This weekend past, Child came home from the Royal Military College for the weekend to test drive and buy a car. Child has been saving and budgeting for this for a while, it was jus a matter of finding the right car for the right price. He did all the responsible things – he talked […]
The city where I live is an amalgamation of three, and as such, our amalgamated city of Cambridge has three Canadian Legions and three cenotaphs. Each is different – the tall obelisk in Hespeler; the carved guardian in Preston, and the carved Victory and Peace in Galt. Each one feels different to me, when I’ve […]
I hope everyone had a chance today to visit a cenotaph or attend a Remembrance service, and perhaps enjoy some fellowship at a local Canadian Legion. I meant to get this out earlier for us, but couldawouldashoulda. Better now than not at all, right? At the going down of the sun and in the morning, […]
Most years, on the night before Remembrance day, you might find cadets in their dress uniform, holding vigil all night on the corners of the local cenotaph. Last year it wasn’t a thing, neither is it this year. Last year, I went out and a man had set up a camp chair near the cenotaph. […]
I’ve written about this before, but I don’t think here’s a time when it shouldn’t be remembered, so here we go.On November 9th, 1938, Nazi forces carried out a series of pogroms in Jewish neighbourhoods in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Because, they said, it was warranted. Because it was justified. It wasn’t just a race […]
A decade ago, when I was able to attend Remembrance Day services at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, was the first time I really noticed the Silver Cross Mother. When you’re watching on TV, or listening on the CBC as I often have to do if I’m working, you only see the camera angle […]
I like cemeteries. I like walking through the rows to see if I recognize any surnames, and wonder if they’re of the same family tree as the people I know of the same surname. I marvel at the years of birth and death and the beautiful iconography carved into the marble or limestone gave markers. […]
Happy Diwali, friends! Well, Happy Diwali-plus-one, since I didn’t post this on Wednesday. Diwali is the Hindu (and Sikh, and sometimes Muslim and Buddhist) festival of light. It celebrates light over darkness, good over evil, kindness over cruelty, and hope over despair. And that feels like a pretty great thing to celebrate. Choose the bigger […]
It’s release day in DayJobLand! Today we post and test this months documentation suite, and pass the baton so we an start Preview writing for next month. A colleague from another place I worked years ago used to say that in technology, software is like a jello salad. You just have to get it to […]
Today’s the feast of St. Hubert, patron of hunters, archers, and trappers . Usually on this particular day, I reflect on the role that animals have played in military expeditions and their aftermath. But not today, friends! Today, we’re going to talk about another facet of this – the role that his legacy played in […]
Sweary Parent Chronicles 