Jack Elliott – Squirrel Pie

It is amazing the care and concern people will show to others in our community. They do it without asking or being asked. Their anonymous, selfless concern is outstanding. Take for example our courier driver who arrives in town every morning and stops at a derelict building with a delivery […]

It’s got to be an x/y chromosome thing. That seems to be the only rational for faulty male memory. No female has ever admitted forgetting anything, particularly if it has to do with some perceived shortcoming of her spouse. I say perceived, because what the female identifies as a male […]

This actually happened and it bears repeating. It happened “Along about knee deep in June” a few summers back. It was a beautiful summer morning as the usual crew pulled up to the debating table at the Bakery in Rainy River. I prompted Val for an order of toast and […]

The trouble with all those beautiful shrubs and trees in the garden is a winter comes along like the last one and kills a bunch of them stone cold dead. I have noted across the District quite a selection of fruit trees whose buds swelled with the first promise of […]

This Covid lockdown has me missing by toast and coffee sessions at the Bakery… and missing the Pearl of the Orient too… that goes without saying. Properly applying condiments to toast is something the Pearl simply did not understand. “For goodness sakes, Elliott! You’ve got nearly half of that jar […]

We country boys never really thought about it. Out on the farm whenever the urge hit you you’d just whip ‘er out and let ‘er rip. Never give it a second thought. But then going to town required some new training. Walking down the street in Rainy River with my […]

This deserves an annual reprise. The yellow darlings popped out along every south facing wall in town a couple weeks back. I always picked a bouquet of the first ones for my late wife Norma, the Pearl of the Orient. It is a fond memory. So, it’s that time of […]

Ah spring. The grass is green and the mower is just begging to be fired up. The grass on the golf course is also green and the golf cart is ready to roll. The water on the river is sparkling, the outboard is fueled, the minnow bucket filled, and that […]

The battle of the bulge never ends. The latest tactic rejected counting calories and has resorted to counting points. Points are something like calories, but the numbers aren’t near as big. A help for we of the numerically challenged. “If I poach that walleye, it’s only 4 points. If I […]

With the end of the planting season upon us, and the monsoon underway, can the mosquito season be far behind? Each has of course, its own dangers and preparation. As I walked cautiously into the Bakery in Drizzle Creek, I was greeted by the usual insults from the debating table. […]

You can’t make crap like this up. So just the facts…. Rick, our Wanna-be Mountie, was on a rant the other morning. Not that that was unusual, it was just this time he had documented proof. “The rotten $%%#@s cancelled my credit card!” roared Rick his voice dripping with injured […]