The overnight rain on Saturday had just let up by morning and the streets of Harrisonburg, Virginia were drying out. The skies were still quite overcast and threatened more rain. We all decided to sleep in until about 9:00, just this one time. The only plan for the day was to ride in a 400 km loop through the mountain ranges in the area and end up back here in Harrisonburg, so we had plenty of time.

We…

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers. The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that…

 {index} {page…

Check out this very funny lady...…

A few years back, some canny soul coined the term “TomKat”, and a fad was born. But no, it wasn’t a fad. Today, people are portmanteauing all over the place. Portmanteau is the very dignified term used to describe combining two words to form a new one. And so, it is in that spirit that I created the term fromance. Thinking myself quite clever to invent such a catchy new word, I set to work on this piece, only to discover that fromance has been in the urban…

Don’t you just wish?

That every day cast a ray of sunshine upon your life,

That every day the pot of gold at your rainbow came alive,

That every night empowered your dreams from a moon beam from a far,

Don’t you just wish?

That each day caressed your soul with the warmth of a gentle breeze,

That each day carried away the sadness you wear upon your sleeve,

That each night your wish arrived on the tail off a falling…

I belong to a church group and we are going all out to raise money to help in this terrible disaster.

When I heard that the Indian community had raised only 50,000 all together I was also alarmed.

Can this really be true?

I rarely discuss religion in a public forum, but this needs to be addressed by everyone in the West – well at least in my opinion.

Right now 1/5 of Pakistan is under water and 97% of Pakistani people are Muslim. The country that is providing the most humanitarian aid is the USA and that is the best way to fight terrorism.

Really, if the West is seen as the good guys in this situation, they win the support of the masses over there, and that needs…

Once upon a time, there was a king that ruled a prosperous country.

One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he came back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very sore. It was the first time that he had gone for such a long trip, and the road that he went on was very rough and stony.

So he ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather.

Definitely, to do this job would require…

Scarpface was created by the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Fund (NEBF) to educate students and teachers about the natural wonders of the Escarpment.

Scarpface is a rocky, colossal superhero character embodying the magnificent Niagara Escarpment. The character’s motto is “Don’t mess with the edge.” The project aims to engage…

You know, back in the day when I was working three jobs just to buy Kraft dinner, I didn't really have time for joy. I didn't really have the capacity or the head space to follow my bliss. (Whenever I use the expression "follow my bliss", I feel I should have long, flowing hair, wear a long, flowing caftan, and spend my days making crafty shit out of pocket lint. I should be Aunt Meg from Twister - wasn't she fabulous?) When you're in survival mode, everything but what is absolutely…

I am always pleasently surprised to see just how different others see life as compared to I.

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the…

Today I was talking to one of my sons about integrity and after a lengthy discussion in became clear to us that integrity really has nothing to do with what is right or wrong, moral or immoral, religious or nonreligious. In fact it appeared quite clear that integrity is a personal, distinct part of us; a personal, internal sense of guidance; a personal, state of self trust and a personal barometer that alerts us to a deeper understanding in making choices that allow us to feel OK about the…

Summer time and the livin’ is easy! Or is it?

In New Brunswick, there is an election coming, but to date it has been a big yawn. No significant issues have emerged. Candidates are being chosen and some are starting to talk to their constituents. It’s time for them all to step up…