Not far from where I live is a UNESCO site at Grand Pré near the Bay of Fundy. The site represents the archaeological remains of an Acadian settlement, granted World Heritage Site status in 2012. British soldiers forced Acadians from their communities, burning their homes and crops. Acadians had lived […]
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 wear a poppy. Most of us do. I imagine a place where all poppies and their pins end up. I can’t seem to keep one in its place on my jacket for more than an hour before I notice its absence. I never witness the fall. I don’t retrace […]
I sometimes think we are of the mindset that previous generations solved everything, and it should be clear sailing for us, as though all the hard parts are behind us. We are annoyed when we are confronted with pandemics that limit our movement and freedom. “How did this happen,” we […]
I knit. This time of year, I knit mittens. Just because I knit doesn’t qualify me as a knitter, any more than painting a ceiling makes me Michelangelo. But I try. I am knitting from Saltwater Classics, patterns from the “Island of Newfoundland”, says the cover of the book. Some […]
M.C. Escher wrote, in the year of my birth, his words maybe meant for me specifically, or maybe not, but wise words for us all to live by. “A person who is lucidly aware of the miracles that surround him, who has learned to bear up under the loneliness, has […]
The second annual National Truth and Reconciliation Day has passed – September 30th. It was a single day, though every day qualifies, to honour lost children and survivors of residential schools. Events and gatherings were organized in many locales. The simplest way to honour, to share, to show support was […]
Hurricane Fiona has come and gone for some of us in Atlantic Canada, but for others the devastation Fiona wreaked and the power she wielded will never be gone, not completely gone. Too much was lost. We had days of warning to be prepared for this massive storm and I […]
I sometimes think we are of the mindset that previous generations solved everything, and it should be clear sailing for us, as though all the hard parts are behind us. We are annoyed when we are confronted with pandemics that limit our movement and freedom. “How did this happen,” we […]
I love autumn. The colours seem late this year, as if Mother Nature can’t bear to let go of summer, wanting to extract every milligram of rest and relaxation from the season before she gets busy with the obligation of preparation, of readiness for a season that knocks us around […]
My daughter was riding the other day, strolling on her horse through a field of thick alfalfa, when suddenly, she was swarmed by an orange horde of Monarch butterflies. The experience left her giddy and curious, and left me envious. The farm she was riding on is owned by a […]
Conversation for children, when they want to get to know someone, almost always involves questions of what is your favourite. It was important to have a favourite colour, even if it changed over the years, a favourite TV show, a favourite meal, so that you might determine the possibility of […]
It has been more than one hundred years since women could vote in Canada’s federal elections; 1918 to be precise. Women in Manitoba had been voting for two years before the federal nod. I don’t recall learning much about suffrage or about The Famous Five in Social Studies lessons in […]
