Quail are as common to me in the Okanagan as sparrows were in the Holy Land to Jesus. I usually walk blithely past them without so much as a glance as they scurry from bush to bush in the undergrowth. However, a recent encounter with a … Read more
There it was, just ahead of me on the sidewalk: a familiar, bright yellow dandelion, the harbinger of spring, growing out of a narrow crack in the concrete pavement. Somehow, a lone seed from the previous year had landed in the crack and … Read more
Many years ago, I saw a war film, Full Metal Jacket, about a group of infantrymen during the Vietnam War. The scene I remember most vividly, which has stuck with me over the years, opened with the men returning to base camp from leave. … Read more
One morning this past summer, during our morning walk, my wife and I stopped for a break at our usual bistro. It was a beautiful morning, and we decided to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Sitting at a nearby table was a group of three … Read more
There is a small, non-descript fountain at the entrance to our city park. The fountain itself is not very impressive as fountains go. It has just seven streams of water rising to a height of about ten feet, and a … Read more
Isn't it strange how one of those profound and sacred insights into the all-consuming love and grace of God that overwhelms our very souls seems to build up over time? My last graceful moment started with a very innocuous homily … Read more
It is the late spring and early summer time of the year in the Okanagan Valley. Every leaf and flower is newly in bloom; and it is a fresh time of year. The birds have all arrived from winter climes, … Read more
World War II was finally over. Twice our house had been damaged by bombs or rockets; I had been trapped in a hospital during an air raid by V1s that levelled the hospital and killed many patients and staff; and … Read more