Canada Day 2025: A reflection
On this, the weekend before Canada Day, I could list a hundred reasons why I love living in this country. I could also list about a hundred problems, but it wouldn’t lessen my joy in living here.
Navigating friendship in my “last quarter”
“Wanna come out and play?” When you’re a kid, making friends can sometimes be that easy. Not for every kid, to be sure, but for many. But for those of us in our “last quarter?” Not so much.
Boating in retirement: The pitfalls of becoming “one” with the sea
In late 2020, I bought a recreational pump toilet for $8,500. To sweeten the deal, the seller also threw in a 22’ sterndrive boat named Paradise Ain’t Cheap.
The Escuminac Disaster – Commemorating 66 years
On June 19-20, 1959, the remnants of a hurricane hit the fishing boats working the mouth of the Miramichi River and into the Northumberland Strait and beyond. This became known as the Escuminac Disaster.
The “Mongoose System” recipe for life: Take chances, make mistakes, and have fun
My rule was always that they had to be old enough to get my jokes, such as they were.
Battle aborted: Shutting down the TAXING NB project
Moving on from an impossible battle for property tax fairness and understanding in New Brunswick
Moving to a new community: What I needed to know
Moving happens for many reasons: change of life, change of wife, change of scenery.
The authoritarian state: “What do you think of our current President?”
I often see news articles discussing how American towns and states, particularly those along the border, are making extra pitches to tell Canadians how welcome they are. This is all well and good, BUT…
The truth about regret: You are what the results say you are
Watching King Charles deliver the Throne Speech in Canada’s Parliament the other day reminded me of a brief moment in university when I thought I might want to be Prime Minister of this vast, complex, and sometimes ungovernable land.
Cultural cross-currents: What I now know in moving to Canada’s only bilingual province
For a million reasons, we love it here in New Brunswick. But what we’ve learned about living in a bilingual province has been very telling, particularly on the cultural side.