An abandoned storefront on a rainy Sunday afternoon in River John, Nova Scotia.     And a closeup of the sign over the chair....

04 September, 2013

Opponents of wind turbines often contend that the shadow-flicker and infrasound they create causes health problems. Someone forgot to tell the Osprey who chose to raise their family on the closest power pole to this 800 kw turbine along NS Hwy. 6 in River John. http://youtu.be/DA8dOncDFzc The background noise comes not from the turbine but from cars passing by on Route 6....

01 September, 2013

To say that my granddaughter, Rosa Eileen Barss Donham, age 7, likes stuffed animals is a bit like saying the Atlantic Ocean is a body of water. Both statements are true as far as they go, but neither captures the full grandeur of its subject matter. Rosa has a large collection of stuffed animals, each with its own name, personality, backstory, quirks, likes, dislikes, and adventuresome exploits. Her current favourite, a white kitten called Snowflake, was a great comfort when Rosa had her tonsils out last year. Snowflake even accompanied Rosa to the operating room, and got her own hospital bracelet...

29 August, 2013

Things are different at the convent. (H/T: Silas/ Presentation Sisters Convent, St. John's, NL.)...

09 August, 2013

Last month, University of Massachusetts scientists working with laboratory cell cultures said they had succeeded in suppressing the extra chromosome associated with Down syndrome, a technique they predicted could lead to treatments targeted at the symptoms of the condition. Halifax resident Renee Forrestall, whose 22-year-old daughter Marie Webb has Down Syndrome, condemned the research as akin to cultural genocide. We've got a genetically similar community, visible minority who are being targeted and terminated globally. People think, "Well, this is the way it is and these people just shouldn't be." A friend who knows I have identical twin grandchildren with Down Syndrome sought my...

02 August, 2013

Toshi-Aline Ohta Seeger died Tuesday night at her home at Beacon, NY. She was 91. Here's how her grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, summed up her marriage to America's most famous folksinger: "Without my grandmother, there would be no Pete Seeger the way people understand it," Rodriguez-Seeger said. "That's not an exaggeration. She kept everything working so that he could focus on the world-saving, civil rights, anti-nukes, Clearwater - all of the projects that my grandfather worked on." A few years ago, Pete recorded these thoughts about his wife of 70 years, and her extraordinary family background: Mark Moss, editor of Sing Out! magazine has...

11 July, 2013

Well here's some depressing news: Of the seven bat species* ever recorded in Nova Scotia, only three — the little brown bat, the northern long-eared bat, and the tri-coloured bat — have been present in "significant populations." Today, provincial wildlife experts listed all three as endangered under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act. The Department of Natural Resources website cites white-nose-syndrome, a fatal fungus-borne disease that has killed nearly seven million bats in eastern North America in the last eight years. The three years since the disease was first detected in Nova Scotia have seen an estimated 90% percent decline in our populations. There is...

11 July, 2013

Miranda July has a publishing project underway that exists only in your email inbox. She asked 10 famous and somewhat famous friends and acquaintances (writers, actors, scientists, artists, athletes)  to look through their email archives and send her real emails in which they discuss particular topics like money or giving advice. She groups these by topic, and she'll be sending out a set every Monday from July 1 through November 11, 2013. You can sign up to receive them. "How they comport themselves in email is so intimate, almost obscene — a glimpse of them from their own point of view," July writes. Here is...

09 July, 2013

Here's the view this morning from the second storey of the Nova Scotia Power building on Lower Water Street. Photo: David Rodenhiser. Click image for full sized version. Of course, you can't see the NS Power building from this photograph, but I will take this opportunity to note that it is the most under-appreciated architectural marvel in Nova Scotia—a magnificent structure with many interesting features that combine to make it an exceptionally beautiful and functional workplace. The ground floor of the defunct coal-fired generating station is accessible to the public from the boardwalk side. If you are in the neighbourhood during business hours, you really should...

03 July, 2013

For most of 2012, Mary MacDougall was acting community leader at l'Arche Cape Breton. That year, her birthday fell on a Tuesday, the night the whole community gathers to share supper, news, and conversation. That's when Mary received an unexpected birthday gift from a man who has never spoken a word in his life. [Video link] Then there was the time L'Arche Core Member David Gunn decided to ham it up at a gathering where EMT's were present, inspiring a bigger reaction than he bargained for. [Video link] You can subscribe to l'Arche Cape Breton's YouTube channel, and follow l'Arche Cape Breton on Facebook, Twitter, and...

18 June, 2013
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