Author: Andrea Cordonier
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Illuminating Atlas Obscura
In an age where everything seems to have been explored and there is nothing new to be found, we celebrate a different way of looking at the world. ~ Atlas Obscura While I have zero interest in becoming the Mayor of Subway or checking in at my local drinking hole, I am in the throes of an… Read more
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The Bells That (Really Do) Toll for Thee
And I thought how like these chimes Are the poet’s airy rhymes, All his rhymes and roundelays, His conceits, and songs, and ditties, From the belfry of his brain, Scattered downward, though in vain, On the roofs and stones of cities! For by night the drowsy ear Under its curtains cannot hear, And by day men go their ways, Hearing the music as they pass, But deeming it no more, alas! Than the hollow sound of brass. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – from Carillon, 1845 ********* Every Sunday at 9:00am, some blessed soul pulls the rope to ring the bell at the tiny Anglican church at the top of our street, gathering the congregation. On midsummer days the doors are… Read more
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Take A Smile (And Pass it On)
I have to be upfront and admit this is not my original idea. But in the spirit of stealing like an artist – and in the interest of doling out a little communal joy – I’ve posted this at our local mailboxes. After such a long, cold winter, we could all use one or two… Read more
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The Drawers of Lola Rosa
I can’t help but stare. The young waiter with curly dark hair and a pencil thin moustache is a dead ringer for my cousin, Paul, a mirror of his youthful days in the ’70’s. It’s uncanny. Turns out he’s from B.C. (we’re getting closer), but not from Kamloops, home of Paul and my extended family.… Read more
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Frozen
Still, it’s our first time on an ice bridge and our natural instinct says it’s unnatural to walk across a body of water, even if it is frozen. Read more
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A Luddite Wife, Her Techie Husband and the Nest
Being the loving, thoughtful, sensitive, unselfish, supportive – not to mention smart and beautiful – wife that I am, I bought Husband a Nest programmable thermostat last Father’s Day. High on his list of wants, but non-existent on mine, I caved to the (arguably gratuitous) technology purchase because gift-giving is about the other person and… Read more
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Sleeping With Our Friends
Family connexions were always worth preserving, good company always worth seeking. ~ Jane Austen, Persuasion, 1818 For years I’ve coveted the custom, lifted from Jane Austen novels, of extended stays in the homes of friends and acquaintances. Up rolled the carriages and out flowed the people for a week or more of dinners, recitals, game-playing,… Read more
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Would You Let This Man in Your House?
And what I’ve been reminded of is this: Strangers give something, take something and create something utterly unique for each of us. They are our Scheherezades and our Solomons. They are not stones that we trip over, but the treasure we search for. Read more
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What the Cat Saw
The cat didn’t see the dust particles in the air or the untrimmed doorways. The cat didn’t see the laundry to be folded or last night’s dishes. The cat saw the intensely low winter sun streaming through the windows, strewing deep velvet shadows in its wake. She saw it slowly radiate across her favourite tables… Read more
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The Lost Villages of the St. Lawrence
The vintage homes and buildings look picturesque and inviting under the winter sky. They’re clustered together, in traditional village style, interlaced with Christmas-like trees frosted with snow. But what I see is not a real village. The clapboard church, barbershop, school and other buildings grouped by the side of County Rd. 2, near Long Sault,… Read more