Tag Archives: Ottawa

Reflections

This post ran one year ago today in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Parliament Hill. The question raised, the striking of a balance between justice (which may at times be more vengeance) and love remains a difficult one. The natural response is to strike back at those who hurt you. The Christian imperative […]

One Year Later

It was one year ago today that a lone terrorist attacked the National War Memorial in Ottawa and then the Parliament Buildings. That day had a profound impact on not just this city but on our country. I wrote three posts on the subject immediately following the incident (including while locked down if you click […]

Small Town Medicine

Hospitals are not my favourite places, neither to be in nor to visit. I’m not a fan of being sick, nor spending much time with sick people. For the most part, with my family and friends being healthy, I manage to avoid hospitals. I’ve convinced myself that when someone does get sick they really don’t […]

Another Walk In The Woods

A beautiful Thanksgiving weekend, perfect for taking in the fall foliage. Still not as many reds in the trees as usual at this time of year and a lot more green. The temperatures have been warmer than normal for this time of year, which I guess slows the colour change down. The parking lot was […]

UnReal Estate!

We pulled over to the side of the road so I could check the real estate listing on my phone. Given the area of town I thought I had a fairly good idea of what the house should be listed for. It was just idle curiosity. I had no intention of buying it. Too small […]

Back To Mer Bleue

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the leaves haven’t changed colour yet, and we had an hour between engagements, so we headed back to Mer Bleue. Last Sunday we had walked one of the forest trails. Yesterday, with less available time, we chose the boardwalk that  goes over a marsh and peat bog. It was […]

Another Sunday Stroll

I have occasionally rhapsodized here about the joy of living in Ottawa with its hundreds of kilometres of walking trails and who knows how many hectares of urban forest. Okay, somebody knows the exact numbers for both but I’m not going to look it up. I was raised with acres, I have no idea how […]

CityFolk IV – Wet Sheepdogs

I love The Sheepdogs. I hate the Sheepdogs. I’m ambivalent about The Sheepdogs. I can’t make up my mind. The Sheepdogs, if you are not aware, are a rock band from Saskatchewan that first came to prominence in their attempts to win a contest for independent bands, with the prize being a spot on the […]

CityFolk III – Why Bother?

Maybe it’s being in a crowd that does it. Or a general narcissism in our culture. But it was definitely in evidence Friday as Van Morrison delivered a strong set at CityFolk 2015. This was the big event of the festival. There were more people there than the previous two nights combined. Anticipation was high, […]

Cityfolk II – Confessions Of A Music Junkie

Once upon a time music pretty much defined my life. From waking to sleeping I was always listening to something. That isn’t the case anymore. If I have the radio on I am more likely to be listening to public affairs programming than to music. I still listen to a lot of music though; I […]