Blog # 177...May 2026

Despite having a pretty low tech household, there seem to be a number of disembodied voices that keep me company. My bluetooth speaker murmurs softly when I turn my computer off, I can't quite make out what it says, maybe, have a good sleep, or, you should really do something about those cuticles. It's taken me some time to realize that voices approaching me from behind on the street are likely from a person having a phone conversation and not responding to imaginary voices. I listened to one of the latter this morning and decided that if I had to live on the street, I'd probably be yelling  obscenities too.

The CBC brings welcome voices int my life, I start weekdays with The Current and end with Ideas, Saturday morning I catch up on political shenanigans with The House. On Sundays, I eat breakfast with Sunday Magazine and lunch with Bookends.  Most of my blog features are gathered from those sources...just so you know.                                                                                                                    Other regular voices are accompanied by faces, Jon Stewart breezes in with a weekly breath of fresh air from the US and Christiane Amanpour, safe in the UK, brings her perspective on what's going on in her homeland of Iran.  Occasionally Bill Nighy pops in with Ill Advised, and most days Rebecca and Richard fromThe Daily Mail distract me for a few minutes with Palace Confidential. What a houseful!

Speaking of disembodiment, there seems to be a moving away from dating apps to in person meretings.  These  meetups sprung up in NYC in the nervous atmosphere after the attack on the World Trade Centre...9/11. I mentioned a few blogs ago going to a Death Cafe where the urge to talk about death seemed sondary to wanting to gather in a group. Lots of ways to come together  are emerging to meet our human instinct to be with each other.  It's a healthy sign, all that anonymous swiping would make me nuts if I were in the dating game.  

A Michael Fliess photo

On our way to see the David Blackwood show at the AGO recently, my eye was caught by this piece by Allison Katz. She's captured something interesting and amusing that speaks to me of many things - our relationship to art, our feelings as women and life itself.  She's new to me  and I'll start watching for her work. I could have stayed looking at her collection all afternoon but my friends reminded me that we had  come to see David Blackwood so I tore myself away.

It was totally worth it. David Blackwood is new to me too. Descending from  generations of sea captains in Newfoundland, the North Atlantic is in his bloo and his paintings.  They capture its beauty and power as well as the the flora and fauna of the surrounding land, I could almost feel the salt spray. He's also known for the unique print technique he developed called intaglio  that produced beautiful etchings.  What a treat it was to discover both of these woderful Canadian artists.

 There's joy in discovering a new writer too. Early in the days of the self help and improvement titles that now crowd the shelves of bookstores, Harriet Lerner captured our attention with Dance of Anger. She cotinued to dance with Fear, Intimacy, Connection and Deception. Her son Ben has inherited the writing gene  and uses his talent for both novels and poetry, winning Canada's Griffin Prize in 2019. I've just finished his second novel,  10:04,  (the title refers to the time appearing on a clock in a film) in which the protagonist has Marfan's Syndrome, a condition that, although not very noticeable or fatal, affects a life. Ben share's his mother's interest in physicality and its link to behaviour and explores how the character's situation plays ot. Blending personal details with fiction,which Ben does, unsettles a lot of people but for me it's usually engaging and I don't mind a bit of challenge and uncertainty.

I posted about music in Powell River a while ago and they're in the news again. The town was founded on Indigenous land, its People displaced and the town was named after an early white settler. It was an era of cultural assimilation, and now in more sensitive times, the original inhabitants are asking for the original name to be restored. It raises the sticky matter of name replacement. On one hand, the rights should be respected but on the other hand, could retaining the imposed name offer an opportunity to talk about the wrongs that were done... Sometimes though, there is no other hand and as with much of life, it's complicated.  Namesake, a documentary appearing at this year's HotDocs festival in Toronto explores this, watch for it on a screen near you. 

It's raining very hard as I'm writing this, many places are flooding, hopefully not my basement!  I think and worry about water and love listening to The Great Lakes Suite, just put out by The  Rheostatics, celebrating the five expanses of it that define so much of our border with the US.  The music and narrative are a meditation, with the poignant voices of Tanya Tagaq and the late Gord Downie warming my heart. A more chilling view from Louise Penny's latest Gamache novel, The Black Wolf looks at a plot south of the border to take our water, wishing I could unread this!  

I think April is World Poetry Month, and if it isn't, it should be. My friends know how I love limericks, and I thought of writing one for you, but decided to share one of my favourites from Dorothy Parker, a forerunner of Hip Hop. not technically a limerick, but close enough.

"Oh life is a gay and glorious song,
A medley of extemporanea.
And love is a thing that can never go wrong,
And I am Marie of Roumania.”

There are scads of birthdays in May, if yours is one of them, count your blessings and have a happy day.

 See you in June and don't forget what arrives tomorrow.

Blog # 176..April, 2026

 I started this blog thinking it was a one of, but then kept going as there I kept noticing how art enriches and reflects our lives. It's sort of taken on a life of its own, veering into hope...the two things have much in common.

Panya Clark Espinal encourages us through her art to look at our surroundings more carefully  and feel differently about them. Her installations enhance many corners of Toronto, including the Bayview TTC station on the Sheppard line. She's an  artist to watch as she honours both the present and the past with inventiveness.  In I am Your Window, her current exhibition at the MKG127  gallery, she's ventured into weaving, referencing the art of her grandmother Paraskeva  Clark,  The actual tablecloth that appears in one of Paraskeva's canvases is placed beside the painting, both of which form part of Panya's childhood memories.  Different renderings of the pattern form the centre of this small but stunning show, full of craft, memory and love.

My cousin Billy gets a shout out for sending me a clipping from a Georgian Bay magazine that featured a cousin of our grandmother's. Jay Blairwas a well loved and eccentric figure from our  childhoods as well as those of our fathers. He lived well into his 90's without having conventional work, but was always totally occupied with his passions. He was well known as an amateur archeologist, devoting himself to searching for relics of previous inhabitants of the area around his home in Duntroon and reaching as far as  Midland and Penetang. The Royal Ontario Museum has several of his finds on display As a side hustle, he created new varieties of fruit by grafting plum branches o.nto apple trees, coming up with some pretty weird results that he delighted in showing us when we'd visit.

March brought the Paralympics which always engage me more than the big show. The games that feature people with a range of disabilities have slowly entered the public sphere much as people themselves have done.  In one of my many lives, I made documentary films, focusing on my experience with people with disabilities.  The first one, FREE DIVE, was about a group of kids in wheelchairs who had started a snorkel and scuba club. I learned many things from them, including how important it is to engage in something where they can be just one of the gang. The short version had a theatrical release across Canada in 1981, if you're interested and have 7 minutes to spare, you can view it at https://youtu.be/AN91JtDwCJQ

 What a mix of joy and sadness to see Joni Mitchell, that incredible genius of poetic expression struggling with the language to express her gratitude at being honoured with Juno's Lifetime Achievement Award. An aneurysm robbed her of some of her physical ability but her spirit and courage brought a lift to my heart and a tear to my eye.

Despite the balmy weather that's arrived, visions of the art that we saw in the bleak midwinter at the National Gallery in Ottawa occasionally pass across my screen, especially the wall with the many Inuit words for snow. A psychiatrist friend who spent time working in Iqaluit discovered that they had no word for depression, called it, thinking a lot and crying.

After the April showers, we'll have May flowers, see you then.il

Blog # 175...March 2026                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

One winter morning many years ago, my next door neighbour Lesley called excitedly to tell me there was a snowy owl perched on the roof of the hoiese across the laneway from us. I rushed out on the 3rd floor deck without stopping for a coat amd watched until freezing set in.                                    When I shared this amazing experience with my friend Robert, he gave me this photo, taken near Collingwood where we used to ski.                           I've had many pets over the years...this one sits quietly over my desk as I'm writing this, not demanding anything but my admiration

                                                                     February has been Black History Month with some  great art in the subway stations, and attention directed to contributions made by Balck citizens that may have gone unnoticed. I was touched by many of the stories featured on CBCand spent some time imagining the early Black residents who settled my neighbourhood. Deborah Brownand her family lived several doors away, I wish I'd had a chance to know them. 

Artificial intelligence is all over the air waves these days, accomplishing both good and evil, There's much pondering whether it will ever take over and leave us floundering in the.dust.  I heard an interview with science and nature writer Michael Pollen recently about his latest book, A World Appears... journey into consciousness. It looks encouraging as he reminds us that our brains have distinct areas of thinking and feeling, unique to each indiividual, and difficult to replicate, unlike computers with hardware and interchangeable software. He explores the mysteries of consciousness combining insights from a broad range of fields, including neuroscience, philosophy,  literature, and the study of psychedelics. It's all about our favourite subject, ourselves, and sounds like a worthwhile read.

Nadya Tolokonnikova, a member of the brave activist gill band Pussy Riot, ventured out of exile  recently to bring an interesting show on tour. She uses her art to channel her rage and frustration towards her native Russia and how it treats its citizens. The ICE activities going on in the US couldn't help reminding her of the repression and brutality that forced her too leave her country.

Church parking lot on a 19th cetury Sunday

I promised to share impressions of the show of winter art at Ottawa's National Gallery\last month. Since we're g.hrough a winter that seems endless, it was great to be cosy inside and admiring the beauty of winter captured in  paintings and sculptires...a sort of hygge (remember that?) Whole rooms were devoted to winter light and abstractions, those wonderful shapes created by snow and ice

There were many highlights, I particularly loved a piece by Kathleen Moir Morris, a Quebec artist who painted with the Beaver Hall group and whose talent surpassed her disablement  with cerebral palsy.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Indigenous artis are well represented with a room devoted to clothing created and worn to survive the cold, sleds and implements to hunt and cook.The walls of the final room of the show are lined with the many words for snow, my favourite was snowdrift caused by wind.                                                    

March brings longer days of light, International Women's Day, the ides, St Patrick's Day and the first day of Spring, and time to begin to think of filing your income tax...something for everyone..                                                                                  I'm always aided in getting this blog out, John Bilodeau, who got me started all those years ago, and is always there when I get caught up in technical tngles.  And Margeret Adamson, who has been contributing her eagle eyes for the past six months to send out work free of typos.. Thanks to them and to so many of you who tell me that you find ithe bloginteresting...I love writing it!  See you next month.

 Blog # 174...February, 2026

Well, we've taken a bite of the new year, bittersweet so far,  predictables and surprising, many elephants lumbering around the room, keeping me awake at night...business as usual.

I mentioned, Hope in Action, last month and I'm now reading it. I've always been interested in Finland, visited a number of times and had some long term close friends there. I've been struck by some similarities to Canada, two official languages, many lakes and forests and northern regions  stretching to the Arctic. They also share a long border with a large super power, theirs took Karelia, a large chunk of their land in 1942, ours is threatening. Reading Sanna Marin's memoir has given me a totally new look at the country from the inside and helped put some hope in action myself.  

Sanna became Prime Minister of Finland in 2019, at the age of 34, bringing together a coalition government with 5 parties, Left, Right , Centre, Green and Swedish, all led by women, all but one under 40. She's open about being raised by a single mother in a same sex relationship, surrounded by the LGBT community,  Her memoir tracks her involvement from an early age and includes many candid looks at the political process, both inside her country and in the many EU agencies and committees on which she served. I'm loving it.

Politics and hockey are both pretty hyper masculine settings and it's comforting to see some push back against the two sex only rules being enacted south of our border. The TV series, Heated Rivalry, has attracted huge audiences around the world, in communities both straight and gay, sports loving and not so much. I'm lacking the equipment to see it, but will figure something out to deal with that.

Watching the world spin into disorder sometimes seems like some cruel version of whack a mole (not to be confused with guac a mole which is delicious).   Ukraine, Gaza. Sudan, Venezuela, Iran, and othe troubled spots, not to mention Minneapolis! Two speeches in Davos, ours and theirs.  And Greenland, which evokes memories for me, not just from a few days spent there but from Peter Hoeg's 1964 novel,  Smila's Sense of Snow. A young indigenous woman from Greenland struggles with life in Copenhagen. We're not the only people with a history of treating our first nations brothers and sisters badly  

In the Cree language, when they ask someone's age, it translates as,"How many winters do you have?:  The National Gallery, as well as stirring up political scandal,  has been busy putting up, Winter Art, a vast and ambitious show featuring artists from around the world...Kurelek to Kandinsky, Monet to Monkman. I'm planning a trip to Ottawa in February, so I will tell you all about it in March. In the meantime, Katherine May’s book, Wintering, offers rest and retreat in difficult times..

 Blog # 173...January 2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Some things that made me happy in 2025:                                                       

Hearing an interview with Sanna Marin who at 34 became leader of the Social  Democrats and Prime Minister of Finland in 2019. She led her country through COVID and their application to NATO, resigning in 2023 to write Hope in Action,  a memoir of her time in office...it's on my reservation list at the TPL.                        

Discovering Patti Smith, a punk rock musician as far as I knew, is actually a fascinating, curious person of substance. She's widely read and travelled from Tokyo to Tangier, Berlin to Broadway. She's sought after to appear in such widely diverse corners  as the Continental Drift Club who honour the work of Alfred Wegener, and Casa Azul, the home of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I've read M Train, one of her memoirs and am heading for others.                                              

Remembering Oliver Sacks and liking him even more after reading the revealing profile  in the New Yorker.  

Amassing a collection of authors whose work is available on audio books, Colm Toibin, Susan Orlean, Barbara Kingsolver, Jonathan Kellerman. I've grown to love audiobooks, many people like to listen while they drive, work out or run, for me it's replacing my failing eyes. Being read to is also comfortingly regressive and relaxing, no need to hold a book and turn pages.

Reading biographies, which I've mentioned before, lets me in on the lives of people I've never met, but who have caught my interest. Something in their experiences may resonate with mine, or not. I'm also liking getting to know recurring characters in crime fiction, like Alex Delaware, a psychologist who collaborates with Lieutenant Milo Sturgess solving LA homicides. It's a bit like spending time with old friends in a one-sided way, I can sort of see the appeal of AI connections.   

I'm trying to expand my view of Canada and the world and love thinking of the music going on in Powell River, the BC town that struggles to survive the closing of the paper mill a couple of years ago. Luckily there was music established there already, and it was aided by Dutch cellist Arthur Arnold who left his position as Music Director of the Moscow Symphony when Russia invaded Ukraine. He's doing great things in this small vibrant community.

I was thrilled to hear that Dave Bidini, founder and editor of the West End Phoenix. a community newspaper in Toronto, and  the Rheostatics celebrated the band's 45th anniversary with The Great Lakes Suite. It stakes a claim and honours the huge bodies of water that centre our country. It includes a poem read by the late Gord Downey and a performance by throat singer TanyaTagaq. We began the year with our elbows up and we're keeping them there.

So those are some of the things that helped counteract all the chaos, meanness and inequity that social media delivers so relentlessly, news broadcasts too. 

Last time I checked, February comes next, see you then. 

 

 Blog #172... December 2025

November is the darkest month, or the cruelest month and it's also a month for remembering. In Mexico it's the Day of the Dead, and here we honour combatants killed in wars. Although we're still in the decade of the pandemic, it's somehow receded into distant memory, one of the weird things about it. 

 Margaret Atwood's been all over the airwaves since her memoir Book of Lives appeared. I picked up her Fourteen Days, and discovered a fascinating production. Commissioned by the Authors Guild Foundation as a fundraiser for writers who lost income due to COVID, and edited by Atwood, it's a collaborative  novel with contributions from 35 writers from the US and Canada. Taking place over 2 weeks in early April, 2020 in a rather seedy NYC apartment building, the tenants meet each evening on the roof to applaud health care workers, and to tell stories.  It's early days of lock downs and there's much talk of distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper...and death. Margaret Atwood presides like a wise and witty Scheherazade over the piece and it took me back to how it was in that time that seems so long ago.

This eventful November began with the excitement of game 7 of the World Series. The emotional intensity was too much for me and although I usually lean towards stimulating reading, I found myself sinking into Helen Humphrey's short novel  Followed by the Lark. She introduces a small boy named Henry who loves nature and, as he ages, gradually reveals that it's Thoreau...it was a perfect refuge for a few hours from the craziness of the world.

Susan Orlean has just released a biography called Joyride, a nice way to describe life.  Libraries and stories play a huge role in her life, as they do in mine, maybe yours too. In a recent interview, she mentioned that in Senegalese, the word for death means his/her library burned.  So, we could think of a life being made up of stories and when the physical form is gone, the stories remain.

Salman Rushdie also has a new book out that tells the most important story of his life. In 2022, he was stabbed while speaking in the outdoor amphitheatre at the Chautauqua Institute.  In The 11th Hour, both the title of his book and how he thinks of the stage of his life, he determines and examines what he chooses to value in the time he has left.

Our local library held a Death Cafe recently - seems a theme is \ emerging here. I decided to go ,not knowing what to expect, but curious.  My first surprise was the age of the other folks, probably mostly 40ish, and pretty equally boy/girl. After a very brief intro by an organizer, a random group of us gathered around one of the tables and got down to business remarkably quickly and easily. The conversation opened with expressions of a wish to connect with other people.  As we moved around the table introducing ourselves, individual issues emerged: the recent death of one man's wife, upcoming deaths of parents complicated by estrangement, a recent brush with a near fatal illness, a student of  thanatology.  I brought up how we avoid saying die, preferring passed away or deceased. I found the connections warm and gratifying but left the session with the slight uneasiness that there was unfinished material.  I hope it was the beginning for people to be open with their feelings, and support for continuing..

And finally, New York's often in the news, Uganda not so much, but two items caught my attention this morning, both about elections. New Yorkers chose Uganda born Zohran Mamdani to be their mayor and Nancy Kalembe has been elected Uganda's first female president. I visited my cousin Marney in Kampala in 2003 when she was working on a project that encouraged women to engage in politics. I wish she were still alive so I could share that news.  

 We'll meet again, God willing and the creeks don't rise, in 2026. In the meantime, take care, and find some ways to enjoy the holiday season.

And finally, New York's often in the news, Uganda not so much, but two items caught my attention this morning, both about elections. New Yorkers chose Uganda born Zohran Mamdani  to be their mayor and Nancy Kalembe has been elected Uganda's first female president. I visited my cousin Marnet in Kampala in 2003 when she was working on a project that encouraged women to engage in politics. I wish she was still alive so I could share  that news.  

 We'll meet again, God willing and the creeks don't rise, in 2026. In the meantime, take care, and find some ways to enjoy the holiday season.

 Blog # 171...November, 2025                                                                                            

 As I keep my eyes and ears open to the art around us, I'm starting to find the art of survival capturing my attention...so many challenges in so many places.  And I'm reminded of something I read about the activity and growth that occurs along the banks of a fast moving body of water, far from the rush of the mainstream. I think of that when I hear about a small creative initiative happening on the margin, like a small plant surviving in the rich soil and protected calmness at the edge of the rushing stream.

Artangel, located in the UK"produces extraordinary art in unusual places". In his book Mad, Bad and Dangerous, Colm Toibin takes us to an Artangel production in Oscar Wilde's cell in Reading Gaol to hear the prisoner's voice read De Profundis, his polemic directed to his former lover Bosey and the English upper classes. How's that for extraordinary and unusual!   Toibin's book explores the lives of Wilde, WB Yeats and James Joyce in the context of their time and families, particularly their fathers. If  you share my luxury of time and love of Irish literature, this book is a joy to read, as are two others by Toibin, The Magician, and The Master about Thomas Mann and  Henry Jamesm respectively. 

This morning, I heard Zita Cobb express her philosophy of connective tissue which she employs at Shorefast, her charitable foundation that operates the Fogo Island Inn off the shore of Newfoundland. Her example of a small community united by a small but successful business is an encouraging example of\ connective tissue, a concept close to Cobb's heart.  Makes me think of  the music initiative in Powell River, ready to pick up the pieces when the local mill closed..

Toronto hosted a music event recently that was a collaboration between a couple of unlikely partners. Dan Brown, in between best selling thrillers, has created a book for children featuring animals that's been made into a musical, produced by actor Viggo Mortensen. The performance was featured at the World Congress of Music, bringing children from different parts of the world together to perform, listen, learn and make friends.

I'm remembering Robert Redford and all the support he gave to indie film makers with the Sundance festival.  He was also a pretty good actor, I'm re-watching some of his films. his last one All is Lost is amazing, made when he was almost 80, doing all his own stunts!                                                                                                      I'm congratulating Sarah Mulhally, first woman to be Archbishop of Cantervury. And. I'm sending kudos to all the Toronto artists who make Toronto's Nuit Blanche such a spectacular event year after year.

I discovered the cause of the underlined website connections mentioned in the last blog and dismissed it.   And I've decided to change my attitude about all the  changes that appear on internet sites, you know when a button you always use in the bottom left corner disappears and after searching for 10 minutes you find it under 3 dots in the upper right cornnr. I'm going to consider it a chance to sharpen my wits. 

                Halloween on Markham Street, created by our neighbour Spencer,                                                                  photo by John Bilodeau

That's all for now, as the dark part of the year begins, keep looking for the cracks where the light comes in.  I'm posting a bit early to send good vibes out on the airways to the Blue Jays let's wrap it up tonight.     Go Jays!

Blog # 170...October, 2025

I know I've just posted for September, it's the 2nd today, but I just heard a wonderful 90 minute doc from Iqaluit on  The Current, CBC radio. I was particularly moved by how they speak of  how strongly they feel Canadian while clinging to their distinct culture despite the distance, the hardships and how neglected they are by the rest of us. It's so important to hear their voices as we struggle with our national identity... just saying. 

Don't you hate it when someone describes something you'd love to see, then says it's over? Well here goes - A production of Dear Liar at the Shaw Festival.  It's a wonderful two-hander starring wife and husband Marla Mclean and Graeme Somerville, based on letters exchanged by George Bernard Shaw and Lady Patrick Campbell during their long and tempestuous love affair. She was his muse and inspired him to write Pygmalion, casting her as Eliza Doolittle playing opposite  Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Henry Higgins in the London opening on April11,1914.  The play was impressive enough, but the setting was spectacular! The Spiegeltent was brought over from Belgium 3 years ago and has housed several dozen performances since - who knew? It's being returned at the end of this season, but will stay in my memory always, the photo only begins to capture it.

The art world took a bit of a rest over the summer, as we all did to live throughout the very hot days. There's always a September surge...the Toronto International Film Fest, Word on the Street and a lot of small local street events. Near where we live, there's a long alleyway, lined with mismatched garage doors with weeds springing up through cracks in the pavement - not the most scenic route. But yesterday, it was alive with artists creating murals on most of the doors. Some celebrating the abundance of harvest season, some reminding us of the sadness of residential schools, others abstract shapes and colours, no particular themes, just ideas that inspired the artist to create...the randomness of life. The project was initiated by Street Art Toronto or StArt as it's cleverly called. They've been operating quietly for years to make our city more beautiful, an awesome task and I for one, am grateful.

I'm often reminded of how privileged I am, not just me - you are too. I just came back from a week entering into the life of a friend who lives on the outskirts of a small town, lots of large lawns and gardens, and many activities and services for the aging folks who've moved there to enjoy a quieter setting. This week, she entered my life, in the centre of a large city, with less room, more noise, more diversity, less parking. Our friendship of almost 70 years has covered a lot of ground, through thick and thin as we sometimes say.  We both appreciate how we can relish our own lives while enjoying a visit into another, sometimes challenging, occasionally uncomfortable, but always worth it, all part of the art of living.

One of the revelations of my week in another world, was a Sunday morning church visit. I've been in chuch infrequently lately. Weddings, if they happen at all, are in gardens and people celebrate the lives/deaths of loved ones in a variety of venues. My memory is of sqirming in a hard pew with my grandparents listening to turgid music and seemingly endless sermons. Not at all what goes on today- joyous songs are projected on a screen, a bit like karaoke and the minister delivers what's more like a philosophy lecture. And it was a crowded, beautiful setting full of friendly folks, a community gathering reflecting a societal change that happened while I was at home reading the weekend papers.

Great to see so many orange shirts today, hope our hearts stay open all year. And something worth checking on Youtube is Jubilee, a channel featuring people of opposing views engaging in civil debate!

See you in November.

 Blog#169...September, 2025

The CNE's here - reminding me of my days working at Beasley's Bingo - and another summer is under our belts.  The world continues to lurch into who knows what.  But our two 18 year old golden girls, Summer and Victoria thrilled us in pools and on courts.  And for basketball fans, SGA, the dude from Hamilton, was named NBA MVP! Canada continues to be a strong, proud and kind place and we need to work at keeping it that way.     

Ron Turcotte, well loved jockey who took Secretariat all the way to the triple crown of thoroughbred horse racing in 1973 died at his home in New Brunswick last week. He suffered a spinal cord injury falling from a horse late in his career and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair advocating for disabled jockeys. 

Sticking with how Canadians enliven and enrich sport, Prisciia Uppal would have loved to write about our young athletes. Named poet in residence for the 2010 Olympics in British Columbia, she published reflective poems in Winter Sport.  She highlighted the courage of skater Joannie Rochette, competing days after her mother's death and the tenderness of skier Alexandre Bilodeau towards his brother with Down's Syndrome.   I featured Priscilla and the book in Blog#7 back in March 2012, she died in 2018 at 44, a great loss!        

It's a half century since the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald; we discovered it and are reminded every time we hear Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad.   If I seem unusually nostalgic these days, it could be related to re-reading Erik Erikson's theories of the life cycle, particularly the concept that maturity is not the end of psychological growth. So I'll continue to reflect on life events that have taught me about life as I've skipped along. 

 As a last grasp at summer, I visited Prince Edward County last week, taking in the landscape dotted with breweries, wineries and cideries that flourish in the limestone rich soil. It's also dotted with art galleries, cafes, B&B's, and high end shops, a bit like a rural version of Yorkville or Ossington.  It's fun to go though and we enjoyed discovering the very beautiful and interesting Andara Gallery, featuring the work of owners Tara Wilkinson and Andrew Csafordi. Wilkinson's pieces, taken from her photography, are ethereal and floral, capturing the joy and spirituality in nature. Csafordi uses the ancient method that dates back to the Egyptians of painting with melted beeswax and pigments to create his own style of encaustic sculptural painting.  Well worth a visit if you're ever down that way.

My question this month is... when did voice mail messages stop announcing who I'm trying to call so I never know if I'm leaving a message for the intended person?

 Next blog will herald October and I will have passed another milestone, maybe you will have too, and we'll all take  a deep breath and get ready for what comes next.  See you then.  

 Blog #168...August, 2025

Last blog, I mentioned the show 52 Women, which took on the difficult task of choosing a finite number of women who have transformed Toronto. Of course there have been many many more, coming from all eras, areas and walks of life. and it's fun to compose your own list. The show runs at the City of Toronto Museum, enter at the east corner of 401 Richmond Street, until December.

Also in early days of a long run is an amazing show of Joyce Wieland's work (she'd certainly make my list!) at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Although I was aware of her, I had no idea of the tremendous range she covered. Another surprize was her passion for Canada which is expressed in many of her pieces.  It's particularly touching in the current climate to see huge Canadian flags - stocking stitched in red and white wool and only a decade old in the 70's when they were created.  And her Oh  Canada piece, rows of images of her red lips articulating each syllable of out national anthem.                                                                                                          

Her nationalism was matched by her environmental concerns, particularly for the Arctic region. She often worked very large. The first image when I entered the show has been transported from the exit at Kendall from the Spadina subway station. A dozen caribou, pretty much life size, are in different postures on an ice floe. It's executed in quilted cloth and has a realistic three dimensional quality adding to its power. I sat opposite it for half an hour and could almost feel a cool breeze, 

CBC's IDEAS has been featuring artists lately and had back-to-back shows on Joyce Wieland and Joan Jonas recently.. Striking similarities were their overshadowing by male artist/partners, Joan by Richard Serra and Joyce by Michael Snow. And they both had to wait decades before being recognized by one woman shows at major galleries in their home countries, although they were both recognized internationally.  MOMA exhibited Joan's work last year, she's still alive and active at 89, spending time between her studio in NYC and Cape Breton where she landed with a group of American artists in the 50's. 

 Joyce died in 1998 at 66, without the satisfaction of recogition in her hometown but leaving us with the joy of appreciating her work at the AGO. 

As the song goes, it's been too damn hot lately, but it's given me anyway a chance to slow down, spend hours stretched out reading. Paula Hawkins followed The Girl on the Train with a series of psyuchological thrillers that engrossed me as I ignored other things I might be doing.

I'm asking many questions of the world right now, least important is what has happened to those cucumbers we used to have, the chubby ones with slight bristles, like a chin or a shin needing a shave?  They seem to have been replaced by long thin ones wrapped in plastic, I'm grumpy about it and it's distracting me for a moment from other horrors.

This just in, I saw the production of Macbeth at Stratford yesterday. Purists will be recoiling in horror as conflicts in The Scotish Play are rendered as biker wars. I found it a tribute to Shakespeare's grasp of basic, sometimes barbaric human behaviour and its timeless inevitability, especially right now...but that's just me.

Sending this off into the blogosphere with my regards to readers in various parts of the world, I know you're out there enjoying glimpses of Canada. 

Back in September\.

 Blog # 167...July, 2025

A few blogs back I suggested that STEM should be amemded to STEAM to include art as an important focus of our attention and study. Although it doesn't fit the acronym, I'm suggesting it's time we recognize skilled trades for their worth and let go of the cultural bias that considers them less worthy than intellectual or artistic fields...enough said. 

It's now late in June and I thought this blog was almost done and ready for my typo checker, until, I went to see the exhibition of Joyce Wieland's incredible collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was tempting to preempt what I'd written and devote the entire blog to her, but I've decided to let the show settle in my mind and heart and write about it in August.  In the meantime, if you're anywhere near Toronto before January 4th, 2026, you'll be in for a very important, fascination and very accessible experience.

Ideas and art come in many sizes. Most of the time artists walk around amongst us, unnoticed, buying groceries, getting their hair cut, you know- being ordinary. But there's often stuff going on in their heads, they're noticing something and getting an idea. I heard one the other day talking about how seeing window air conditioners got him thinking of how they remove heat and release it outside. That led to imagining heated emotions also coming out into the atmosphere and a tiny pop up gallery called the Laboratory of Artistic Intelligence  on Dundas Street just outside Scadding Court. I love the thought of the hot breath of babies wailing, angry words being exchanged or the heat coming off a body working out could waft out and become art.  We passed by and photgraphed the streetscape, galleries ... open when the artists are inspired to be there.

lso, I mentioned the show 52 Women  at the City of Toronto Museum (added to our cultureal landscape in 2022), the City Archives and Luminato. The show continues until December, celebrating the way these women have contributed to our City throughout history. I was lucky to have a curated tour with Cathy Crowe, the beloved street nurse.  Also, Luminato collaborated in a  wondrous theatrical event at the City Archives, placing actresses in different parts of the building to deliver monologues on behalf of the women. It had a limited run, we were lucky to see that too..

I try hard not to be totally Toronto-centric and am always thrilled to hear about something far from my orbit, like Powell River in northern British Columbia. it's a world renowned music centre, thriving particularly since the closing of its paper mill in August 2023. Even before that, there was an active group of talented musicians, hosting an annual International Choral Kathaunixu, drawing thousands of singers from around the world. Labour Day weekend features the Sunshine Music Festival. Year round musical activities and events held by the Powell River Academy of Music attract musicians and lovers of music from home and abroad. Bravo Powell River!

Last month, I was thrilled when Michael Crummy won the Dublin Literary prize and enen more so when a friend sent me a link to the award ceremony. The Lord Mayor of Dublin spoke beautifully about the literary traditions in Ireland, Dublin in particular, and Michael was eloquently humble and amusing - of course, he's from Newfoundland!

Writing about the place of art forms in our world opens a wide door for me. This past month, much of the time the wildfires and the poeple affected so profoundly have been front and centre. The creativity involved in carrying on, whether while abandoning home, risking injury fighting fires or welcoming and feeding strangers, is as moving  as a Rivera mural or a Lorca poem.

As the season for hockey finally wids down, I wonder how can it be that Florida has taken a stranhlehold on the Stanley Cup...4 times in the past 5years!

Thanks Margaret and Karen for the excellent proofing and Michael for taking the pics. We'll be back in August with Joyce Wieland!

Blog # 166...June, 2025 

Wow, what a creepy experience it was to assign AI to write a mid month blog and see what it would produce. Many of you agreed with me that it was both amazing and scary.  I know AI can be immensely useful in some settings but my curiosity has been satisfied and I'll continue to be old school and do my own writing.

The New Yorker won three Pulitzers this year, more wins than any magazine has ever had in one year! I get it delivered every week (yikes) and although it's very yankocentric, I like the point of view and love the writing. Jia Tolentino wrote this recently,  "I feel a troubling kind of opacity in my brain lately -  as if reality were becoming illegible, as if language were a vessel with holes in the bottom and meaning was leaking out all over the floor." She goes on to mention  the environment, COVID, wars both physical and trade, addictions to phones and other materials, and news real and fake.  

Many of us may feel that way, strugggling with our perception of reality, but not with Jia's elegant way with words. The feelings have given rise to a field day for writers of self help books.  Although I often find them a stretching out of a magazine article, I'm conscious that some people find them useful and supportive  in the search for a good night's sleep or just articulating  a concern or problem. 

Two in particular have caught my eye recently as they hover week after week on the best seller list.  They seem at first to be in opposition to each other: The Let Them Theory advises stepping back and allowing others to make mistakes, respecting a person's choices as their right. The other Believing advocates  leaning in and belonging -  explaining that conventional religion has been replaced by individual and collective ways to believe, behave and belong. I do like things that provoke thinking... full  disclosure here, I haven't read either of these books. t was attracted to the topics and summaries though, maybe they'll strike you too.

 I had a nightmare the other night about Elon Musk drilling into the Great Lakes to drain water to green up the golf courses of you know who (or is it whom?) News this am reveals that he's bored with ransacking the US civil service and is resigning as head basher at DOGE. I hope my dream wasn't prescient.

I'm signing off with a question...why has it become so difficult to buy a quart of plain 2% milk? I was unsuccessful in two local stores yesterday in finding milk that wasn't made from nuts, had the lactose removed (expensive) or was in huge unwieldy bags. I'm delighted that people with allergies can find products that suit them but what about the rest of us? I'm thinking of getting my own cow.

A huge thank you to my friend Margaret Adamson who has offered to catch typos I make as my eyes age along with the reast of me.

That's all for now, see you again when we'll be getting ready to celebrate Canada Day - with extra vigour this year.

 Blog #165...May, 2025 

photo by John Bilodeau

I live across the street from a beautiful Catholic church and although I'm not a parishioner, I feel a neighbourly attachment. And I love the way its stone archway leads me into the City. I often stop and chat with Father Mike and today shared my sadness at the death of Pope Francis and my deep appreciation for his life. I loved the words of his fellow Jesuit Father James Martin that "he was a humanitarian, a spiritual leader and a nice guy."  It was revealed recently that Francis had, since October 2023, made a nightly phone call of encouragement and support to Holy Family Church in Gaza.  

I'm pleased and a bit surprised at all the feelings of pride in and appreciation of Canada that are popping up everywhere. The election results are comforting, especially the numbers who turned out to vote. I think I can move back to writing about art in our world now...just a couple of last gasps. 

A piece by Wayne Eyre caught my eye, it was headed "The world order is reverting to what it has been for almost all of the long arc of human history: a system in which strength and force, not values and rules, are once again the currency of international  relations." He's a military man, former head of the Canadian  Defense Force with that perspective. Makes me wonder if we're safer now than when wild beasts lurked outside our caves?

Another article a while ago suggested Victory Bonds as a way of raising money for the war we're currently waging on many fronts. I started school in September 1941, as WWII was well under way and the grade one class at Frankland Public School wasn't left out of the war effort.  Each time we could bring 25 cents to school, we could buy a victory stamp to paste on a page and when there were enough, we could buy a War Bond. They had works of art by Canadians on them and combined two things we all loved, collecting things and stickers. Sounds as if they might be back in business all these years later?

Who knew there was a Museum of Toronto? Well, I know now and it has a great show that opened in April and runs until December, featuring women who transformed this City. They're from different fields and eras, many are familiar: Hazel McCallion, Bianca Andreescu, Rosalie Abella,Cathy Crowe and Margaret Atwood. Others, we're meeting for the first time. 52 Women brings together the Museum of Toronto (at 401 Richmond) the City Archives and Luminato,  There will be concerts and  curated tours of the exhibit; watch for more in June when I've had a chance to visit. The HotDocs festival is on and I just saw a wonderful film set in Haida Gwaii, using basketball as a theme to explore their history, culture and political activism. It's called Saints and Warriors, watch for it.

A la prochaine.

Blog # 164...April 2025 

I just noticed today, March 6th, that views of the blog passed 100,000 sometime over night...that's since September, 2011. Some people click more than once (and I click to count the clicks).  The past couple of months, hundreds every day have been from France and the US, a while ago, it was Germany and Austria, before that Singapore, always a few from Brazil, Hong Kong, UK, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, occasionally Russia, China, South Korea. The platform isn't sophisticated and some of the activity is probably AI trolling for language or robots kicking up their heels, who knows?

Some reflections on International Women's Day,  March 8th. We had a wonderful online conversation with Julie Lejeune and Devi Arasanayagam, who engaged and encouraged us  as they spoke about the work they do at the Fort York Food Bank in downtown Toronto...recorded if you're interested.  And in The NewYorker's very fat 100th Anniversary issue, a moving piece from Texas about the sisters of Mary Morningstar Oblature who decided to visit the women on death row in a prison in  nearby Gainesville, and the relationships that developed. 

Moving on to the present, our place in the world is front and centre in our attention these days, with many jokes, memes and inspirational pieces hurtling through our in boxes. My cousin Barbara sent me this from Victoria, complete with her emphasis.  It doesn't hurt to remind ourselves that it's OK to be idealistic, even patriotic.

"We believe in peacekeeping, not policing, diversity NO.T assimilation, where words are spoken, not shouted, where we feel and spread love, not hate, where we explore not conquer, where we use diplomacy not violence, where healthcare is universal, not exclusive, where we lend a hand, without expecting one in return, where we are all equal, not better or less. II we fail we learn and try again, if we fall we stand back up. Our strength is unity, and we will NEVER be bullied, intimidated or pushed around. We are loving and kind and NOTHING will ever change who we are, we would all rather die on our feet as Canadians, then live on our knees as something we are NOT. That is what it is to be Canadian, WE ARE CANADIAN."

And you can hear the voices of familiar Canadians on Valerie Pringle's last PBS broadcast  - about 60 of them with a couple of sentences each. If you have 27 minutes, it's worth a listen:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEf6EUQKm8o

With the two well known psychological tactics - splitting and intermittent reinforcement - being employed  to divide us and throw us off balance, we're  joining together, as a strong family does. 

 As well as inspiration, there's lots of anger out there and, always on the lookout for ideas, I found  a piece called The Art of Anger. Thinking back  back to the sixties and  the rise of widespread attention on racism, I remembered the anger of  the Black Panthers that erupted into violence, contrasted with the peaceful  activism of Martin Luther King. There's lots to get angry about these days, and important to get mad rather than disengaging, just try and find a direction to make a change even a small one.

We're just starting to realize how the tariffs will affect us directly...  workers in the steel and auto sectors are already suffering.  It's not just about leaving oranges and bananas out of our shopping basket - the grocery stores can survive with their range of products. I'm worried about the small independent book stores who support our culture so valiantly. Time for me to order a book from Ben McNally - by a Canadian writer.

See you in May...in the meantime, think about  the privilege it is to vote and head for your polling station on April 28

Got your April Fool ready yet?

 Blog # 163...March 2025                                                                                               

Last month I posted a photo of bill bissett and Mary Simon, overlooking that readers outside Canada (even some inside) didn't know who she was. I corrected it quickly, but if you 've been wondering, she is of course our lovely indigenous Governor General...masked because  she's suffering a cold.

In these times of sturm and drang, it's interesting to see what I'm doing, sometimes unconsciously, to keep my head above water. I realized recently that, although I'd never been a reader of biographies, I had in fact read a bunch in the past couple of years. Samantha Power was the first, followed by Michael J Fox, Mathew Perry, both Obamas, George Soros, Penelope Lively, Mike Nichols, Murray Sinclair, Candace Bergen, Barbra Streisand and most recently Jimmy Carter...whew!

I think I find it comforting to slide into another life for a while to feel more at ease in the world we share. In A Fine Balance, one of Rohinton Mistry's characters says "One day you must tell me your full and complete story...because it helps to remind yourself of who you are. Then you can go forward without fear in this ever changing world."

Stories can be dramatic - like the years Michael J Fox has spent adapting his life to the challenges and limitations of Parkinson's Disease while remaining in the public eye. Or they can be simply human like Jimmy Carter's beginnings on a farm in Georgia... actually most of the childhoods I read about were pretty unremarkable.

One of the popular pastimes these days, along with being mindful and playing pickleball, is journaling.  Capturing  and reflecting on your own life in your own words can help make sense of it, I guess... also get rid of all those saved diaries, notes, drafts and other remainders and reminders of time spent.  

Like many, maybe most, of you, I'm trying to put some order on the remainders/reminders without much success. Maybe putting it in words will trick me into action. There's always something more interesting to do, like read another of Lisa Genova's books - she writes novels from her background as a neuroscientist. 

Early onset Alzheimer's in Still Alice was her first, successfully made into an Oscar winning film. She's gone on to introduce and humanize head injuries, autism, Huntington's Disease and now mood disorders, through fictional stories.  I'm working my wat through all of them and finding them a much more compelling way to spend time than sorting through papers! Although the stories she tells are of lives totally different to mine, she has the wonderful talent of true storytellers to make me feel part of them.  Like Dickens takes me to 19th century England while I  read David Copperfield.

We'll be celebrating International Women's Day this month with a look at a Toronto   initiative helping some of the most vulnerable people living marginally at home or on the streets of our city. One of many reasons to hang on to hope for the future, How how many you can think of in your life?

We'll be singing with Al Jolson by the time you're reading this blog, so "keep on looking for that bluebird and listening for its song, whenever April Showers come along."

'

 Blog # 162...February 2025

With so many demonic figures front and cente in the news, it was refreshing to start the year with a series of interviews celebrating the latest  Orders of Canada recipients on CBC's The Current.`I know, it's becoming quaint to listen to the radio, I also have a landline and I'm cheering up with a festival of Mike Leigh films on my DVD player. and spinning jazz on my turn table.

The individuals named to the Order are doing important work but often are  unfamiliar names to most of us .  They're fighting hate crime, documenting and speaking out about climate change, developing methods for people with aphasia to communicate and promoting business opportunities in the Arctic. Vancouver artist Joe Average is anything but - after contracting HIV /AIDS when he was 27, he began using his art to advocate for other people living with the condition.

Many of the people honoured by Canada are well known outside the country in international scientific, political or cultural areas. In an interview in The Paris Review in the sixties, Beat poet  Jack Kerouac called bill bissett “The greatest living poet today”  That was well over half a century ago, and last December, my friend bill was welcomed into the Order of Canada. 

At 85, bill continues to publish and perform his poetry, draw and paint. What endears him to me most though is his long time commitment to The Secret Handshake, a peer support group for people with schizophrenia that he co-founded with Jordan Stone in 2010.  In a gallery in the Kensington area of Toronto they host art exhibits, literary readngs and other cultural events  that bring the community together and celebrate talent. On the right, bill gets cozy with Canada's Governor General Mary Simon in Ottawa, how great is that photo!

Symptoms of schizophrenia tend to marginalize those who suffer. Their behaviour, as they respond to visual and/ or auditory hallucinations can be frightening, both to them and to people around them. Most individuals are able to control their psychotic  symptoms  with medication, but the negatives - disordered thinking, flat emotions, lack of motivation and difficulty with self care often remain. These are mote difficult to treat and have a lot to do with the isolation experience. The Secret Handshake and the arts bring people together from within and outside the community to enjoy the creative process.

My interest in bringing art forms into the lives of people with mental illness began in the 80's and 90's when I worked in inpatient psychiatry at Toronto General Hospital. I had a side  hustle making documentaries, and I've attached one. If you've  got a spare 20 minutes, are interested in hearing more and meeting the wonderful Joan Erikson...and seeing what I looked like 35 years ago, here it is.

https://youtu.be/Pjx0gTuivs

See you in March, wishing you a Happy Lunar New Year in the meantime. I was born in the year of the rat...sly and shifty!

 Blog #161...January 2025 

Welcome to the new year with a fresh set of hopes and dreams, still waiting for some of the  old ones to arrrive!

One important thing that did happen in 2024 was the re-opening of Cathedrale Notre- Dame  de Paris, inspiring me to write about  my interest in conservation. Building of Our Lady began in 1103 and was completed in 1345.  

Although she was significantly damaged during the Revolution in 1792, she went on to withstand weather, wars and worshipping, until the devastating fire on April13th 2019 destroyed the wooden spire and severely damaged much of the roof and upper walls.                                      Despite  a great deal larger cost, the decision was made to conserve her, using the original techniques and materials, respecting the history of the building, its place in French culture and the skills of the original craftspeople. And, although it took more time as well as money, the world watched her open her doors on December 7th 2024, just about the 5 years President Macron promised.                                 We always love a Canadian connection and there's one here...Montreal blacksmith Mathieu Collette was charged with forging ax heads identical to the ones that would have been used in the 12th century to fell the trees!

I always revisit A Child's Christmas in Wales and this year I was struck by William Prince's The Sound of Christmas... Manitoba's tip of the hat to Dylan Thomas. Check it out on your nearest YouTube.

And friends have recommended a couple of books that interest me: Karen in Nova Scotia suggested Hope for Cynics by Janni Zaki and Fiona in Collingwood is reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.   I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I would like some hope to lighten my cynicism, and i probably have some habits that could use some tidying up.

So here we are a quarter of the way through the 21st century that just seems to have started. Remember the millenium Y2K scare that the world would implode or explode, I can't remember which. We're still here, well some of us, and I know we'll salvage some goodness and appreciate it when we come across it.  Did you know they've eliminated malaria in Egypt?

Back here in February.