Photography

young woman with her back to the camera, in obvious pain, with red blotches on her lower back

Get Back (Pain)

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Millions of people – somewhere around 1 in 5 of us – suffer from chronic back pain. I used to have lower back pain. In recent years, it’s been my upper back and shoulders because of a neck injury from a car crash.

Window of the Harbour Merchant Coffee Co has a blue and yellow decal on it in support of Ukraine

A Giving Community – ImPort Stanley

ImPort Stanley is weekly series about life and discoveries by a recent “import” to Port Stanley, ON.

Our little village is showing support for Ukraine. The decal above is on the window of The Harbour Merchant Coffee Company. Around the corner toward Little Beach, Joshua and Company will donate 20% of all sales on Wednesday (March 16) to the Red Cross and its efforts in Ukraine. The Canadian government is matching donations until March 18, so your money doubles.

map of port stanley showing the berm jutting out into the lake

The Berm – ImPort Stanley

ImPort Stanley is weekly series about life and discoveries as a recent “import” to Port Stanley, ON.

If you’ve visited Little Beach, you might wonder why a large tract of land a parking lot away is just sort of sitting there. They’ve put in place some picnic areas made of boulders. Currently, the 23-acre patch is partly a photographer tripod platform, dog exercise area, and goose toilet. There are well-worn footpaths around the perimeter. On the water’s edge, it seems ripe for development. But its history offers clues into why that hasn’t happened yet and perhaps shouldn’t happen at all.

Miss Sugar stretched out on the grey couch with a clipart, red and white santa hat placed on her head

The Only One We Get

I’ve been truly gobsmacked over the sheer number of comments here and on social media about my alcoholism post. It amazes me that people respond so generously to an honest revelation about something that, not so long ago, brought me feelings of shame. But it’s when we reveal our flaws that we give others permission to do the same. We ought to learn this stuff in school. So, thank you for sharing your experiences and simply for being kind.