Glenn Kubish

Happy end of the week, friends. Here are three things that made me happy or grateful this week. I am trying to build noticing those things into a habit. Noticing them and then saying them out loud in the Three Things podcast , too. Here's this week's list. 1. little trees 🌱🌱 Our sons, now in their late 20s, don’t remember Arbor Day and they don’t remember or really care that their parents neglected to plant the spruce seedlings they came home from Grade 1 with. But their mom remembers.  Because in her heart is the kind of significant soil where those memories stay alive.  Auntie Shelagh remembers: “When our boys got their Grade 1 trees, I was excited about the concept. But we did not need a tree in our yard. And, so, I said, why don’t we find out if there’s a new community that could use a tree. But between hockey and music and school—Michael was in pre-school when Alex was in Grade 1, we just never got it done. And I really regretted that.” On the weekend we tried to make ...

The Fall My left shoulder throbbed. From the hot pain rose the strangest image. A giant eagle had sunk its giant talons into my left shoulder, and then squeezed until I breathed out, barely controlled, a thin jet of frosty air. I had just fallen off my bike coming down a stretch of riverbank ice blanketed by morning snow. My front wheel slid. I lost control. I hit hard. I was on the ground, part of a debris field. My bike was on its side, its front wheel twisted backwards. The Go Pro handlebar mount was sheared off. The camera was half buried, still rolling. The tiny red light record indicator pulsed. The rear panniers were hanging by single hooks.  These are things I noticed when my shoulder was dislocated. It was so quiet, in the snow, in the trees, under the sky. This is what it looked and sounded like from where I sat, and then didn't. Before I was part of a perfectly lovely morning in the city. Jeff at Sugared & Spiced had opened the shop early for Coffee...

Here’s one thing about riding a bicycle that’s worth being honest about: it takes work. Yes, riding a bicycle is all those other oft-celebrated things, too. It’s relaxing, fun, healthy, it’s sustainable and eco-friendly, nostalgic, convenient and social. Riding a bicycle is economical and efficient and therapeutic. Pedalling a bicycle makes a connection between city and rider not possible in an automobile. Riding a bicycle is exhilarating. Riding a bicycle is freedom. It's also work. The work of riding a bicycle can be hidden under the poetry of riding a bicycle. I will always remember the day a friend at work texted me, after having renewed a lagged friendship with her bike, a message that was music to my ears: I knew immediately what Laurie meant. I felt it in my old bones. A green Mustang two-speed was my first declaration of independence growing on the streets and alleys of northeast Edmonton. That precious bike took me out of the orbit of domestic su...