At a recent conference, speaker Curt Steinhorst’s keynote address was called Thriving in the Age of Distraction. He’s a talented guy that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing before, and this time was no exception. Not only is his material fact-based, but he offers simple solutions to keep this from being “just another speech.” Regrettably,… Read more »
The delayed start to harvest has afforded a couple of unexpected benefits. I’ve often coveted the promise implicit in those idyllic images of stylish families walking down lanes covered with gorgeous fallen leaves. Of course, the people are sporting worn jeans, cozy burgundy knits, plaids in some iteration, and smiles of contentment. They are walking… Read more »
All over Alberta campaign signs are sprouting like spring dandelions. Newspaper editors are rubbing their hands gleefully at the thought of four or more weeks of ad sales. Print shops are seeing an uptick in business as even the least engaged candidates attempt to create campaign materials. The size of community and whats at stake… Read more »
For the first time in forty-two years I attended Edmontons Heritage Festival. In the past I considered and then dismissed the idea of going. Its so big, it’s so far, and it’s so hard to get to were the worrying deterrents. Itll probably be too hot. Or it might pour. Theres a lot to see… Read more »
On Saturday night, we attended a sixty-fifth birthday party for our brother-in-law. It was a fun shindig because it happened at a wooded, eighty-acre parcel of land my sister and brother-in-law and her adult children bought a year ago. It has a collection of outbuildings and power pedestals for campers to plug into. With a… Read more »
It’s no secret I love words. I know they can be used to inform or mislead, to uplift or destroy, to amuse or annoy, to clarify or obfuscate. A hundred years ago when I was an elected official, I believed that if I chose the right words, tried different ways of saying something, spoke at… Read more »
Do you go to parades? As a viewer and enjoyer of the spectacle? As a float rider or route walker? Or would you rather be anywhere else? Like many things in life, there’s nothing straightforward about the subject. If You’re the parent of little kids, you probably scope out a great location and arm them… Read more »
Cliché alert: No matter how discouraging or outright difficult our days may be, it can always be worse. You may have heard that nugget from your parents. You may have learned it through an elective at the School of Hard Knocks. Or maybe your life is all rainbows and unicorns, so far. I’ve done some… Read more »
Sometimes a person just needs to turn his back, avert her eyes, throw caution out the window, and just jump in the car and rip out of the yard with tires squealing. Forget the acres of grain still, God help us, lying in swaths that are now under water. Forget the flowerbed prep that never… Read more »
Sometimes a girl just has to drop everything and go. For people who are hard-wired like I am It’s far too easy to fight the urge to just be spontaneous. We get bogged down with the crushing load of responsibility. How can any accountable farm wife leave home when there’s a crop to seed? The… Read more »