Monthly Archives: December 2018
Thank You 2018
It seems somehow fitting as the old year ends, as 2018 rolls into 2019, that I pause for a moment and thank you for being here. I’ve been inhabiting this small corner of the internet for more than four years, and have enjoyed being able to share my thoughts, to make concrete some things that […]
He Who Must Not Be Named
It’s been 20 years or so since the first of the Harry Potter novels was published, sparking a reading craze and transforming author J.K. Rowling from impoverished single mother into the world’s richest woman. A generation has grown up with the books (and the subsequent movie adaptations). They are a powerful marketing force, and Rowling […]
Seduced By A Sign
I wrote this piece more than a year ago, shortly after we arrived in Germany. I planned on using it then, but there was something else scheduled the day after I wrote it, then I switched phones. It has languished on the old phone, and might still be there if I hadn’t had to turn […]
Westminster Hall
There are few things in life that frustrate me more than not being able to take pictures when I visit an historic site. It just doesn’t seem right. In early 2017 I had the opportunity to tour Westminster, the mother of all parliaments. At the time I was still working on Parliament Hill in Ottawa […]
Say It Ain’t So
Many years ago I worked for Canada’s famed national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, colloquially known as the “Mounties.” I was a civilian employee, not a police officer and had the opportunity to view many officers first-hand in my work both in the national and eastern Ontario headquarters. As with any organization, the […]
Christmas Feast
I took a step of faith and invited people for Christmas dinner. By Christmas Eve, with meal preparations well underway, I was doubting the wisdom of that. I’ve hosted a Christmas feast many years, but lat year we went to a friend’s place for Christmas dinner. While we have had many people over for a […]
Happy New Year!
No, I didn’t get it wrong. I know what day it is. Today is Christmas Day. Think about it though. Maybe December 25 should be the first day of the year. Certainly the birth of Christ was momentous enough, even if not recognized as such at the time. Most of the world divides their calendar […]
Christmas Eve 2018
The world pauses tonight, at least in theory. With bated breath we await the announcement of a miraculous birth, the Christ-child, the Prince of Peace. Every year we remember the world-shaking event. Occasionally I have detailed my struggles in learning German, but when I saw this picture I realized I had learned something. I understood […]
Advent Reflections
This post was first published December 19, 2015. I thought you might like to see it again. He looked round again and could hardly believe his eyes. There was the blue sky overhead, and grassy country spreading as far as he could see in every direction, and his new friends all round him, laughing. “It […]
Christmas Dinner
The sign said they were Weihnachtsganse or Christmas geese. This flock of white birds was in a field just below the castle in Emmendingen when we visited a month ago. I thought perhaps they are named Christmas geese because they are snow white. I suspect though that they are so called because that is when […]
random thoughts from lorne 
Recent Comments