It’s time to refocus. I’ve been quite preoccupied by the Project over the past two years. And now it’s time to restore some balance. The tipping point was just reached today when it occurred to me that just last week I’d come within 10km of Walden (the real, original one) in MA, and it didn’t occur to me to exit the I90 for a look-see. I’d rented a car for the 2-hour trip between Springfield and Boston and I just drove right by Concord at 70MPH singing along at the top of my lungs to 80s tunes to sap the stress. For years I’ve been looking forward to a chance…

It’s sunny today. The snow has dropped by about 18″, enough now to reveal the top of the forsythia bushes on the south side of the house. We can see the Christmas lights again from the road. The back yard is another matter; I’m sure there’s a patio set out there. I’m kind of hoping someone’s stolen it. Funk. I should go outside, but I feel greasy and unmotivated. I’m taking vitamin D when I should be sitting in the sun. The chairs are buried. Usually when I feel this way I cheer myself up by getting rid of stuff. There’s also a toilet to fix. I could do that.…

I killed a mouse with a broom tonight. Was on the phone wishing happy birthday to my grandmother in PEI, who turns 95 this week, when Suzy wailed from up stairs. Gram was raised in rural PEI on a farm in a tiny community called Pleasant Valley. Now she plays Internet Scrabble. She’s sharp as a tack, but I was alarmed to learn from her just tonight that she’d spent 3 days in hospital earlier this month “because my heart was fluttering and the nitro didn’t help.” Since Dad died, I get most of my Hickox news from Mark in New England. So I had to let Gram go. “Gram,…

I think my favourite Easter was spent in Jerusalem, 1995. I’d just spent 3 months wandering alone through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and ended up in the Holy City on Palm Sunday. The next week was religious chaos. I participated in the procession of the stations of the cross through the old city and at one point was lifted off my feet by the crush of the moving crowd through the narrow streets. It was exhilarating and terrifying. They say you can’t go to Jerusalem and not have a religious experience. It’s true. I was already susceptible, and was swept away. My least favourite Easter was in hospital in…