Author Archives: Peter Carter

AND ON DECK…ED: Always up for an interesting time My older brother Eddie died four weeks ago, and I won’t bore you with how much I miss him, but I do want to share a story about something that happened a few years back. Thing is, under other circumstances; i.e., if Ed weren’t dead, I’dContinue reading “Ed's not-so-secret recipe for kickapoo cariboo joy juice”

THREE WISE GUYS: Me with my brothers Alex and Ed, in the front yard of the presidential palace.  Two and a half weeks ago today I was goofing around on Facebook and a message popped up from a stranger named Howard Kennedy.  He asked if I was a Sudbury Carter and if I grew up onContinue reading “Ed for president”

GOOD PALS If I were going to phone Netflix and sell them a screenplay based on the the life of my older brother Tom, who passed away two years ago tomorrow, I’d call it “Striped Paint.” Here’s why:  When I was a kid, Tom–probably 20 at the time–brought home a second-hand aluminum canoe, and itContinue reading “My late brother Tom's trustworthy water craft”

“Sixty-three days ago, I shared with my daughter Ria, 16, an important driving lesson. I taught her which swear words to use when you back up into a police car.” Ria’s now 30. I wrote about the cop car crash in 2008.   I know because last week, my wife Helena used a three-hole punch andContinue reading “Three-ring journalism”

THEY OUGHTA NAME A CITY AFTER HER: My learned pal Victoria Meet  lawyer Victoria Shroff.   You’d like her. Victoria’s specialty is animal law. From her Vancouver base, Victoria acts on behalf of all creatures furry, scaley, and feathery.  She has fought to get an elephant out of jail and a dog off death row. Whether they’re warm-blooded,Continue reading “Victoria wins Christmas, Iris makes herstory”

My late mom Huena Carter (nee MacIsaac) was a singing machine.  MY DAD THE GROUPIE: Huena sang. All. The. Time. She had a pretty voice, too. Probably soprano. She wasn’t trained, and I don’t recall her, like, you know, ever belting it out. Huena simply sang  just loudly enough that anybody within 15 feet of herContinue reading “Huena verses the world”

BROTHERS IN ARMS: Or in cigarettes, which can be just as important. My daughter Ria to me: “How was Halloween on Grenadier?” (That’s our street. Grenadier Road.) Well now. I figure between 100 and 125 trick or treaters showed up. Began as a trickle at about 5:30, grew to a steady flow by 6:30  and by seven,Continue reading “One hal of a hallowed evening”

TUNNEL VISIONS: Who doesn’tdig bomb shelters? Until yesterday, I had never laid eyes on what has to be one of Ottawa, Ontario’s, must-see tourist attractions. A visit to Canada’s capital that doesn’t include this site rivals Rome without the Vatican. Nashville but no Opry.  I’m talking the Diefenbunker. It’s a four-storeys deep underground nuclear bombContinue reading “How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb shelters”

HASHTAG A ED OF HIS TIME: Eddie and me on the steps of bus #55 Halfway up one of the big trees in the backyard of the house we Carter kids grew up in, there was an assembly of boards and planks and sticks nailed into the upper part of the trunk where the biggerContinue reading “Where we know from passwords”

Google will tell you the drive from Port Hardy on the northernmost tip of of Vancouver Island south to the city of  Nanaimo should take about four hours. On Wednesday, Aug. 11, my daughter Ewa and I — on motorcycles — made the trip in eight.  I just realized now — after starting this sentenceContinue reading “The joy of riding off in all directions at once”