I wander into the kitchen, pour a half cup of popcorn kernels into the air popper, plug the thing in and wander out again. I’m distracted. I’m feeling sad. I’m hurting a bit. Just a bit, on my left forearm. Mostly, I’m wondering what I could have done differently in …
I said a final farewell to a pair of beloved relatives this week: my father’s identical twin brother, Dave, and his wife, Dorothy. Though they died many months apart, their memorial service waited until relatives could gather. Gather we did, a collection of Neufeld cousins and friends from as close …
When did the lovely art of hospitality start to leave us? It dangles by a fraying thread, it seems. Even among Christ-followers, mandated to share both home and food, the hardened shears of too-much-business, and too-little-love have almost snipped it from among us. The Preacher and I accepted an invitation …
“What a fantastic walk I had today,” I told my co-worker, sticking my hand in my pocket to remove my drivers licence. I’d put it there before leaving on my noon break so I could legally drive to the nature trail’s head. No licence met my fingers. My heart sank, …
While on a road trip with my friend Glenda one cold and blustery afternoon, we stopped at a botanical garden. An oasis of colour and harmony greeted us, resplendent with flowering plants, tropical foliage and cacti. A cobblestone path dotted with wooden benches and wicker chairs wound past gurgling fountains, …
“Wow. That’s quite a lineup,” my friend said, as we took our place at the end of the queue snaking down the street from the theatre. Over three hundred people packed the place that evening, every ticket sold. They came to view Unplanned, a movie about one of the most …
I don’t know much about buffalo, but they make me snicker. At the front end they’re all bravado: massive shoulders, barrel chest and beady eyes. But turn them around and their hindquarters are only slightly larger than my own, with a wannabe lion’s tail tacked on. God smiled, creating buffalo, …
A television series you enjoy—cancelled before a proper conclusion. A book you’re reading, a cliff-hanger till the last, sadly missing, page. A fascinating conversation floating to you from the next restaurant table, but then things get too loud to hear the rest. Unfinished stories surround us. Last week, some regular …
A hundred kilometres an hour clicked smoothly by—until the harsh scraping sound from under the van rudely interrupted. “WHAT’S THAT?” The Preacher slowed and pulled off the highway. Fearing the worst, we got out and inspected below. A loose narrow rod, bent at both ends, rested on a crossbar. One …
“The reason grandchildren get along so well with their grandparents,” I heard someone say, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “is that they have a common enemy.” Our six live about an hour from us. Fortunately, on (almost) all things, the Preacher and I and their parents agree. We feel blessed …
