It would seem likely that I’ll finish 2025 having finished the following 28 books – if I do end of finishing Jane Eyre before the year is out I suppose I’ll have to edit this post. This is 6 more books than 2024; the increase is likely due to the extra time I had while off work this past year (see this post for more on that).… Read the rest
Blog
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What Is It?!
It’s not uncommon for me to be urgently summoned to see and identify a ‘bug’ that my wife or kids have stumbled upon. Such was the case with this sizeable caterpillar my daughter found on the Virginia Creeper overtaking our deck.
“What is it?!”
Compared to most caterpillars found in Manitoba, this one is giant – about the size of my pointer finger (which its ‘legs’ would gently but firmly clasp when I picked it up).… Read the rest
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The Best Edibles in Town
Our yard was recognized as tops in the ‘edible’ category of Warren’s Best Garden Selections. It’s true. We even have the award (well, a yard sign) to prove it.
A bumper crop of apples and grapes helped our cause, and the corn came through despite our neglect (but don’t ask about the tomatoes). Sadly the weight of all the apples and a stem that’s suffering from rot meant that many branches broke, so the apple crop will definitely be smaller next year.… Read the rest
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Where the Streets Have No Name: Divine Encounters and Sacred Conversations
This is a sermon I preached at Jubilee Mennonite Church on April 16, 2023. The text provided was Matthew 28:16-20 (aka The Great Commission). I was hesitant to take on this text given my discomfort with the way it’s been understood and applied by many Christians past and present. However, I stuck with it and was glad I did as it forced me to articulate and bring together an assortment of things that had been swirling in my mind for some time.… Read the rest
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Smelling Roses
I planted wild roses a few years ago, specifically Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana if you’re into scientific names). This is the low-growing one you sometimes see along country roads in the prairies. I planted them the for several reasons: 1) they’re beautiful, 2) they smell wonderful, and 3) insects love them.
I’ve catalogued visitors to the flowers so far this summer (aside from my nose, assuming you didn’t want to see pictures of that).… Read the rest
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Work Your Fingers To The Bone and What Do You Get?
‘I can’t do it. I’ve got nothing left.’
It was early February. I was sitting in my cubicle at work, thinking ahead to yet another week packed with back-to-back-to-back meetings that would suck whatever fumes remained in my interpersonal gas tank, and the relentless torrent of emails that would scream for my attention, and the countless decisions that required focus and a high degree of executive function – and my brain, after over two years of sprinting this marathon, yelled loud enough to finally grab my attention.… Read the rest -
Crocus vs Crocus
Is this a picture of a crocus? Yes and no. Let’s get botanical!
When Europeans came to North America, virtually all the plants they saw were new to them. However, many looked similar to those they knew from Europe, so the names of flowers from ‘back home’ were applied to their counterparts here in the ‘new country’. Why they didn’t come up with new names for the new plants or adopt the names Indigenous communities already had for them I don’t know.… Read the rest
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Weevil Wednesday
She was unsure why or how, but Vera was always drawn to the leaf edge. No matter which way she had set out to travel, her feet, as if pulled by magnets, always brought her here. And then she’d stand, looking out at a world of many colors and experience an odd mix of melancholy and pride that she was and always would be a green weevil.… Read the rest
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Accommodating Crisis: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
I’ve experienced a life of relative stability, with the broad strokes of the future appearing relatively predictable. Yes, there’s been ups and downs over time, but they have all seemed in the realm of ‘normal’. It doesn’t feel this way anymore – the political, social, environmental, and economic context is shifting outside the expected, outside of what I’ve experienced in the past.… Read the rest
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Gardening: Fun, Food, Freedom, Relationship
As we’re well into March, my thoughts are turning to gardening. For me, gardening is a hobby. While my homegrown produce tastes better than anything I’d buy at the grocery store, I could, with much less sweat, simply buy a few more veggies. But where’s the fun in that?
My modest garden. I grew up in a family that gardened. Vegetables, flowers, fruit trees – my family grew it all.… Read the rest