I often search in my reading for those who focus on solutions to poverty and homelessness. I quietly hope for ideas to find their way into reality, which brought me to the brainstorm of Marcel LeBrun in Fredericton, New Brunswick. LeBrun made his fortune in the tech industry with partners […]
Wendi Stewart – Wendi with an ‘eye’
Wendi lives in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, but the farm on Rainy River in Crozier will always be her home. MEADOWLARK, her debut novel released September 15, is published by NeWest Press of Edmonton. She is the mother of four daughters who did the unforgivable: they grew up. http://wendistewart.writersresidence.com
I put a little spin on Christmas this year, an impromptu, spontaneous kind of spin; the kind of spin one would avoid if given the chance. But it was a learning opportunity. I went all out for Christmas dinner this year. For two straight days I prepared – cutting up […]
I was reading over Christmas columns I’ve written over the years. It’s no surprise that the message is sometimes similar, if not often similar, maybe even always. I can’t help myself. I overheard someone in the grocery store the other day asking a child what she wanted for Christmas. We […]
I partook (an entry on my list of favourite whimsical words) in a community turkey dinner last Sunday, not far from my home. The dinner event has become a holiday tradition for the “Forties” community that is well-supported by local residents and beyond. This small community pulls together, most of […]
It’s my dad’s birthday today. I write this for me, more than for you, so I apologize for my selfishness. He would be 104, born November 29, 1919. That number seems a ridiculous notion, because surely if he hasn’t aged, then neither have I. Where he is suspended in time, […]
It was craft time this past weekend, evidenced by pipe cleaners and cotton balls and paint and stickers and popsicle sticks and hot glue (of which I have an injury as proof). I watched my six-year-old granddaughter building her creations as she hummed her tunes, her little hands pushing her […]
Louis Riel Day is November 16 across the Métis homeland. He was born on October 22, 1844, in Saint-Boniface of the Red River Colony. I stumbled upon his grandmother’s story in Women of Red River written by W J Healy in 1923 during my personal research. The opening line was […]
The Semipalmated Sandpipers have departed the Bay of Fundy. They have gone and there are none left as I write this in late October, but before they left, they entertained the sea-goers and birdwatchers with their finely choregraphed flight. The sandpipers are the elite of all airshows, in flocks as […]
I have jumped on the Connor Bedard bandwagon. I can’t help myself; I’m just another lemming in the mob of lemmings going over the cliff. I was a certified hockey fan at one time. I grew up with Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights and not just because we […]
I like to run. It’s a form of meditation for me, my brain quiet and compliant while I huff and puff up and down my road. Walking doesn’t stop my busy brain the way running does. Running allows me to disconnect, to escape computers and phones and beeps and bongs, […]
I was driving out of the parking lot at the grocery store a few days ago. At the stop sign was a homeless man, holding a sign asking for spare change. He was dirty and dishevelled, looking sad and ashamed, and he wasn’t young. We don’t see homeless people in […]
Clouds are visible accumulations of tiny water droplets or ice crystals in the Earth’s atmosphere, according to elementary school science class and the National Geographic. That may very well be true, but children know much more than that. Clouds are giant fish, dragons, balloons, dogs, and anything else that presents itself […]
