There’s a sweet spot in the summer for me, when the heat backs off and my lungs recover from really, really hating that. When we get just...

It’s officially spring in my garden. Snowdrops are blooming in a bright cluster near the back door. This is a quirk of climate change,...

Calgary’s been hit with another disaster-of-sorts  – a summer snow storm that snapped trees all across the city. (Heavy, wet snow on...

Saturday was the perfect fall day, sunny, warm, and ideal for raking. Sunday we had dark skies, rain and then snow, and a multitude of...

I have survived Wordfest  – five events in three days, a pocketful of bus and show tickets, 2 writing workshops, talks by 6 kid writers,...

We’ve been through trauma in Calgary and southern Alberta, as flood waters poured across the land. It’s been an amazing story, of fear...

Calgary is astounding. We’ve been hit with massive flooding from torrential rains upstream, with just enough notice to evacuate low-lying...

Friends are in town from Scotland, and I spent a day with Chris, while his wife was at a conference. We drove south of Calgary and then...

Sunday I flew home from balmy San Diego (see palm fronds in sunlight, below), to ice and snow in Calgary. It was exquistely beautiful,...

I watched three people launch kayaks early yesterday morning, and one said, as she stepped into the water, “If we’re going to do this in...

Most of the time, being a writer means being alone in a room. I don’t feel lonely, because I’m hanging out with my characters, but it is...

I’ve finished my three Wordfest sessions, and did them all without losing my voice to a hovering cold. The first was at Vertigo Theatre...

It’s finally up on the website, so I can announce – I’ll be one of the authors at Wordfest in Calgary and Banff this October. I’m...

It’s been an incredibly mild winter in Calgary, so I use photos from Banff National Park to remind me of what’s normal for this time of...

We drove out to the new Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park this morning, just west of Calgary. It used to be Harvie family ranchland, and...

It feels like fall ­– a bit of wind, a touch of coolness in the air – and I love it. I know some people will bemoan the lack of heat this...

After nine days of bitter cold and ever-deepening snow, it’s been warming for a couple of days, and is now balmy (well, for Calgary in...

Winter has started with a great shebang here in Calgary. We had a lovely long fall, and then a winter storm hit. We’re now deep in cold...

In the last few months we’ve had crows hanging around the house. My mom says it’s because they know I’m writing about them. I think they...