I ran 14k yesterday. It’s the first time I’ve gone that far in one day, and it felt great. I started and ended at the Agriculture Museum of the Experimental Farm in Ottawa, running along the Rideau Canal and over Hartwell locks to Hogs Back and on to Mooney’s Bay. The Agriculture Museum was packed with kids, including my own, who were there with Suzy and one of Suzy’s best friends Michelle and her two girls for egg hunts, bunnies and newborn chicks. It was madness there, but people were smiling despite a sharp spring breeze. The sun was shining. And there seemed to be an air of giddy discovery…

I type with three fingers of my right hand, and two of my left, plus one thumb for the space bar. I’m fast but not efficient. And if someone’s watching I just can’t type. Only recently did I realize that the space bar had nothing to do with outer space, but the space between words. Computers are so amazing. Space age. Eight years ago this month I had a burger with my dad at the DQ on Bank Street in Ottawa South. I was there again tonight having strawberry sundaes with Suzy and my boys. The decor is exactly the same, but dad died just five months after we were…

Let’s see. Where to start. A secret: I don’t think about what I write here before I start to type. A confession: I hate my hair. Tomorrow my experiment with “growing it out” comes to a swift end. A promise: I will add the screen room on the front of the cottage this year. It’s a crime that grey hair has a different consistency to it. I’m quickly losing my flowing nutty brown to kinky wacko grey. Here’s a freebie for you inventor-types: Come up with an electric razor attachment that cuts only hair that’s wiry and grey and you’ll be rich. Somebody ought to do it and it can’t…

I’m disappointed tonight, but I shouldn’t be. Today I found out that I was not picked for an international fellowship that I’d been nominated for last December. I won’t be going to Yale University after all. It was a long shot anyway. But I had stellar letters of reference. A Premier, CEOs, gurus, etc. I have to admit that I had my hopes up there and was told I was a strong candidate. But there was one spot for someone from North America in a group of 18 representing the planet, so the competition was tough. Next year. The thing is, the program was only four months and anyone who…