When I was a kid, my widowed mother rented out two upstairs rooms in our house to help make ends meet. One of the rooms was occupied by Homer, a short-order cook in a small café a few blocks from our house. Homer was a very slight man with a glass eye that looked very … More Saturday Chores in a Different Time

I feed crows. I am definitely not alone. People have probably felt a need to feed crows from time immemorial, but recent documentaries on crows and crow behaviour have certainly increased their admirers. Crows are very intelligent. There is a video of a crow fashioning a straight metal wire into a hook that allows it … More Crow Theology

  Trying to make sense of cat behaviour. “Oh, Tabby shat in my shoe. He must be really angry at me for leaving him alone for three days.” This is obviously a case of projecting onto a cat the human tendency to take revenge by defecating in a shoe. Tabby probably doesn’t even know whose … More Stuff that Might Seem to Make Sense But Doesn’t

Wolf Blitzer:  What do you think of Pope Francis, Mr. Trump? The Pope has been making quite an impression on Americans. Donald Trump: Pope Francis seems like a nice guy.  I haven’t met him personally, of course, but he has a nice smile. It’s a little leery, but he’s a Wop from Argentina. What do … More Donald Trump on Pope Francis

Pope Francis has generated a great deal of enthusiasm among Catholics and non-Catholics alike, perhaps especially among lapsed or ex-Catholics. Pope Francis seems to be tolerant and open. When responding to accusations coming from the American right that he is a Marxist, he said that he isn’t, of course, but added that he was not … More Reflections on Pope Francis

Erv got into the pizza business before it really took off, at least in Denver. Supposedly, the 1952 song “That’s Amore” with the line “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore” really gave pizza a boost. But in 1956, when Erv opened his little hole-in-the-wall take-out pizzeria in West … More Incompetent Crooks

  Years ago, before we bought our own house in Edmonton only a couple of kilometers from the University of Alberta, where I worked as a librarian, I had to take a bus to work. We had lived in Edmonton for about three years, long enough to know all the vicissitudes of the long winter. … More The Thaw

My mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants, who died when she was quite young, and she was raised by a cruel, possibly psychopathic, foster mother.  She claimed that her foster mother poisoned three of her husbands, and she had to help her mix the poison. Some of my siblings doubt the veracity of that … More Memories of a Catholic Childhood

  We all believe many things without much evidence. Most cat lovers believe their cats actually know who they are and would notice or care if they were suddenly replaced by other humans who could operate a can opener. Many dog lovers believe their dogs are almost smart enough to understand the family finances. In … More What to Believe