I know a little bit about centering a ball of clay. Or not centering it. As a young housewife, I took a night class in a western Canadian city and I still remember the feel of the clay in my hand. Making a pinch pot. Firing it. Glazing it. And […]
Columnists
The Café in Hooterville was simply buzzing when I walked in the other morning. Puddin’ Pye was tipped back in the head chair at the debating table, his cup out for his third refill. “Well sir, let me tell you, did ya’ see it?” quizzed the Hooterville Sage in a […]
The White-fronted Goose is quite a common one in western Canada, all the prairies, and down the Pacific coast. In the fall, it is a common migrant through Manitoba, and some flocks appear on the lakes and in the grainfields of Northern Ontario from time to time. White-fronts are of […]
Each year in Canada, people are injured and others are killed by accidents that could have been prevented. In fact, some 90 percent of all accidents are predictable and, with proper education, largely preventable. Falling into an open manhole or sewer, being crushed by some heavy item, or injured because […]
Moving with Mike
Last time on “As the Stomach Churns” . . . Fort Frances council, except for Mayor Glenn Witherspoon, who had declared a conflict of interest, emerged from a behind-closed-doors meeting to announce to any and all who cared that the town does not have, nor ever had, an exclusionary ice […]
Quetico Centre
Astute world watchers have said, “The future is unknown and unknowable.” Peter Drucker, a wise and practical teacher and writer, said, “You can’t really plan but the alternative is worse.” Though we may know a likelihood, we cannot accurately predict specific events. Witness earth quakes and volcanic eruptions. So what […]
We all need healing in our lives. Sometimes we need healing from unbearable grief and loneliness; at other times from broken bones or pulled muscles. Sometimes it’s simply the deep sadness of our souls that needs healing. Little scrapes and big bruises. It could be many things that come into […]
It’s been a long time since I first read about her–12 years to be exact. And I can’t help wondering where she is by now. Her age would be 89 now. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s still zipping down the highway in her red convertible! “She’s cruisin’ at […]
The signs of spring are everywhere. The mail box is full of seed catalogues. The TV is cluttered with ads for crop production chemicals. The male woodchucks are out of their dens scurrying from burrow to burrow, mauling and mating. At our place up in Blue, in anticipation of a […]
Speak first, think later. It’s a common trait. Politicians are great at it. As a matter of fact, they have their feet in their mouths so much, they’re barely intelligible. At least I think that’s the reason they don’t make much sense. Two of the most famous foot-in-mouthers belong to […]
This is “nannock” of the frozen north. Its home is on the ice, or on the shore near the ice.A totally Arctic animal, it is at home all around the North Pole–Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Russia, and Norway. In the very early days of exploration on this continent, they were sometimes […]
Moving With Mike
The abuse of children–physical, sexual, or otherwise–is a terrible wrong that cannot be tolerated by society. The problem certainly isn’t going away, as evidenced by the heart-wrenching stories that still pop up in the media from time to time. Stories too horrible to believe imaginable. And as is often the […]






