The Minister’s Lawn and the Lilac Tree

| May 29, 2016

I grew up in the small but (then) prosperous town of  Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in a house across the street from what was generally referred to as “the Minister’s lawn”. A part of the grounds of the Anglican Reverend’s residence, it was a beautifully manicured expanse of table top flatness, and came to be used […]

Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – If You Can’t Do It Slow, You Can’t Do It Fast

| April 20, 2016

“A man cannot understand the perfection and imperfections of his chosen art if he cannot see the value in other arts. Following rules only permits development up to a point in technique; to advance further the student and artist must learn and seek other knowledge. It makes sense to study other arts as well as […]

Such a Terrible Job I Have

| April 15, 2016

Plying my trade(s) in rural Nova Scotia exposes me to all manner of ordeals and sights you just can’t unsee. Oh, the panic that can’t be unpanicked! Case in point, the photos that follow taken last week on departure from a client’s premises. I’d say they are located in a typical area of woods and […]

More Enjoy Fencing!

| March 25, 2016

“Sport Fencing”, will frequently be the inroad for many in pursuit of a broader exploration of the Blade Arts. While in its development it has veered decidedly toward being an athletic pursuit more than a combative one, Sport Fencing undeniably imbues the serious practitioner with a sound grasp of footwork, timing, distance, quickness of wit, […]

The Best Laid Plans

| February 24, 2016

Operating our security consultancy out of rural Nova Scotia, our average day is best described as what you might get if  the logistical and operational realities of All Creatures Great and Small and The Sandbaggers had a kid. In this family business, a gap on one’s dance card doesn’t take long to close, so our […]

No Man’s Land

| February 14, 2016

“The rash assertion that ‘God made man in His own image’ is ticking like a time bomb at the foundations of many faiths, and as the hierarchy of the universe is disclosed to us, we may have to recognize this chilling truth: if there are any gods whose chief concern is man, they cannot be […]

A Long Winter’s Night 2015 – Day 2: All Things Great and Seasonal

| December 23, 2015

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Visser was for many years a regular on an assortment of radio programmes produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She has authored six books on a variety of subjects ranging from the traditions of dinner to the expression of gratitude, linking the origins of the world we know to that of […]

A Long Winter’s Night 2015 – Day 1: Another Winter Solstice

| December 22, 2015

Pre-Christian history is full of spiritual beliefs that personify the sun as a deity who dies and is resurrected, even as the sun that reaches its shortest period of life in the sky is reborn to linger just a little longer each day in the blessed march toward what is hoped to be a new […]

Dark Sentiments 2015 – Day 14: My Name is Gourd and I’ll be Your Server This Evening

| October 14, 2015

No season of Dark Sentiments would be complete without our annual foray into the shenanigans and goings on perpetrated by the denizens of Villafane Studios. Always exciting and constantly honing their craft, we’ve been keeping a watchful eye on Ray Villafane and his merry band since the very beginning with DS2010. Although they run events […]

Dark Sentiments 2015 – Day 7: Stonefall

| October 7, 2015

Much of the land that, if I may be so bold, we call “our own”, is covered with a mixture of second growth forest interspersed with a smattering of ancient Pine Trees that have escaped undisturbed by the hand of Man. Walking west from the house, the land rises rapidly over a distance of some […]