On a wintry night in January, with black ice coating the pavement, I drove out to the eastern Ontario town of Hawkesbury to meet with Josh Ceasor, known to his audience as…
Music as a Source of Healing – Devon Brown of SinnBadd
Devon Brown has spent nearly all of his life in eastern Ontario and mostly in the Cornwall area. He’s a young man who has experienced his fair share of struggle, but who…
What were the most popular books in Ottawa in 2022?
Thanks to statistics compiled by the Ottawa Public Library, we now know the titles of the most popular reads in Canada’s capital in 2022. According to statistics released by the OPL’s Content…
The Mystery of a 19th Century Ottawa arsonist
It was around 2am on April 4, 1880, when the first of three false fire alarms occurred. The fire department was busy checking them out, not realizing that the fourth alarm was…
In search of the spare
I was perusing books this afternoon at Chapters in Gloucester when a man in a hushed voice asked a clerk behind me if there was a way to purchase a certain memoir…
A ring of three kings
Last night I celebrated Epiphany at my place in Ottawa’s east-end with two friends. They brought a Rosca de Reyes — a Ring of (Three) Kings, a traditional sweet bread in Latin…
A Christmas Eve Reflection
For a child, the anticipation of Christmas is a time of excitement and joy as they count down the days for the up coming feast. All of this excitement slows down to…
A bilingual and ecumenical Thanksgiving in Ottawa
On Friday evening, St. Joseph’s Parish, Paroisse Sacré-Coeur across the street from us and the Christian Reformed Chaplaincy held a bilingual and ecumenical Thanksgiving Dinner for students — many of whom were…
Snapshots of the 2022 Spencerville Fair
Among the good things about living in eastern Ontario are the country fairs this time of year. I usually visit at least one each year; I’ve been to Russell, Renfrew and this…
Discovering The First Lady of Manawaka
The First Lady of Manawaka is an excellent 1978 documentary on Canadian author Margaret Laurence, available in full on the NFB website. I only discovered it recently — and along the way…