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The post I almost didn’t write
Disclaimer: I almost didn’t write this. In fact, I started it twice, deleting it each time. The third time around, I almost didn’t hit the publish button. I worry it may be a bit self-absorbed, self-critical and may come across as attention-seeking. It’s not meant to be. But I realized that not going ahead just contributes to the silence that needs to end …. *** Three weeks of Jian Ghomeshi and other harassment stories. Three weeks learning things I wish I could unlearn. Three weeks of words painting pictures in my head, that I want to erase. Two weeks of… Read more…
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Pirates of Bobcaygeon
Once upon a time, in the tiny Ontario town of Bobcaygeon, there lived a pirate gang. A friendly gang, to be sure, but pirates none-the less. Let me back up a bit. For about a decade, my parents ran house-keeping cottages in a picturesque little town on the Trent-Severn Waterway. Their waterfront property had several self-contained cottages, a tiny little beach courtesy of the sand my father had trucked in every year, and docks for the kayaks, canoes, peddle-boat and small rental fishing boats available for their guests. It was a great fishing spot. You could dangle a fishing rod… Read more…
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Adventures in teenage miscommunication
“Mum, my friends and I want to cook meat in the forest,” said my son one night. “Is that OK?” Now what you have to understand is that near my house, we have a fabulous ravine. Great unofficial trails that my kids and I have walked along with Maggie the dog for years – since my youngest could toddle along without falling over tree roots. We scramble down ravine banks, throw sticks for Maggie to chase, look for wildlife (scat searching was a big hit when the boys were young!) and generally have a great time in this special piece of nature that… Read more…
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One down … my son’s new chapter
Like many, many of my friends, this weekend marked a big, gigantic first – the first time leaving my firstborn child at university. Photos of new dorm rooms have been popping up on my Facebook feed all day to mark the occasion. I first wrote about this then-upcoming event in March, and now, a little over 1,300 km later, my boy has been collected from a summer camp counselling job, unpacked, repacked and unpacked again to begin the next exciting chapter of his young life – university. And you know, it wasn’t as hard on dear old Mum as I thought it… Read more…
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Celebrating gold
For the last couple of weeks, anyone who knows me on Facebook has been subjected to a barrage of posts and photos of my daughter’s choir, which picked up both a silver and gold placement at the World Choir Games. To say I was a proud “choir mum” was a bit of an understatement. But today, my family is celebrating a different golden accomplishment.Fifty years ago today, my Mum and Dad tied the knot, back in England. My parents won’t let me throw them a lavish party – or any party at all – and they don’t want gifts. But… Read more…
