Hold on, I lost the idea… I'm thinking back now to this morning, retracing the steps, my thoughts, what was it? Since this morning, my mind has been populated by other ideas. I've been stimulated by other stories; deep sea divers (This is Love), comedians (Hannah Gadsby on Fresh Air), and business founders (Duolinguo on How I Built This). Aha! It's come back to me! It is inspired by The Daily, specifically, the episode dedicated to some of the 100,000 victims of Covid-19 in the U.S. I loved this episode because it was like a beautifully crafted audio obituary and as such, a touching memento mori. Why can’t we have a podcast dedicated to local people’s lives, right here, right now?

When I was young, I would often visit the Saskatoon Public Library's main branch downtown on 2nd Avenue. It had two floors. The main floor had the adult and teen collection while the second floor was split into three parts: children's section, art gallery, video and how-to collection. In a far corner of the children's section, I remember finding books about artists and one book in particular that offered a glimpse into the daily routines of several artists. I love that genre. Anyway. One artist described reading the obituary section of the newspaper first thing each morning. I thought this was awfully morbid back when I was 12. As I’ve aged though, I’ve started appreciating obituaries. I never miss the “Lives Lived” section of the Globe and Mail when I had the chance to read it. I realize I’m not alone. Was it Maira Kalman who made a joke about it? (Normally, I’m inclined to check this kind of reference, but that is not the point of this collection of essays. I am putting certainty aside in the spirit of reckless practice with the objective of finishing a project.)

I think it’s a great idea! Why hasn’t it already been done? Then again, it’s just an idea… I have no time for it, no time for its execution.