Mahdi Al Asheer ducked his head as he felt the rumble of the explosion. Debris fell from the ceiling, and he saw the glass shake. It was 3 am and the bombings were getting closer. So far, he was safe enough where he was. His wife and young child looked to him for salvation. “Daddy, when will they stop?” the boy’s eyes watered, and he held onto his mother tightly. “I don’t know son, Assad and the government forces keep Read more…
The sounds of coughing echoed across the hillside. More and more people are sick again. Now that covid is in retreat, all the former illnesses in life are back. With a vengeance. I’ve had a cough for over a month now. And I know many other people suffering from some malady or other. After two years of masking up and washing hands suddenly everyone is sick. But it’s not covid… It’s the flu, a cold, and a cough. Hospitals are Read more…
The first Monday of the rest of my life. Lately, I have been treating every day as if it was a bad Monday. It is time to change. Time is the most precious thing we have. A thing easily wasted, yet not easily replaced. Time… Monday, March 23, 2020, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery. A journey prompted by a worldwide pandemic that shocked us all into change. For a while, I wrote every day, inspired to record the Read more…
I have never felt so much fear for my future in my life. I was 19 when I started my business and I had the world by the tail. I was going to clean windows and then become a writer. It all seemed so simple. So easy. Back then the cost of doing business and the cost of life itself was real. Things were reasonable. We bought coats made in Canada by Sun Ice, they were expensive, yes, but even Read more…
I moaned into the night. My body sweat and my head was pounding. I must have gone through a whole box of kleenex that day. It started with a sneeze. I skied the morning, enjoying fresh tracks on the fourth chair. It wasn’t until we got back into town that I started to feel under the weather. I kept sneezing. So as my energy escaped my body I decided to try having a bath. Usually, a hot bath will sweat Read more…
It started early the day before. Big fluffy flakes drifted to the earth and coated their mountain paradise. The thing everyone was hoping for began. Snow. Beautiful, peaceful, snow. It was day five of the young ski season and the first of two wonderful powder days. Barrman and Kaydee skied up the Ridge Rocket Quad Chair, and there was no one there. The clock read 8:32, he knew he’d missed Cookster and Kaydee’s friend Cammy by only a couple of Read more…
Sunshine enveloped Big White Village in an endless glow. The deep blue sky held a promise of a day of wonder for intrepid early-season skiers. Crisp mountain air brought a feeling of energy and life to the mountain community. It was opening weekend and the hill was basking in a bluebird day. Big White Resort said there was a base of 75 cm. A base already pushed down by two days of skiing. Yet it was an exhilarating feeling pressing Read more…
I felt a nagging doubt in the pit of my stomach. Where was it? I couldn’t do without it, could I? I felt a sense of withdrawal. A sense of loss grabbed me and I twitched, thinking about how I could go without for the next fourty-eight hours. I forgot my phone at home. We have become so addicted to the devices that never leave our sides. But there I was half an hour from my home in heavy traffic Read more…
Eight years… Time does fly when you’re having fun. Eight years ago, Krista and I stood in front of our friends and family and said our vows of love and devotion to each other. We looked deep into each others eyes and said, “I will walk beside you.” Eight years… we spent five more before that figuring out if we would indeed marry each other. At first, we were friends with ‘benefits’. Eventually, it became so much more. Relationships are Read more…
Remembrance day 2022 began cold and bleak for far too many people. It was a chilly morning and the cool air pierced right through my body. I walked across the parking lot on my way to work thinking about all those who fought and died for our country so many years ago. I also thought about the poor people who fought and lived. The ones who were forgotten and lost when they got home from serving overseas. So many veterans Read more…