Blog

My husband’s best friend and business partner skied off a cliff last April and was killed instantly. We flew to Edmonton for the funeral; in the cab, we saw the airport flags at half-mast. The driver wondered why, but we knew. Flags flew at half-mast all over the city, in front of the many public...

I never thought I would become such an ardent environmentalist.  I did women’s issues; my husband did environmental issues.  But I am celebrating Mothers’ Day by doing a little something for Mother Earth.  We need her, and she really needs us right now. I used to think women and the environment...

My son is in the last stages of high school, stands six feet tall, and will qualify to vote in whatever election looms on the horizon next. This fully-grown citizen decided in May that the time had come to get rid of his childhood collection of stuffed animals. I think it caused me a bit more of a...

This weekend I went off to the cottage with my book club, a group of eight wonderful women, which is still going strong after twelve years. One member died last year of cancer. Other members have weathered divorce, chronic illness, career ups and downs. Children have grown up. Parents have passed...

Are things getting better for women? I sure would like to think so. Books and magazine articles are coming out in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. saying an increasing and surprising number of married women make, not just as much, but actually more than their husbands. The numbers range from 25% in...

There are a lot of jokes that start “A man walks into a bar…” This story, and it is no joke, starts “A woman walks into a store…” Lise, a friend of mine, recently received a rude shock. While paying for her purchase in a large department store, the clerk asked if she would like to apply for a...

You know those pictures that are made up, like a mosaic, of thousands of tiny photographs? They are a popular device in television and magazine ads. If you are very close to one of these things, you can see the detail of each tiny image, but can’t make any sense of the whole picture. If you are...

Emily Dickinson is one of my favourite poets, and her poem “I dwell in possibility” one of my favourite poems. Being a mom and having a career is not an easy row to hoe, but it is a path that is full of possibilities. Things change all the time, and, like the weather or a bad haircut, if you don’t...

Somewhere along the line in recent years, the concept of redundancy has gotten a bad name. “Redundant” has come to mean “unnecessary” and hence “to be eliminated in the next thirty-five seconds.” Employees who are “made redundant” are fired. This pursuit of efficiency in employment is very much in...

Nothing lasts forever – and that’s a good thing Before I met my husband Craig, every time I went on a date there was a voice in my head asking “Is this the one? Is this the guy forever and ever? Is this the RIGHT guy?” It is amazingly difficult to be relaxed, act naturally and have a good time...