Bucket List | Food & Drink | Guides & Books | Health & Fitness | Uncategorized | Vignettes | Working
Adventures with Knives Introduction A Taste for Adventure Every adventure has a high and a low – if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be an adventure. The low point of an adventure, the black hole, is dark and scary. You feel alone, and you want to go home. Something you ate has caused you to fear... read more
Bucket List | Health & Fitness
By BOB FOULKES Regardless of how worldly I think I am, I’m confronted with the fact that I’m not. There are two constraints in my life. The first is that, as I age, I suffer from what my friend calls a hardening of the attitudes. It concerns me. The second is equally alarming: I Iive... read more
Guides & Books | Health & Fitness
By BOB FOULKES Is it just me, or are there more rude people in the world today? I went to an afternoon movie on Saturday; we arrived early to get good seats. By the time the trailers started, the theatre was about one-third full. Sitting behind us and slightly to the right were three... read more
Bucket List | Health & Fitness | Sports & Leisure
By BOB FOULKES There is an old saying that “once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern.” I observed three events this summer that happened so close together that I see a pattern emerging. Three people close to me voluntarily spent long periods of time, committed significant effort... read more
Classics | Guides & Books | Health & Fitness | Working
By BOB FOULKES I see my future whenever I drop into my local coffee shop: A man my age is there almost every time drinking coffee and doing the crossword in the local paper. We nod to each other. I’ve built a story about him, all conjecture, no verifiable evidence. The myth is this: ... read more
Bucket List | Health & Fitness | Sports & Leisure | Travel
By BOB FOULKES I got hooked on adventure during an eight-day Outward Bound trek in the wilds of British Columbia north of Whistler. Since then I have completed a 77-km struggle along the Westcoast Trail on Vancouver Island, the 53-kilometre Chilkoot Trail in B.C., made famous by the Klondike Gold rush, and the 154-kilometre West... read more
Bucket List | Health & Fitness | Sports & Leisure
By CONTRARIAN I remember my response when a friend asked whether I would be running the full marathon, or the half. “Halfs are for girls”, I said. I don’t really believe that, of course. The 21-kilometre half is probably my favourite distance: long enough to be challenging, short enough to run it fast. I mean,... read more
Health & Fitness | Tackle & Gear | Working
By BOB FOULKES As we age we need to adjust, and nowhere is the need more apparent than at the office. It’s about survival. Survival is about being smart, adapting, maintaining productivity and not being cut from the team. If you have to work, survival is imperative; if you want to work, adapting will make... read more
Guides & Books | Health & Fitness
By BOB FOULKES The promise is brazenly broadcast across the canary yellow book in bold black letters’ you can’t miss it on the bookstore shelf. How could I ignore such a promise, when legions of messianic friends push it on me? Well buddies, it’s my turn to proselytize. Younger Next Year is the best self-help book... read more
Bucket List | Family | Health & Fitness
By BLAIR WILLIAMS Like most people, when I turned 70 I started thinking about my mortality. Given my family history I reckoned I probably have maybe 15 years to live, so it made sense to think about what I and my wife, Jeannie, might pack in to those years. Of course, we wanted to share... read more