Heart of Stone

Valentine's Day is coming. Some random heartfelt thoughts. Act One: Heart of Stone Do you remember, a lifetime ago, the day before Donald Trump's inauguration? There was some sort of official concert that included fife and drum bands. While Mr. Trump and his wife were leaving the event a DJ played Heart of Stone by the…Read More

Iron Rich Saint John

Recently I wrote about my visit to Saint John, New Brunswick in 1976.  I wandered the streets feeling surprise and delight, discovering the wealth of Victorian architecture constructed in the years after the Great Fire of 1877.  A particular fascination of mine was decorative cast iron and this post will show examples that caught my attention. Hope they attract your…Read More

Learning from Saint John

When I grew up in Halifax in the 1950s and 60s we were led to believe that Saint John, New Brunswick was a dark and dreary place that could suck the joy out of you like a Harry Potter dementor. When I finally visited our sister city for a couple of days, in the fall of 1976,…Read More

Tiny Stuff

New Year's is traditionally a time of taking stock and often that includes trying to simplify your life (usually translated as "get rid of stuff'). I support minimalism but also enjoy being surrounded by pockets of visual richness. It occurred to me that one solution might be to just have small stuff that didn't take up much…Read More