Kung Hei Fat Choi! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Saehae bok mani badeuseyo! Chúc mừng năm mới! Today is the Lunar New Year, the first day of the 2 week Spring Festival. Visit your family (but only on the second day), wear red, avoid taking out the trash (which is akin to washing away your luck […]
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In January of 1901, the city of Victoria in British Columbia, was contemplating the New Year with optimism. A new year was welcomed by the ringing of bells and the explosion of fireworks. But on January 19th some disturbing news reached the city. The Colonist reported that Her Majesty Queen Victoria, who was highly esteemed
Each year we seem to become more jaded in outlook concerning the real meaning of Christmas. So, let’s for a moment, step back into the past and see how people of long ago celebrated this special time. It’s interesting to find that through their writings of Christmas past they appeared to live in a happier,
CHRISTMAS LONG AGO! Read More »
Perhaps because there has been so much horror in the world of late, it seems even more important every November 11th to remember why we honour all those who serve their countries. On November 11, 1919, when the first Remembrance Day was held throughout Commonwealth countries to mark the end of the First World War,
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Remember that day back in March 2020 when the world closed down? How could we ever forget!At the time we thought it would only be for a few weeks, but then things grew steadily worse and it became a pandemic around the world greater than we could ever have imagined.In British Columbia, Canada, we are
Today, Smugglers’ Cove in my home town of Victoria, British Columbia, is a peaceful place where families visit to picnic or just admire the scenery. Not so a few decades ago! The capital city of British Columbia, Victoria, is known for many things today—tea at the Empress Hotel, the world-famous Butchart Gardens, and all the
SMUGGLING IN THE DAYS OF YORE! Read More »
Christmas 2020 is going to be very different for us all. This year there will be no large family Christmas dinners and most of our pre-Christmas celebrations have already been cancelled—no parades, no Christmas parties, no magical trips walking through a wonderland of lights and no large gatherings anywhere. As we stagger along under mounting
Now that Labour Day is over, I am looking ahead to Thanksgiving. As 2020 has been such a difficult year for so many people, we all have to scramble to think of things we can really be thankful for. But I still believe there are many. But first a little Thanksgiving history because, as you
If, like me, you’re feeling a wee bit “witchy” during these COVID-19 days, here’s a piece of witchcraft history to ponder on. For instance, did you know that it was on September 22nd in 1692, 328 years ago, that the last eight witches in Salem were hung for their so-called crimes? The history of witchcraft
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Anton Chekov had it right—especially for writers like me. As an established non-fiction writer in British Columbia, Canada, I am now branching out into fiction and the issue of “telling” versus “showing” is paramount. The biggest problem for writers going from writing non-fiction to writing fiction is being able to switch from telling the story
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