Out of the park
There are times when I deliberately avoid discussing a hot topic because I just can’t be bothered, or the topic doesn’t bother me enough or I just don’t want to open a can of worms. In the past week I have been bothered by a news story and it is, most certainly, a can of […]
Belonging
There is a topic that has been an ongoing part of the human conversation since our species stopped being inherently nomadic and we began calling one place or another home. It’s a topic that, as an immigrant, as the child of immigrants, as the grandchild of immigrants, always leaves me torn. It is the discourse […]
Rookie of the month
Of course, I am excited about the Stanley Cup playoffs. When Chicago takes the ice against the Ducks, we will see Ameliasburgh’s Andrew Shaw playing against Matt Belesky. Belesky, the former Belleville Bull, had a great series against the Calgary Flames. He scored a goal in every game in the series—five in total—establishing a team […]
Out of Africa
Pinotage is a South African, red wine grape that is recognized as that country’s signature variety. Developed in 1925, this varietal is a cross of pinot noir and cinsaut grapes. In South Africa, cinsaut is known as hermitage, so pinotage is an amalgam of pinot with a tail of age tacked on. In 1925, Professor […]
Act naturally
I’ve heard of feng shui— and may even have tasted some somewhere along the line—and have seen wasabi running through the northern woods somewhere; so I have always considered myself borderline sophisticated, in a rudimentary sort of way. But I have to confess that until a few days ago, I had never heard of wu […]
Red maps
Ah, Mother’s Day! It evokes, like many celebrations, a wide variety of emotions. I thought about my mom. She was young-atheart, funny, loving and generous. I hope everyone took a moment to celebrate the mother in their life and luxuriate in all of the emotions. I certainly did. And,now that Mother’s Day has passed, I’m […]
Crawford: Family of Champions
A week from Thursday, on May 14, a remarkable documentary about the Crawford family will be shown at the Empire Theatre in Belleville. The movie is part of a deal put together by writer and producer, Aaron Bell. He wrote, Crawford—Family of Champions, and prepared the DVD as well. For $50, you get a copy […]
Around the blend
Meritage is a rather new word that signifies a blend of varietals, in the manner of a Bordeaux wine. In the past, if a blended wine contained 75 per cent or more of one grape, federal regulations required it to be labelled under that varietal’s name. This law frustrated the wish of some winemakers to […]
Wild geese and the moon
A black squirrel lowers on a tree branch that intersects the frame of the window. The western light makes cranberries of the buds popping on the red maples. It paints a garden of Belgium lace on the curtains of the guest room of Dad’s place in Ottawa. I have just come in from the County […]
Tough guys
Boxing is a brutal sport. That much is undeniable. The fighters, like gladiators, don protective gear that hardly protects them from the ravages of bones and brains battered by the blows of a professional boxer’s powerful fist. That may be the sport’s appeal to its fans. It’s the kind of rough treatment that is best […]