Ruth Bader Ginsburg learned at a young age, before her age could be counted in double digits, that she could change the world if she tried, and sometimes using only her words. Not many children grow up feeling so empowered. She became editor of her middle school newspaper and wrote […]
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 was thinking of rules the other day and the unwillingness of some of us to follow any kind of instruction, to obey as it were, rules meant for the benefit of the greater good, such as not running red lights or driving while impaired, paying for goods and services […]
I learned to drive before I turned sixteen. That wasn’t uncommon for a farm kid. Deb and I used to take her dad’s farm truck out for a spin on the back roads, sitting on the edge of the seat in order to push the clutch in completely and trying […]
Finnegan is my cat. He used to be part of a furniture-scratching duo, Olympic level. I’m sure you can guess the name of his partner if you put some thought to it. Casey. Casey and Finnegan were brothers, two tiny malnourished abandoned orange kittens who found sanctuary in my house. […]
It was warm today, the sun persistent, but trying not to be hot, surpassing that threshold without intention. August is ending, as I write this, the calendar waiting for lift-off, for the checkered flag that says August is over. I have noticed that conversations have shifted from planning backyard picnics […]
I have heard from other writers in the last several months, each expressing a sense of stifled imagination, despite having more time to dedicate to their craft, time they would have spent commuting and/or at work outside the home. Worry and changes in their creative patterns have, at times, choked […]
‘Tis the season for blueberries. A neighbour of mine had a recent trip home to New Brunswick to visit her family and brought me back a large bowl of the wild blue delight, their sweet magic able to cure almost every malady. Wild blueberries seem like more work, more effort […]
I am a bit on the grumpy side today, as if grumpy came with the t-shirt I pulled over my head this morning while getting dressed or from the kink in my hair from having fallen asleep last night while my hair was still wet. It doesn’t happen often, the […]
I love chickens. I would guess my fondness for them is due to Annie, who cared for me as a child; she fostered my love for them. Annie taught me to gather eggs from her hens, to slip my brave hand beneath the hen’s soft warm feathers. The hen clucked […]
I have a confession – I watch my neighbours. Not in the way Gladys Kravitz spied on Samantha and Darrin Stephens on Bewitched in the 1960s, calling out Abner! Abner! at Samantha’s nose-wiggling magic, but still. While living here, I have not heard my neighbours utter one positive comment, be […]
Oran a azu nwa, translated to English – it takes a village to raise a child – is an African proverb, specifically from Nigeria’s Igbo people. The saying is familiar to many of us, but I am not sure we give it much thought. The Igbo people believe an entire […]
This is my five-hundredth column in The Fort Frances Times, my first column appearing in the January 5, 2011 edition. It is not quite equivalent to crossing the Gobi Desert on foot or hiking the Inca Trail of Peru’s Machu Picchu Mountain. Nonetheless, writing four hundred, ninety-nine columns about things […]
