Canada Slim and the Secret Beauty

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Saturday 2 May 2020 (Lockdown Day #47) Easter, 1916 is a poem by W. B. Yeats describing the poet’s torn emotions regarding the events of the Easter Rising staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday 24 April 1916.   The uprising was unsuccessful and most of the Irish republican leaders involved… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Secret Beauty

Water Wars

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 6 December 2016 Why does the United States invade a country? Historically, wars are fought over scarce resources, with religion or politics as convenient excuses or triggers for the commencement of hostilities. So what does Canada possess in greater abundance than the United States? (Besides being the 2nd biggest country in the world… Continue reading Water Wars

Oil and Blood in the Heartland 2: Home and Native Land

Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Summer 1992 I embarrassed myself. West of Hamilton and surrounded for the most part by farmland, Brantford is known for several things: It lays claim to the invention of the telephone, the birthplace of “The Great One” hockey player Wayne Gretzky, entertainer Phil Hartman, Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris, and a… Continue reading Oil and Blood in the Heartland 2: Home and Native Land

Oil and Blood in the Heartland 1: Hope and Despair

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 8 November 2016 King Solomon of Israel (970 – 932 BC) once wrote about life on Earth in his day: “A generation goes and a generation comes… All things are full of weariness.  A man cannot utter it.  The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will… Continue reading Oil and Blood in the Heartland 1: Hope and Despair