Fait accompli. The Oxford American Dictionary defines it as “a thing that is already done and not reversible.” Oh, Mayor Glenn Witherspoon, for one, won’t say the proposed restructuring of the fire hall here that was unveiled at Monday night’s council meeting is a done deal. In fact, CAO Bill […]
Columnists
It was 5 a.m., the sky was clear, the wind calm, the sun still hadn’t peeked over the horizon, and there was just enough crispness in the air to get the blood flowing. In other words, it was a picture perfect morning for fishing. And I chose to stay in […]
One of the birds which comes back early–as early as the robins–is the Killdeer. Most people are familiar with this bird as it breeds all across Canada from the Yukon to the Maritimes. Here in the northwest, it breeds as far north as Hudson Bay. You can often hear them […]
It was a long time ago but we’ll never forget the “self-reliant” little girl with the golden ringlets. The little girl whose mother always said, “Smile, Shirley.” I loved seeing her on the silver screen, and I loved drinking my milk from a Shirley Temple cup. But most of all, […]
My favourite chair is a soft one. And an old one. I love to sink deep into its comfortable arms and rest my head on its high-cushioned back. Then roll up the footstool, stretch out my feet, take a deep breath, and relax. Sometimes I sip coffee and sometimes I […]
There are a lot of black birds but not all of them are Blackbirds. We have quite a few birds in the same family, including orioles, meadowlarks, and the bobolink. But we also have three black birds which are true Blackbirds, and can be quite confusing to the amateur birder. […]
Sometimes I’m tempted to shed responsibility. I crave a distant time and place when my parents told me how to spend my money, and my college advisor told me what to choose for a college major. When my doctor told me exactly what to do about my health, and my […]
How can you live without time? Or more accurately, how can you live without a time “piece”? That’s the question I had to ask myself many times last week high in the Colorado Rockies. To begin with, my wristwatch kept perfect time, faithfully signalling one activity after another. But then […]
Well men, we’ve had the biscuit. Done. Kaput. We’re obsolete. We may be wanted but soon we won’t be needed. First a little background. For hundreds of centuries, two genders had to be in intimate contact for reproduction. Men were the hunters and warriors. Women tended the hearth and nurtured […]
There are probably more stories about the wolverine than any other mammal in America. It is supposed to have amazing strength, be extremely intelligent, and have a very ugly disposition.Whether these stories are all true or not, no one really knows. The wolverine is the shadow in the deep woods, […]
Amber was born 100 years after her great-grandmother (Amber’s my granddaughter). As I watch her grow, I wonder, “What will her world be like?” Amber’s great-grandmother was born in 1896, when the average Canadian lived 47 years. For most, electricity was unknown. Cars were toys of the rich. Airplanes hadn’t […]
It was a gray day. That I have to admit. And yet, the grayness wasn’t at the top of my mind. It was the spring of the year in 1949, and I was walking across the northern Indiana campus I had so grown to love. In a way I felt […]
