by Nigel Scotchmer | Essays
Are you on the proverbial bus yet? Whether it’s the AI bus or just a good old TTC ride across Toronto, we all keep running to catch something. But the real question is: where are we headed? More than fifty years ago, I held a record for running fast in the City of...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Essays
Indifference is not a response in unsettled times Love, not indifference, protects. Here is a Downy woodpecker by Maria Corcacas. This morning, as the ‘dim temple of the Dawn1’ paled the sky, our red-headed male downy woodpecker announced his return with his staccato...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Essays
Neolithic Man’s discovery, Rodin’s insight, and William of Occam’s wisdom Imagine Mankind’s awe, when, for the first time, he watched a rock melt in a fire, and out ran a liquid. When it cooled, he saw it was different, and he called it metal. It...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Essays
I’ve walked many ancient sites, but Troy is different. Homer writes of ‘windy Troy’, and when I stood upon the ruined battlements, looking out toward the sapphire sea, it was constant and strong. I thought of exhausted sailors rowing past Cape Sigeion, and their...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Humor
Filippa the Flaxen, Queen of East Anglia, with hair like soft strands of warm gold, shimmering in sunlight, the colour of the muted sun, is seldom remembered these days. Once upon a time, though, her people, the Flax, were cultivated and eaten in much greater...