If you like staying in motion, keeping things lean, a constant change of scenery and time spent with many, many dogs and the occasional cat, housesitting is all that and more.
Taking it to the max: The life of a serial obsessionist
Mostly I’ve loved this life of serial obsessions. It drives me to learn all kinds of things I wouldn’t have thought to learn. It pushes me out of my comfort zone to have new experiences that I wouldn’t have thought to have. It helps me shed what has lost meaning, making room for something new.
O Canada, You’ll Always Be My Girl
A love letter to Canada from a Cuso International volunteer now living in Honduras.
The Tenacity of Hope
Spending every Sunday for more than a year now with a ragtag group of Honduran children from deprived, troubled childhoods has turned out to be a surprisingly heartening experience.
The Downside of Clean, Safe Streets
After travelling through Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, Jody Paterson finds Canadian streets rather empty … and rather boring.
Mother Never Told You: Love Hurts
I’ve been a mother since before I was even an adult, having had my first child at 17. It’s been an interesting ride, to say the least. I’ve learned some things about motherhood in the 36 years since then. Three kids, two stepkids and five grandsons will do that to you. What strikes me so […]
Making Music for the Street
I saw Darth Vader near the Inner Harbour today, a sure sign that spring is approaching. A few hardy buskers keep going through the dark days of winter in Victoria, but street performers like Darth generally keep a low profile until the weather gets warmer. It requires a certain bravura to dress up like Darth […]
We Love the Ones We’re With
Valentine’s Day, 1992. We grin at the camera, our cheeks flushed almost as red as the heart-shaped balloons and streamers draped everywhere in that tiny basement suite we lived in at the time. I was crazy about him then. Now, I look at that picture and can barely remember that period of my life. But […]
From Perky to Practical: Gym-Inspired Thoughts on Aging
I do have fond memories of a brief couple of years as a Mrs. Robinson-like character, and you can’t help but feel just a moment or two of regret when you realize you’ve grown old enough that the young Benjamins of this world now view you warmly as a harmless mother substitute.
The Brothel Project: One Strange Journey
I guess I can consider myself a movie star now, even if The Brothel Project is the only film I ever star in. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as nervous as I was in the moments just before the movie started, having not been allowed to see it before its debut on January 31 at the Victoria Film Festival.