Paula Dunning Posts

Most of my readers know that I grew up in that country to the south. You know the one. One of the first things we little Americans learned, in first days of the first grade, was to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Yes, we talked to a…

I am traipsing down the steps from my little apartment in Guanajuato, avoiding the crumbling concrete edges the way a school-girl avoids stepping on the cracks, not because any harm would come but just because they invite attention. I cross a busy intersection, nodding good morning to passersby, and head…

Many of you know that I’m settling into Guanajuato—where Jack and I spent many winters—for an extended stay. I hope I’ll have some experiences and thoughts to share while I’m here, but this post was mostly written before I left home a couple of weeks ago. After a nearly snowless…

Just two days after the US election, I received a piece of childhood memorabilia that seems so out of sync with the current mood as to be from another planet. Right now, there’s a pervasive feeling that dark forces are closing in. Climate action, civil discourse, international cooperation, human rights,…

I walked barefoot along the water’s edge this morning, letting the cool surf lap at my feet, and thought about a conversation I had with friends over supper last evening. Did I travel much, or have an urge to? It’s a question I’ve puzzled over for years, because most people…

As I log on to post this, I see how long it’s been since I was here. And that’s what this is about…. When I run into people I haven’t seen for a while, or when people I don’t know well are groping for conversation starters, the question is often…

Last week someone said to me, in that casual way we all make small talk about the weather, “Well, do you think spring is finally here?” I couldn’t help responding. “Actually, it’s a good two weeks early.” Then I wondered if I was exaggerating. So this morning, I decided to…

I can’t believe it’s been nearly three months since I posted here. Back at the end of January, I was bemoaning the lack of a real winter. Winter never really did arrive with its usual bluster, and we’re experiencing an early spring with daffodils already in bloom. And I’m trying…

Warning: Dreary thoughts on a dreary day When the world’s as gloomy as it is now, and you’re inclined gloominess anyway, this dreary pseudo-winter is taking an emotional toll. At least, in the midst of a disintegrating global order, could we not at least have a blizzard or two, followed…

Several people have asked me lately if I’ve been writing. Um…no. Not really. I’ve fallen into the bad writerly habit of waiting for the muse. Something you’re never to do. The muse is fickle, unreliable. It’s only the steady, persistent hard work at the desk that results in a body…

I have only four tomato plants in my northern Ontario garden, but they are producing tomatoes faster than I can use them. I’m eating tomato sandwiches for lunch almost every day, and I already have several large bags in the freezer for making soups and sauces. As I look at…

I’ve learned quite a lot about myself over the last few years. Living alone has brought with it some congratulatory moments of mastery, as well as some uncomfortable moments that have challenged my assumptions about myself. Here are some thoughts on one of them.

A few days ago long-time friends Dennis and Katie spent a day and a half with me at the lake on their way home to B.C. They’re the kind of friends you can not see for a decade, and when you finally get together, it’s as though you’ve never been…

Almost thirty years ago, Jack and I bought “camp”—the tiny house on the shore of Lake Superior, just south of Lake Superior Provincial Park. Until then, from the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s, we spent a couple of weeks every summer—sometimes more, never less—camping in the park’s Agawa Bay…

I just read an article telling me that Canadian women who have reached the age of 75 are likely to live to 89. If they are financially secure and have a healthy lifestyle, add five years. I’m glad, because I just had to replace my riding lawnmower, and I’d like…

Yesterday was Dia de las Flores, Day of the Flowers, here in Guanajuato. I’ve probably written about it here before. This is what I had to say about it in The Stuff of a Life: It’s Dia de las Flores—a pre-Easter celebration specific to Guanajuato. The streets are filled with couples who…