Baby and Bathwater Work Ahead (Italy #10)
The temperature is hot. Not quite the marks of 30 degrees Celsius recorded in August but warm. Patrons drink their orange-coloured Spritz in the cafes by the canals. At times I even abandon my Co...
Tag: transformation
Venetian Beauty (Italy #8)
Gaye, my wife, emerges from the Venezia Santa Lucia train station and is in love. Barely two steps out of the station, wonder appears: the Grand Canal, the Vaporetto stations, the bridges across ...
Get Off! (Italy #7)
The day following our rail strike adventure, we arrive at Florence’s Santa Maria Novella train station 30 minutes before our rescheduled departure. We are learning. Find the departures boar...
Dislocation Trumps Disturbance (Italy #5)
A train strike was announced the day before our scheduled trip on a fast train from Rome to Venezia. Wanting official advice, if not reassurance, we walked to Roma Termini and waited in a long li...
Beauty and Grace on a Roman Sidestreet (Italy #4)
I have a particular fondness for those who take the ordinary tools of life and turn them into art. Implements like knives, belt buckles, boots, paper, and pencils make the list. Fountain pens, in...
A Snip of La dolce vita (Italy #3)
James cut my hair for over 30 years. He recently dared to retire without considering the disruption this might inflict on my life. When talking about his retirement, he did not seem to exhibit any of ...
Sorry for Taking So Long to Post, eh.
Apparently, frequent use of the word "sorry" ranks as a distinguishing mark of a Canadian. Who knew, eh? Expressions of regret are not just a Canadian quirk. Some research into the frequency...
Eureka! The Adventure of Three Time Tested Pursuits
In her book and TED talk My Failed Mission to Find God - and What I Found Instead, Anjali Kumar postulates that we generally yearn for three things: health, happiness, and love. At...
Crafting Passionate, Deep Relationships That Yield Joy and Wonder
Our eight-year-old granddaughter Grace carries a gene I do not possess - an interest in fashion. She wants to learn to sew. At the fates allow, Grandma’s friend Jacquie, an excellent seamstress, ...
Daring acts of rebellion crammed with moments of wonder, awe and struggle
The opening bars of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas transport me back six decades. Instantaneously and unintentionally, I land in the small two-bedroom house of my childhood, sitting with my back l...