect some of the questions that are designed to reveal character traits. One of those is “Can you tell us about a challenging situation and how you dealt with it.” Her reply impressed me. She said that she had learned that she […]

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January 19, 2014August 13, 2014Snowbird of Paradise

Newton’s First Law

Sometimes, if I don’t have something planned for my day, I do absolutely nothing. I sit on the couch and watch movies on TV while noodling about on my laptop computer. I suppose I could justify it by saying I’m networking and reading the news, but really I’m being totally idle, and the longer I […]

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I am a snowbird who travels south for the winter. When I get there I have a bird of paradise plant on my patio.

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