Texan Canadian

On the little joys and being content The line moves in small shuffles. Carts bump forward, rubber wheels ticking over the seam in the concrete. Someone ahead is balancing a forty-pack of sparkling water on the edge of their cart like it might make a break for it. At the exit, the receipt checker stands…

A Texan, a Canadian winter, and the slow work of belonging I have lived in Texas. I have lived in the Swiss Alps. I have, on multiple occasions, considered myself a person who understands weather. I was wrong. Texas weather is a threat. It comes at you like a reality TV villain. All dramatic, loud,…

On care, compensation, and the invisible scaffolding of everything At the beginning of that first council meeting I attended, before the zoning debates and procedural votes, there was a conversation about salary. About whether councillors are paid enough. About if their work is part-time. About optics. About public perception. About whether asking for more feels…

On showing up… I almost didn’t go. There is always a reason not to go. The dishes. The weather. The certainty that someone more qualified will speak. I’d been following the story for weeks. Cambridge, Ontario city council was moving to reverse a tax related to the ION light rail. It was a decision I…

A seven-year-old already knows what most adults won’t admit. My daughter is seven, which is the age of questions. They often arrive fully formed, slightly dangerous, and often bigger than they seem on the surface. The other night, after a movie she came in and asked, “Mama, why do all the evil people become good…

On fatigue, fat bodies, and moral judgment I’ve been tired for as long as I can remember. Not the kind of tired that comes from late nights or early mornings. The kind that sent me to bed early as a child. The kind that let me sleep anywhere that felt safe in my youth. The…

Parenting between compassion and fear. We moved somewhere safer, and still… There are unhoused people sleeping near the places my children walk. Desperation shows up in public spaces. Violence leaks into ordinary afternoons. People still grasping for life in a world that doesn’t support us all. I don’t blame people for acting out in a…

Sign me up! If you haven’t been following this particular corner of the AI wars, here’s the short version: the Pentagon is threatening to pull its $200 million contract with Anthropic, the company behind the AI tool Claude, and potentially label them a “supply chain risk,” which would pressure anyone doing business with the military…

About the ease of naming evil and the work of looking deeper They say small towns are families. I grew up in one. The kind where people knew who your parents were and the corner store grocery store cashier knew your name. The kind where doors were rarely locked and casseroles appeared on porches before…