University of Useless Information:

Let me tell you, that little princess is really a monster: It’s the summer of 2007, I’m fifteen, and my sister Lorraine and her husband Hume have leased a property next to the confluence of the West Humber and  Humber Rivers. The Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (MTRCA) had the area declared a flood plain, which meant no one could redevelop the land. The place has the distinction of being the last working farm within city limits. However the place is still in rough shape due to the flooding a couple of years ago and several of the out buildings had been swept away. The property owners are operating greenhouses and they welcome the extra income from the lease as they rebuild. The barn is in decent shape and can stable a dozen horses. Lorraine and Hume set up a couple of trailers for their office and some living space. It’s a way to make Horseback Riding accessible within the city and hopefully draw business over to the family farm near Blackstock. I’m working p...

Have you ever watched an ice cube melt in a glass of warm water? Nine tenths of that tiny iceberg is underwater. As it melts from beneath it becomes top heavy and will suddenly tilt or turn over. That's sort of how things were explained to us when we returned to school. Global warming: The whole planet is the melting ice cube that turned over … Or something like that. The scientists explained that the planetary weight shifted because of the melting of the polar ice caps. The Earth tilted on its axis in two directions at once. The rotational axis shifted so that the North Pole was now in the middle of the Bering Strait and the Magnetic North Pole shifted to Switzerland. Geography isn’t really a strong subject for me, so I’m not sure where the South Poles shifted to. All I know is that our winters are much milder now. That massive shift caused earthquakes, tsunamis and massive volcano eruptions. Parts of the continents sunk into the seas and new land masses formed. The ice caps have ...

Hank Kendal and I grew up in the same neighbourhood. I don't recall exactly how we first met in kindergarten. We weren't in the same class. In fact, we were never put in the same class all through school, but somehow we connected on our way to or from school. Or maybe in the school yard. That detail isn't important. Hank and I are inseparable. We're like brothers. We're like an old married couple. We finish each other's sentences and bicker. He's like me, being the youngest child with two much older sisters. As kids, we tented in each other's back yards and we still go on family vacations together. When we were eight, his father got rid of the rusty old swing set in his backyard and put in a pool. We spent most of our daylight hours in that pool that summer; and the ones that followed. We're totally inseparable. Hank is insanely creative. Making up songs and stories. He immediately tore apart store-bought toys and mixed and mashed them back together ...

Hi, I'm Catlin Theodore Matthews-Josephs. It was going to be Caitlyn, after my Aunt but when Mom found out that I was a boy, she made it more masculine. So that's Cat, like meow, NOT Cait! Theodore was my father's name. Captain Theodore Edgar Matthews (Deceased). Mom is Alice Ginger Matthews-Josephs nee Micus. She and my step dad Ian Donald Josephs married when I was still an infant. Dad is also widowed and has two daughters from Francis Marjorie Josephs nee Rice who died of labour complications giving birth to my step sister Kate. Kathryn Elizabeth is five years older than me. We're Kate and Cat. There's also my eldest step-sister Lorraine Kennydie Smythe nee Josephs and her husband Hume Patrick Smythe who are both ten years older than me. I'm the youngest at 21, unless you count my two little nieces. Anyhow,  my family and friends call me Comet Jo; or just Jo for short: But that's another story..