Sam conclusions
It was the morning I heard the shrill cry of the red-winged blackbird that I found the note stuck to my front door. “We’re back” it simply read. Back? That time already? I mumbled to no one. It was signed ‘Liz and Chris’, which sorta meant that my assignment to care for Sam, the Embden […]
Great voices from the past
I had an instant last week when all of the great voices of baseball echoed in my brain. One at a time, naturally, as there just isn’t room for all of them: Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Tom Cheek, Red Barber, Ernie Harwell, Jon Miller, Jack Buck, Tony Kubek, Early Wynn, Phil Rizutto, Bill White, Mel […]
Fine weather makes fine wine
After varietal selection and site location, the most important factor for a vineyard is the yearly impact of weather on the harvest. Temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind and sunlight combine to determine the quality of any given vintage. If the temperature drops below minus 15 for a prolonged period in winter, dormant vines will die. This […]
Just a joke
The April Fools’ joke has a long and, from what I can read, pretty boring history. The point is that it’s still flourishing. So let’s get right to the action, instead of talking about the ancient past. What was my favourite April Fools’ joke? How about the famous 1957 spaghetti crop hoax, where a British […]
Cycling pants
Seriously. One day last week, I dreamed about pulling my bicycle out of its winter hibernation spot and taking it for a spin around the County. As I write this (it’s Sunday), it looks like the snowblower will be the only device hitting the pavement this morning. It is spring, however, and the weather can […]
Spring training
All the talk around the pool, along the beaches, and in the barbershops in Southwest Florida nowadays, deals with the teams that are trying to dance their way to the Sweet Sixteen. Those are the 16 schools of learning that will play for the National Championship of Basketball in the United States. Millions of Americans […]
Sweet maple brew
In ancient times, the region we know as Moldova was inhabited by various tribes, and fell under the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire, and then subsequently the Byzantine Empire. Its location was on a tribal migratory route, making it vulnerable for repeated invasions, in the conquest of territories of the western Empire. Moldova was part […]
The magic of mushrooms
“Hello, Wellington Mushroom Plant.” “Yes, I’d like to speak to your furniture division, please.” Response in March, 2014: “I’m sorry, you must have been eating the wrong kind of mushrooms. And we don’t have a hallucinogenic division either.” Response in March, 2015: “You’ll have to hold for several minutes: they’ve got three other calls waiting […]
I won’t tell if you won’t
So, when I was a teenager I had a recurring nightmare, and I’ll go out on a limb and suggest more than one of you had the same, dread-filled dream. You know the dream when you are sitting on a bus or in a meeting room or in a classroom or walking along the street […]
Something else about Sam
I mean, the only thing to do is to go with the flow right? Accept things as they come. Like when your neighbour judges you fit enough to tend to the needs of their backyard goose while they fly south. You’re onto it and, lo-and-behold, things work out just fine. Take Sam for instance: The […]