The prime minister of New Zealand has just gone on maternity leave, and something about that warms and calms me. Jacinda Ardern, at age 37 the youngest female government head in the world, has a team in place who will help her do her job. But no doubt the time […]
Columnists
Outside of a few weeks in the spring when crappies move to shallow water to spawn, they spend the rest of the year in deeper water. They seem to disappear over the summer months, when they suspend in deeper weeds and simply are hard to find. In the fall and […]
When we are young, we think many “things” will be the answer to our pursuit of happiness. A new bike, our first car, cool glasses (though when I first started wearing glasses at age 13, there was not a single thing cool about them, no matter the colour or shape). […]
After the long winter we experienced this year, the nice weather across Northwestern Ontario over the past week sure has been a pleasure. Hopefully it’s a sign of what’s to come over the next few months. As water temperatures have increased rapidly over the past week, so has the fishing […]
Until recently, it had been almost 12 months since I’d picked up a keyboard and wrote a column. What a phenomenal detour once again from the road I was meant to take all my life. Occasionally over the past few months, readers would ask me if I had stopped writing […]
I have written about libraries a few times in my last 524 columns, 385 of which have been printed here. But who’s counting? I guess I am. Libraries are the past and the future, and everything in between. I was at the Kentville Public Library one morning last week, doing […]
That was a long weekend hard to beat! The much-needed rain came before most of us started our weekend and then we had sunshine for the rest of it. Unfortunately, dampened the Rainy River First Nations’ annual fish fry but the meal still was top of the line. Cliff Westover […]
Senior retirement housing, long-term care, and subsidized senior housing all are on the minds of Ontario residents in this year’s provincial election. It also will be part of municipal elections in the fall. Housing for seniors is an issue. For instance, what types of senior housing do we require in […]
Have you packed up your winter clothes yet? I have! Out came the storage bag and the clinging dust bunnies from under my bed. I had washed and folded all my summer stuff last October, jammed everything in the bag, and shoved it in amongst all the other stuff I’ve […]
I went a little crazy with my pre-gardening plans this year. I’ve started seeds and no longer have a spare room. That room now is a seedling nursery, with the bed and a table covered with little pots housing plants of every variety in excessive numbers. It’s a bit like […]
Saturday is a big day for anglers across Sunset Country as it marks the opening weekend of a new walleye season. It’s a busy weekend on area waters as many folks are itching to get back in the boat after a long winter. The appeal of a feed of fresh […]
Will we be bought with our own money again this provincial election? It is a question all voters should be asking themselves as the “robot-calls” light up our phones at meal times. Which party can bribe us best? When Kathleen Wynne unveiled her election budget in March, she promised free […]
