Awash with glitter
One afternoon this past week, the sun was shining and there was a light wind blowing across the neighborhood. It was bitterly cold outside, but after the...
Hold on to something
There’s a line in Train Dreams when someone tells the main character—played with grace and aplomb by Josh Edgerton—clearly: “Hey, you better hold on to...
Moments of joy
Small moments that brought me some joy in 2025: Watching Zoya pet the goats at Maplewood Farm Checking out the lights at VanDusen Botanical Gardens Going to...
Year-end
And so we come to the end of the year. The last few weeks of the year are contradictory ones: there is so much to do, and not enough time to do it all while...
Preservation
Just over a month ago, we spent a week in Italy: a little celebratory trip full of sightseeing, relaxation, and great food. The focus of the trip was, of...
Collecting as meaning-making
Somewhere in my parents’ basement, hidden away by other boxes and crates, is a small box of ephemera from my childhood and youth. My parents didn’t keep much...
Fruit crisp
Over the past few months, I have indulged myself by eating various fruit crisps that L has made. She has made a lot of crisp, using in-season fruits like...
Being alive is a wonderful thing
A few weeks ago, I had a small medical procedure that ended up addressing a relatively major medical issue that I did not know I had until the procedure. I’m...
Driving on the left
Some people love getting behind the wheel of a car, revving up the engine and just going wherever their whims will take them. I am not one of those people. I...
Passing thoughts
In the absence of anything substantial to say, a few passing thoughts: When the rain falls, it means I don’t have to water the herbs in the herb garden in...
Summer vacation, and the messiness of civic life
We are planning a summer vacation. The big plans—flights, accommodation, transport—have been sorted out. What’s left is the smaller things: activities and...
Endless expanse
The thing about being among the mountains is that your gaze is constantly drawn upwards. At first, it is the snow-capped peaks that catch your attention....
When someone cuts down a tree, somebody else has to plant a new one
My favorite conversations with Zoya all seem to happen on our early morning walks to the bus stop. It is during those walks that she is most wide-eyed,...
A few nice things
A few nice things: The weather creeped up to 20°C earlier this week, so Zoya and I took some time after dinner to head to the park, play on the swings, and...
Walk-and-talk
In the winter, the step counter on my wrist reminds me that I'm way too sedentary. I spend most of the day, every work day, sitting in front of a computer,...
A bit of anger, a bit of sadness, a bit of wondering where this is all going
As part of the recent tumult in US politics, Trump/Musk/DOGE recently laid off all the staff at 18F, essentially shuttering the agency and with it destroying...
Forty-three
February is the cruelest month. The snow has been unrelenting; when it hasn’t been snowing, the cold has been frightening. The early morning walks to the...
On the precarious situation of the civil service
I recently read an interesting look at how the stable, impartial civil service was created, and how it was different from the partial, ever-changing system...
Water slide
It had been almost 30 years since I last went on a water slide. There was a water park near us growing up and we would occasionally go there when we’d get...
Demotion
This week, I returned to my job working in employee experience and organizational culture after six months of managing a team of talent and operations...
