Mostly sunny days here these past few weeks has resulted in Christmas decorations magically appearing on more and more houses. It seems we are fair-weather decorators here in the East. I, too, was late with my ladder and lights, but I’m not sure it was the weather that held me […]

I paused in the grocery store parking lot the other day, to assist an older woman wrestling with her cane and grocery cart. After she was settled into her car, she explained about her misbehaving hip and the pain from it. She dropped her head and whispered four words. I […]

By now, many of you will have heard of Ted Lasso, the Emmy-winning series available exclusively on Apple’s streaming service. The program is the creative vision of Jason Sudeikis with a host of clever writers. I am a member of the ranks of grateful viewers. The show soothes and calms […]

I am reading Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Dillard’s memoir won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1975 so I assume her writing is wise, and I might learn from it. The book conveys her thoughts on “solitude, writing, and religion” and has been categorized as a study […]

I, and my comrades, are reaching an age when those individuals we looked up to in life, those who lit our path, are departing this world. It is an inevitable place we find ourselves in but one that never comes with ease, without a silent plea that it might be […]

By Wendi Stewart I know every nick and mark on my bedroom ceiling. I know how many pine boards span its width. I have some idea of the spiders who go about their business above me from time to time, weaving their magic in silence. Why, you might ask, why […]

I am in Vancouver, a city too big to be enticing, too busy to be encouraging, in “too big a’ hurry” to be welcoming. I don’t belong here, but my daughter does. This is home to her. I live in a place that by the time the snow flies I […]

My washing machine “died” a few weeks ago, abandoned me, left me in the lurch. It was only nine years old but at the end of its “expected” life, or so the repair person informed me, with hand over heart and a solemn gaze. We bowed our heads and muttered […]

I often lie awake at night and dream of the Rainy River. I can feel her coolness on my childhood feet, breathe in her earthy smell. I remember her haste as she pulled at my legs, urging me to come along with her. Many poets have referred to the river […]

The first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation has come and gone. I donned my orange t-shirt. I read from my copy of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Summary published in 2015; something I try to do every day. I listened to speakers and […]

My favourite pass-time has always been “remembering”. Some would say we should spend more time looking ahead than back. That may be so, but I got muddled at some point after I left elementary school. My childhood memories are crystal clear as a result. My granddaughter Abby was visiting on […]

I think most of us, if not all, have had days when we feel a little unsteady, emotionally speaking, and rage is brewing in our core. Perhaps we’ve had to call Bell Canada or Revenue Canada or maybe we’ve listened to just one too many commercial vehicles backing up and […]