Fi

Canadians, do you know how easy it is to read and sign petitions to the House of Commons? You can do it all online/by email.
Unfortunately this is only available at the federal level (at least where I live), but I wanted to post about it because it is good to know!

I didn’t hear the noise of us,
Didn’t notice the sound of our machines
invading each nook and cranny
with its exhaust-fume-grey hum,
Until I stepped out from the spruce forest onto the rocky shoreline,
and heard a hundred tiny sounds
Blissfully uninterrupted by engines.

And now another nature photo:
It’s lupin season and I came across a delightful view of them overlooking the harbour this weekend as I was biking to the ferry.

ON A QUESTIONNAIRE

If you send me a survey
And I happen to actually do it
And I happen to actually be out of f***s to give about what you think of me,
It’s entirely possible I‘ll send you
A rant about capitalism and/or colonialism,
Or a strange little poem.
Or both.
I could go either way.

How to use political tools to fight Canada's inaction on Gaza (with NDP MP Heather McPherson) Podcast Episode · Bubble Pop with Rachel Gilmore · 2025-05-29 · 43m

Heather McPherson speaking with Rachel Gilmore about her role as MP and how she uses her power and voice to pressure Canada to take action on Gaza - eg, by fully implementing a two-way arms embargo. #NDP #cdnpoli

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/b...

Thanks for sharing (I’d seen a short clip about this, but I look forward to listening to the whole podcast). And for the commenters who don’t have apple devices, the podcast is also available other places such as youtube.

I found two poems that intersected
Like fragments of conversations
From different rooms.

“Wake up, something is wrong!” they said,
But they were scarcely a mumble
Amid cacophony.

If I was as bold as I am in my dreams
I would have remembered them,
But I forgot.

I wonder sometimes what could make greedy people stop being greedy? They seem to think it’s more money and power, but it’s clearly neither of those things.

Sometimes the best way to revive your self confidence as a musician is to let yourself get really into an improvisation. This morning I surprised myself with an organ improvisation: I watched my hands dance over the keys with a speed and certainty that I did not think I had in me today.

I keep forgetting to post this, but I did eventually get a photo of some native wildflowers in bloom last week

I hope that Canadians voting tomorrow vote from a place of hope and look for leaders who value kindness and cooperation.

I haven’t found any native wildflowers blooming yet (I found some with buds but no flowers yet), but I did see some coltsfoot (wild but invasive/introduced from Europe) about to bloom today.

Empire shaped Ireland's past. A century after partition, it still shapes our present | Michael D Higgins Only by remembering complex, uncomfortable aspects of Britain and Ireland’s shared history can we forge a better future, says Michael Higgins, president of Ireland

I still say the best way to celebrate Irishness is to do something anti-colonialist. Today, I happened to read an article on the topic of imperialism by Michael D Higgins (President of Ireland). www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Hope can feel scarce, yet nature moves toward Spring heedless of the human world’s threats and fears of war. Here are the first of the garden flowers blooming near my home in Nova Scotia/Mi’kma’ki. The wild flowers are usually a little later; I’ll post them when I find them.

I feel the same way - meta platforms have often been where I keep up with relatives. Also some communities I work with use their fb page as their main social media platform for updates. Nonetheless I feel I should gradually start sorting through and saving/filing photos/posts/contact info

It should be so simple: know that no human is perfect, but look for kindness.

If it lightens the mood at all I read this as “when someone starts to shit…” and I was picturing someone just getting too distracted by social media to finish their poop (which would actually be reasonable)

Perhaps the deeper problem began when we first turned to social media as a main source of news and discussion, rather than in person interactions. Now we are more likely to fear that we will be met with the same vitriol in real life that we see on social media (maybe that’s become more true too)

I hope the healing process goes well!

A single snowflake on the leaf of a boxwood shrub

Last week I was walking home as it started to flurry, and I happened to capture a flake of snow landing on a leaf.