Of Great-Great-Great Grandpa & ghosts
Today has been a quiet spot in the midst of a frenetic tour. I sat for a long half an hour and inhaled the quiet as the sun set, in every shade of antique rose and african violet, over the newly plowed...
View ArticleThe Longest Day
The sky over the midwestern United States is sapphire blue dotted with whip cream white clouds. The view from seat 26E is stunning. I never get tired of looking at the world from 30,000 feet; high...
View ArticleJet Lag and a Big Surprise: What are you doing at 2:43 a.m.?
There are some surprises worth flying half way around the world for. Blowing the socks off of one of your best friends, by turning up completely unexpectedly, is one of them. Some of you know my buddy...
View ArticleAtlanta, Georgia: A Wedding Week Begins
My mother is snoozing next to me. She makes a soft, warm sound when she sleeps and it reminds me of being little and climbing into her bed. I don’t see my mom often enough, maybe four times a year if...
View ArticleRuth’s Wedding Morning: Or, It’s 5:00 a.m. and I’m awake
It’s 5:00 a.m. The Bride is breathing softly beside me. In just over an hour I have to wake her, cook her a big breakfast and help put her feet on a path that will carry her through one of the most...
View ArticleOn Thanksgiving & Radio Silence
It’s 4:00 a.m. and I’m awake. I always do this the night before a big flight. I wake up every half an hour to check on the progress of the clock, or to make mental note of one of the things I think...
View ArticleWhat I’m Reading: A reading list for fall
What are you reading at the moment? I am always reading. I learned to read quite young and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a book in hand. I still have the handwritten booklets my...
View ArticleDid You Know We Have A Theme Song: Meet Our Friends Ryanhood
Unless you’ve been around a long time, you may not know that we have a theme song. It’s kind of a long story, really. Music has always been important to us. One summer afternoon, back in about 2006 we...
View ArticleRemembrance Day: Lest We Forget
Sitting on the beach looking at a steel grey ocean meeting a gun metal grey sky, thinking about the significance of today… The men and women who’ve served… or cried while others have gone–some never to...
View ArticleTravel With Young Kids Is Not A Waste!
Last night I made beef stroganoff over rice, with a side of lemony snake beans, crusty bread, salad and kiwi for dessert. This was a banner meal for us in Thailand as coming by good quality beef is a...
View ArticleWashington DC With Kids
Washington DC places high on the list of American cities to visit for travelers of all ages. Full of history, culture, art and civics lessons on every street corner, it is a wonderful city to take...
View ArticlePearl Harbour: Lest We Forget
The USS Arizona is still weeping. Great viscous tears of pitch coloured oil, leaking from deep inside her war torn sides with agonizing reluctance. As if she still can’t quite believe what happened....
View ArticleRe-Entry is kickin’ our butts: Or, the shortest post in the history of this blog
Re-entry is officially kicking our butts. We’ve been on terra firma in North America for about 63 hours now, following the worst red-eye flight ever. Here is the short version: two 12 hour marathon...
View ArticleOf fog, family and familiar things
I-94 around Chicago is shrouded in fog. Not the pea soup kind that makes for white knuckle driving. This is the misty, ghostly kind through which leafless black trees reach their bony fingers. The...
View ArticleOn grumpy elf & ironing
Perhaps the hardest thing about this friends and family tour through the midwestern United States is the pace. Eighteen sets of loved ones hugged tight within the past three and a half weeks. A dozen...
View ArticleLooking with new eyes: On home, and away.
One of the reasons we travel is to see new things. To learn. To grow. To be stretched. To stand outside everything we thought we new and realize that there is more. To experience penguins and kangaroos...
View ArticleWinter Solstice: In which we are home.
At 5:00 p.m. it is solidly dark on Wolfe Island. At 5:00 a.m. it was also solidly dark. I was driving the long, straight stretch of highway 401, between Windsor and London, Ontario. We didn’t intend to...
View ArticleOn Love, Leaving & the Last Leg
The raspberries tasted like summer. Warm sun on prickly green leaves. The lazy buzz of Dad’s honey bees going about their work. The electric anticipation of the air in advance of an afternoon...
View ArticleOn finding home, and unwrapping a past life
The only sound is the water rushing in the creek below my window. Occasionally a moo from one of the cows in the barn. During daylight hours, the chickens clucking and rustling in the warmth of their...
View ArticleWhile the Bannock Bakes: On walking & poetry
Winter has come, in earnest. And with it, bitter cold. Blackwater Creek, which rushes just below the window where I’m wrapped in a down blanket with a cup of hot tea for comfort, is shivering. The...
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