“If you can read this, thank a teacher.” This is how a post linked to by my friend and colleague Joan Vinall-Cox began. While blogger Ralf Schwartz suggested that the best way to thank your teacher is to teach others “by further developing what your teacher has taught you,” I think an equally excellent option [...]
Tag Archives: Life
Awareness up with Earth Hour
At 8:30 p.m. tonight, it’s Earth Hour. Turn off your lights, and get off the computer! Critics wonder, what’s the point of turning lights off for an hour on one day when we abuse the Earth for the other 8,736 hours in the year? But I truly believe that the buzz around Earth Hour does [...]
Back to reality
Here’s what I learned from taking a week off and flying to Florida for my younger son’s school break: If you’re looking for beach weather, Florida might or might not have it in February. We happened to hit a week of temperatures in the mid-70s, which was certainly warmer than home (and no snow!) but [...]
Project declutter underway
The start of a new year always seems to prompt at least a couple of weeks of good behaviour. Yeah, this is the year we’re going to lose 10 pounds, learn a new skill, get organized. And so I found myself looking around at the mess in my home office over the holidays, thinking, “This [...]
In praise of home offices
It was still dark as I drove my husband to a 7 a.m. doctor’s appointment yesterday. Traffic was building on the highway, but at least it was moving. In another half an hour, cars would probably be keeping no better than a snail’s pace. It suddenly occurred to me that in my former corporate life, [...]
More heartfelt writing
Here’s some more expressive writing. Love Letter is a public art project in Philadelphia consisting of a series of 50 rooftop murals painted by local and international artists. The project began in August 2009, and is described this way: The murals, which are best viewed from the Market-Frankford elevated transit line, collectively express a love [...]
Express your thanks
So my American friends are today recovering from all that turkey, and many are heading out to the malls to start some serious Christmas shopping. I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! I’ve written before about Patti Digh, author of the wonderful and inspiring Life is a verb: 37 days to wake up, be mindful, [...]
Poppies for remembrance
From November 5 to 11, Canadians celebrate Veterans’ Week, remembering and honouring the veterans who fought in past wars and the soldiers who are still fighting for freedom. November 11, the day that marked the end of World War I, is both Remembrance Day here and Veterans’ Day in the U.S. The poppy has been [...]
Storm watch
A thunderstorm blew through Oakville on the weekend, and it brought me back to summers spent at my grandparents’ cottage in the Laurentian mountains in Quebec. The cottage was built in the early 1900s, on a hillside with glimpses of the lake just visible in between the trees. A screened-in porch wrapped around all sides [...]
Oh, Canada!
In honour of Canada Day and our 142nd birthday today: A catchy and clever rap; we know that you wanna be Canadian! Canadians share our 100 favourite Canadian things. Hmm, a lot of food listed (back bacon, poutine, maple syrup, butter tarts…). I love that Google has a Mountie (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) saluting in [...]