I don’t know about you, but I always feel like an amateur when it comes to capitalization in titles. I’m not sure it was taught when I was in school, or perhaps that was one of those lovely spring days when adventuring with chums took precedence over the academy. In any event, there are a…
It’s been a lot of years since I sat in the quiet circle of the Plymouth Brethren giving thanks for history’s most precious story, the story of divine sacrifice and redemption. A quiet, contemplative time of thanksgiving for spiritual healing, of hope for tomorrow and a resolve to live a life worthy of the gift…
John Babbacombe Lee was a bad boy, of that there was no doubt. By the time he was twenty he had seen service in the Royal Navy, but also had an extensive criminal record, mostly for thievery. When he was twenty-one, he got in serious trouble indeed. He had taken employment on the staff of…
Sarah Ferguson, “Fergie”, the Duchess of York, was especially close to Queen Elizabeth II, even after and notwithstanding the divorce from Prince Andrew. Her mother and Queen Elizabeth had been lifelong friends and Elizabeth had known Sarah her entire life and in many ways treated her more like a daughter than daughter-in-law. Sarah put it…
Wonderful! Just wondering… “How I wonder what you are.” “She’s such a wonder!” I love the word “wonder”, first of all because it isn’t spelled the way it sounds, but mostly because it is such a big, unboundaried, elastic word. And where I love it most is when it’s at its most playful. Like wondering…
It was 1939, just before war broke out in Europe. New York was hosting the World’s Fair, and the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin wanted to impress. What better than a non-stop flight from Moscow to New York? Nothing of the sort had ever happened. So it was on April 28, 1939 pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki and…
There’s no moral to this story, except that life isn’t always random, and that there’s much to be said for following your intuition. The story is about a table, a very big, a very gorgeous table with a history, and with a destiny. We don’t know much about this table except that it can seat…
(I first posted this five years ago to the day. If anything has changed, it’s not for the better.) When I was a little boy, there was a “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild”. I would pray to him every night and ask him to look after my Mum and my Dad, the dogs and the…
Now, I know you think this is going to be a Paul Bunyan story, or maybe something out of Big Joe Muffaraw of Ottawa Valley fame. But rather than Bunyan’s “big blue ox” or Muffaraw’s famous bullfrog, the blue snow of Lanark County is real, verifiable, and widespread. You’re welcome to come to my river…
Ottawa, July 1, 2027 We’re delighted to welcome the former United States of America (or what’s left of it) as Canada’s eleventh province. Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! After the Proud Boy Uprisings and the Great Impoverishment, we know that many of you are traumatized and frightened. We want to make you feel welcomed and comforted. Except…