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Connections

This column was going to be about the outcome of the Tlell Community Association AGM. However, due to general disarray, we had to postpone that AGM to April 12 at 4:30 p.m. at the Tlell Firehall. If you doubted my assertion that we are in n

Janet Rigg · Mar 27, 2026

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January Change

It is January. It is a dark month, full of weather delays and changing plans. The faster you try to go, the more the universe seems to say, “Sit down. We will wash out the highway if we have to. Oh, you made a temporary fix for that? Then w

Janet Rigg · Jan 16, 2026

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The December Sun

Her low, blinding illumination makes it hard to hide from the weathered truth. She is stingy with her gifts, a coy sun, sometimes barely peeking above the trees. The weather is sharper, the light cooler. It filters through the forest like w

Janet Rigg · Dec 19, 2025

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Giving Through Loss this Holiday Season

Here it is, December. The traditions of stringing up lights and bringing a tree into the house have origins long before Christianity. Some say evergreen trees exist because one once sheltered a Winter Spirit and, in thanks, the spirit grant

Janet Rigg · Dec 5, 2025

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Pathways to Care

We are getting close to the longest night of the year. All signs are pointing to Haida Gwaii hibernation time. Around this time of year there is a bit of a reckoning occurring. Many relationships begin in November, the fight for a living be

Janet Rigg · Nov 20, 2025

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Cooling Air

The air is cooling and the darkness stays longer each night. October is upon us, her musty crunch, hearty food, and promises of a cozy evenings are dancing hand in hand with the reality of cleaning the chimney, winterizing the garden, and g

Janet Rigg · Oct 14, 2025

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How Do You Eat a Sandwich?

My apologies to the gluten intolerant among us. This introspective exercise may fall short, given the unlikelihood you’ve recently eaten a sandwich. But the wisdom may transcend. I think we can all agree there are good parts of a sandwich a

Janet Rigg · Sep 28, 2025

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Start at the Ceiling

Apparently, people who know things know that when you clean an interior space, you start at the ceiling and work your way down. This was relayed to me as an obvious fact, not told to me directly but through a story about how someone else ha

Janet Rigg · Sep 12, 2025

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The Art of Ambiance, the Art of Life

It’s Sunday morning, the sun is shining, and a raven is chatting. A car alarm sounds, and a dog that doesn’t sound like it’s used to being in the woods barks with a mixture of delight and fear. These are my surroundings, as I reflect on the

Janet Rigg · Aug 16, 2025

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They’re here!

First—the news! Adriene has sold her business at the Crow’s Nest, or the Tlellian Mega Mall, as I like to call it. For the past 12 years, Adriene has provided us with the basic necessities, milkshakes, coffees and legendary cinnamon buns. H

Janet Rigg · Jul 5, 2025

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Lantern Legacy in Need of a New Lightbearer at the Edge of the World

For nearly two decades, the lantern parade has cast a magical glow over the Edge of the World Music Festival, thanks to the dedication of volunteers who shaped it into a beloved tradition. But this year, with no one left at the helm, the fe

Janet Rigg · May 22, 2025

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Easter Gardening

I’m writing this on the tail end of an Easter long weekend that was a lot of fun. Not being religious myself, the weekend is more about time with friends and family than about anything Jesus got up to. A small egg hunt was done for my son a

Janet Rigg · May 1, 2025

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Soccer Saturday!

It’s April, and spring is sprunging! Trees are budding, grass is growing, and seedlings are being nurtured and planted in gardens all over Tlell. The nettles are perfect this time of year — fresh and delicious. Use them as you’d use spinach

Janet Rigg · Apr 13, 2025

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Newsworthy Tellagram

I am increasingly humbled by the people whom I run into who mention they read my column regularly. My biweekly musings sometimes seem of little import, but I do write them earnestly and with vulnerability, hoping to inspire others to live t

Janet Rigg · Mar 29, 2025

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Costa Rica, loving challengers retreat

Do you listen to your own inner voice? Not the voice that tells you did it wrong, not the one that wonders why you said that silly thing, not the one that says it’s never enough. I’m talking about your own voice. The voice that already know

Janet Rigg · Mar 26, 2025

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Whimsy

Here we are, half way through the longest shortest month of the year. How do we keep going? With whimsy. The world is particularly bleak at the moment, in ways that bewilder and defy. It all seems somehow out of our control. But I saw one p

Janet Rigg · Mar 9, 2025

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A viral post of an unwanted nature

As a columnist, I spend time considering what I’m going to write and the audience that is likely to enjoy it. I try to make my writing humorous or interesting—hopefully both. I’m sure, for some, I fall flat, but I rarely hear about it. Perh

Janet Rigg · Feb 23, 2025

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Have a heart

In the summer of 2022, blue spray-painted hearts began to appear at the end of Wiggins Road in Tlell. I had to look up that date and am mildly shocked it’s been two and a half years since these started to appear. Amazing how we become accus

Janet Rigg · Feb 1, 2025

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The Best Laid Plans

Funny thing about “best-laid plans” — the only time we ever hear that phrase is precisely when plans have gone distinctly wrong. If you had any plans this holiday season on Haida Gwaii, there is a high probability that idiom proved true. Al

Janet Rigg · Jan 3, 2025

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We’re nearly there… soon the Solstice will be upon us.

Winter is a time of contrasts, even when there is no white snow on the ground. It’s a time of quiet moments alone and joyous celebrations with many. It’s closeness as well as painful reminders of distance. It is so dark right now, a darknes

Janet Rigg · Dec 19, 2024

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Rumours and ravens

No, I’m not Annie. I don’t even know who Annie is. She’s a mystery advice columnist to me, too. I like her advice; I’d say it’s pretty spot on. But she isn’t me, even though the problems of others are an endless fascination to me and I abso

Janet Rigg · Nov 8, 2024

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Energetic cycles

Tlell, like all the communities on Haida Gwaii, is hunkering down for winter. Harvest feasts were enjoyed, some still calling it “Thanksgiving” — more in the spirit of giving thanks in a general sense, and less of a pilgrim-y sense. We do h

Janet Rigg · Oct 24, 2024

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Approaching fall

Do you smell it? The hint of wood smoke in the air? The slight stench of decay? Do you notice a taste on the back of your throat that is a touch more acidic than the sweet brine of spring? Do you hear the silence as it settles, as the birds

Janet Rigg · Oct 10, 2024

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Scrambled by an outage and the 21st-century lawn dart

So how did you fare through the Great Internet Outage of September 13 to 16? I was on a video session, and had just marvelled at the clarity and speed of our connection. It was like we were right in front of each other. This online business

Janet Rigg · Sep 26, 2024

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Legacies large and small

What do you want to leave when you’re gone? This week, a megayacht, the Liva O, sailed into town and was truly a sight to behold. Moored so close to shore, a Norm Wagner mused that she must be trying to steal his WiFi! Of course, that boat

Janet Rigg · Aug 29, 2024

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Relationship rhododendrons

When I was a child, my Scottish mother would refer to the beautiful, huge flowering bushes in our yard as “rhoddies.” As a result, I began to believe these plants were called “rho-DEE-dendrons.” You can imagine my shock when I later underst

Janet Rigg · Jun 20, 2024