On Gratitude
An encounter with a woman in Oregon has stuck with me. We didn’t even talk to her but an increasingly loud conversation she had with a woman at the front desk at a hotel, although brief, was memorable.
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Travel
A Little Something Extra
On our recent trip south, at a steakhouse in Bandon, OR, the server brought us a little plate with the bill. On it were two tiny, triangular bites of their signature dessert. “Just to say thank-you”, said the server. It was a nice touch and we hadn’t ordered dessert so we enjoyed it. …
Robo-lit
This is what happens when you’re an artist to the core and your parents leave you too much money and land! …
In the Palm of our Hands
You know the kind of person who can tell you the street names and highlights of towns and cities they’ve visited only once? Well, I’m not one of those people. I have just dug through a mountain of receipts to remember where we have been! Lucky for us, we mainly drove on one road: highway 101 along the Pacific coast, from Washington to California. …
My Limit of F***s
When Donald Trump made fun of sexual assault victim Christine Blasey-Ford, I knew I was close. When he walked up the steps of Air Force One with toilet-paper stuck to his shoe, and no one told him, my laughter created a little bit of room for more. But the confirmation of undoubtedly biased Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court nailed it. I’m out of f***s. …
Thankful Thursday – A Mountain of Mentors
Ever since that time I bought the big house in Toronto and found myself waist-deep in a much higher cost of living, I’ve been seeking out ways to make it all smaller. The big house coincided with the big job so the bills were manageable. But as fun as it was to decorate the place, the whole lifestyle went against my core values. …
How I Learned to Love my iPhone (Or Fake It!)
For years, my Blackberry was my constant companion. It was provided to me by Rogers radio and I loved it. I was lightning-quick on the physical buttons on the keyboard and rarely made mistakes. It went with me to Europe and turned out photos that were plenty good enough. It’s not like I was entering them in a contest. …
Throwback Thursday – Countryfied
For a few years, alternating them with my then-husband, I went to Country Music Fan Fair in Nashville as a working journalist. It was always held during the hottest week of the summer, roughly 105F in the shade. I got to interview country’s up-and-coming stars while freelancing for the now defunct Country Wave Magazine. …
Cookies are Stupid
Not chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies. Cookies on the Internet that capture a bit of data from your visit to a website only to use it against you later on.
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Take The Last Train to McAdam
As we explored the St. Stephen-St. Andrews-Calais area last week, we took the advice of anyone who offered it. If someone said we should go see something, we went. That included my brother’s suggestion that we head up to McAdam and see the old train station. …
The Thin Red Line
There are places in North America where you can stand in Canada and the US simultaneously. A massive, historic home straddles Stanstead, Quebec and Plain, Vermont, for example. You can enter the house from both countries. …
Water Babies
Anthropologists probably have something deep and insightful to say about why Derek and I are drawn to water. All we know is that we feel calmer and happier around a body of water of just about any kind. Bigger than a puddle but not necessarily an ocean. …
On the Road Again
Full tank of gas? Check. GPS? Check. House/pet sitter? Check. Blog posts for next week? Um, uncheck. There might be one or two.
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Throwback Thursday – Une Dizaine D’annees, Mon Dieu!
Translation: It’s been ten years since Derek and I visited England and France. We also went to Monaco but didn’t quite make it to Italy. I’d love to spend a couple of years visiting tiny pockets of Europe. The only other European country I’ve seen is Iceland. …
Throwback Thursday – Une Dizaine D’annees, Mon Dieu!Read More »
Throwback Thursday – At Your Service
When I was a kid, I loved the poems of Robert Service. They told stories of the Yukon gold rush in a musical cadence that included lots of alliteration and rhymes. Service didn’t bother with subtleties in his most famous works. You knew what you were getting with The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill and hundreds of others. He also wrote six novels, two autobiographies and even acted in the 1942 film, The Spoilers, with Marlene Dietrich. Visiting his restored cabin in Dawson City, Yukon – a preserved historical site – is on my bucket list. …
Clean Getaway
Derek and I have been looking around to invest in a vacation retreat. Something modest to match our budget. A little place near water we can spruce up and customize. Our summer home when we’re ready to become snowbirds. We’re looking everywhere – from other provinces to other countries. Nothing is off the table. If you’ve explored the cottage areas of Ontario and you don’t have a million dollars to spend, you know how difficult it is to find something affordable close to home. …
Off the Beaten Path
We like to get out and explore on our own. One of our favourite side trips from Las Vegas was to Oatman, Arizona. They call Oatman a ghost town because it’s settled in the Black Mountains of the Mohave and once boasted a population of 3,500. That was in the gold rush days. Now about 100 people live in the old west throwback town year round and wild burros roam freely through the streets. …
Ten Feet Off of Beale
It’s impossible to visit Memphis without getting a repetitive earworm of Marc Cohn’s 1991 hit “Walkin’ in Memphis”. (If you don’t know it, get thee to YouTube and check it out.) Cohn’s autobiographical, Grammy-winning song brought Beale Street – and most of Memphis – to the masses. Walkin’ in Memphis mentions many of the city’s highlights, from catfish on the table to gospel in the air. …