Category Travel
Toiling In Anonymity
I first posted this in November 2020 and thought it was worth revisiting. One of the delights about visiting someplace new is learning bits of local history, things you don’t read in history books. I, for example, had never heard of Saint Arbogast. Had you? Walking through Dottingen one afternoon, I visited St. Arbogast’s Chapel […]
Definitely Not Disney
Today’s intended post seemed a little heavy for a Sunday, so I thought I’d repost this from 2017 instead I’m not a big fan of theme parks. Never have been. I’ve never traveled to the various Disney or Universal Studios offerings in Florida. I’m told they are a great experience, but they aren’t the experience […]
The Famous Poem
“In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place,” – John McCrae In the days leading up to Remembrance Day, I am reposting some past thoughts on war that were stirred up by visits to European battlefields. The names of the battlefields are different, but nothing else seems to have […]
It Isn’t Over Yet
This Saturday we will pause to remember Canada’s war dead. As we lead up to this time I am reposting some of my earlier reflections on war and the battlefields. This one is from September 2014. A century later, it haunts them still. The last Canadian veteran of the First World War died in 2010, […]
The Other Side
In this week leading up to Remembrance Day I am reposting some of my pieces on past wars. Today a visit to a wartime cemetery, on I had never heard of before. We know our own history. We don’t always think of others’. This was one of the very first posts here, from September 2014. […]
The Festival
As the fall season is well underway, I find myself missing some of the things I experienced in the four years I lived in Germany, 2017-21. There were so many activities that were new to me, like the Harvest festival in teh little town of Ihringen, which took place a couple of weeks after we […]
It’s Back!
I have been ruminating on Hamas’ invasion of Israel this week, which makes me like most people I guess. I have a couple of posts almost finished, but not quite ready. As I was leaving Parliament Hill today I noticed that the chip wagons were setting up on Sparks Street, downtown Ottawa’s pedestrian mall. Poutinefest, […]
The Church of St. John
A few years ago Sundays here featured a different church each week, one that I had visited on overseas travels. I’m not sure why I stopped, and today sems like a good day to share some photos that I had forgotten about. The Church of St. John, Johanneskirche, is a Roman Catholic church just outside […]
A Huge Milestone
Today, Saturday September 2, 2023 is a big day for my family. My wife’s aunt, the family matriarch, turns 100. This is no small achievement. She was born in the turbulence of the Weimar Republic, lived through the Great Depression, survived World War Two, had a successful teaching career, traveled the world and has spent […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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