Author: Cris and Maria (Page 7 of 24)

The Friday Exhale: 5 Thoughts on the Week

I have talked many times about the following to my students who are new to Canada; this is the second largest country in the world and is made up of many diverse landscapes. Here in Ontario, most of the province does not look at all like the vehicle-jammed, dense urban area in and around Toronto. The north is mostly rocks, trees and water while the mostly fertile, flattish area west of Toronto is full of small towns, mostly founded approximately 200 years ago.

On Wednesday, I FINALLY, took a day off, leaving behind at least briefly, my worries about caregiving, paying work and other responsibilities and wandered west where I came across this majestic creature. The moose is one of Canada’s most well-known large animals. This one looks like he is challenging me not to get any closer. One of the interesting things for me about visiting small-town Ontario is that I am often reminded of what I know of Southern Ontario’s history and I try to imagine what it must have been like to slowly set up a home, a business, a farm, a school, a village in this far-away, unknown place where the moose roamed freely. – Maria

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Summer Sunday: Read to Relax, Laugh, Reminisce and Learn

Summer Sunday Reading List

Fiction

  1. Barney’s Version: Mordecai Richler
  2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Truman Capote
  3. Death in a Strange Country: Donna Leon
  4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
  5. Harry Potter series: J.K. Rowling
  6. James: Percival Everett
  7. A Man Called Ove: Fredrik Bachman
  8. Narnia stories: C.S. Lewis
  9. The Nest: Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
  10. The One: John Marrs
  11.  A Series of Unfortunate Events series: Lemony Snicket
  12. Tudor historical fiction: Philippa Gregory

Non-fiction

  1. 84, Charing Cross Road: Helene Hanff
  2. Bella Tuscany: Frances Mayes
  3. Bird by Bird: Anne Lamott
  4. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,   Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants: Robin Wall Kimmerer
  5. Charles Dickens: a Life: Claire Tomalin
  6. Chasing the Sun: How the Science of Sunlight Shapes our Bodies and Minds: Linda Geddes
  7. Ciao, America!; Beppe Severgnini
  8. Feel Free: Zadie Smith
  9. Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: James Hollis
  10. Frank: The Voice: James Kaplan
  11. How to Be a Brit; George Mikes
  12. I Remember Nothing: Nora Ephron
  13. Life: Keith Richards
  14. Making It Up as I Go Along: Marian Keyes
  15. Memorial Drive: Natasha Trethewey
  16. The Polysyllabic Spree: Nick Hornby
  17. Tuesdays with Morrie: Mitch Albom
  18. The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches and Meditations: Toni Morrison
  19. Walden and Other Writings: Henry David Thoreau
  20. Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?: John Powell
  21. The Year of Magical Thinking: Joan Didion

Maybe getting away to small town Ontario is your favourite way to relax and have fun on a summer Sunday. After all, there is a large variety to choose from: north, east, west; shops, trails, boats. The vast majority of our small towns are beside water, and where there’s water – a river or a lake – there will be a bench or maybe a beach. Both are lovely places to relax and read a book: to step into a make-believe world; explore history, sports, or the life of a famous person; gain some self-care or life-altering insights.

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