Rodney David Rhys Smith, 1945 – 2023A reflection by Ken Gray I told Rod many times, that when the time comes for his funeral —and if I am invited to officiate—that I get the last word! And so I did, as about seventy-five family and friends gathered at Sequoia Gardens in Victoria recently. They laughed,... Continue Reading →
If it’s good enough for The Guardian and for The New York Times, each running selected stories and opinion pieces between Christmas and New Years presently, it’s good enough for me, Juno. Welcome to Juno REDUX, a look back at my canine journalistic parlance par excellence during 2023. I must start with Therapy Dog Team,... Continue Reading →
A version of this material will form my 2023 Christmas Eve Sermon at St. Stephen’s, Summerland. 7 p.m. is you’re in the hood. Everyone likes receiving Christmas cards—at least most people do. See my comments elsewhere. For many, the traditional Christmas card is now replaced by the annual newsletter—my own tend to go on a... Continue Reading →
Prior to returning to Summerland where Kathie and I lived and worked from 1994-2005 we needed to make a decision. Would we have our mail re-directed to our new address? I thought it was a waste of money; Kathie, however, wanted the service. So we now receive correspondence from gutter cleaners and weed removal services;... Continue Reading →
Another in our “The shorter the word, the bigger the meaning” series Now four years old, dog-blogger Juno is a Labradoodle living in Summerland in the interior of British Columbia. Real estate agents bring cards; musicians bring EPs; academics bring recently published books. We all need something, a token, a symbol, with which to introduce... Continue Reading →
It is hard to believe, but as of yesterday we have now lived in Summerland (for a second time) for a full year. I tried to publish this blog yesterday, but we were simply too busy—hence the odd blog title. Oen year and counting, it is hard to believe how rich our lives are here.... Continue Reading →
So how should we rate Canada’s response to the climate crisis? One word: Awful! Actually it’s worse than awful and worsening still despite a mild shift in public opinion fueled by the short sighted goals of elected officials. Additionally, if industry is slow to adapt to new realities, it seems the banks and financial markets... Continue Reading →
It is commonly suggested that in North America at least, size matters! The larger the number, the longer the length, the heavier the tonnage, large is lovely. The more the merrier in our neoliberal economic world. So how do you react to the number 20,000? Is this a truly large number? With most people I... Continue Reading →
I play with my feet; true story. No I am not twiddling with my toes or trimming my nails during boring meetings or conversing with friends and colleagues; that would be rude. When I play the organ however, I play with my hands and in equal measure I play with my feet. People know that... Continue Reading →
The occasion caught me by surprise, though delightfully so. WordPress sends me weekly blog statistics along with other notifications including a recent Happy Anniversary message. It is now a year since I set up this blog, a project originally intended as a placeholder for stories destined for publication on social media. I never planned to... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 