by kathykastner | Mar 21, 2025 | Blog: Dispatches, explorations, Mood
The mortgage was paid off, and we intended to live in the house forever. Then, Victoria Day Weekend, everything changed. 2 a.m. I awoke to our 3rd floor bedroom being bright as day. Through the glass sliding doors to the slightly rotting deck, I saw huge...
by kathykastner | Mar 17, 2025 | Blog: Dispatches, explorations, Mood
My parents found a kindred spirit in German playwright Bertolt Brecht. With German as their mother tongue, my ‘rents – Rose and Martin Kastner – experienced Brecht in his original language and, in the fullness of time, they became the Canadian...
by kathykastner | Jan 8, 2025 | Blog: Dispatches, explorations
My girls and my squirrel. Julie, our younger daughter, barely says hello to me, instead, firing off an expected question: has Hiya appeared? No matter the answer, she speeds through the house, heading to the big glass sliding doors that open onto a back...
by kathykastner | Nov 18, 2024 | Blog: Dispatches, Dogs
One of first things I did, moving into our new ‘hood, was to look for the nearest dog park was. My daily practice is to go for a dog walk. This is not because I have a dog. I don’t. Not anymore. I do long for another dog, but it’s not to be, at least for the...