A couple weeks ago, Blaise and I headed out on our second 3-night/4-day backpacking trip. This time we tackled the local Elbow Loop which follows the Big Elbow upstream then at Tombstone pass crosses over and follows the Little Elbow back downstream to where the two meet to form the Elbow River which flows into … [Read more…]
My friend Jae (and several others) has called the Calgary Folk Music Festival the best 4 days of the year in Calgary. Despite having lived in Calgary 10 years and a great aversion for folk music (and music in general), this is the first CFMF that Amber and I have attended. We have always been … [Read more…]
Yesterday I completed a years long journey backward in time. My friend Jenn recommended that I check out the podcast of This American Life back in 2012. I checked it out a few months later during summer vacation and then began listening to it regularly during my commutes to work which involved walking and riding … [Read more…]
In November, 2016, our family moved out of a home where we had spent 52 months living with another family of four. Thirty months in, I wrote about our co-living experience, but didn’t really address how it worked. This post has been a long time coming and I decided to jot down a few thoughts before … [Read more…]
Doing my part for the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada was a real pleasure this summer. While I understand the protests against the celebration, I think we can acknowledge the flaws in our nation’s history and systems while at the same time celebrating the beautiful aspects of Canada. I choose to celebrate Canadian … [Read more…]
We make a little getaway to the mountains on Fathers’ Day weekend. As a part of that we venture into Kananaskis to enjoy the alpine air, stroll by wild strawberries and feel the spray of an early summer waterfall. The Troll Falls loop near the currently green Nakiska Ski Hill is about an hour drive from Calgary. … [Read more…]
We take a hike in Calgary a couple weeks ago based on a trail in the book Calgary’s Best Walks by Lori Beattie. Amber decides on Edgemont Hills and Ravines which takes us just north of where we live. We climb up to the ridge on the prairie scrub, golden grasses dotted with glistening violet crocuses. … [Read more…]
A couple weeks ago my longtime friend Jeff “no relation” Robichaud took me up in a Cessna west of Calgary. Jeff and I have known each other since 1983. All those years, he’s demonstrated that he likes to master things. I think getting his pilot’s license a few years back is a vestige of having … [Read more…]
So one of my other pastors is also a published author (The Day Metallica Came to Church is the book by my other pastor). Our church recently merged with another church for a variety of reasons and one of the great benefits is that Rich is one of my new pastors. He geeks out on church … [Read more…]
I was first moved this season by a Christmas carol at Blaise and Acadia’s school Winter Celebration a couple weeks ago where home schoolers presented their various talents of martial arts, dancing, singing, comedy, sketches, and playing instruments. Two young brothers played their violin and piano duet of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Still reeling from … [Read more…]