I know that Heritage Day or its equivalent is coming in early in August for many locations. It’s a time to celebrate who we are; our culture, food, sports, dance, music and more. What a vibrant diversity of sights, sounds and tastes! If I could place one object in a museum to help future generations…

I will be different, or at least I hope so. I think it will be impossible to go back to the old normal. Almost without exception, we have suffered losses; jobs, income, relationships, loved ones, health, naivety, and a lot of ignorance. I highlight the trend during the pandemic for issues to be seen as…

I am amazed and oh, so grateful. The pandemic is about 18 months old.  Before the pandemic, the world did not have a vaccine for protection against a virus. Imagine, just for a moment, what our world would be like if no vaccine had been created to combat covid-19. It is too horrible, and I…

 I’ve heard this expression frequently, during the pandemic. It isn’t as simple as it first appears to be. I thought a reflection about our country this July is timely. Turtle Island is an Indigenous reference to all of North America. This transcends western political boundaries. Most Indigenous people use the expression ‘Indigenous people in Canada”…

I try every day to be a better person than I was yesterday. In particular, I make an effort to be better if a similar setting presents itself – a second chance. Many years ago, I was with my family on an 8-hour drive south to Edmonton. The highway is often straight for many kilometres…

I am writing this when Alberta, my province of residence, has the worst number of new cases per 100,000 of any jurisdiction, province or state in North America. Please take what is useful and leave the rest. I wanted to share some of the ways I’m staying safer. Note the term is relative. I never…

I know that World Elder Abuse Day is mid-June each year. I find it hard to get my mind around that world concept. To put greater meaning to this important topic, I need to make it small, more intimate in scope. I approached the problem by making the term ‘ELDERABUSE’ an acronym. E: Education-I need…

I’ve had a life-long struggle of interrupting people I’m speaking with. I do this because I think I know what they will say, or I’m afraid I’ll forget what I want to say. This hasn’t improved with age, despite my best efforts to date. I’m quietly embarrassed when I behave this way, and I need…

I know the sports cliché of leaving everything out on the field. Essentially it means you used up all your available physical and mental resources during the competition. A winning effort was thought to be achieved because of that sacrifice. A losing outcome was felt to be noble, given the effort. I’ll return to personal…