Author Archives: Lorne Anderson
The “Who Cares” Election
I will be voting today. Ontario is holding elections province-wide, as voters in each municipality choose their mayor, councilors and school board trustees. By the time you read this I may have already cast my ballot. I live in Ottawa, the national capital. We do things big here, and people are interested in what goes […]
Peles Castle II – They Wanted A King
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” I Samuel 8: 19-20 (NIV) The people of Romania wanted a king, so […]
Peles Castle I – The Pack Rat
The suits of armour were very impressive. As was the entire armoury at Peles Castle, spears and swords and medieval equipment, a room full of everything a good knight needs for jousting or battle. Except why would the King of Romania need all this stuff? (There is also the question of why Romania needed a […]
Terror Strikes Home
I got a text from my son: “Are you on the Hill?” “Yes” I replied. After all, I’m on Parliament hill every Wednesday morning. Another text: “There were shots fired. Any idea what is going on?” Outside I heard the sirens. Sirens are as normal in downtown Ottawa as in any urban setting – fire […]
Under Attack!
I had things I wanted to do on Wednesday and decided not to write a blog post. But what you plan and what happens are frequently not the same. What I expected to be an ordinary work day wound up being extraordinary, with an apparent terrorist attack on the Parliament of Canada that left me […]
The Ad Campaign
When we were choosing travel destinations for our month in Europe this year, deciding where to go was difficult. We had to visit family in Germany. I really wanted to go to Juno Beach, the site of the Second World War Normandy landings. Vivian said she really didn’t care, as long as we went somewhere […]
Tyne Cot Cemetery
On the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website there is a warning: SCHOOL GROUPS: TEACHERS – PLEASE CLOSELY SUPERVISE YOUR STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY AT THE TYNE COT CEMETERY CROSS OF SACRIFICE. I presume the all caps are to emphasize the importance of the message. I’m not sure what exactly is meant by “supervise closely.” When we visited […]
Bayeux Cathedral: Love and Devotion in Action
It dominates the town of Bayeux still, as it has for almost 1,000 years. It has survived wars and conflicts and remains a testament to the Christian faith of the Norman people who started building it long before France was a nation. The Bayeux Cathedral towers over the town; you can see it from everywhere. […]
Quiet is Beautiful
I absolutely refuse to interrupt my annual two week vacation on the beaches of Maine for anything. That’s my time, a chance to relax and recharge for what always is a busy Fall season ahead. This year though, I must admit I was tempted to break that tradition when I learned Susan Cain was one […]
The Brooding Soldier
One of the highlights of the Belgian leg of our tour of Europe was the Brooding Soldier at St. Julien. After Vimy Ridge this may be the biggest, best known, Canadian war memorial in Europe. It is a poignant site, a soldier with head bowed, grieving for his lost comrades. The memorial is located at […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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