Words, of course, are the most powerful drug used by mankind.
- Rudyard Kipling
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Author Archives: Lynda Philippsen
Koyo: Colourful Autumn Leaves
Last year at this time I prepared for a month of travel during the height of koyo in Japan. Last Saturday, looking for the next best thing a little closer to home, I strolled under the autumnal canopy in Nitobe Memorial … Continue reading
Back to Japan
After struggling to maintain regular posts, I have decided to return to an earlier idea.
Remembering September 11, 2001
In Pacific Standard Time the radio alarm awakened me: We repeat. A second plane has hit the second tower of The World Trade Center. Even in my groggy state I understood immediately what had happened. Not the specifics, of course, … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Fiction, Poetry, This & That
Tagged 2001, Remembering 9/11, September 11, Tenth Anniversary 9/11
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No Post Labour Day Hangover
One upon a time turning the calendar from July to August made me wince. September meant the pending loss of a loved one: summer past.
Too Busy Bathing to Post
In the interval since my last post, my bathroom renovation—a testing journey of fits and starts which began mid-January—finished. Finally. It took six months to swap out the sink, toilet, tub and trim; and install a countertop, a mirror, new … Continue reading
Review of the Boy in The Globe and Mail
My review of the Boy–yes, another one of those creative tweaks of traditional capitalization–by Betty Jane Hegerat ran almost a week ago.
Posted in Reviews
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A Corner of Japan in Canada
With Mt. Baker (whom I affectionately call Beka-san) presiding beyond the wall, the view–but for the different smell and absence of muscular pines–is not unlike being in Japan. But no, this is the first experimental sake-grade rice crop growing in … Continue reading
Gather the Gray Day
They say it is the worst spring in the Pacific Northwest since 1955. Sometimes wet, sometimes not but almost every day relentlessly gray: bone gray, slate gray, dirty sheep’s wool gray, elephant gray, battleship gray, leaden gray, silver gray, and … Continue reading
The Last Sakura
The last of the late-blooming sakura have vanished into leaves now. I was asked to contribute reflections of my afternoon as a volunteer during Vancouver Mokuyokai Society‘s Ohanami (cherry blossom viewing) earlier in April. You can read the essay which will … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Fiction, Poetry, This & That
Tagged Musings of an Ohanami Volunteer, Ohanami, Sakura, Transience
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Review of Arranged in The Globe and Mail
I recommend it for an in-flight read or when you need to pass the time agreeably and don’t want to be disturbed by all that’s wrong with the world. Continue reading