Treading on Traditional Territory
Last spring, I went on a field trip with my son’s grade 11 English “First People’s” class to Mac Laing Park in Comox with Dr. Jesse Morin, a local archeologist.  The experience ...
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How Curiosity Makes Our Universe Expand
Curiosity makes us smarter and is also a quality that is essential for adding joy and wonder to our lives.  Ideally we keep nurturing this curiosity into adulthood, a time when we ...
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The Richness in Connecting to Place
The more I notice and respond to this place I live, the more my life becomes tied to it and the richer I feel.  Talking to and interacting with new and old ...
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The Surprising Lesson in "Alone"
This winter I watched the History Channel’s reality TV show “Alone”, where people get dropped off in the middle of the wilderness to see how long they can survive – whoever remains ...
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Do Trees Feel Time?
Walking through a forest I often think I am probably barely registering the very tip of what is actually happening there – the local language and lives of the resident plants and ...
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Unexpected Lessons Learned in a Renovation
It started with digging a giant hole in front of our house – an equally large pile of dirt sat in our front yard, which was soon joined by a surprising amount ...
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On Nature's Good Side at the Bowron Lakes
I was sitting at a table by myself in the Wells Hotel café, the morning after completing a family trip on the Bowron Lakes Canoe circuit, writing in my journal.  At the ...
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Finding Freedom in a Tent
  Many peak experiences in my life have somehow involved needing a tent. I had never actually slept in a tent until I was eighteen and I signed up for a thirty ...
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Family Bonding on the Sayward Lakes
We were faced with a few unknowns when we left for the Sayward Lakes Canoe Circuit this summer for a family trip.  For instance, we had little previous experiences with canoeing that ...
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Living Room
My initial inspiration for this image was to paint a cozy living room in a dark inhospitable setting as a reflection on how people support each other and find connection within challenging ...
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