Category: Place & Space
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Tyndall Stone: Hidden in Plain Sight
A few weeks back I was taking my morning coffee on the expansive patio of a friend’s house in Winnipeg. My bare feet had graced this space a number of times, but I had not, until just then, grasped the obvious: I was walking on fossils – a LOT of fossils – which are 450 million years… Read more
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Wild Treasure
We crossed the Vermillion River and pulled off onto the shoulder as instructed. “Look for sunny hills,” he told me. “Really, they’re everywhere. I’ve heard it’s a great season.” It was going to be women’s work – girl’s work too – crouched under the July sun, nestled in the shrubby groundcover, squinting for treasure. There were… Read more
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Bethesda Terrace’s Magical Minton Ceiling
Like other great cities, New York is a museum unto itself. It is possible to visit and never set foot inside any building – save for your hotel – and come away filled to the aesthetic brim. It’s all eye candy: the people, the architecture, the street art, the signs of wear, seasonal changes, the movement of everything, the… Read more
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Willie G. and the Street Poets of New York
Update: Wille G. passed away yesterday, 07 April 2015. May his poetic soul Rest in Peace. Before I met Willi G no one had ever tried to sell poetry to me on the street. Paintings, prints, photography, statuary and every manner of trinket, yes. Poetry, no. Willi approached me as I ascended out of Bethesda Terrace, introduced… Read more
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Bill Cunningham Facades
Unless you’re a regular reader of The New York Times or part of the city’s high society or fashion elite, it’s possible – even probable – that you’ve never heard of Bill Cunningham. Bill has been described as a “pixie on a bicycle,” riding around the streets of New York in his fail-safe uniform of khakis… Read more
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But I Digress
Digress: To deviate. Go off on a tangent. Get off the subject. Get sidetracked. Stray. Wander. That’s me. Last week I caught myself apologizing for repeated digressions in a vivid conversation with some fascinating friends. Mid-sentence I stopped myself, realizing how ridiculous it is to apologize for an impulse that radiates from my heart and soul. I… Read more
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The Road Less Travelled in Lanark County: Part 1
It was that time of the day – post-sugar bush, pre-ice cream – when every mother recognizes the limitations of adding any more stops on a roadtrip. The kids, at that point, could go either way. 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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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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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