Category: History & Heritage
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Hiking the Legend of Grey Owl
I remember a friend saying that kids are special when they’re little, but that every age holds the promise of something new. My eldest son, D, now twelve years old, and I headed out for a seventeen kilometre roundtrip hike to Grey Owl’s cabin in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, something he wasn’t ready for… Read more
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Not Your Folks’ NFB, For Sure
In early elementary school I distinctly remember seeing the National Film Board (NFB) production of Nahanni on one of those days, I’m guessing, when the teacher needed a break from the usual. The black and white images of buddy chasing his dream of striking gold on the Nahanni river in the Northwest Territories stuck with… Read more
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Restoration
One of my favourite summer experiences took place in one of Winnipeg’s roughest neighbourhoods. On a drive around town, I spotted the most amazing mosaic mural under construction in a most unlikely location. I made an illegal left turn into an empty parking lot and jumped out with my camera in hand. I happily snapped… Read more
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Bon Echo: Natural Inspirations (and Aspirations)
My foothold is tenon’d and mortised in granite/I laugh at what you call dissolution/And I know the amplitude of time. – WALT WHITMAN, 1819-1919, carved on a rock face at Bon Echo Provincial Park, Mazinaw (Massanoga), Ontario I am intrigued by, and not a little envious of, the concept of an artists’ retreat anchored deep… Read more
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Prairie Love
My father’s 80th birthday and a 2,200 kilometre drive brought us to a family reunion in the middle of Canada. We’ve tooted around the province and Winnipeg marks the finale. Another day of relentless blue skies and the city continues to surprise me with its ubiquitous public art, wealth of classic architecture, and intriguing tapestry… Read more
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Picture Perfect
Patricia McCarney and I are related and unrelated at the same time. Three summers ago she knocked on my front door. “I’m Patricia McCarney,” she said. “This house was in my family for more than fifty years.” “I know,” I replied, inviting her in. “I’ve been expecting you.” She told me that she woke that… Read more
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The Secret Life of Houses and Other Buildings
Don’t know why exactly it has taken so many years for me to finally attend the Doors Open Ottawa event. Whatever the reason I suspect it would also explain my lack of participation to date in the glorious Jane’s Walk events, too. Seems the dates never make it onto my calendar and then poof! they… Read more
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A Modern Man’s Opinion
I like a good debate. Not the lunkenhead talk radio scream-a-rama sort, but the interesting, informed, progressive kind. I not only want to hear about the flip side of an issue, I actually want to be convinced by the opposing argument in order to shed my current belief around a topic or at least see… Read more
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At Home: A Short History of Private Life
I just finished Bill Bryson’s new book At Home: A Short History of Private Life. I’d say I’d read it cover to cover but it was, in fact, my first e-book experience. It was a good choice for this format due to its easygoing writing style and non-linear content. There was no cognitive penalty for… Read more
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The More Things Change
This past summer I spent way more time than I cared to attending council meetings, writing letters and talking to neighbours about a proposed Heritage Conservation District (HCD) for our tiny historic hamlet, when I really needed to be up on the scaffolding. I am hardly anti-heritage but I also don’t believe that the benefits… Read more