I just started reading The Madness of Crowds, the newest Louise Penny book. It’s part of a quintessentially Canadian murder mystery series set in fictional Three Pines, Quebec. Penny’s books are beautifully written, tightly woven, plot-driven masterpieces; and she’s put out a new one every summer since 2005 like clockwork. Last year, while writing The…
“And do you have everything you’re going to need today?” Last September, my middle child started high school, and his big sister decided he was going to be organized. She was going to make sure of it. Every morning last year, she ran through a checklist with him, making sure he had his lunch –…
This pandemic has been a roller coaster. Don’t wear masks – no, wear masks. Sanitize everything – no, that’s just hygiene theatre. Get this vaccine – no, get this other one. Welcome to science in real time, with knowledge changing seemingly every day. Each new study gives us a new window on the SARS-CoV-2 virus,…
When February turned to March last year, few of us had any notion of what was in store. I was all set to fly to North Carolina to teach a session of political philosophy to students at Southeastern Baptist Seminary. I had my lectures printed out and was ready for what promised to be a…
Humour is a tricky business at the best of times. You scribble thoughts on bits of paper in some vain hope they’ll bring a laugh when you test them on a stage. Sometimes the audience snickers. Sometimes they boo. For 28 years, I’ve made a living making people grin. And then COVID banged on the…
August 2020 The approach of September, six months into a global pandemic, is terrifyingly complicated for almost everyone we know. Will schools stay open? Are they safe? Will our kids learn enough at home? What will they miss? “They’ve decided to homeschool.” My mom is talking to a friend on the phone. “Grades 4, 8…
Among the gifts of the pandemic, I would suggest, is our increasing attentiveness to everyday work and workers. Over past months there has been a new energy given to our congregational prayers for front-line medical workers, for those who deliver online orders, and for staff in grocery stores. As we enter the new normal of…
I’m hearing a lot about learning from COVID-times and making some course corrections in our society. Expectations for change run high in some communities. There is a long tradition of crises and tragedies leading to significant social change. In fact, advocates talk about not letting a tragedy go to waste. Turning bad into good is…
We’re crouched in the dark, gently bending over the antique incubator. I hear a faint chirping, and my husband lifts the metal lid. There’s a bowl of water inside to keep the eggs soft, and the air smells like warm, wet grass. Inside, a newly hatched chick bravely stands, singing his baby victory songs. And…
The disruption of COVID gave our family an unexpected gift. Because of COVID, Mom is in our collective care and consideration, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whether we live close to her or far away. Our mom, Annie Siebring, will celebrate her 95th birthday in the fall. She has 11 children ages…
Many people are wondering about the effects of pandemic-induced school closures. Here in Ontario’s third wave of the pandemic, schools are closed again (with some exceptions for special needs students). It’s possible the year will finish online. While the closures are necessary from a medical standpoint, what effect do they have on our children? Recently,…
Back in October we decided to update the paint colours in our kitchen and living room, and before you know it the whole thing spiralled out of control into a full-scale renovation. We’d been saying for years that at some point we’d finish the basement to create an extra bedroom and family living space, and…
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