• Home

  • Superpowers

    • Writing
    • Copy editing
    • Document review
    • Proofreading
  • About

    • Curriculum vitae
    • Volunteering
  • Testimonials

  • Contact

  • Blog

  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.
    • All Posts
    • Wordie Wednesdays
    • For the love of language
    • Published work
    • Buen Camino
    Search
    Goals and the end of the trail: Day 8
    loriannlivingston
    • Sep 16, 2020
    • 4 min

    Goals and the end of the trail: Day 8

    Stamm Woodlot on Benjamin Road to Conestogo Well, I did it. Eight days to walk the entire Avon Trail. On Sunday, as I walked the final couple of hundred metres through Conestogo to find the rock that marked the end, I imagined a sitting down in a pub to celebrate with a pint of nice cold cider. My friend, Jen, who did almost half the trail with me at various points, kept her eyes peeled for the open pub. But alas. A few things stood in our way. One, Conestogo is a very small
    13 views0 comments
    Rural routes into urban: Day 7
    loriannlivingston
    • Sep 9, 2020
    • 5 min

    Rural routes into urban: Day 7

    Intersection at Carmel Koch and Notre Dame roads to Stamm Woodlot I think I’m down to one more hike to finish off the Avon Trail. Day 7 took me and my friend, Jen, to kilometre 105. By my calculations, that leaves 16km left before I reach the end of the trail. The last leg will be one long hike or two shorter ones. I’m imagining finishing it in sunshine, sweaty but not too sweaty, face glowing from the effort, and a glorious sense of accomplishment. Worthy of a trip to the cl
    19 views0 comments
    loriannlivingston
    • Aug 16, 2020
    • 3 min

    What you see isn't always what was submitted

    If you're wondering just what it is that an editor does, most of the time it has to do with language, language choice, clarity and style guides. When I edit, my goal is to preserve the writer's voice while enhancing the reader's experience. I submitted something recently to an online publication, and I felt the published content didn't quite hit the mark for me as a reader. No doubt it came down to available space, but I thought you might be interested to see how things can c
    7 views0 comments
    Lessons in gratitude: Day 6
    loriannlivingston
    • Jul 15, 2020
    • 7 min

    Lessons in gratitude: Day 6

    Nith River on Carmel Koch Road to intersection at Carmel Koch and Notre Dame roads I am getting closer to finishing the Avon Trail. My trek this past weekend marked the 90th kilometre, and was a bit spur-of-the-moment (as far as it gets in our house), and I’d decided to go this one on my own. However, I asked my 13yo daughter if she’d like to join me – already knowing the answer would be no – out of courtesy and an effort to get her engaged in some exercise. I was right. She
    15 views0 comments
    Birds and bugs: Day 5
    loriannlivingston
    • Jun 3, 2020
    • 6 min

    Birds and bugs: Day 5

    Lisbon Cemetery to Carmel-Koch Road at the Nith River: 10k In my last post about the Avon Trail, late last fall, I wrote about entering the winter of our discontent. Although winter for me was fairly uneventful, save starting a new job at the college and reacquainting myself with public transit after a long hiatus and a soul-feeding trip to visit family in Ireland, it has turned out to be the spring of our discontent. Covid-19 has changed our lives, in some cases for the bett
    20 views1 comment
    A big project comes together
    loriannlivingston
    • Dec 12, 2019
    • 1 min

    A big project comes together

    I've spent most of the year, off and on, copy editing and proofreading this book. It just got published, and I feel that sense of pride I get when I see my name in print. It will make a great Christmas present for those hikers and walkers in your life. Locally, here's where you can find it: Kitchener/Waterloo Adventure Guide – website KW Books Mountain Equipment Coop – website Seven Shores Urban Market & Cafe Timeless Cafe & Bistro Wild Birds Unlimited Words Worth Books – we
    4 views0 comments
    Forest bathing: Day 4
    loriannlivingston
    • Oct 30, 2019
    • 4 min

    Forest bathing: Day 4

    Forest Road outside Stratford to Lisbon Cemetery: 22k This is my last hike likely this year. I have done 72k of the 113k of the Avon Trail. I'll pick it up in the spring, when the experiences will likely be more about the mud and the bugs . . . If you’d asked me a few months ago to do a 22k hike, I would have laughed. Are you kidding? That’s a long way, almost a marathon. But I did it. Three days later, my legs are still complaining about it if I walk any distance. I’m trying
    8 views0 comments
    Losing the markers: Day 3
    loriannlivingston
    • Oct 23, 2019
    • 4 min

    Losing the markers: Day 3

    Perth-Oxford Road, near Line 113, to Forest Road at Hwy 7, Stratford: 20k Another October Sunday full of sunshine, brightly coloured forests and just enough chill in the air to repel bugs and sweat. I met up with three childhood friends – two sisters, Karen and Ruthanne, and Cathy. We’re all originally from Grey County, grew up within four miles of each other, went to the same elementary and high schools (hey, it’s rural Ontario), and we’ve all known each other our entire liv
    12 views0 comments
    Five things I learned from walking the Avon Trail: Day 1
    loriannlivingston
    • Oct 9, 2019
    • 5 min

    Five things I learned from walking the Avon Trail: Day 1

    St. Mary’s to Wildwood Conservation Area: 14km At 113 kilometres, the Avon Trail winds from St. Mary’s to Conestogo. I’m practicing for walking the Camino next year; breaking up the Avon Trail into 20-kilometre chunks would build my stamina and help me do some of the physical and internal work I might need for the long trek in Europe. Sunday morning dawned in Kitchener with a hint of sun, a late summer glow cast over the houses. I needed to stop in Stratford at Fanfare Books
    41 views0 comments
    This is your brain on shrubs: How being outside and among trees improves children’s mental health
    loriannlivingston
    • Apr 23, 2019
    • 1 min

    This is your brain on shrubs: How being outside and among trees improves children’s mental health

    One thing I'm appreciating about freelance writing is that sometimes it takes a very long time for a story to come together. This one started with a school trip with my daughter's Grade 6 class early November last year, but it finally got published yesterday, appropriately on Earth Day. https://www.alternativesjournal.ca/community/blogs/aj-special-delivery/your-brain-shrubs?fbclid=IwAR2cw672tGwTVt-I5CwPz-0W8GALKffDXTC0HtbRSTJKrnj0nxsrZNfLVik #writing #freelance #nature #Eart
    3 views0 comments
    Wordie Wednesday: reverie
    loriannlivingston
    • Mar 13, 2019
    • 2 min

    Wordie Wednesday: reverie

    rev·er·ie /ˈrev(ə)rē/ Noun: a state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream. I’m out for a winter’s walk. The road is icy, but there is a strip of sand down the middle of it. I walk facing the traffic. I don’t know how far I’ll go, or how long I’ll walk, but it’s beautiful. The sun is shining, and the white fluffy clouds dot the sky. And the bare trees, some coated in snow, are reaching for that sunshine. I walk up the hill. It’s hard. Every step I wonder will
    4 views0 comments

    The long road to publication

    • Sep 8, 2021
    The long road to publication

    Disrupting the solar industry

    • Jul 16, 2021
    Disrupting the solar industry

    10 flags, or how I was nearly scammed

    • Jul 16, 2021
    10 flags, or how I was nearly scammed

    © 2018 by LA Livingston. Proudly created with wix.com

    • Facebook - Black Circle
    • LinkedIn - Black Circle
    • Flickr - Black Circle