A simple question from a Geordie I met in Newcastle
An on and off again mizzle caught up to me as I entered Newcastle. A little too persistent to ignore forcing me to slide on my rain…
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Thin spaces: death, grief, and celebration
This past weekend on one of those glorious sunny November days, my son and I had planned a walk along the Beltline rail trail in mid-town Toronto, to go visit the Evergreen Brickworks, a former brick factory along the Don River, repurposed as a community environmental centre and public space. Upon entry, it quickly…
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From Child to Caregiver
One winter break, while in university, I was working in a long-term care facility painting the newly installed doors to help pay for my education. At the time long-term care facilities were scary for me. But something happened. I got to know the residents, their names, their habits, and my presence became part of their…
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Walking in the steps of my ancestors
The act of walking is an intimate experience. In a world where everything seems fast, walking is slow. In that slowness, there is time and space that is different from our everyday life; to exercise, a time to think, to remember, to plan, and often, a time to be in the moment feeling…
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Ransacking Troy from a non-binary perspective
From Caitlyn MacInnis’s Instagram account: “I play Cur, and I can’t wait for you to meet her/him/them LOL.” Seeing non-binary representation in a play is still something that is not that…
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Who were the good guys? bad guys?
The moral ambiguity of the Scottish English borderlands This is a story where one can not easily divide groups of people into good guys and bad guys. For those who are fans of the show, Peaky Blinders, it is like diving into the world of Thomas Shelby, the leader of the criminal gang, who is…
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The End of the Road as Queer Space
The end of the road as “queer space” This blog post captures my thoughts I had while walking the littoral zone…
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The Bells were here: Scottish roots.
Last summer, Nancy and I walked the border between Wales and England, the birthplace of the relatives on my father’s side. My fascination with borders, identity, liminal space, and words found fertile ground during this walk. My search for understanding the meaning of Cynefin and Hireath became the quest of this pilgrimage as these two…
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Am I to blame?
Am I part of the problem? After spending most of the last month travelling both in Canada and the UK, I can start to understand why many countries in Europe are turning against tourism. Is tourism of any kind sustainable, let alone the mass tourism of cruise ships, bus tours, and wall to wall all…
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Na hÁiteanna Caola
My morning hike on the eve of the winter solstice begins just as the sun emerges above the horizon at 7: 53 am and by the time I arrive home it feels like the day is fully here and just as quickly shortly before 5:00 pm, the sun is gone on the shortest day of…