Robin’s daughter, Michelle, once gently reminded me to be patient with people who had not yet wrapped their minds – or hearts – around acceptance for people whose sexuality was different from what they considered “normal”. She was right. She is a wise young woman, and that’s good. Because soon she will be the...
Recently I had a bout of itchiness. It’s not something I’m accustomed to, particularly waking in the middle of the night wanting to scratch my skin off. I’m sure that’s what caused a weird dream about worms. They were attaching themselves to me, growing from the size of a seed to full-grown wrigglers in...
The playground scene haunts me still. Kathleen stood in the middle of a circle of chanting children. Her eyes were wide, haunted. Her body was taut. The chorus was loud. “I can see London. I can see France. I can see somebody’s underpants.” We all knew the ditty and used it when a boy’s...
Growing up in Twin Falls, Idaho, I had no words for people who loved differently from the model we considered “normal”. Not that all the families around us led Leave-It-to-Beaver lives. My own nuclear family consisted of a single mother, an absent father, a resident brother, and four half siblings who didn’t live close...
When Aunt Grace moved into a seniors care home, we all held our breaths. We expected her to hate it. She had run her own life with no-nonsense efficiency and was quite happy to step in if someone else had trouble running theirs. She was also the soul of generosity. Where would she find...
Relaxing my skepticism John Robbins came to Kelowna last Thursday. He filled the Kelowna Community Theatre with his message of hope. A lot of us went home feeling a little taller, a little more peaceful. In spite of his being the author of seven best sellers, Robbins is probably the most modest guru I’ve...
Surf Dog Ricochet failed as a service dog. She excels as a surfing fundraiser. A link to the latest video about this special dog arrived on a day I was pondering the suicides of six young Americans. What all of the deaths had in common was that each of the young men had been...
It was deep winter 1995 the night the truck broke down on a dark and lonely mountain pass. The temperature was low enough to freeze uncovered skin. In the back of our 1967 Ford one-ton were two Belted Galloway cows and four Shetland sheep. We were driving without stop to transport these animals from...
Since nearly sixty million people have viewed this video, I figure I must be one of the last to discover it. With Sick Puppies singing “All the Same” to accompany the video, we watch Juan Mann holding a bit sign “Free Hugs”. At first no one responds. Some smile and keep walking. Others ignore...
Work in the field of community economic development made me a fan of Jeremy Rifkin, whose ideas always challenge the status quo. His most recent book, The Empathic Civilization, challenges conventional thinking about human nature. In this animated talk, Rifkin says new brain and neuropsychology research and child development “suggest we are actually soft...
Single mothers were rare among my circle of friends in Twin Falls, Idaho, but I was lucky. I got the best. Mother was a good teacher. Here are four of her lessons. 1. Decisions have consequences, for which I alone am responsible. I hit the “terrible twos” at the age of three. Until then...
There are so many amazing people in my life. Tatjana Bates is one of them. She’s one of those rare natural leaders. She visited here recently, and I got to thinking how plucky she is and how much she has done for the small community of Williams Lake, British Columbia. This little slideshow is...
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