ImPort Stanley is weekly series about life and discoveries by a recent “import” to Port Stanley, ON.
Every time I’ve gone to see a small-town theatre production, it was worth it. Port Stanley’s Festival Theatre included. It’s been many years since I’ve seen a show there. The last time, I drove from my home in Toronto. Now that we live here, it’s time to rediscover this gem of an attraction.
…Heading to BC last week was a risk, some said. It’s too soon to fly, too difficult to maintain social distance. Too peopley. I get that perspective. We’ve been staying away from each other for so long, it’s difficult to know when it’s okay to resume some normalcy. Last week was “okay” for me, regardless of what anyone else thought.
…
When you’ve moved as often as we have in recent years, you learn to temper your expectations. Live in the moment. Perfection is unattainable. Something is bound to go wrong. Roll with it or lose your stomach lining!
…
Was it serendipity that introduced me to a certain country music artist the same week that justice was served for murder victim George Floyd? I can’t know why, after being so late to the party on this music, I discovered it when I did. (Thank you CBC’s Tom Power on Q for the introduction.)
…
Being kind to oneself, self-care is a journey. I find that while making changes at the start of a new year is a bit of a cliche it’s also a really logical time for it. I have a few in mind, but first, the news.
…
Do you have suppressed wanderlust? I sure do. I’m itching to travel, even to just go on a road trip for a few days, something Derek and I love to do. But to paraphrase Bob Dylan, the times they have a-changed. It will be a good long while before that travel itch can get properly scratched.
…If you’re old enough, you might recognize today’s title as a song lyric from the 1972 soft rock hit, It Never Rains in Southern California. Albert Hammond wrote and sang it. And if you know the song, it goes on to say: It pours, man, it pours.
…As a child of the late 60s and the 70s, it always irked me when people called a 45 centre a “spider”. “Oh, that’s what it was called”, they said. “They”, being amateur historians who weren’t there when 45s were the most popular way to play music and needed the special bit of plastic to fit them onto a record player spindle! Harrumph, and other sounds of indignation…
…
Have you ever wondered how much more time you would spend outside if it wasn’t for the Internet? Me neither. I’m too busy viewing nature photos online.
…
The annual Botten-and-cousins-fest happened over the weekend. This is the one whose early, backyard days in Sharon, ON brought some of York Region’s finest in uniform to cap the noise.
…
Six months have passed since Derek and I had the privilege of driving down the Pacific coast from BC to California. The goal was to get Erin Davis’ Mini Cooper to Palm Springs. Mission accomplished, via a gorgeous drive.
…Just about a year ago, we were in Memphis. We visited Graceland, walked storied Beale St. and took a tip from a producer at Sun Studio and grabbed lunch at Elvis’ favourite diner.
…
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.
…
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. …
This is what happens when you’re an artist to the core and your parents leave you too much money and land! …
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. …
