In case you didn't make it past my rant about the origins of the twelve days of Christmas, today is the TL;DR reminder that the Lions Club will chip your Christmas tree (if you can drag it through the snowbanks) at the Pony parking lot on Saturday January 8, for donation. Drop by between 10:00am … Continue reading Chip your tree for charity! Tomorrow, thanks to the Lions

Board Chair Jen Ford shared this reflection last week, which you may not have seen if you're not scanning the SLRD website on New Year's Eve. The reminder that the Emergency Operations Centre was activated for a record number of days, at 100, is a nudge for us all to give ourselves a little back-pat, … Continue reading SLRD reflects on 2021

Is there an official day for taking down the tree? My partner is not a fan of clutter... if he had his way, it would be swept away already, but our 8 year old who is the walking talking living embodiment of Christmas spirit would not have it. Some wonderful humans purchased living trees this … Continue reading What to do with your Christmas tree? (The Lions will chip it at the Pony parking lot Jan 8. In the meantime, make some potions with the needles, and save the trunk for your Yule log next year.)

You know that beautiful story, don't you? An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, … Continue reading Feed the wolf that hungers for poetry

My friend Lisa, who loves food, is a brilliant food photographer, and who often cooks meals as a volunteer for Zero Ceiling, shared this CBC article recently. And we shared a little rant, that there is something amiss in the world, and that we've got to stop pathologising the people who aren't flourishing under this … Continue reading Food insecurity isn’t about hunger: how we can change our stories

I've become a fan of Thomas Hubl, for his insights on trauma, and the need for collective healing, to address all the unmetabolized stuff that we're all lurching around in. I think it's because I appreciate big picture explanations of what's afoot in the world today... So, this quote seemed like a worthy New Year … Continue reading Mind trip of the day

On the sixth anniversary of the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)'s six-volume Final Report, the Yellowhead Institute just released a Special Report asking, how things are going, you know, on the reconciliation front, and specifically with the  94 Calls to Action, meant to remedy the ongoing structural legacy of Canada’s Residential Schools and … Continue reading A 2021 Status Update on Reconciliation

The Howe Sound Women's Centre shared their annual report last week. I've been doing a wonderful online program called Deyen Transform: Canadian history through the lens of Indigenous Women. In it, I learned that the majority of Indigenous communities, before contact, were matriarchal - they centred and valued women as life-bringer, life-givers, wisdom-keepers. This didn't … Continue reading So, how did the women fare this year?

Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joySubmissive to everything, open, listeningTry never get drunk outside yr own houseBe in love with yr lifeSomething that you feel will find its own formBe crazy dumbsaint of the mindBlow as deep as you want to blowWrite what you want bottomless from bottom of the … Continue reading A time for wild and crazy list making

Here's something to put on your calendar as 2022 gets underway... it's a chance to be the change you want to see in the world, and explore the question: how do we make this place feel like home? (because, if you make the effort to make it feel like home for someone else, a funny … Continue reading Building Inclusive Communities: talks on racism, immigration, and welcoming people “home”