What do you want to be when you grow up?

When I was growing up in the 1950’s, the older generation had scraped and scrabbled to survive the depression and they wanted their children to have a better life. The key to that was to get a good education so you could be someone who could make a living without working hard. Maybe that wasn’t … Continue reading What do you want to be when you grow up?

Blood lines

I received my DNA test results yesterday, then signed up for a 14 day free trial  with ancestry.ca. I spent the rest of the day filling in the gaps in my family tree with the information they already have on file from kinfolk near and far. It's a fascinating exercise. I am a mix of … Continue reading Blood lines

Clouds – the welcome and the not so welcome.

And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them. Job 37:21 Our land is dry and thirsty; clouds in the sky lift our hopes. We are sad when they only dampen the ground as they pass over. Others not far away have been blessed … Continue reading Clouds – the welcome and the not so welcome.

Facing up to the bull

One year in my late teens I spent several months working for farmers. I drove the truck for one during harvest. Then I spent a month on a cattle farm, putting up hay, fixing fences, things like that. The fences were in bad shape. The first day, the big Hereford bull walked through the fence … Continue reading Facing up to the bull

Meeting God in His Word

I grew up in a home where the Bible was read every day and we attended the Anglican Church every Sunday. I became a member of that church when I was 11; a few years later I became an altar boy and continued faithfully until I moved away from home to attend university. There was … Continue reading Meeting God in His Word

I’m back

Thank you to all those who kept checking this blog over the past two weeks, looking for some sign of life. I did give some small signs that I was sill around, but not as much as I wished to do. In the beginning I was bogged down with fiscal year end catch up work … Continue reading I’m back

Peacemakers

We took a trip yesterday to visit my cousin Paul We being my wife and I plus our daughter and her husband. Somehow Michelle and Ken have never met Paul, although he and his wife live only two and a half hours away. Maybe it's because we older cousins mostly meet and visit at funerals. … Continue reading Peacemakers

Don’t take your vision for granted

I wasn't seeing quite as clearly as I thought I should, but it was difficult to discern just what the problem was. My glasses, perhaps? At the end of last week, when part of a line of text would drop down on the line below, I knew what was happening. Macular degeneration had come again … Continue reading Don’t take your vision for granted

A lesson learned

  When we lived in Ontario we often visited the farmers markets in and around Kitchener-Waterloo (there were three). Then we moved to Montréal and found markets that were even more wonderful, especially the Marché Jean-Talon. Now we are back in Saskatchewan and like to visit the Saskatoon Farmers Market;  except we live out of … Continue reading A lesson learned

Family

We can choose our friends, but we can’t choose our family. We can conceal things about our past from our friends, but our family knows the real story. And we know theirs. My cousin Ted was 80 on Thursday. Friday evening a few of us got together to celibrate and share memories. Ted’s next older … Continue reading Family