6 years ago I had a dark little new 26″ incher with no door storage which I had been renting (!) You could never find anything in it. Narrow, cramped but energy efficient. After a couple years, I put it in the apartment upstairs and got a nice big second-hand one with door storage – [...]

I was asked to read a poem about this house at 99 York Street by Kingston poet Michael Hurley whose common joy radiates in all encounters. There was the usual splendid buffet of nibblies and opportunity to share stories with some of the folks who made them, running the house which offers meeting rooms at [...]

Our local provincial representative to the legislature (Same as state for U.S.), John, continues to be ethical, caring and have a great staff ready to help. I’ve known him personally over the years and watched his hard work and genuine concern for Kingston, Ontario where I live. His experience goes all the way to knowing [...]

Keep having to trim the vine back in order to keep drive from getting blocked. Keep imaging myself on Judge Judy explaining that yes, the sign WAS readable and not grown over, which is why I had the errant parker towed. Actually it works well. Here’s the whole picture: Sign’s worked great. In all our [...]

Here’s the chairless front of my house. Thank heavens I wasn’t testing the waters with the Reading Frog Garden Sculpture which is safely inside. These particular missing lawn chairs were more or less bait. Old and prone to collapsing, no writing on them, only someone desperate and deluded would want them. They were handy for [...]

“IT’S A READING FROG!” The first person to see the Rob O’Dare sculpture in my garden said. “OMG, I LOVE it! Who IS this guy?” He’s English, I told her and yesterday became a Canadian citizen. She examined the sculpture more closely. “He’s a welder,” she explained, “working with iron. What a piece.” It’s been [...]

Reminiscent of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, this car that looks so quiet in the picture was blaring music, all windows down, keys in the ignition, engine running as the driver steps out. We’re stuck next to him, waiting for friends. “Hey! You’ve left your music on!” I yell as the driver heads away. [...]

Warm summer, end of June day, traffic heavy on our main street, Princess, and then, at regular intervals for about two hours, armoured carriers interspersed with the baby strollers, pedestrians, cars, vans, pickups, delivery trucks and buses. There is a yellow, ‘student driver’ sign on the far right and another on the back. I was [...]

Parking lots, like other institutions, have their own culture. Densely-packed, they’ve become the focus of urban legend: lurkers with scented knock-out drops to overpower and attack women, sob stories destined to prey on your vulnerability, a new location for the urban horror story. Forgotten here are the watchers Every parking lot has them. My dear [...]

Someone held a cigarette lighter up to this particular renku in my spring garden on the corner. As a form of criticism, it leaves a lot to be desired. Was it this verse on the front, sent me by Sandra Stephenson as an academic offshoot of rengu or this one I love on the reverse [...]