I still remember how much fun it was to get my second master’s degree and how sad it was when the last class was finished. The university was a two-and-a-half hour drive from our home. I drove up every Tuesday afternoon, stayed overnight, and came back Wednesday morning. And my […]
Columnists
After several months off from fishing out of a boat, I’m back on the road this week—heading to Florida to get ready for the 2015 FLW Tour season which starts the first week of March at Lake Tohopekaglia. After the Arctic blast that hit us across Sunset Country over the […]
In our youngest grades, Valentine cards were really important. My Grade 1 teacher, Mrs. Benson, had a big decorated box that we all put our cards in and then on Valentine’s Day, she opened the box and, as a postman, would take the cards to each of her students. We […]
It may appear that all I do is watch movies, but I assure you that I do laundry and vacuum occasionally and sometimes (though not often enough, it seems) I wrestle with the dust from the woodstove. Just last week, I had the happy circumstance of watching a documentary recommended […]
Marlee’s heifer from Manitoba calved on Saturday and gave us a nice little heifer. Sometimes finding names are challenging but she thought “Addie” (after her BFF) would be a good choice. We have quite a few cows that are getting pretty close now, and so the fun begins of picking […]
Two weeks ago, I was very humbled and honoured to have been appointed the NDP critic for pensions by our leader, Tom Mulcair. It is a heavy responsibility and one that dovetails with the local concerns of many constituents in Thunder Bay-Rainy River. The starting point for my work as […]
It’s more than 20 years since I began writing “This Side of 60” and now I know which column topics are the most popular. No question about it: “clutter” is number-one. I get more e-mails and comments after a clutter column than any other topic. It seems everyone has the […]
Growing up around Lake of the Woods, I’ve been fortunate to experience nearly all of the outdoor activities available to us around Sunset Country over the years. I’ve spent many hours fishing, hunting, looking for shed deer and moose antlers, hiking, and camping. But one activity that I haven’t been […]
While many were watching the Super Bowl or the Puppy Bowl on Sunday evening, I was watching the Barn Bowl! Two of the heifers I purchased last fall were calving. Three of the 5 were artificially inseminated, and two were due on Feb. 1. They made their date! The other […]
I walked out of the Canada Games Complex in Thunder Bay at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday—the last day of January—and it was still daylight. It was a distinct sign that there is light in the tunnel that winter is ending. On Monday morning, Punxsutawney Phil and Wiarton Willie were split […]
A wise man who lived more than 200 years ago once wrote, “The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed.” What an odd way to define success or failure! Most of us count a day well spent if we do all the tasks on […]
Linden MacIntyre was in town a few nights ago, giving a reading from his new novel, “Punishment.” I bought a copy of his book; he signed it, smiled at me as I thanked him. We’re friends now. I’m pretty sure that’s all it takes. Mr. MacIntyre has been a journalist […]
