This cat is celestial. Brought to the house on a sled down a snowed-in road, he arrived in the deepest winter I’d seen in years. Fresh from a shelter, he entered our home wide-eyed, a couple years old, sniffing everything. My girlfriend said he was perfect. The year before had been hard. We’d lost four […]
Miscellaneous
Last week, on my visit to the Moon rocks, I walked across a bridge topping a marsh. To my right were tall grasses emerging from a long, thin body of water, bending toward the east. To my left was a space shuttle perched on a 747. I heard waterfowl piping and chirping, but I couldn’t […]
“It’s made of solid iron, it weighs a ton or two, we know you’d like to meet it, it wants to meet you too!” – The Anvil Song, Animaniacs My friend Brian spends a lot of time in a marvelous, mostly empty old barn. The barn is everything a barn should be – high wooden […]
According to Lev Vygotsky’s psychological development theory, children should be given experiences that are in their zone of proximal development. That is, things that are beyond their own independent capability, but that can be achieved or understood with the guidance of a “knowledgeable other.” The adult’s help provides scaffolding that can eventually be dismantled as […]
A few weeks ago, I started watching the eight-part series Our Planet with my daughter. I thought it would be a good alternative to cartoons. “Ahh, a nature documentary,” I thought. “She gets to watch TV. I get to feel like she’s learning something. Win-win.” I was so wrong. The show delivers spectacular footage and […]
It is spring in the mountains, for I have seen my first trillium. These extremely elegant woodland flowers are called trilliums because they have just three lovely petals. They are also known as “wake robin” because they traditionally bloom in little patches of sunlight in the forest around the same time the spring robins appear. […]
This piece first ran a few years back around Mothers’ Day. It’s nearly time again to celebrate our moms. I miss mine so very much. My mother was dying. It was time to get ready. First came the visit to a funeral home where we walked among the coffins as if shopping for a new […]
On a February day in Ottawa, the Rideau Canal is teaming with skaters. Along the 7km length of canal, kids and adults alike enjoy some small compensation for the face-burning cold of our long winters. We eat the thick, sugared pancake known as the Beavertail, drink hot chocolate, and feel the ice whip by under […]
