Year: 2004

I have never been the athletic type who could control the physical body. In my senior yearbook, I was labelled "bookworm of the class". I considered this an honour, because this was where my interest lay. My favourite place in … Read more

There have been times when I have dropped slices of bread into my toaster, and gone on with other preparations, expecting to hear the pop that informs me that the toast is ready, only to realize that, after having used … Read more

We had been talking about forgiveness at our Bible Study, when one lady offered the following thought: "I know God can forgive me, but it's so hard to forgive myself for mistakes I've made." I had known her for some … Read more

I stood in line, waiting, waiting, waiting — waiting, but still no movement. The people in front and behind began to huff and puff, and gradually, they muttered various obscenities and moved off. For some reason I was quite happy … Read more

We faced it the Canadian way, with calm panic! Most of us were not prepared for the great blackout of 2003. We had little or no cash on hand. Because our local convenience store owner needed to be on hand … Read more

At my mother-in-law's funeral, several of the guests were puzzled about her connection to the stringy, long-haired couple dressed in black, wearing matching leather jackets and metal jewellery. "That couple over there — are they in the wrong funeral parlour?" … Read more

Last Thanksgiving weekend, my daughter and I joined the many others who were intently watching the salmon making their way up the Sauble River to their spawning ground. As we watched them swimming upstream against the current, I thought of … Read more

Those who are old hands at grand parenting will well identify with the awe afforded those of us who are relatively new at the game. Without the responsibilities and commitments that come with having one's own children, we are given … Read more

Earlier in the week, we had returned a lost cockatiel to its owner, only to discover that two cockatiels had been lost on the same day in our small town. As I agonized over the likelihood of the cockatiel being … Read more

One Sunday afternoon last October, a lady came to the door, trying to get rid of a lost cockatiel, which had lit on her shoulder as she walked along. While we put a free "Found" ad in the local paper, … Read more