Keira McArthur

..if you find a loose end, then follow the thread back to where they all connect to the same warp and weft, where the shuttle sails on,  left to right, right to left, and the pedals shift the taught colours up then not, then down again, humming. I can’t express how significant the changes in […]

played and explained by Joanna Wronkowska   This reminds me of a man I will always love, though I’ll probably never meet: Excerpt from ‘Anthem” by Leonard Cohen: Ring the bells that still can ring forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything – That’s how the light gets in.  

Even the loud old fridge is drowned out by straight-down-rain.  Not sheets and thunder and driving – but a rain that will drench us for days, soaking the soil, swelling the creeks, rising the shoreline of Georgian Bay above the sad sorry rocks that appeared this spring, covering their nakedness once again.  It is 12 […]

The Parkdale branch of Toronto Public Library is packed full of people reading, working, talking, goofing around, crying, whining and laughing.  The security guard gives advice to a young girl, who says something like  ‘I just feel like they’re not hearing me sometimes….’. The library is a single floor, nestled in a relatively underprivileged neighborhood […]

I’m home, sick today. It’s a full-stop ‘flu, and I’m bundled in triple layers of clothing – including my dad’s old navy turtleneck & the big red sweater my mom knit for me in 1982.  I am on my third bowl of the excellent chicken soup made for me by incredible friend and husband Grant, […]

In my mind I see heavy ropes as thick as my leg, one end of each securely tied to My Ship, the other attached to an immense anchor, to a wharf – strong ropes for whatever the need – this is my father, to me. As captain, it’s up to me to make good use […]

I’ve seen it time and again, but it never fails to restore my faith in humanity:  if you gather smart, hardworking teens together under a conductor every week with their chosen instruments and good music to play, magical things happen.  Add 40 degree heat inside the church, a six-week hiatus from playing and a good […]

I get to plant trees with my parents. I can’t imagine being more content than this. pictures to come.

It’s as good a time as any for reflection. 6am, still dark outside in the northern hemisphere. I sit at the downstairs table beside a pinging wood stove.  It’s beaming heat onto the cat, who’s a puddle of contentment. We began this house project in 2006 with the enthusiasm and energy of young saplings reaching […]