My colleague @fungnathan.bsky.social will be at the Pride parade today chatting with folks! Say hi if you spot him!

(Photo from a previous year)

I could have spent much more time hiking the trails around Inglis Falls, Ont. -- it's a stop on the Bruce Trail and there are a bunch of little loops to do!

Today is the first day of the tulip festival 🌷 the opening ceremony is tomorrow, if you want to check it out!

Ottawans were confronted by protesters waving the Canadian flag during the freedom convoy, and now they say they are reclaiming it. Robin Seguin and other locals were kind enough to share their stories with me.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I hope you had a happy holidays!

Finally, I read both of Madeline Miller's most famous books this year, thanks to prodding from friends. They were both truly spectacular, and I'm glad to say Circe will be my last book of the year.

The least-shelved book I read was read by no one else this year!

It's The Meaning of the Tempest, which I read for a hermeneutics seminar paper. The paper was about how there have been changes to how the character of Caliban was depicted over time, which echoed major events of the time period.

The day after I spoke to Iceland's Ambassador about gifting books this Christmas, Goodreads shared My Year in Books! I hope everyone read some excellent books this year!

Canada has the largest population of Icelandic people outside of Iceland! And Icelanders have a unique Christmas Eve tradition: gifting books. It's called Jólabókaflóðið.

And the Icelandic Ambassador to Canada, Hlynur Guðjónsson, was kind enough to tell us all about it.

www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

I look forward to Steam Replay as much or more than Spotify wrapped

Fans are excited to welcome the IIHF World Junior Championships to Ottawa, including many young players who competed in a tournament at the Bell Sensplex on Friday. You can hear what they told me about on CBC Ottawa.

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

The #PWHL #OttawaCharge Home Opener was electrifying! ⚡🏒🍁