Robert Animikii Horton – Northern Reflections

A gift. I think that’s where the contrarian cacophony began. Perhaps it was also the admiration of the rebel. Likely, through the introduction of dry, witty humour before I could tie my shoes (I also wore Velcro shoes until I was almost 12, so maybe it is a moot point). […]

I love purple. That’s it. What else is there to say? I love purple. Any shade. Any variation. Any hue. Purple is my favourite colour. Not to wear necessarily, as this olive-in-late-summer tone doesn’t vibe and mix well with it, but anything purple draws my eyes like a moth to […]

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 […]

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 […]

Across cultures and centuries, literature and storytelling have remained enduring civic companions. Champions even. Whether through novels, political writing, memoirs, philosophy, or cinema, stories have long served the public as a form of civic foresight. They do not predict the future, nor are they written merely to frighten. Instead, they […]

There is a certain kind of story that feels older than memory. The more often it appears—across cultures, mediums, and generations—the more it seems like it has always existed. Not because it has remained unchanged, but because it keeps returning in new forms. Two clans stand opposed. Their conflict is […]

Droplets are falling from rooftops, and we are arriving at sunsets later and later into the evening. Spring has arrived here in beautiful Borderland. Very soon, our remaining mini ice shelves will split on the lake, and the ice will vanish cleanly from our highways. Summer is right around the […]

Comedian Hannibal Buress once said people learn things at different times. He talked about hearing Jimi Hendrix for the first time because Hulk Hogan used his music in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which is comforting, because it suggests there are no wrong times to learn something—only increasingly more embarrassing ones. […]

There is a particular kind of alchemy reserved for music. It is a rare transformation: the moment something familiar becomes newly luminous. It happens when one artist takes hold of another’s song and, instead of merely echoing it, breathes into it a different life. A good cover is not imitation; […]

Welcome to the sensory deprivation tank. I just stepped out of one in Thunder Bay. The first thing the float tank removes is not sound, but certainty. You step inside expecting a chamber, a container—but the moment the lid closes, the idea of “inside” begins to lose its meaning. The […]

Sometimes a familiar sight conjures back memories of the surreal and the eternally memorable (as well as a loved one’s soulful laughter). Walking the aisles at our town Walmart sent me back in time recently. Whether I was hunting for gel pens, hair paste or gummy sharks is something now […]