Years ago, when I worked for Canada Post in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, I was instructed that the regulations of the Universal Postal Union required that mail to another country had to be sent to that country by the most direct route possible. Thus, if we received mail addressed to Boston we were not to send … Continue reading Does the U.S. Postal Service know where Canada is?
geography
Stamp collecting
I collected stamps when I was a boy. It was a fascinating and inexpensive hobby. Many stores sold packets of used stamps for less than a dollar, either mixed or sorted by country or theme. One could also buy from mail order stamp companies. If one had the money to spend there were more expensive … Continue reading Stamp collecting
Where is Ottawa?
Judith Adler teaches a course on families and the cultural traditions of families the world over at Memorial University of Newfoundland. A few years ago she began to suspect that her students had no idea where some of the places she was talking about actually were. So she gave them a quiz. The quiz consisted … Continue reading Where is Ottawa?
The decline and fall of public education
Chris was 17 when we got married and had just finished Grade 11. She enrolled in Grade 12 that fall and rode the school bus to the nearest large town with a high school. It didn’t last long — she was in a new community where she didn’t know any of her fellow students, she … Continue reading The decline and fall of public education
Flatlander Faith 