Order of Canada

White gloves, doppelgangers, and Glenn Gould’s piano in Ottawa

There’s little left to say about the theft of My Bride’s and my computers while in Ottawa, except that, as we all know, things can always be worse. Yesterday we learned that friends who work in Thailand had not only their laptops, but their passports (with critical visas), ID, wallets and anything else of any […]

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So what do you do with a couple of hot computers?

It’s the other morning and it’s cool and Child #3, the African girl, is wearing purple mittens as we, all three children and I, walk down the sidewalk to school. Child #2, the boy, is wearing shorts, ready for the beach. Child #1, the other girl, the oldest, laughs at them both. The next day

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Formal wear at Rideau Hall, naked in Dachau

Barely in the country from our family holiday in Germany, and not really fully unpacked in our Hamilton condo, the kids continue to live in what is their never-ending Holiday Land. They’ve been back to school this week in Canada, sure, sure, but just for three days, before tomorrow morning, right around sunrise if Yours Truly is

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So what’s your story?

The highlight of the week was seeing a buddy from ye olde boyhood years. I hadn’t seen him for more than three decades. He and his wife came the other evening for dinner. “This is my son, Jon,” I said, at one moment. “And this is my friend …” “Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Jon. “This is your friend

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Let go of your life. Be surprised.

From my last post here, the only thing left to say is that while Jon’s birthday cake was finely decorated, My Bride is very much decorated in another rather beautiful way, with the Order of Canada now, which you know about through this. Yes, it is getting to be a regular question asked of me these days,

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Being open to life’s surprises

(The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, July 19, 2014)

HAMILTON, CANADA ✦ It was in the whirlpool at the Les Chater Y when I was congratulated for My Bride’s recent naming into the Order of Canada. The woman, another early-morning swimmer, had read the news in this publication.

“Let’s face it,” she said. “You’ve had a role to play in this all. Any woman who wins something like this has to be married to a certain sort of man. If Madame Curie hadn’t been married to Pierre, she’d have been forced to be home barefoot, baking bread.”

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On being loved widely. And deeply. (And, oh yeah, receiving the Order of Canada.)

We’re in the van on a long drive and we’re talking about being loved and just what on earth this means. Liz is only 11, but she’s there, she can talk about it and engage and we get on the topic of Mom, who we both love and who is also, if you didn’t know,

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