Seventy years after its publication, Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 can still be found holding on with white knuckles to the required reading list of some grade 10, mid-level English classes. The copies that are handed out would fail to spark a flame of interest under students, even if […]
Columnists
Lately in the news, topics related to land ownership and title and who gets to leave and who gets to stay (among other things) have been consistent (and at times equally divisive). However, those debates are not where I’d like to play catch today (as I have my own personal […]
Did we just miss spring? I wonder as our timing of seasons continues to change. We still had snow and ice through the last weekend of April. For three weekends in May, the thermometer struggled to get into double digits. And last week we welcomed summer temperatures. They did not […]
Whoa…. June 1. The date makes me a bit nervous. Since we just got spring and summer simultaneously last week, there are many jobs to tick off. This last week of weather has been incredible, and I don’t mind it one bit. We did have to finally turn on the […]
Did you know? Natural Resources Canada developed the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) in 1994, which delivers the following: Hotter and drier conditions escalate As I mentioned in last week’s column, hotter and drier conditions continue to escalate the threat of wildland fires throughout Canada. Last month, that devastating […]
A friend of mine was recently trapped by a Telus impersonation scam. I don’t know all the details, but suffice to say, the scammers violated her security and sense of safety, having accessed her bank accounts and credit cards. I am amazed at the number of scams I receive via […]
I am always seeking unusual plant species and varieties. Even with the many two plant species already in my garden, I never stop searching for the rare and unusual to add. Unfortunately, some of those plants always don’t survive my conditions (soil and/or growing zone) but I at least enjoy […]
In my humble opinion, everyone should purchase a diary. Write in it as often as you can and even when you feel snitty about putting another entry in it, do it anyway. In a few years, you will thank yourself for making the effort. I thank myself for keeping track […]
Beauty is ubiquitous. It is everywhere. The impermanence of a staggering sunset. The authenticity of artistic release and expression. The mastery of the soul by musicians and visionaries. The indescribability of intricate cathedrals, words that fall onto being like poetry, a meaningful moment that shapes a life, a sea of […]
Is the tail wagging the dog in Alberta? Separatists, led by Mitch Sylvestre, who believes that King Charles III has set out to assassinate him, have rallied 300,000 Albertans to sign a petition to secede from Canada over their grievances. (There are, of course, more than 700,000 Albertans who do […]
I think Sunday’s weather was the type we’ve all been waiting for—it felt incredible. It will take a few of those days to dry things up again, and maybe we will be complaining then about the dry conditions. We haven’t had a lot of rain, but I did cut the […]
As we all know, there is nothing like the first scent of the lilac to tell us spring is officially here. What we refer to as the common lilac in North America is actually native to mountainsides in southeastern Europe, but was brought across the Atlantic to North America in […]
