Muzzled
Recently I’ve been feeling as though my physical voice is being taken away from me. Nope, no one has told me to shut up. Although I’m sure some would love to do just that. Actually, like a lot of all y’all, I am mostly wary about making a comment on any subject, at any time, […]
Birds of a feather
Bird migration has become a topic of some discussion in these parts lately. Apparently, the Orioles are not quite ready to head south, and are planning to hang around the Metropolitan Toronto area for the next couple of days. The Blue Jays have consented to stay around and join them for a friendly game. It […]
Working together
Although we are well familiar with the concept of agricultural co-ops in Canada, we have yet to see its impact on smaller Canadian wine producers. In Europe, wine cooperatives are fully owned and operated by the vineyard owners who bring their fruit to the co-op for processing. Everything is shared— from machinery to wine storage […]
A good month for beer
It’s been a good month for beer. Karl Meltzer, on his third attempt, has set a new record for the completion of the 3,524- kilometre Appalachian Trail. His time of 45 days, 22 hours and 38 minutes eclipsed the previous record by some nine hours. That works out to more than 75 kilometres a day. […]
Thank you
How many years now? Go on, count how many years the PEC Marathon has been a fall event in the County. Lost count? Well, to save you the time it takes to put the newspaper down and go to your computer to Google “how many years”, it has been 13 years. Yup. Yessir. It has […]
Represent
When Transparent debuted, the reaction from the LGBT community toward the webbased television series, produced by Amazon, was mixed. On the one hand, it was a funny, sweet, clever representation of creator Jill Soloway’s own experience with her transgendered parent. It was a much more sensitive and realistic depiction of one experience with gender transition […]
Belleville Senators
Hundreds of hockey fans crammed into the main lobby of the Sports and Wellness Centre in Belleville to hear the news regarding the relocation of the AHL franchise of the Ottawa Senators. In perhaps the worst kept secret of the century, Belleville’s mayor Taso Christopher announced that the city had approved significant renovations to the […]
Harvest time
At this time of year, all things within the vineyard come down to harvest, and rain (such as fell on Monday) can make the process miserable. The rows turn into mud, making travel through the vines difficult. But if the brix are correct, you are obliged to harvest. And even if certain varietals have not […]
Four corners
Maybe it was the slow white light of the dawn that triggered a string of thoughts that kept me awake this morning. I began to thinkin’ that this County of ours, this place we live in, is very much a metaphor for Canada as a whole. Sure it’s not quite ocean to ocean to ocean. […]
From boil to simmer
I looked at the front page of my daily newspaper last Friday and every single article on it made by blood boil. The first article stated that Premier Li of China, while visiting Ottawa, had defended China’s use of the death penalty while at the same time urging Canada to adopt an extradition treaty with […]