Christmas for Mom and Dad
A Hallmark Christmas! When I was a kid, I know my parents envisioned a family Christmas of greeting card proportions. Snow on the ground, beautifully wrapped gifts under the perfectly decorated tree, every cookie on the plate would have been baked and decorated to perfection and all of us kids looking spic and span like […]
Chilly scenes of winter
The road to the Grey Cup Last Sunday’s semi-final between the Saskatchewan Rough Riders and the Calgary Stampeders was played on the frozen tundra of Alberta, in the meanest weather conditions. At times, the mercury was registered at minus 20 degrees, give or take a few degrees with the wind-chill factor. Now we have not […]
Heartache
Dear Suzanne, Recently you reminded me heart disease is the number one killer of women in Canada. Indeed, heart disease claims the lives of one in four women in this Country. Imagine that! Every single one of us knows someone with heart disease and, because women tend to think of cardiovascular disease as a male […]
Man of La Mantra
Everyone acknowledges the popularity of low-stress exercise forms such as meditation, yoga, tai chi and pilates. But there is an elephant in the room—actually, just outside the room—and a Wellington area man sees that as a business opportunity. The elephant, according to Mel Alfer of Swamp College Road, is the male of the species. Apart […]
Interesting season
The Belleville Bulls in 2010 With 21 games under their belts, this year’s edition of the Belleville Bulls has earned itself a variety of adjectives: frustrating, exciting, interesting, boring, and, occasionally, victorious. They now stand in the lower regions of the East Division of the Eastern Conference of the league with 14 points. Peterborough has […]
Plastic surgery
As I write this in my little black notebook, I’m sitting in the “chalet” at Batawa Ski Hill. It’s Sunday and it’s the annual Fat Ass Trail Run day. Yup, go ahead and laugh at all the possible slogans and logos for the run. Anyone who has participated in the Fat Ass has some piece […]
NFL experience
Broken hearts in Buffalo and beyond We set our clocks back last weekend to end Daylight Saving Time. On Sunday morning, dozens of Buffalo Bills fans from the area headed to the Rogers Centre in downtown Hogtown for the annual National Football League game. Most got to the game on time, almost 50,000. At one […]
I remember now
In 1994 LOML and I packed up the kids and set out to see the world. Well, we set out to see France, Belgium and Switzerland. The trip was a little bit about working with a soupçon of finding some French language fluency, a whole suitcase full of being on a long vacation and passively […]
Who needs a pair?
For those of us who live outside the confines of the Greater Toronto Area, or outside the limits of any major metropolitan area, we are not often within earshot of the chants of ticket scalpers. Alas, the ticket scalping business is now flooding the Internet as well. There are several companies well established in North […]
Fiddle-dee-dee
A 6-year-old and a 4-year-old are upstairs in their bedroom. “You know what?” says the 6-year-old. “I think it’s about time we start cussing.” The 4-year-old nods his head in approval. The 6-year-old continues. “When we go downstairs for breakfast I’m going to say hell and you say ass.” “OK!” The 4-year-old agrees with enthusiasm. […]