Hitting the road east for a few weeks. Chew on this retread from 2008. I come from a generation whose first burning adolescent ambition was the acquisition of a set of wheels. Plumbing the depths of the mysteries of the opposite sex was more of an obsession than an ambition. […]
Jack Elliott – Squirrel Pie
As I await spring and the Superbowl, I am becoming increasingly lazy. Impossible you say. It’s a fact groundhog day, the midwindter bleahs, the super bowl and the endless chatter and whining at the Debating Table at the Bakery here in Rainy is downright depressing. Next thing you know there […]
As our January thaw manufactures puddles that are seeping through my not so waterproof shoes, I dream of the blooms of Lotus Land, aka B.C. Here’s a little retread from a decade or so ago. After 40 years of wedded bliss my wife, the Pearl or the Orient, and I […]
My Brother-in-law Ralph is a blue eyed arab from the oil patch aka Alberta, and his byline, Crankcase Sludge. He provided the story for this week’s column. Ralph was in the commercial insulation business for a few decades. Hank was the foreman of his insulation crew. His job was to […]
A retreat from September 19, 2020. Still haven’t got this iPhone completely figured out. Lose it at least once a week, Broke the screen twice and completely destroyed it after running over it a couple of times. I still answer video calls by placing the phone to my ear…several friends and my kids […]
The past year involved a lot of traveling for me. Looking back I wondered why on earth I bothered, then I found this old column from 2010, so like many an old toot, I used it to refresh my memory. I can almost hear my late wife, Norma, the Pearl […]
As we hit another New Year’s I was reviewing past resolutions and found this gem from 2013 in the files. My late wife, The Pearl of the Orient, took her diet and exercise seriously. As her life partner I was subjected to her enthusiasm on the subject. As she headed […]
Some of our most vivid memories are of childhood events. We old codgers may not be able to remember what we had for breakfast, but can recall every detail of our first Christmas concert. At my first, I was a bumblebee. We each had cardboard cutouts we coloured black and […]
Seems it happens every year. This year I decided to solve the issue. I’ve been putting it off for too long but moving into a Senior’s apartment necessitated the move… and it was all the fault of the Pearl of the Orient, my late wife, Norma. I spent a week […]
A Squirrel Pie throwback from 2009
As we head into another winter, I am reminiscing on the many winters that my late wife Norma, The Pearl of the Orient and I spent in the sunny South. Around the Debating Table at the Bakery in Rainy River a collection of long faces is bemoaning the lack of […]
Surprise! I’m back. Seems there is just too much going on in the District to sit twiddling my thumbs and too many characters that deserve some attention. As I approach the 79th Anniversary of my trips around the sun I have joined a new club… The Egg Salad Sandwich Club. […]
By Mark Elliott
Ah, Rainy River. The town that never naps… on a weekday. Much. If you ever wonder what you’d be like when you are retired, I highly recommend spending a week of vacation in Rainy River. Some people take vacations so they can make “plans.” Strange people these are… “Harry and […]
