The Fullness of Stone: A Fairy Tale of What is Needed
A story older than its telling...
history
In the Pursuit of Privet
Russians saying hello in my backyard, the curious link between cilantro haters and privet, and the intrepid Elizabeth Blackwell.
The Shady History of Our Family Tree: Our Norway Maple
Connecting George Washington, Jung, Micro-bursts, Fungal Tar Spots, Slavery, and Germanic Folklore
When AI is Wrong: An Absorbing History of Paper Towels
There are a few things I would like to cover in this essay: * How alarmingly wrong AI can be * The actual history of the paper towel * Perhaps an unsung and hitherto unknown heroine in the story * Paper towels in the United States vs the rest of the world * Environmental impact
Nobel or Ignoble Peace Prize: Pandering to Politicians
No Country for Grumpy Old Men For some time now, Donald Trump has been jockeying, whining, cajoling, sniveling, hinting, demanding, droning, and grousing — all towards his deserving to be awarded this (in my view) rather questionable honour. Like a grotesque puppy jostling for position at the fullest teat, he shoved
John Collier: Florida Pioneer, Cracker and Polygamist
John Collier Sr. was certainly a fascinating man. A true Florida pioneer, he was the personification of a “cracker” — but in the positive historical sense (more on the “cracker” origin story follows). As we shall see, his personal relationships are legion and deeply tangled. Let’s call him “John” from
O Canada
Before you read any further know this: I am Canadian. My parents were both Canadians, and my mother’s ancestors came here in the late 1500s. Yes, more than 400 hundred years ago. Some intermarried with the Mohawk First Nation at Kahnawake. I have always been quietly proud of being
Checking Under the Hood: A Brief Look at Little Hills, Flags, and Tickling
Yes, it looks like what you think. The first European description and reference to the plant was made in 1678 by a Polish naturalist Jakob Breyne, a brave naturalist who named it based on a resemblance to the clitoris. What’s in a Name? The Controversy Disturbed by the clear
Whatever Happened to the Hunchback’s Mummified Penis?
What a nice day for a family picnic! Sometime during the late summer of 1976, a friend and I were rather aimlessly driving around the Friuli region of Italy. I wasn’t seeking anything in particular but was interested in seeing what had remained of the gorgeous medieval towns that
Enheduanna: The First Known Author of All Time
The Triumph of Literature over Violence Enheduanna is the first author to sign her name to works of literature. She signed her name like this:𒂗𒃶𒌌𒀭𒈾 Think on it: The first and most significant literary event in all history — and it is a woman who first had the notion of appending
It's Been Weird Lately — or is it Fate?
Recently the news has latched onto a comment made in the United States’ political arena, and now the word “weird” seems to be everywhere. The word itself has an interesting pedigree. Most etymologies tend to move from the present and go backwards through time, but let’s take a different
John Moore Perkins: The History of a Missionary in Liberia
From time to time I research and write histories about the ancestors or family members of various people. I am not personally related to John Moore Perkins, but I did write his biography for an individual who is part of his extended family. Perkins’ background and story is fascinating: John
Cooksville Creek: A History of Saul’s Creek and the Saul Family in Port Credit
We now know it as Cooksville Creek, but from the 1800s to the 1960s it was known as Saul’s Creek. A lively little waterway, it meandered through lands owned by Hugh W. Saul. The creek runs 16 km from near Bristol Road to Lake Ontario. This watershed has been
Lions Made of Fish and Shit
On either side of the bottom of the steps leading up to the Duomo of Treviso in the Veneto Province of northeastern Italy, lie two salmon-pink lions. They are made of fish and shit. No one knows who sculpted these beasts. They date from the Romanesque period, likely created sometime
Disappearing Queen Anne’s Lace
Until recently, Queen Anne’s Lace was a very common weed in the Mississauga area of Ontario. It was and occasionally is still found in ditches, along roadsides and generally in poor soils. The plant grows to a height of 2 to 3 ft. and blooms midsummer. Once the sun