Wanderlust and Words

One of my tai chi instructors is dying, and so over 25 of us went and did a set of tai chi on his lawn while he and his family watched from the living room window. It was very moving. I was grateful for the opportunity to tell him I cared and to let him know that he wasn’t forgotten. Birth and death are two sides of the same coin, but North Americans shy away from discussing death. When I was in Mexico, I went to a wonderful craft museum in Ixmal that was full of papier mache skeletons. There were skeletons on bicycles delivering bread with their girlfriend on the handlebars and a whole funeral procession of skeletons – priests, young children, mourners. Life and death, joy and sorrow, were fully integrated. Mexicans believe that during the Day of the Dead it is easier for the souls of the departed to visit the living. They hold picnics at the graveside, and they build private altars with favourite foods, photos and memorabilia. That’s a foreign concept in North America; however, my f...

In the summer, I do the majority of my grocery shopping at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market . I am trying to buy organic, local food. Sometimes it’s easy. I bought a bag of flour at the Market, and when I asked if it was Saskatchewan wheat, the vendor could tell me the four locations in Saskatchewan where the wheat had been grown, including a farm 12 miles from his home. But it’s not always that easy. Do I buy local strawberries at the Market, which may not be organic, or do I buy organic strawberries from the United States? Do I non-organic apples sold from a van at the Market, or do I buy organic apples from New Zealand? I try to eat seasonal fruits and vegetables, but that’s difficult in Saskatchewan. I know I would be more successful if I bought a large freezer and spent the summer canning and freezing food to eat in the winter. But I don’t want to. I will eat lots of cabbage and potatoes and beets this winter, but I’ll supplement it with fresh or frozen greens and fruits and vegetab...

33 degrees and sunshine – surely one of the warmest days of the year, and yet it is September 19 and winter looms on the horizon. Like a sunflower, I rotate towards the heat of the sun. (Is it any wonder after living in Africa for the first six years of my life?) So I headed downtown through Kiwanis Park to the Spadina Freehouse to enjoy a cold beer on the outdoor patio. Wedding parties and conference goers passed by on the sidewalk, and I had an up-close view of the carvings on the Hotel Bessborough across the street. Just in passing, I should mention that the Spadina Freehouse has the most vegetarian options of any restaurant in town as well as a wide variety of beers on tap. Now, if they just had olives, I wouldn’t need to go to Spain (well, maybe!). On my way out, I pick up an ice cream cone at the double decker bus parked across the street and then meander home along the river. The sky is turning pink, and the cormorants are settling in for the night on the power lines that cross...

It’s really easy to get stuck in a rut, to base decisions on a set of beliefs and to never challenge their validity. Thinkertoys: a handbook of creative-thinking techniques by Michael Michalko is a compilation of exercises to help you clarify your problem, challenge your assumptions and brainstorm possible solutions. Here are a couple of examples. You can find many more exercises on Michael Michalko’s website . Tick-Tock (to help overcomes fears, doubts, uncertainties) 1. Zero in on and write down those negative thoughts that are preventing you from realizing your goal. Write them under “Tick.” 2. Sit quietly and examine the negatives. Learn how you are irrationally twisting things and blowing them out of proportion. 3. Substitute an objective, positive thought for each subjective, negative one. Write these under “Tock.” Brutethink 1. When you are looking for a fresh approach to a challenge, bring in a random word. The word you bring in must be truly random and...

As the comments on yesterday’s post indicate, it is easy to feel discouraged about creating people-friendly cities. But Jan Gehl believes it is possible – by changing attitudes and by changing the design of your city. It doesn’t happen overnight, but he believes it can be done, and he gave his enthusiastic audience good ideas on how we can make it happen in Saskatoon. Changing Attitudes I took the bus to last night’s lecture, despite the fact that buses only run once an hour in the evening. The schedule doesn’t encourage people to take the bus, but there were only 3 people on my bus at 10:15 pm – the demand isn’t there to generate more frequent buses. It’s a vicious circle, and you can’t change that overnight. Gehl says that part of the solution is to keep making it less convenient for people to drive a car – provide less roads and less parking – because the more roads you have, the more cars you will have. Another part of the solution is to adopt a policy that says, “In this ci...

I went to the first of two public talks by Jan Gehl , a leading Danish urban planner, last evening. It was immensely satisfying to be part of a crowd of 500 people applauding Jan Gehl as he advocating designing cities for people not cars. Cities were originally created as a place where people could meet and sell their goods. They were also transportation hubs, but the focus was on people. But in the ‘50s, cities were invaded by cars, and city planning revolved around moving cars from Point A to Point B. Sidewalks were unnecessary; parts of Miami have no streetlights because cars don’t need them. Too bad if you want to walk your dog or jog. You can walk in the mall from 8-10 every morning. Gehl’s home town of Copenhagen, like a handful of other cities around the world, have chosen to return their cities to people. In 1962, 18 of Copenhagen’s town squares were being used as parking lots; they are now all spaces for people to sit and talk and watch the world go by. They have outdoor ...