Celebrating the harvest
From time immemorial we have celebrated the harvest bounty by ritual offerings to the gods. Prior to consumption, ancient Egyptians offered a portion of deliberately spilt wine to Bes, their most popular household god. During their period of ascendancy, the Greeks similarly made offerings to Dionysus. And the Roman Empire continued this tradition by honouring […]
Page eight returns to its senses
I’ve accepted a volunteer assignment that will keep me busy until the new year. As a result, page eight will return to its senses for a while and be without this column. Better to be predictably absent than unpredictably present, Rick and I have agreed. Let me tell you a little bit about what I’ll […]
Expressing freely
Like many of you, I read a lot of news. I read online and good old hard copy. And the truth is, I occasionally “miss” reading an article of importance. Yup, it’s been known to happen. Sometimes I’m the last to know, when I used to be the person who heard it first. Last week, […]
There’s energy in the house
If you are a frequent reader of this column, you may tire of my suggestion that you must get to the house to capture the experience. By the house, of course, I mean the arena, the ball park, the field, the place where the sports event takes place. That is the only place where you […]
Apples and drumlins
It just so happens to be one of the finest days ever in the lee of the drumlin on the Campbell place; a place where the shape of the land was decided by the ice age; a place where old trees reach to the centre of the earth. Well, maybe not quite the centre—but close. […]
This and that
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. This, of course, applies to all of you who live north of the border between Canada and the United States. The American Thanksgiving comes much later in the year. Canadians are in the process of harvesting all of the goodies from the gardens, fields and orchards before the frosts and snows of […]
First kiss
In the last 200 years there seems to be a correlation between the appearance of comets prior to harvest and the quality of a wine vintage. Whether or not this a true is akin to debating how many angels can balance on the tip of a pin. Consider if you will, however, “the great comet […]
The birth of cool
It was supposed to happen two years ago. And then last year. And now – maybe – next spring. But make no mistake about it: it will happen sometime soon. “It” will be the opening of the uber-stylish Drake Devonshire Inn, which will see the urban design trendsetter takes its first foray into a rural […]
Counting calories
The current debate, chez moi and LOML, is whether or not chain restaurants should be forced to tell us the calorie count of each item on their menu. “To what end?” I ask. He sez it would help diners make wiser choices. I say, “Like graphic warnings on a pack of smokes stops a smoker […]
Canadian University Football
There are times when I should keep my big mouth shut. One of those occasions was last weekend at the football game between Queen’s and Laurier. It was a crazy game, full of errors by both teams. Very catchable balls were dropped, fumbles took place for no good reason, runners scored touchdowns at the least […]