Georgetown, Ontario, 1962, Chapel Street School: Skipping Grade 5…a crippling blow My grade skipping saga began oh so long ago, in 1961, when I was in 4th grade. Back in the day, kids were routinely “skipped” if deemed academically meritorious by some individual or board. This fate was my social undoing. During first term in..
Reigning cats…and dogs When I was a small child, I had the gooiest of soft spots for all animal creatures, fictional or otherwise. Every night before bed, my dad would read me a story featuring the little forest and meadow people of Thornton W. Burgess, including Grandfather Frog, Jimmy Skunk, Johnny Chuck, Jerry Muskrat, Paddy..
Speech to the Ottawa Transit Commission at City Hall November 25,2024 Here are a few excerpts from my speech to the Ottawa Transit Commission at City Hall yesterday. Anne and I were protesting the proposed 120% hike for a monthly seniors’ bus pass slated for 2025. The entire five-minute speech is on YouTube at 3:09:25..
The Library saved my life: the chronicles of a brand-new denizen of the Ottawa public library scene Did you know that October is Canadian Library Month? Here’s a little story in honour of Library Month… “A room without books is like a body without a soul” -Marcus Tullius Cicero Growing up in Georgetown, Ontario in..
Reminding me of why I fear the tomb: Fall 2024 Lac Saint-Joseph Quebec Photo Lac Saint-Joseph Quebec Taken by Lorne Coughlin Nothing Gold Can Stay Robert Frost 1874 –1963 Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So..
Armageddon revisited …The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” – Hindu Scripture My parents began hoarding industrial quantities of tinned food and cumbersome sacks of powdered milk in October 1962. They spoke in hushed tones about our imminent demise. Nuclear war was all but inevitable. At 10..
Turning into a pumpkin: Canadian Thanksgiving 2024 Awakening from a turbulent dream within a dream, So dreaming still, I found myself for a brief shining moment In a glowing paradise of pumpkins. A disembodied voice whispered portentously, “ Weary pilgrim, you are about to turn into a pumpkin… Eternally.” Meaning and origin of..
Welcome to Hell… September 11, 2001 At 9:30 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the telephone rang in the office that I shared with my friend, the French teacher René Moisan. At the other end of the line was his daughter, Geneviève. “Have you seen the news?” she asked, with a peculiar catch in her..
Pet sitting and babysitting…we all have our stories… and our crosses to bear! For the next two weeks, I have been tasked with cat sitting while my son and daughter-in-law enjoy a vacation cruise. The cats’ names are Sassy and Mimi. Sassy is a furling dervish in a cat tuxedo, while Mimi is a purring..
My American Cousins, July 4, 1963, St. Albans Street on the corner of Church Street, Enosburg Falls, Vermont For Tammy MacBryde Farr Folding chairs and outdoor dining tables festooned with colorful paper table cloths were positioned at regular intervals across the vast corner yard of our cousin Robina MacBryde Randall’s Vermont home, like a series..