Life and Death in Guinea Bissau

This photo essay on the challenges of maternity care in Guinea Bissau was incredibly striking to me when I came across it recently, and I thought I'd share it here.

How Do You Communicate?

I liked the results of this one, probably because it's actually a fairly accurate descriptor of me.

You Communicate With Your Eyes

When you say, "I'll believe it when I see it" - you really mean it. For you, what you see is a lot more important than what you hear. You don't take someone's words at face value. You judge people by their facial expressions, body language, and appearance. You tend to be quiet, but when you talk, you tend to make eye contact and describe things in colorful detail.

How Do You Communicate?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

I Saw the Dead Sea Scrolls

I decided today that heaven will have olds buildings and lots of history and museums. I'm quite certain of it.

L. and I visited the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) which is currently housing a traveling exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We were even more fortunate in that they are only exhibiting the scroll with the Ten Commandments for one week, and it happened to be this week. It was an incredible exhibit, and I wasn't kidding when I said that for a biblical and religious history geek like me it was quite literally heaven!

I think I was most surprisd by the size of the scrolls. They're tiny! I have a new appreciation for the painstaking work of those who discovered them and worked to piece them together and translate them to share with the world at large.

In any case, we could have spent days there, though we only had a day. But it was fabulous and I highly recommend the experience if you live anywhere near Toronto.

We're in Toronto for another day, before heading to Niagara for a day and night, and then down to spend the weekend with a very dear friend of mine.

I'm so enjoying the laughter and the simply being with friends. That is the absolute highlight, and all the other fun stuff we've managed to do has simply been icing on the cake of this holiday I anticpated for so very long.

I'm reminding myself that I need to not wait 2.5 years before the next trip. I'm already plotting future potential get-aways. California potentially in the short-term - there are a number of spots there that I'd like to visit, and a few people too ;) and then, long term, the sky is the limit. Back to Europe, South America remains very much a priority, and after that, well, there's quite a few more places my heart is drawn to. I think I need to start working again on a plan to become independently wealthy and simply spend all my time travelling the world, writing and praying and touring!

Who Counsels the Counsellor?

This article, which appeared last month, was quite striking in the way it describes the toll of being in a warzone not only on those who are there as soldiers, but on those whose role it is to help the soldiers cope.

Happy Thanksgiving

In Canada, today, it's Thanksgiving.

We space our turkey consuming holidays out a little more up here north of the 49th parallel.

Actually, this year, for the second year in a row, I likely won't be consuming turkey. Which is okay with me, since I'm not a big fan of turkey anyway.

Last year I was in the easternmost parts of Canada, celebrating the wedding of some friends over the Thanksgiving long weekend.

This year the plan is to gather some dear friends from different parts of my life together, and enjoy fellowship and giving thanks.

I feel privileged to get to share a holiday with friends, and this year, hopefully introduce friends from different parts of my life who are important to me to each other.