PEOPLE & PLACES

July 5, 2026. The FIFA World Cup continues apace. As always seems to be the case, the sheer brilliance of the play, for the most part, overshadows any tournament concerns about a bloated 48 team field operating in the midst of the world’s current complex political, economic, and social extremism. Norway clashes with Brazil in a thrilling round of 16 encounter. The two countries fight for a coveted place in the quarterfinals. To my delight, the underdog Scandinavian side break

Mid December. Pitch black. It is 450am. A cloak of darkness envelopes our family’s rental car. We edge our way slowly from the parking...

I can’t claim to know Taylor Swift. And she certainly does not know me. If we passed each other in the street, I wouldn’t recognize her....

“There are no strangers here; only friends we have not yet met.” So wrote WB Yeats, the brilliant poet and dramatist. One of the...

The event, in the end a 72-day odyssey, takes place a half century ago. Nonetheless, the story and its extreme circumstances resonate...

On the one hand, it had nothing to do with sport. Yet, on the other, in some ways everything. Late morning, a sunny Saturday in late...

Mid week, late September. The northeast of Scotland. A memorable three-week holiday continues apace. South from Aberdeen, along the A90....

Mid September. The parking lot is jammed. Hikers of all descriptions empty from their vehicles, start preparing for an afternoon’s...

August 2023. Victoria, BC. The wee hours. Apparently, waking too early in the morning means a miserable start to one’s day. Still, as the...

Spring 2023. A school assembly gets set to begin. The usual hum of activity. Bleachers and rows of chairs in the old gymnasium steadily...