Scotch coffee was a term used in the British Royal Navy in days of yore to refer to fake coffee made from burnt bread crumbs. While exact recipes vary, it is basically whatever bread might be available (biscuit or hardtack, for example), crumbled, toasted until dark or well-burnt, and boiled in water. It was flavored to taste -- or depending on what was available -- most often with milk, sugar or molasses, and, one must assume, alcohol.

It appears to gain its name from the stereotype that Scottish people are tight-fisted, although it also appears to have been used in Scotland. Scotch coffee, as you may have deduced, was not a preferred beverage, and was drunk only when something more caffeinated was no longer available. It appears to have been most common in the mid- to late 1800s, with the earliest reference I can find occurring in 1844. However, it is probable that those using the term were not the most literate, and that fake coffee was not what anyone most…

On the evening of June 6, 2021, a half-hour's bike ride from my house, a pickup truck wiped out four members of a family. A nine-year-old boy survived, injured and orphaned.

The twenty-year-old driver was charged with multiple counts of murder, several other offences and-- a week later-- terrorism. People have held memorials, just as the province lifts many of the COVID-related restrictions. The victims were all Muslims, Canadians of Pakistani descent. The local mosque…

For Juneteenth, my daughter has gone off to camp two nights and B has gone to a family member 70th birthday.

I am going to an online concert, in fact, two concerts: Sweet Honey in the Rock. I can't wait! I have not heard them since Bernice Regon Johnson, PhD, retired after 30 years. I am hoping she will be back as a guest. It should be a fabulous concert and way to celebrate.

Joy to all of you, whatever color or heritage. I'm a lizard, after all, but most lizard people really like music. And freedom.