Raise-a-Reader

Today is Raise-a-Reader day, the one day amid 365 when Canadian attention is focused on fund-raising to support literacy programs. As a teacher I know there are many children in our society that struggle with reading and comprehension issues, but I was dismayed to discover statistics that say 22% of adults in Canada have serious [...]

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Seasonal Reminiscing

A friend of mine dreads autumn because it heralds the coming of winter, which she hates. To me that’s like not wanting summer to come because Thanksgiving will follow, or disliking spring rains because of the impending summer’s heat. At first glance it’s irrational. I do understand, however, that for this friend winter means more [...]

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Black and White and Colours of the Rainbow

I was cleaning out a drawer (well, ‘cleaning’ is a relative term… I was looking for something and it required moving stuff around in a messy drawer) and I came across a few errant felt markers that belong in my craft box. While inserting them into their proper container I took care to put each [...]

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Taken For Granted

There are words that writers are encouraged to avoid, notably time-worn clichés that suggest a lack of verbal originality. ‘Taken for granted’ is a phrase that is terribly overused, but I suspect one of the reasons may be that no other words convey its meaning as aptly. It’s the phrase that leapt into my mind [...]

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Bring on the Lemonade!

While autumn is still officially three weeks away, Labour Day weekend pretty much signals the end of summer. Today most vacations are over, schools reopen and a new season of back-to-routine begins. Aagghh!!!
 
I’m not finished with summer yet. In fact, I still haven’t completed the spring cleanup of my garden beds, or, for that matter, [...]

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