Storytellers
I have a nice job. I write about things that are happening in this lovely and lively little place I’ve taken to calling home, and I get to learn things and meet people I otherwise never would. It really is a pleasant task. But journalism isn’t all nice. There are members of the profession much […]
A perfect complement
Not only collectors and connoisseurs plan a dinner around their wines. Family gatherings at Thanksgiving, birthdays, weddings and Christmas all present an opportunity to pair a treasured bottle of wine with an exceptional meal. Wine collectors will routinely use such gatherings to drink some of the older wines in their cellar before the wines begin […]
The rational and irrational shopper
You may have noticed that Sears and Wayne Gretzky are teaming up to introduce a new line of clothing this fall. “Wayne Gretzky!”, I exclaimed to my wife. “He must be at least 50” (he’s 54, in fact). “Who the heck is going to buy a line of clothes endorsed by someone over 50? How […]
Goodbye summer
I am sure I’ve asked this question before, “Where the heck did the summer go?” September is here, already! Geez, Louise. I promised I would not complain about the heat and the humidity of July and August, and I did not. I promised I would get out, enjoy my yard, my family, my community and […]
Brad Clapp wins at Loyalist
After finishing his third round, Brad Clapp was escorted to a small media scrum behind the scorer’s tent. He had maintained his lead in the tournament. “It’s a huge confidence boost,” he told the group. “I expected to start the day without the lead. I really appreciate the work my caddy has done for me […]
Public behaviour
The Internet is an unforgiving place. Fleeting, impulsive actions have serious, long-term consequences. Lulled by a false sense of anonymity—feeling safely hidden behind a glowing screen, people speak too frankly, share too much and delve into the darkest parts of humanity to satisfy some crude sense of curiosity. And those dark parts of our humanity […]
Chasing the dream
Last Monday, more than 100 golfers took to the fairways at Trillium Woods Golf Club north of Belleville in an attempt to qualify for this week’s PGA Tour Canada tournament. The qualifiers will head east to the Loyalist Golf and Country Club in Bath, the ninth stop on the Mackenzie Tour- PGA Canada Tour. Just […]
Arising from ashes
Coal mining in northern France ended nearly three decades ago, but it left an unexpected legacy for wines. Three hundred years’ worth of industrial mining slag heaps, of various heights and shapes, dot the landscape in an east-west line just south of the France-Belgium border. The tallest is about 1,500 metres high and is shaped […]
The ‘dies caniculares’ theory
Not even the hammock is moving in the still of evening. Well, maybe a light jingle on the occasions when lying here I curse out loud and swat at mosquitoes. They jet through the rise of smoke from my nearby now-dying burn pile. Jet through like water bombers through a forest fire: my plan for […]
Hear, here
Okay, all you old rockers and rollers, you metal heads, you users of headphones, you turners-uppers of volume to setting 11, you boomers. It’s time to listen up, if you can. Can you hear me? Probably just so-so, right? Say what? I was a teen in the ’60s. In the ’60s, we liked our music […]