A few days ago, some friends invited me along on a tour they were making of the studios of various artisans in the Duncan area. It was a delightful day meandering around the countryside, looking at some very interesting arts and crafts, and catching up with each other. I was presented with a lot of […]
Molly Jung-Fast, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Beast, got it right when she wrote today “America Finally Breaks Up With Her Abusive Boyfriend.” As a Canadian watching from the sidelines for the past four years, I feel the analogy fits perfectly. When you watch a close friend or family member being constantly insulted or abused, you […]
I saw this a few weeks ago and immediately began to tell myself a story about what happened here. The setting is a patio adjacent to a bar and restaurant. I took the picture on a Saturday in December, and I imagined that the discarded playing cards were remnants of a game played late on […]
Yesterday, Sunday, I was setting out at 8:30 in the morning to go to my sister’s house. She has recently had a back injury and I was going to help her to get ready so that she, her husband, and I could go to visit family in Monterey. As I stepped out of the door […]
This year, I forgot all about Thanksgiving until a friend called to invite me for dinner at her house. I was very glad that she did because I really enjoy her company and because I then realized that I had almost completely missed the big day. It just wasn’t on my to-do list. I actually […]
$260. That’s it. That’s what your excess miscellany is worth. In order to earn that, you must spend weeks sorting things out, carrying the sale items to your garage, and pricing them. You will have to get the help of friends to move the big stuff and you will have to borrow folding tables. You […]
One of my friends was formerly a carpet wizard. By that I mean that he knows how to clean carpets, remove stains of all kinds, respond to the needs of different carpet fibres, remediate the damage from floods, and be charming at the same time. You see? A wizard. Sadly, he changed careers and I […]
I have a friend who refers to people by their racial characteristics. She does this frequently, sometimes after saying “I’m not racist, but…” In many ways she is not racist. She has friends and romantic partners from various ethnic backgrounds, and she appreciates all their good personal qualities. Yet, she persists in identifying them by […]
As I get ready for my return drive to Alberta next week, I find myself with a quandary. I have a decision to make about where to live in Canada and I’m seeking your advice. I usually have a difficult time making choices, and the more selection I have the more difficult that becomes. I […]
I had thought that trying to see the good in people was a positive trait, but it turns out I’m only seeing the 75% friend and not the 25% enemy. The online dating site OKCupid has many interesting characteristics. It has quizzes to take, questions to answer, and lots of ways to filter profiles. One […]
If you think being retired will be easy work, think again. I’m on a four-month leave of absence from my job and if I want to do more than watch TV and surf the Internet, I have to get busy. When I am at work, I have two principal destinations: work and home. In those […]
Snowbird of Paradise 