Change is coming. I can feel it out there, somewhere, where decency and trust and safety exist, where honour is power and integrity our weapon, where the voice of the masses speaks for the disenfranchised, the broken, the injured, and the forgotten. At least I hope change is coming. Hope. […]
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
My eldest daughter just received her Master’s of Education degree from Simon Fraser University, and I was there in the crowd watching as she and throngs of others paraded into the outdoor convocation hall. Family and friends shivered under university-issue blankets while the graduates were piped in, the glorious sound […]
Do you ever have an idea that sounds really good when you first have it? You rub your hands together in anticipation and can’t wait to get started. Adrenalin kicks in, and your energy and enthusiasm soar to new heights. Adrenalin. I think adrenalin, at first glance, seems like a […]
Have you had the experience of meeting someone and knowing you would be changed in a profound and inexplicable way; and some part of you would be better for it, that you would experience a healing of sorts? That happened for me one day in October not so long ago. […]
Do you ever have grumpy days—the kind of days where you are sadly aware of your own limitations?I’m not a fan of grumpy days, but they make me wonder. On one of these not-so-nice grumpy days, I was wondering about things, things like aging. I was trying to build my […]
I like chickens; hens to be precise. Roosters are noisy and a bit self-absorbed in their strutting and cockle-doodle-dooing whereas hens are peaceful creatures, going about their business of scratching and laying eggs without a lot of fuss and fanfare. I know, I know. They have been charged with cruelty […]
If I had to choose one month of the 12 to be my favourite, September would be my choice. September seems the most likely candidate, I suppose, so maybe there is no contest. If you run through the months, the obvious ones are eliminated. January because it’s so long and […]
If you have moved even once in your life, you know that it takes just a certain injection of you to make the new house a home. Some say that you haven’t moved in until you’ve hung the pictures. Others say the house is not yours until you’ve painted your […]
I like to think I’m not a whiner; not one of those individuals whose glass is perpetually half-empty.I pride myself on thinking positively. But—and there always seems to be a but—my latest flight from Halifax to Toronto drained every last hint of Pollyanna from my soul. I arrived at the […]
A truck drove past me at noon one day last week. It was a scorching hot day with little breeze, if any. The truck was loaded with turkeys—big white turkeys crammed into crates to limit their movement to keep them secure. My stomach began to ache and I felt nauseated, […]
Regret, my grandmother told me, is like rheumatism—an ache that comes from having been young once. I’m on the other side of 50 and my grandma’s rheumatism has found its way to me. I no longer bounce when I walk, and I sometimes waken in the morning with each joint […]
As a citizen, do you recognize the members of your local fire department as a partner in community services? Your fire department, whether full-time or volunteer, has an important function within your community. When the Fort Frances Fire Department was established many years ago, the Fort Frances Volunteer Fire Brigade […]
