Dismal indeed
Economics has been called “the dismal science,” a reputation it keeps working hard to earn. For instance, the New York Times recently reported that because European countries are under the gun to reduce their debt, they are equally under the gun to produce rosier numbers for their national GDP, or gross domestic product, thereby lowering […]
Real time
All of our children are grown and have left the nest. We are empty nesters. It wasn’t an easy job, raising our kids. I can’t imagine how difficult it was for my parents, raising seven kids and one young-adult auntie. So, on the subject of raising kids, LOML and I weren’t experts. We didn’t follow […]
Hills of beans
So it starts off this way. My child greets me at the front steps of his school on a day near to end-of-curriculum year. He hands over a plant, lovingly cultivated from seed. It’s a bean vine, rooted in a clear plastic drinking cup and now sprouted to the length of my forearm. Taped to […]
Cooperstown
They gathered in great numbers last weekend to pay homage to three great baseball players who were being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the venerable institution situated in the middle of Cooperstown, New York. The town is within striking distance of New York City, but is just a few hours from those of […]
From many threads
The influence of the Age of Enlightenment was but part of the mosaic of wine’s evolution. It all began from the humble—and possibly accidental— discovery of fermented juice from split grapes. Today, the wine industry is enormous. Throughout the ages, various civilizations have endeavoured to perfect and improve wine. Roman patricians took immense pride in […]
The overstayed welcome
George W. Bush has (mercifully, for some) forsaken politics—for painting. Now before you start trying to get him to come up from Texas and do a celebrity repaint of your shed, you should be aware that I’m talking about painting of the artistic type—portraiture, to be precise. Bush has been taking lessons, and has recently […]
Pests in my garden
My mom had a vegetable garden. She wasn’t a hobbyist. It was serious, vegetable business in our backyard. From the end of April, until the last tomato was picked in September, the garden section was off-limits to our shenanigans, unless, of course, one of us was dumb enough to say we were bored. If you […]
Hockey from over ‘ome!
On these hot, steamy, summer days, I like to think about hockey. During the championships in Wellington for the Dudley Hewitt Cup, an avid hockey fan, Ben Houston, slipped me an article about hockey. Following a bit of research, I am pleased to share a tidbit or two about the great game, as it is […]
Union Hill
It’s one of those things we often slide by in our comings and goings; places that spark a hard-to-define reminisce. As in you know the place, but don’t, sorta thing? Like the beacon up ahead along the highway? I’m headed south out of Rossmore on highway 62, cresting the rise of the hill by Victoria […]
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment that began in the late 17th century placed confidence in the rational man who would discover scientific and philosophical truths that had eluded classical man. Despite this new savoir-faire, wine continued to suffer a short shelf life. It lost market share to distilled spirits that would last longer—gin in Holland and […]