In the category of “Why is life so interesting?” let’s start outside a café in Port Stanley where I recently sat in the morning sunshine with my coffee. There I spoke to a stranger. She was from Chatham, she said, about an hour away, but meets her children and grandchildren in a rented cottage during summer.
Why is life so interesting? Read More »
We drove from all over on a Saturday to meet in Niagara. I doubt anyone expected to hear anything about dreams. I arrived to sit beside a youth, a leader in training younger than Dawson. He told me he knew Dawson from camp. Hundreds sat to our right and hundreds to our left. I’d never met Dawson, but had volunteered at
Reflecting on life’s fragility Read More »
Before the hockey photo there was this other one. There’s an attractive young lady on a boat. She’s a worthwhile catch, according to my friend who’s showing me. “That’s Jean,” he said. I was intrigued. She’s leaning against a wall on this houseboat, looking into the camera with a
From a photograph to a 25-year bond Read More »
Yesterday, July 17, was Nils Bohlin’s birthday. More on Mr. Bohlin shortly. His claim to fame involves seatbelts. Seatbelts weren’t always in fashion. Consider the ‘70s. There’s my father and his mutton chops with my buddy Paul and myself, all in our blue van during a snowy
Strap in and thank your lucky stars for Nils Bohlin Read More »
One day a few summers ago I saw a pair of feet in old sneakers pass a row of small Canada flags placed along a walkway. It was in Charlottetown, PEI, on Canada Day. Fitting, considering Charlottetown is Canada’s birthplace. The feet, of course, could be from anywhere.
Nationalism, at its best, is nothing to fear Read More »
The thing about even the most humdrum of moments is that something of life’s larger mystery can come through them. Take this moment in Congo, a father holding his child in their home’s doorway. Neither seemed to mind me stopping. My sense is that both would be okay, even pleased, knowing their photo finally found
The doorways of fatherhood Read More »
Here’s something on the always relevant topic of how to have a slumber party with a world leader. But first let’s touch on bunkers and surviving the apocalypse. Today is the anniversary of D-Day, the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion that helped end the Second World War, but not all war.
Forget the bunker, we should be bonding Read More »
Wander just about anywhere in our time and find something about mental wellbeing. In Berlin I once passed a bus shelter ad saying “Schweigen kostet Leben,” or “Silence costs lives.” An aging gentleman has his mouth taped shut. Someone’s father, likely? Grandfather?
Let’s work to improve lives, not end them Read More »
