Two poems I wrote, both pretty accessible: 1 for change; 1 for rickety love Which way do I go? Did I already tell you this? Anyway. It was when I visited you last. Were you there the last time I … Continued
Finding Home
A cartoon in the New Yorker many years ago showed two men talking at a cocktail party. One says to the other, “I come from Cincinnati, but that’s not where I’m coming from.” That’s how I felt about Saskatchewan. When … Continued
Pursuing the Desert Tracking Urge: Part 2
Two of the students taking the course on tracking animals in the desert were former members of the LAPD drug squad. I speak to Dennis, the older of the two. He tells me he was an only child in a … Continued
The urge to track animals in the desert
Two friends invited me to go to the Mojave Desert in California, to take a weekend course on tracking animals. I said yes right away, even though it seemed a little harebrained to want to acquire such a skill. My … Continued
Bye Bye Brazil
T. has come down with the flu. Trouper takes me to a fairly remote area quite far from where we are living. He stays back as I walk the long beach. No one is around; no tables with umbrellas and someone … Continued
Brazil Interrupted by Robins
As I’m about to post the final catch about Brazil, I am interrupted by robins. In the midst of my habit of looking down, I look up. On the second storey of my cottage, resting against the gutters, is a … Continued
There’s No One to Take You Home
In my last post, I was in Salvador, Brazil, watching the entrancing spirit-possession ceremony called the candomblé. I continue watching. A somewhat pasty-faced man dances in the circle closest to the centre. He is tall, wearing an off-white cotton top … Continued
From Tough to Inspiring – Dancing in Honour of the Gods
The streets of Salvador, Brazil, are narrow and difficult to negotiate at the best of times (often it involves facing an on-coming car and backing up for a few blocks). On Saturday night it’s worse. There are people everywhere, carrying … Continued
More From Brazil: Beneath Appearances
The water problem has been solved to the extent that we have water coming into the first floor. Cold water, but no one is complaining. The bar lowers. We go to the beach. A young boy comes along selling cheese … Continued
So you think you want to go to Brazil, lassie?
Recently I went on a month long vacation to Salvador, Brazil. What happened was not at all what I had expected. In the next five Catches I’ll describe some of the things which we encountered on our trip. First, the … Continued