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 […]
Mother
Mary Ursula Walsh was born into the Great Depression. Though more muted than in some regions, the hardship of this era reached deep into the farming community near Westwood, Ontario. Her family clung mightily to their Irish roots; they all knew the details of the boat upon which their ancestors had arrived in 1825 under […]
Hostages
Editor’s note: At Tuesday evening’s meeting, Councillor Ernie Margetson spearheaded a motion to send the file back to staff and seek legal advice before accepting terms on a new bulk water agreement with the City of Belleville. A majority of his colleagues agreed. It is a bad deal. But the 4,000 County households and businesses […]
Welcome to the County
A young Wellington family enjoys the Hillier beaches. It is an escape. Their two young children, ages two and seven, are free to run ahead, to explore and play. For a busy young family, the Hillier dunes and beaches are accessible, liberating and free. Well, not quite. They wandered a bit further last week. It […]
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 […]