In which the author “has a moment” thanks to a lilac I grew up on a small farm, and if you know anything about farming, you know it involves lots of things that smell. Things like freshly mown hay; manure (multiple varieties, each with its own special tang); wet sheep…

Yesterday I learned an interesting lesson about the emerging power of artificial intelligence. I am a consultant, and I among other things I facilitate meetings with large groups of people to gather their insights and opinions on behalf of clients. …

Our house is for sale, but it’s not selling.Our interesting downtown neighbourhood has proven to be a challenge to finding a buyer. The sirens, the un-housed people, the victims of the poisoned drug crisis, and the relentless graffiti are apparently powerful deterrents to those who aren’t used to living in…

An interesting guest visited my mason bee condo yesterday. Given this longer-than-normal winter on the Canadian west coast, it’s too early for the mason bees to be in residence. They’re still in the fridge, hibernating, waiting for the apple blossoms to open. So, sadly, the fuzzy visitor didn’t get much…

To all those who celebrate, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Which leads me to ask, as I do every year, why so many non-Irish folk have embraced this celebration with so much enthusiasm? I’m ethnically Celtic — a mix of English, Welsh and Scots genes, with relatives who emigrated to Canada…

I just finished washing my bees. Well, to be more precise, I rinsed the mud off their cocoons, and then I put the clean, dried cocoons into the fridge to wait for spring. My planter garden, right in the core of a major North American city, includes six apple trees. Thanks to grafting, these trees produce…

For most of my working life, my time was governed by deadlines. First as a journalist, the filing deadline — stories that missed it were useless and “old news”. …

A rant Today’s newspaper is filled with ads and articles related to next Tuesday, Valentine’s Day. Recipes, gift ideas, clothing for romantic dates, it’s all there to help us remember that we’re expected to participate in commercial activity in honour of … love? Or profit? I am pretty much allergic to commercial…

In which the author muses on memory and aging in this age of distraction Carol Burt (a Medium writer whose work I follow avidly) recently wrote about memory. …