The days leading up to the New Year can be considered the days of good intentions, but it seems I squeeze in as many poor eating choices as I can manage before the calendar turns over. At some point during the pre-holiday preparation I seem to give up. “Why fight […]
Columnists
After our first good cold snap of the winter a couple weeks ago, lakes across Northwestern Ontario finally are frozen after an unseasonably warm fall. For those of us who enjoy ice-fishing, a new season is now upon us. Ice conditions early in the season can be tougher to predict […]
Many of you still will be celebrating and visiting, and perhaps because of the weather, some celebrations will be extended! Although the weather didn’t co-operate, we certainly can feel lucky because it sounds like places around us were hit harder. If your visit was extended because of the weather, enjoy […]
In 1992, a shipping container fell overboard on its way from China to the United States, releasing 29,000 rubber ducks into the Pacific Ocean. Ten months later, the first of these rubber ducks washed ashore on the Alaskan coast. Since then, these ducks have been found in Hawaii, South America, […]
We are moving quickly into that final stretch before the big day! I finally got my upstairs tree up on Sunday. But as I was dragging it in from the minus-34 temperature, and the needles and branches were following off, I did think to myself, “Why do we do this […]
In what has become a tradition over the past decade for me and my friends, we took our annual late-season moose hunting trip up north last week for the last few days of the 2016 Ontario rifle season. We like the late-season hunting because we can use snowmobiles to get […]
Christmas Day will arrive shortly. My friend, David Iwanyszyn, posted a photo on Facebook on Sunday night showing off the Christmas tree in his home loaded with gifts and wishing everyone a “Happy St. Nicholas Day”—a Ukrainian tradition. On the eve of Dec. 19, children receive gifts from St. Nicholas. […]
I was at a mall in Vancouver last week—a really big mall comprised of three levels; a shopping maze that even the brightest of us would struggle to find his/her way from. I’m fairly certain a GPS should be standard issue upon entrance to the mall. I wasn’t shopping, not […]
I am compelled to take photos of old abandoned houses. I can’t help myself. I used to have my camera in my car specifically for this purpose whenever I was behind the wheel. Now I have an iPhone that simplifies the process, though the quality of my photos may have […]
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” A.A. Milne, of “Winnie the Pooh” fame, penned that quote long ago. But I’ll bet you a box of chocolate-covered cherries he stole it from his wife, Dorothy, when he overheard her whispering what he […]
Most of the time I would be ever so grateful to be one or two inches taller. For a short time when I was 10 years old, I towered above everyone else in my class at Sixth Street School. Alas, then my growth hormones decided they had better things to […]
Driving through Fort Frances on Sunday evening, I was surprised by all the outdoor lights that are illuminating yards in our community. From large blow-up snowmen to white lit deer and moose and dancing lights across the front of homes, the darkness that falls shortly after four in the afternoon […]
