by Nigel Scotchmer | Mar 3, 2026 | Ramblings
“The line separating good and evil passes through every human heart.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago I was in Budapest when I heard about the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. One of the worst things about this horror is how quickly it...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Sep 30, 2025 | Ramblings
Nigel writes on the irony of hindsight, and how looking back is the only way we ever really learn. “It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.” – George Eliot, Middlemarch It is a long drive to Ottawa, and one that I...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Aug 5, 2025 | Ramblings
A warm, observant paean to the spirit of Port Elgin, capturing the rhythms of slow living and the Canadian summer – with touches of nostalgia and humour. This summer we had a family reunion at Port Elgin. Our daughter rented a cottage near the main beach, in an older...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Jul 1, 2025 | Ramblings
Nigel Scotchmer describes how two towns in Hesse, Germany, do not hide their times of trouble. They can be seen both as symbols of the horrifying depths of evil to which humankind can sink, and, at the same time, the resilience of the majority of people to try to be...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Feb 24, 2025 | Ramblings
Enjoy life more with a little reflection. It’s almost November; a cool breeze blows. Frail, yellowing leaves flicker on branches; their brethren, dried and curled, toss aimlessly as they roll down the street. I need an escape from this coming cold…India! The red dust...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Feb 24, 2025 | Ramblings
“Granddad, granddad! Book, book!” Nothing matches a baby’s smile. Watch it slowly spread, then burst into a gurgling laugh! That laugh! It’s an infectious laugh that reaches deep into your soul and rips your heart open. Nothing in life prepares you for it....