Assignment: Find out how association members make family reunions memorable
If you spent limited time with family over the pandemic, you probably have a new appreciation for a good old-fashioned family reunion. RTOERO asked me to talk to some of their members, who are mostly retired teachers and other education workers, about family reunions....
Dreaming about long-term travel? So is my client
This year, I had the privilege of writing for the 80,000+ mostly retired members of RTOERO and their magazine, Renaissance. RTOERO has its roots in the Ontario Teachers’ Federation although not all members are teachers. They work in or are retired from the...
All’s well that end-to-ends well
Who sets out to hike 900 km of physically demanding and sometimes treacherous terrain, with the risk of encountering unexpected storms, poison ivy, rattlesnakes, bugs, maybe even bears? The answer: Hikers who do the Bruce Trail “end-to-end,” and there are...
Finding the human side of academic research
Readers appreciate when the writer does the heavy lifting to explain the complex and figure out “what’s in it for me?” That’s a big part of what I do. In 2016 and 2017, I had the honour of interviewing brainy researchers at Western University’s Faculty of Science. My...
Road ecology steps in when animal instincts and urban sprawl collide
(Published in Niagara Escarpment Views, Winter 2017) Nature’s programming is strong. After the first rainfall following spring thaw, Jefferson’s Salamanders emerge from underground dens, determined to migrate to the ponds where they were born to lay their eggs. In...
Community garden movement growing like a weed
(Published in Niagara Escarpment Views, Spring 2014) A peek over the fence at some of the community gardens taking root along the Niagara Escarpment. Lush green leaves marked the spinach patch beside Chris Hadfield Public School in Milton last year. At least, the...