If my projects in professional, political, and voluntary
activities seem pathologically earnest, I hope I may redeem myself with
an overview of some of my pastimes. The links give in-depth information
about each pursuit.
Tent Pegging with UNICEF Team Canada Equestrian skill-at-arms is perhaps the most outlandish sport imaginable, chivalry's last gasp in the modern world. Not content to risk life and limb on only a single continent, I captain Canada's national team at the sport's International Championships.
Governor General's Horse Guards My service with the Horse Guards' Cavalry Squadron
has been something of a romp through ceremony, terrifying innocent horses with sword and lance
in an effort to help perpetuate the Canadian Forces' equestrian
traditions.
Fencing Sabre I took up fencing at university, but found that I enjoyed it too much to put away my sabre when I returned to Canada. It is an exhilirating sport whose frequent reversals keep its athletes humble.
My 1979 MGB Roadster I likely spend more time under my MG trying to keep it from giving
up the ghost, than I spend in it driving. Still, on those rare summer
days when the sun is shining and the engine is running, the long hours
of grease-coated labour prove their worth.
Willow (Will o' the Wisp) My golden retriever Willow has a terrible habit of trying to strike
up friendships with skunks, and she seems convinced that if something
makes her vomit, it must be that she did not eat enough of it. Nevertheless,
she is one of my life's great joys.
Chance (Perchance to Dream) With a thoroughbred's lust for speed and a warhorse's thirst for slaughter, my horse Chance seems to have been expressly created for the sport of tent pegging. We are training one another for the World Championships, and we may even survive one another's foibles until then.
Miaowser (Miaow in Tooth and Claw) Miaowser was an abandoned kitten, whom
I found plaintively miaowing for rescue (hence the name) in the rain.
She has since grown into a nimble terror, who delights in trying to
invite Sarah's parrot Cody to lunch.
Thunder and Scarlett Thunder and Scarlett are Sarah's horses. Thunder, a bay percheron-cross gelding, is a gentle giant whose eagerness
to please is surpassed only by his appetite. By contrast, Scarlett,
a red-dun hanoverian-thoroughbred mare, would just as soon kill her
rider as carry him.
To join me in any of my leisure projects, please drop me a note through my Volunteers page.