It’s time
Things change after Labour Day weekend. Summer is over. Not phenologically— but psychically, the world shifts profoundly next week. Many will go back to school. Some back to work. We will make plans. New commitments. We are all a bit more serious after Labour Day. Sit a bit straighter. Work a bit harder toward our […]
Forever wars
America has been in retreat for a long time. Long before Afghanistan. Long before last week. The US doesn’t want to be the bulwark of liberal democracy anymore. It hasn’t wanted to do this for some time. This makes the world a more dangerous place. Not since the years after the Second World War have […]
Tipping point
Do you buy this? Does this chart make sense to you? Take a closer look. The blue bars represent the number of new homes built each year in Prince Edward County since the amalgamated municipality was formed in 1998. There is little in this trend to suggest it is set to explode into an orgy […]
Stars, arrows and question marks
The test of a good book for me is when I remember it after I put it down. Plenty of tales and accounts are funny, moving or bracing at the moment. But rare is the story that lingers. That changes the way you think, because its themes, motifs, argument, or approach rattle around your brain […]
Primal force
Not all challenges are created equal. Some problems cost more, are harder to remedy and leave lasting damage when ignored. A small, unattended water leak inside a wall, over time, can destroy a building that has stood a hundred years or more. Some matters demand an immediate and robust response. By any measure, Shire Hall […]
On getting away
Kathleen and I will take a couple of days off this week. Some time to sit on another shoreline and watch life drift by. Sleep in another bed. I will bring a book— but likely won’t open it. We will dine out. Maybe on a waterside deck. We’ll exchange stories and memories collected over 31 […]
Carrots
It seems we have two paths out of COVID- 19—more lockdowns or vaccinations. For a year, public policy officials had only the hammer of lockdowns. As a result, we endured, and continue to abide, profound restrictions upon fundamental liberty and staggering disruption to our economic, educational and social lives. Constraints that would have been unimaginable […]
Next
Council gets back to work this week, after the briefest of breaks. What should have been a week off was interrupted by a fistful of planning files looking for resolution before the new Official Plan was made official. Which was done on July 8. It has been a busy six months. Big files. Small items. […]
Perspective
I’ve become a putterer. I putter. I don’t know exactly when it happened. Or how. I’ve joined the cohort with large Ns on their sneakers who spend hours tending the garden, sweeping the driveway or watering the lawn with the Neptune 15-degree variable fan arc spray nozzle. Choosing which blades of grass will be favoured […]
Winter
Natural gas prices are rising. It may be nothing. Or it could become a very big problem indeed. Not just in your home, but around the world with the potential of pitting nation against nation to secure the lifeblood of their economies. Short-sighted energy planning has made industrialized nations more vulnerable to the price of […]