Recent Columns

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.

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

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.

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?

We can’t talk about rescuing mothers without talking about rescuing children, never mind rescuing starfish. But first, Hannah, my daughter. Not that she’s the only person in the world who’s ever been rescued. She’s not. But on a weekend to celebrate mothers, here’s her story.

So I was walking the dog with another dog walker and he told me how his daughter puts her boyfriend to sleep by reading to him. Go on, I said, so he did. This father, Tim, told me about his daughter’s bedtime reading habits. And his. When Tim goes down, he reads, falls

Lately, wandering around and doing nothing in particular, I’ve been reminded how the world would be a more peaceful place if we bothered more with Winnie-the-Pooh. Now you may think that an imagined bear who is of little brain and doesn’t wear pants isn’t someone to

Speaking of spring, here’s a thought. Given the choice to be a human who walks on the ground or a seed that’s planted into the ground, most of us would opt for the human experience despite the various headaches involved. Not that seeds can’t have their day in the sun, so to

Before Sunday's Academy Awards, here’s a family story. He was 18 and she was 26 and pregnant, so they had a so-called shotgun wedding to save face, his and hers and the parents and the face of the family dog for all we know. Despite the odds, the marriage of Bill and Anne

“Here we go again.” That’s all it said. The note came from an American friend from over the border. It was just before overtime last Sunday morning, before Team Canada and Team USA were to finish their Olympic gold hockey battle in Milano Cortina. My friend Brian knew

BERLIN – The German capital knows winter these days. An ice storm recently canceled hundreds of flights including yours. But Tante Eva, your mother’s sister, has her warmth. You’re visiting while returning to Canada from work in East Africa. It’s good. In any season, Berlin,

Before I tell you about the boda-boda driver Godfrey, let me thank the government of Uganda for helping with my recent internet cleanse. Authorities turned the internet off during Uganda’s mid-January election to apparently give opportunity to reflect, to look in the mirror.

Before something on sailing, here’s a thought on surprises. Don’t underestimate the power of surprise in this world. I’m reminded with every new year because today, January 3, marks my first day in newspapers. Gorbachev was dismantling the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall had yet to fall. I was 23 and learning up from down.

Sitting on our home’s front window ledge these days is a simple sign that says, “Noel.” A nativity scene is carved inside the letter O. I found it in a country store. The modest window in a window isn’t much. Except it is. This is how it goes with things hidden in plain view.

It’s the phone and it’s your friend, Hamiltonian Rick Bradford, from the other side of the world. You talk about it all, what’s happening in Nigeria. The kidnappings. The fear. The corruption. Rick, a former Stelco worker of 30 years and lay leader at Philpott Memorial