To me, the most beautiful sound of all the sounds is the Finnish language. It sounds like a steady rain on a pile of firewood. It sounds like birch trees and the bluest lakes and wood fires in the snow and I want to be part of it so desperately. I want to create those […]
Yesterday was spent exploring, driving through the rain and taking pictures of houses, main streets, beautiful brick and stone buildings. Secret little towns and areas that surprise us. Searching for a place we can insert ourselves. Adjusting expectations. Vague words are the best I have because vague thoughts are all I have. My brain is
No pictures for today, which has already been a day of moments too quick to photograph. Like the intersection where, as I pressed the walk button, I saw a photo attached to the pole. Black-and-white, a professional-looking shot of a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses, with a slightly startled expression on his face. After the
Pictures, and otherwise Read More »
When the lights don’t come back after an hour, I start to grow anxious, imagining the worst (it appears prolonged blackouts have had that effect on me since 2003). And then there are reports of flooding in Toronto, which make me doubly anxious after the terrible floods last month in southern Alberta, including my former
A couple of weeks ago, I took up running. I’m not exactly sure why. I’m not an athletic person by nature, and running had always felt like the sort of activity I’d dislike. To me it seemed overly focused on speed and power and pushing limits. I prefer nudging limits, only every so often. If
On running and (not) writing Read More »
If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, you may have seen me write about this before (sorry to repeat myself). This time of year I can’t help but note the date and think back. After three years it’s habitual. Berlin, my brother’s wedding, then my husband and I off to dreamy York, then
Some York, but mostly London. Read More »
Common grackle. Red-winged blackbird. Cardinal. My favourite sounds, the sounds I remember from childhood camping trips, from walks around the neighbourhood, from lazy dreamy days. I note their return almost suddenly, just before dawn. My eyes open in the dark and I’m in mid-thought. I hear the birds outside, fluttering from naked tree to naked
A small slice of the quotidian: Today, the last day of a long weekend, is quiet and lazy. Through the open balcony door there’s the sound of faraway cars, and the occasional curl of wind that’s promisingly un-chilling. On the other side of the wall I hear my neighbour belting out a few seconds of some
To those girls in the late nineties and at the turn of the century, those teenagers, who found each other through their blogs years before “blog” was a word. To those girls who resisted using the word “blog” when it did become a word. To those girls who felt the allure of a secret online
A love letter to the internet, 1997-2001. Read More »
