Molitor at the helm
As I was leaving Paul Molitor’s office the other day, I mentioned to him that I was from the Toronto area. He quickly stood up, reached over and shook my hand. “I want you to know,” he told me, “that my time in Toronto was a grand chapter in life for me”. I had just […]
Islands in the sun
Arawak Indians, originally from South America, settled the Caribbean six hundred years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Imagine their surprise when Columbus declared he had discovered these islands. More than likely their reaction was, “Shit, there goes the neighbourhood.” And they were right. Over the next century, these natives were mostly exterminated through exposure […]
Confessions of a fraud
Last week, a friend asked, “do you ever feel like a fraud?” The funny thing about this question isn’t that she asked it, but that I knew exactly what she meant by the question. My answer was yes. “I feel like a fraud every time I workout at the gym.” Interestingly enough, we happened to […]
SoNice of you
I was at a public event not long ago at which the size of the audience had outgrown the number of chairs available. I had gotten there early, and was occupying a chair. Among those standing up were a number of women. So I faced a dilemma. Do I follow the tradtional etiquette rule, and […]
Reflections on the loss of the Bulls
I searched high and low last week at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, to speak to Danny Cleary. He had skated in the warmup for the Red Wings, but did not dress for the game. After the game, I strolled out to my car. I noticed a very distinguished- looking gentleman near the parking […]
Not on the bucket list
The term “bucket list” has wormed its way into our vocabulary. We’ve had the 2007 movie featuring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, and a surge in the sales of a new category of books with titles like 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List. The way I see it—and call me […]
When push comes to shove
Bullies. Like most of you, I’ve been the victim and I’ve been the aggressor. When I was a kid, bullying most often happened in the school yard or on the playground. If you complained to a grownup about it, you were called a tattletale and told, “life ain’t easy” or to “suck it up, buttercup” […]
Winter woods
The restless moon shifts again and again, and the land shifts with it. Then, a dawning in my head: as the earth begins to warm, one thing about winter that I’ll miss—trust me, the list is short—is the mood of the woods in winter. Chickadee-dee-dee! The late afternoon sun lights up the naked forest; skeletal […]
The old ball game
About a week ago, I received a phone call from Michael Murray, a Picton resident and recent transplant from Ottawa. He wondered whether I would like to accompany him to a Spring training game in Fort Myers. He did not have to ask twice. We had met at a Florida Everblades game and discovered we […]
Sensual persuasion
We eat to survive. On special occasions, we may treat ourselves to a home-cooked dinner or shared dining experience with a loved one or with friends. Eating provides us tactile feedback—from the presentation on the plate, to the aromas in the air, to the taste on the palate. We respond in a fundamental, basic way […]