I have always been a goalie. I was a street hockey goalie at 8, a soccer goalie at 10, a field-hockey goalie at 18, and an ice-hockey goalie at 32. It was ever thus. I can remember the first time I made a great save and felt obliged to do it again. I took my … Continue reading When your ambition is to be tough to score on. Anna Helmer ruminates on great saves, painful goals and what it takes to be a great goalie
One of the more alarming things about sending The Productivity Impediment off to Kindergarten is that they want you to provide an emergency pack that stays at the school and includes: a change of clothes, a favorite stuffed animal, a picture of the family, a granola bar and a letter from parent(s) to child. Although … Continue reading Dear Will: Anna Helmer considers what she’d wish she could say to her son should it no longer be possible to tell him anything
Today on the Wellness Almanac, Anna Helmer’s Creative Non-Fiction Column (so termed in order to avoid being sued), swerves wildly into federal food policy. If the government can't shout this from the rooftops of the world, then it's up to you, to whisper it, firmly, clearly, and loudly, to all your neighbours. Something is broken. … Continue reading A wild swerve into federal food policy
Too. Busy. To. Write. Instead, Anna offers up some farm pictures for your edification. Farm porn is a thing, you know. And it's much more family-friendly than it sounds. Kinda nice to immerse one's eyeballs in scenes without the end-of-the-world filter, and remind ourselves that the Life Force is nothing, if not resilient.
As an admitted (you read it here first) Recognition Junkie, I am very fond of road waving. I ride my bike to work most days and I absolutely love that I can get a friendly wave from many of the vehicles and bikes along the way. Ranging from the merest reluctant twitch, to the full … Continue reading The most tricky thing a cycle commuter has to navigate is not what you think
For this edition, I am getting back to the basics of what this column was founded upon: farm stories. Quiet, unassuming farm stories. Simple, clear, lightly sardonic and gently ironic, with a secret ingredient of subtle messaging. The idea is to start simple, draw the reader in with entertainment, and finish off with booming messaging. … Continue reading Farm stories, and oh, that electoral system of ours
Well let’s see here. Lately in my Wellness Almanac column I have rather bravely (according to me) looked into certain deep issues including: Trump, coming out, parenting and global food system failures. Here it comes time to write another installment and I am unsure of my next move. Do I keep the streak alive or … Continue reading Anna Helmer wonders which Big Issue to take a crack at today
Having children, it seems to me, is a golden opportunity to experience a constant sense of pride, freedom and downright celebration of accomplishment. That’s right, and allow me to explain while those without roar off to procreate. Before kids, were you a bit of an over-achiever? Doing things one after another? Active, intellectual and well-read? … Continue reading Farm story does parenting
I’ll jump right in. When he was first elected I kinda thought to myself: well, there’s another imperfect democracy for you. Apparently, enough people in the right places felt good enough about him to vote for him and I guess his team played better than the other team. Bit of a shocker, but there you … Continue reading So, this Trumpocalpyse is starting to feel personal.
Back in the waning days of 2016, Anna Helmer nominated the parsnip for Crop of the Year. I bought a bag of them - my first ever parsnip. I've roasted them, chucked them in a chickpea curry soup, and am still on the hunt for good parsnip recipes, so consider this an invitation/request/challenge. Here's Anna's … Continue reading Got parsnips? #loveyourrootveggies
The Wellness Almanac 