How I spent my summer vacation
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How I spent my summer vacation

We were lucky to spend much of August on Vancouver Island with my parents-in-law, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. The celebration should have been last summer, but we’d had to postpone travel due to the risks of covid and changing regulations. This year, plans were easier to make, and my in-laws’ anniversary coincided with our…

Consider the robins
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Consider the robins

Legend has it that the person who spots the first robin will have good luck all year. Our robins arrived several weeks ago and they didn’t look too lucky – hunkering down under the evergreens, feathers puffed up, wearily eyeing the snow covered lawn for anything that looked like food. While I’m not superstitious, I…

The very hungry caterpillar
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The very hungry caterpillar

Most people think of gardening as a nurturing sort of activity, forgetting that gardeners must also ruthlessly defend their crops from creeping green invaders. My bloodthirsty gardener instincts are in full force when invasive weeds (such as creeping bellflower) or creepy-crawly pests (like the caterpillar of the white cabbage butterfly) threaten to devour my brussels…

A menagerie on canvas
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A menagerie on canvas

In his short essay “The Truth of Space,” the British critic and philosopher John Ruskin asked his readers to perform a minor experiment. He asked them to draw two dark shapes on a piece of paper. The further back you go, he explained, the more indistinguishable the shapes become from one another, but you still…

Let it be
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Let it be

When I was a child in Wisconsin, we could see the snow swirling like waves over the bare surface of Harvey Prinsen’s field. It had a certain beauty but it also meant cold. Drifting snow is a common part of almost any Canadian winter. Things are different in the Bulkley Valley of B.C. We have…

Rescue dogs and recovery cats
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Rescue dogs and recovery cats

When I think about others, I like to consider all our relations – of all species. We have been blessed with so many abilities and luxuries and we have a responsibility to help those who are more vulnerable, and this includes all the animals and winged ones. When I was in my Toronto apartment, still struggling…

Microcosm equivalence
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Microcosm equivalence

The God who so loved the cosmos, no doubt loves the micro-cosmos, too.

‘The righteous care for the needs of their animals’

‘The righteous care for the needs of their animals’

We were not blessed with children. In their absence we began to realize that our love of cats should turn into a kind of calling, and we should care for as many homeless, needy cats as we reasonably could.

Artificial Intelligence III: Imago Dei
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Artificial Intelligence III: Imago Dei

One of the charges given humans, part of our imago Dei, is to develop and care for creation with the specific talents God has given us as individuals. Some are given creative power to make art and do science, adding to the richness of creation

Lament for two small ponds
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Lament for two small ponds

This past Saturday when I drove past, the ponds were gone. So were the poplar groves and the few spruce and pine that grew in this section of a large field. Like all land-clearing operations, that small pasture now looks like a lunar landscape or war zone.

Covenanting with birds

Covenanting with birds

I’m afraid of birds. (Someday I’ll share the backstory.) Paradoxically, though, they also mesmerize me. Phobias are like that. Fear sparks fascination.

A dog’s life
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A dog’s life

But a farm without a dog is a lonely place.