The Secret to a Long Marriage (Is It Two Blankets?) This Saturday is Valentine’s Day. If you walk into any store right now, you are bombarded with red hearts, expensive chocolates, and cards that say, “You are my soulmate.” That is the…

A Text Message Will Never Last 50 Years With Valentine’s Day coming up, millions of digital messages will be sent this Saturday. Emojis of hearts, quick “Luv U” texts, and funny GIFs. They are instant, efficient, and… completely temporary. I was rummaging…

“Going Steady” and The Terror of the Front Porch I read an article the other day about how young people date now. Apparently, they “swipe left” or “swipe right” on their phones. There is no introduction, no nervousness, and certainly no meeting…

When I was growing up on the Canadian Prairies, the Eaton’s Christmas catalogue was the most read publication in our house. That is saying a lot, because any printed material was highly valued. The Country Guide and The Western Producer were near…

“This Sunday, I want to share a personal story about friendship and how it sometimes shows up in unexpected ways.” Today I want to tell you about a guy called Ross St. Quintin. Ross lives in a suburb of Perth, Australia, with…

Happy Weekend, Friends! Love is in the air this week… but unfortunately, so are the scammers. With Valentine’s Day coming up next Saturday, we want to start this roundup with a very timely warning. 🚨 Scam Alert: The “Sweetheart Swindle” The week…

“Canada’s Sweetheart” Strikes Gold On February 6, 1948, 19-year-old Barbara Ann Scott of Ottawa skated her way into history—and our hearts. At the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, she won Canada’s first-ever gold medal in figure skating. It wasn’t just a…

We have spent the last few days talking about connection—how to find a safe, quiet corner of the internet to meet friends and share hobbies. But community isn’t just about chatting. It is also about growing. There is a Japanese concept called…

Yesterday, we talked about the “noise” of the internet—that feeling of being in a crowded room where everyone is shouting. Today, let’s talk about the alternative: finding a room where people are actually talking about the things you love. One of the…

It’s Tuesday morning. The coffee is hot, the house is quiet—maybe a little too quiet—and outside, the Canadian winter is doing its best to keep us indoors. For many of us, this is the time of day when the iPad or the…

We’re going to spend some time this week talking about the internet and how we connect today. But long before Facebook, Twitter, or “Group Chats,” we had the original social network. The Party Line. If you grew up on the Prairies like…

The Springhill Coal Mine Disaster in Nova Scotia was a catastrophic explosion in the No. 4 Colliery on November 1st, 1956. It started when runaway coal cars struck a high-voltage power line, igniting coal dust and causing widespread devastation, the explosion killed…

Good morning, friends! We hope you are keeping warm. As we turn the calendar from January to February this weekend, the winter carnival season is officially kicking into high gear across the country. Whether you are brave enough to venture out into…

Welcome back to our Friday history recap. We have some interesting bits for you this week. January 30, 1923: The Birth of CN Rail On this day, the Grand Trunk Railway was officially integrated into the Canadian National Railways (CNR). This was…

We often look at our lives through the lens of the everyday—the chores, the shifts, the quiet moments on the porch. We tend to think that because we weren’t world leaders or famous explorers, our stories are just “ordinary.” But if there…

From the 60th Parallel to Miami, and All Points Between They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I’m not sure who “they” are, but I suspect they never spent 43 years wrestling a…

Why Your Story Deserves a Second Pair of Eyes There is a common misconception among new writers that hiring an editor is an admission of defeat—as if needing a second pair of eyes means you didn’t do the job right the first…

Hi Folks. Today we’re beginning a brand new series that we hope will keep us going for some time to come. We’re calling it REMEMBER WHEN and each week we will focus on something commonplace in most of our lives. This week’s…

My mother and Muriel Henwood had been best friends since their early school days. Their friendship continued throughout the war years, and even after they were both married. Muriel’s husband, Henry Brine, was a miner who worked underground in the Springhill coal…

Good morning, friends! As we close out the first month of 2026, the winter rhythm has truly set in. Whether you are watching the snow fly in the Maritimes or seeing the first hints of early spring rain in BC, this is…