Drifting
The wind is in some big hurry. Hell-bound to sweep every last dusting of snow off the rigid stubs of cornfields; more like wishful thinking as I focus on the tree line. Over there, beyond the hedgerows that hold down the ragged line of cedar rails, where I spot a snowy owl through the damp […]
Come on up!
Last week’s column talked about the opportunities the low dollar provided to Canadians seeking to start businesses in the US. This week, we’re going to look at the opportunities here in Canada. The County in particular. We’re going to talk tourism. When the loonie is laid low, Canadians are more inclined to stay home, because […]
H E double….
During a recent excursion to a local grocery store, I was asked why I didn’t use the phrase, “what the H E double hockey sticks” in my columns anymore. I said perhaps I hadn’t had a really good rant brewing. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a few times when I’ve blown a gasket […]
Vintage virtuosos
The present position of a sommelier dates back to the wine stewards of the Pharaoh’s court, who documented the quality of vintages for their masters. It’s been a long road since. During the Middle Ages, wine buyers and cellar masters ensured that the yearly wine requirements of European courts were purchased and laid down. Prior […]
Hitting the bullseye
A passel of investors from Manitoba are hoping they have hit a bullseye with their latest project. “We figured it out pretty quickly, over a beer at the local curling rink,” says Wilf Germondsey, a Winnipeg insurance broker. “We were shooting the breeze about new ideas for franchises, retail stores, fast food joints and such […]
A place at the table
Food Security. Food Insecurity. Either way you chop and sauté it, many people do not have access to healthy, nutritious food. And I’m not talking about people who live elsewhere. I’m talking about people who live in the County. Proof that food insecurity exists in our community is that we have two food banks in […]
Champions tour in Naples
There were typical, somewhat nasty, breezes pushing golf balls around the fairways at TwinEagles Golf Course in Naples throughout the weekend. They did not affect Colin Montgomerie significantly, as he carded a five-under-par 67 to lead the field after the first round. I spent the day following Rod Spittle, Marco Dawson and Gene Sauers. Dawson […]
Liquor laws
Much like the United States, Canada has unique laws governing interprovincial commerce in wine that can be directly attributed to prohibition efforts of the early 20th century. There is less bureaucracy for a wine merchant in California to export to Alberta than to ship from state to state. It can be even worse in Canada. […]
Crows
It was just the other day, when Jack was arriving, that I was watching the southern sky. Like a slate-shingled barn roof yes, but more like the silver screen of a drive-in theatre. I watched as crow after crow after a hundred more crows moved through the dusk of February. A rookery, I think that’s […]
A mature product
Does any one of these images of chewing gum stick with you? How about the prototypical American GI from the second war era, with the confident swagger and the can-do attitude and the gum chewed rather nonchalantly? Or the 1959 Lonnie Donegan skiffle music song, Does your chewing gum lose its flavour, on the bedpost […]