A Long Winter’s Night – Dark Creatures for Dark Times

| December 28, 2011

Every time I embark on a series of articles that connect with a theme, for example Dark Sentiments that runs the entire 31 days of October each year, and now A Long Winter’s Night which will likewise be an annual event running from 21-31 December, my fevered brain generates content that far o’erflows the allotted [...]

A Long Winter’s Night – Of Firsts, Films, and Food

| December 26, 2011

Last evening Mrs. LFM and I did something that’s an annual tradition for some people, but we’ve never done before – I took her to the Christmas Day opening of a movie. Specifically, we viewed the 2011 incarnation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Clicking on the embedded link will take you to the [...]

A Long Winter’s Night – Festivus

| December 23, 2011

If you’ve ever met anyone who watched even one episode of Seinfeld, you’ve heard of Festivus, AKA “A festivus for the rest of us”. If you’ve dug a little further, you’ll also know that today is the day. The origins of Festivus are not lost in antiquity. They lie in the writings and family practices [...]

A Long Winter’s Night – The Winter Solstice is the Reason for the Season

| December 21, 2011

If there is one thing to be learned from history, it’s that from a practical standpoint, people don’t learn anything from history. The winter solstice – the interval of time that surrounds the shortest day, and likewise the longest night of the annual cycle, has held deep spiritual meaning for human societies as long as [...]

Winter is Coming – And a New Dark Sentiment

| December 6, 2011

About 15 years ago, long before I ever heard of Game of Thrones and the Stark family motto, I was working late into the night alongside a leathercrafter of great skill who was kindly assisting me with a project that exceeded my own abilities and equipment to complete single handed. As we worked, our conversation [...]

The Large Fierce Mammal’s Small But Weighty Book of Etiquette

| November 27, 2011

“In considering how much you should care about the reaction of another to your own behaviour, it is always best to assume that they are armed, lethally skilled, and prepared to kill you at the slightest provocation. If the desired outcome of your course of action outweighs that risk, then you must proceed without delay; [...]

Dark Sentiments 2011 – Day 30: Stella

| October 30, 2011

The inspiration of this poem came from a story I was once told by the woman it happened to. Her name is not Stella. Stella By LFM Stella was an ugly girl, At least that’s how she felt. Her mirror’s cruelty exposed The cards that she’d been dealt. Her parents were so beautiful It made [...]

Dark Sentiments 2011 – Day 22: An Insidious Curse

| October 22, 2011

Today’s Dark Sentiment is about a very real curse that stalks our girl children, our wives, our mothers – in fact every woman. It entwines them in its evil tendrils and draws its nourishment from them by draining their sense of self-worth, forcing them to suppress their intellectual and creative spirit, and filling their hearts [...]

The Blackberry Wine Project

| September 25, 2011

Mrs. LFM and I live in the midst of plenty, all of it provided by Nature and requiring only the investment of time, effort, and gratitude to enjoy. An example of what I’m talking about is the succulent Blackberry that grows in abundance at our place. I decided this past spring to pursue a couple [...]

11 September 2001 Changed My Life Forever

| September 11, 2011

In every war in every era, the lives of some have been ending violently at the same time those of others have been blossoming. Such is the way of things. In Lunenburg, the morning of 11 September 2001 dawned foggy enough to obscure the coffee cup in front of your face. Nothing surprising for late [...]