For the last few days the Chant CD has been playing on my laptop. This compilation from 1994 includes original recordings from 1973 and the early 1980s. It features the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos of Spain. The sacred sounds fill my space and my heart. Though I understand not a single word… Read more »
My friend deserves a Purple Heart, medal of commendation, park statue, and official holiday in her name. Without (too much) complaint or concern for her own well-being she has stayed married to a husband who snores. Snoring of epic proportions; legendary snoring. Snoring our boys still talk about from a long-ago hockey tournament road trip… Read more »
With a few weeks of plus temperatures and disappearing snow some of us suspect spring is playing a shell game. Long-term Albertans know there is at least one more blizzard in our future. If it doesn’t happen in March we’ll probably get walloped in May. But here’s my modus operandi this time. Instead of waiting… Read more »
If you want to be simultaneously touched and horrified, read Lisa Genova’s Still Alice. It is a first novel by Genova, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard. It takes the unique position of writing from the perspective of a 50-year-old woman with early onset Alzheimer’s. Dr. Alice Howland is a psychology professor at… Read more »
In a year of losses, challenges, setbacks, and bloody bad luck, there’s something restorative in the good that still exists ?out there.? So, indulge me, dear reader, while I document some blessings that are easy to take for granted. I do this for me but I hope there’s a payoff for you as well. Based… Read more »
For the past several weeks I’ve been doing some contract editing for the Kalyna Country tourism guide. At 26,000 square kilometres, Kalyna Country encompasses 10 rural counties and is Canada’s largest ecomuseum. According to the guide it is a ?heritage and eco-tourism district that invites exploration by visitors from near and far and helps preserve… Read more »
It was the mid 1990s when I first heard about Pareto’s Principle. Motivational speaker and multi-millionaire Jim Rohn was in Alberta speaking to the masses. I glommed onto Rohn’s style of speaking: simple, down-home, common sense. I appreciated his ability to distill complex concepts to their essence. Subsequent research showed that in 1906 an Italian… Read more »
Last week in this space, I wrote about Roy starting a trucking job deep in the bush north of Lac La Biche. It was a challenging route with a section of ice road; narrow, winding stretches; steep climbs, and the need to announce, via radio, your whereabouts on the road. But as with most things… Read more »
We’ve all heard and used the expression ?Use it or lose it.? It’s become a cliché increasingly linked to the exploding numbers of baby boomers and the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease That’s expected to beset them/us. I remember my mom and her siblings taking shifts to help care for their father and ease the load… Read more »
January 27 is National Family Literacy Day. Started in 1999 by ABC Canada and Honda Canada, its goal is to make literacy a priority. This year’s theme is Sing for Literacy. In Hamilton, Ontario, a Snuggle Up and Read pyjama party has been planned. It will see pyjama-clad readers visit libraries, schools, and agencies. A… Read more »