The Observer
The acknowledgements didn’t make a lot of sense when I read them before starting The Observer by Marina Endicott. Neither did the author photograph on the back jacket flap. Both…
Flag Day
Sixty years ago, the maple leaf was raised for the first time as Canada’s official flag. On February 15, 1965 it replaced the Red Ensign and Union Jack. Not all…
28 Days
Close to 5 pm, for 28 days, the back doors of the barn, looking to the east. Every day I empty the wheelbarrow, then turn to close the barn doors.…
Photography
I’d like to introduce you to a new photography website - ta-da - jimstewart360.ca. Lots of photographs of places and objects. Also lots of information on farm equipment and astronomy.…
West Country Trilogy
I’d heard of the Battle of Jutland, but that’s it. No idea of who, when or where. Now I know, thanks to The Redeemed, third in Tim Pear’s West Country…
Officers and Gentlemen
Commander Ralph Neville was one of several English naval officers living in Bay St. George, Newfoundland in the early 1900s. They shared a love of salmon fishing (see Part 1).…
Dr. Gino Strada
Friday on the news, I heard about the death of Dr. Gino Strada, Italian surgeon and founder of the medical NGO Emergency. He was 73. He'd worked in war zones…
Pelé
In the late 1980s in Costa Rica, my Spanish language teacher was trying to convey 'juego', or game. She gave what she thought was a huge clue. She tapped…
John Prine
When I hear the name John Prine, I think of Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. Yesterday, John Prine died from Covid-19. Yesterday was also the 26th anniversary…
Plantar Fasciitis
Nearly a year ago, I bruised my heel. So I thought. When it didn't stop hurting, I went to my doctor. Plantar Fasciitis, he said. What's that, I said. The…
Portugal Day
On this day in 1965 Newfoundland Premier Joseph R. Smallwood proclaimed June 17th Portugal Day in the province. It was at the Confederation Building when the Portuguese Fisheries Organization presented…
Boogie-Woogie Piano
Today, the 88th day of the year, is Piano Day. So CBC Radio q told me. One or another piano has kept me company almost all my life. And one…
Willow Grove Settlement
On the road to St. Martins in southern New Brunswick you see a sign in a clearing on a corner. Willow Grove Black Settlement Burial Ground, it says. Behind it…
Ma Bell
Our landline was not working. So my husband calls BellAliant. Customer service representatives are all busy, would you like a call back? Thank you very much, he thought, and pressed…
Dinner Talk
Swiss Chalet in Saint John, two 20-something women with a toddler each and one infant. Four full meals. One child picks at his food, the other has eaten all he…
Mary Jo Kopechne
Known best as "the girl in the car," Mary Jo Kopechne had a promising career as a political worker in Washington. She was idealistic and enthusiastic - the sort of…
Martin Luther King
I don't remember what I was doing when I heard that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot and killed. I do remember the shock and horror I felt.…
Salisbury Horses
"Outside this lovely home, drive down the circular driveway covered by mature trees and be greeted by an old barn and about 3 acres cleared ideal for horses." Thus reads…
Christmas Stable
Their stalls are decorated, the horses snugged in. Wintertime at the stable, and Christmas approaching. Stockings soon will be hung on stall doors. The riding students who decorated the stalls…
Therapy Visitors
"A woman was here today, a long time. I don't know who she was. She had a dog. I don't know if she was lost. But she sat right here,…
Annabel
Michael Crummey wrote of Kathleen Winter's novel Annabel, "a beautiful book, brimming with heart and uncommon wisdom." That's on the book jacket. It's true. This is a beautiful love story…
Heaven
When my dog Jack died, I believed in heaven. After his burial, my mother-in-law gave me a card with a little story in it. It’s about a man and his dog…
The Tao of Horses
“If you knew a horse, you could depend on him and if he was going to do something bad, you could depend on him to do that too. I always…
Coming Home
Coming home after an absence, you see it differently. When you leave one home to visit another, you get it both ways. Going back to Ontario after a year in…
Hampton Court House
The 140-year-old Court House in Hampton, New Brunswick has heard its last case. Court cases for Kings County will now be heard in Saint John. The town knows a new…
That Good Night
I have always loved Dylan Thomas’ exhortation to his dying father: Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Yes, I thought,…
House Deconstruction
Three weeks in our new house and slowly it’s coming together. A new house is like a Rubik’s Cube: frustratingly impossible to figure out the parts but hit the right…
Interlibrary Loan
I wanted a book a while back. The St. Thomas public library didn’t have it and neither did the local bookstore. Did I want to drive to London to look…
Merry Solstice
Whatever the name of the event you’re celebrating, Happy It. The one thing that all the festivities happening at the time of the winter solstice have in common is that…
“Look at Bingy”: Alzheimer’s and Distraction
Frustration is part of Alzheimer’s and other age-related memory loss and dementia – frustration for the person themself and the people caring for or interacting with them. So distraction becomes…
Snow Day
Our backyard late last night. All the snow had gone, even the mud had started to dry up. Then bang, last night, a snowstorm. A mixture of rain, freezing rain…
Detailing
Several years ago, I bought a two-year old car from a newspaper ad. When I took it for a test drive, I couldn’t believe how clean and nice the inside…
Resort Towns (Feb. 2/11)
Brighton, in December, although still a fairly bustling city, bore little relation to Brighton in June or August. Jury often felt there were few things bleaker than a seaside town…
Seeing the world the Alzheimer’s way
With Alzheimer’s, how is space and time perceived within your head? Take walking 20 yards down a hallway, from your room to the dining room. Halfway through, you can’t remember…
A Charity of Your Choice
When making funeral arrangements, it’s common to think of a charity to which the deceased person would like memorial donations to go. It’s a nice way of remembering somebody and…