Happy holidays
The holiday season is upon us. Hopefully, you are reading this during a much-deserved break. Maybe you’re curled up in an armchair with a blanket, a dog at your feet or a small child asleep nearby. Maybe you’re at the kitchen table, sipping something warm, wearing a new pair of slippers. Whether you celebrate Christmas […]
Fan-friendly games
The powers-that-be who are in charge of professional sports like to engage their fans. This relationship results in warm feelings and, in turn, serious income. The general idea is to build a close relationship with the fans, so that they become completely engaged. In most instances, they have refined the game, and its parameters, and […]
Nollaig shona dhaoibh
In the British Isles and certain parts of Europe, the days following Christmas have their own set of traditions to observe. On Saint Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day), “mummers” in England celebrate the traditional wren dance. (In rural Ireland the performers were known as “wren boys”.) There are two possible origins for the wren hunt and […]
A Christmas letter
Dear family, friends and others: This week, you’re going to be treated to my version of a Christmas letter. If you know me, and some of you think you do, you know how I used to feel about Christmas letters. I had no room in my cranky, cold heart for the annual brag sheet, printed […]
Two days left
Just two days till Christmas In the place where folks are told It’s the coolest spot when the weather’s hot And the hottest when it’s cold Excited kids are cautioned Be good for goodness’ sake Or you’ll finish out your childhood In Wellington on the Lake But they’re on their best behaviour Because they know […]
Creative bent
I recall, back when I lived in the city, being warned I’d be bored out of my skull. Those concerned for my sanity were warning me about moving to Belleville from Toronto when I decided to go to school at Loyalist College. I was born in a city, I grew up in a city, and […]
Ascending the mountain
Even if you are an occasional reader of this column, you are likely aware that I have great respect for the athlete who gets to the top, who wins the big one, who goes that extra mile to outdistance the foes. No matter what the sport, finishing first is a very good thing. Especially in […]
Delectable dessert wines
Holiday dinners, with their traditional desserts or cheeses, stimulate an appreciation of how well fortified dessert wines complement these foods. It is a time that calls for port, perhaps the best recognized fortified wine. Two English gentlemen in 1756 introduced the concept: blend some distilled clear grape spirit into your wine in order to arrest […]
Prayer shack
I’m building what I call a prayer shack. It’s out back in my yard. It’s not big, in fact it’s only a little bigger than a chiclet, I’d say. Perhaps it is the advent of winter solstice that inspired it. Built of cedar and hemlock and pine, the shack is sited so as to take […]
The last parade?
Could Wellington have seen its last parade? That is the gloomy view prognosticators are taking following the County’s review of its policy on the engagement of volunteers. For example, it doesn’t want voluteers clearing trees with chainsaws they are not properly trained to operate: the limbs they sever might include their own. But now the […]