My cousin sent me a text with a photo of children's books. She captioned the image with you gave me all of these books as gifts over the years. I don't remember getting her any of them but I'm glad I did. It spurred some thoughts. Gifts Gift-giving is not my top love language, however,... Continue Reading →
We Are Stardust
In 2012 I went on an interprovincial adventure with some pretty fabulous women. We stayed at a bed-and-breakfast where we slept in glammed-up sheep wagons. We toured the local terrain, a vineyard, a forest and a desert. Not to be done in by nightfall we went to a dark sky preserve in Cypress Hills Interprovincial... Continue Reading →
# 34
What kind of story would Munish tell? After the production of #34, at Regina's Globe Theatre, I stayed for the opening night party. I chatted with Munish, congratulating him on his success as the playwright and performer. He told me that when he started developing the idea for this story he was prompted by the... Continue Reading →
With Every Leaf a Long Kiss Goodbye to Summer
She's playing with me. Summer. I think she's in cahoots with Autumn. I thought she was gone and took those gorgeous...double digits with her, but no. She's been showing up, confusing me with a cold shoulder in the morning and warm hugs in the afternoon. I know how this works. I'll fall into her again... Continue Reading →
A Regular Night In My Neighborhood
A walk. An errand. A sunset. Drag queens. A street party. Live music. New friends. Old friends. Chilean Independence Day. An engagement celebration. Gourmet pizza. Cocktails. A regular night in my neighborhood. It was one of those days where I had stayed in my house for too much of the day. It was time to... Continue Reading →
Blessings of Travel
Last night from the balcony of my bedroom in Thessaloniki, Greece, I felt a familiar calling from the long-ago times. I looked over the neighborhood and the city with its stacked dwellings---a very different vision than the city I'm from in Canada. The buildings in front of me felt older than they actually are. I... Continue Reading →
When Two Places Feel Like Home
To all immigrants, newcomers, refugees, or anyone who has discovered what it is to love more than one place, this one's for you. This year's holiday observations feel a bit deeper. I just took it all in because I became amazingly aware of what a gift it was to even be on a holiday after... Continue Reading →
An Open Letter of Gratitude to Greece
Dear Motherland: Thank you for your sizzling sun and unapologetic winds. Thank you for your complicated curvy streets and narrow passages. Thank you for your complex and diverse fragrances of honeysuckle, jasmine, roses, spice, food, compost and exhaust. Thank you for your diverse history with layers (literally) upon layers of architecture, revealing histories, peoples, conflicts,... Continue Reading →
It’s Summer Time
It's summertime! As a teacher, my life runs on cycles. Fall---start of school. Winter break. Semester change. Spring break. SUMMER! I look forward to each stage as they all move me forward. And well, truth be told, I don't know anything different as I've been in the cycle of education since I was five, which... Continue Reading →
Come on Baby, Light My Fire
The task I assign a basic exercise in my art class at the beginning of the semester, where I have the students make a list of 20 things they love. It's personal and useful. This assignment was initially created to resolve the frequent phrase I hear whenever I assign a new art project: "I don't... Continue Reading →