Columnists

May day!

Posted: May 4, 2017 at 9:02 am   /   Columnists

What? The Times has a new owner? I’m not sure if I saw that coming. I miss all the good stuff. Heck, I wasn’t even sure I’d heard it correctly when I spoke with old Rick What’s-his-name prior to the changeover. Don’t get me wrong, I understand their reason (Rick’s and Kathleen’s) for the stepping […]

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The other playoff picture

Posted: April 28, 2017 at 8:59 am   /   Columnists

Of course I realize that you are most concerned about the Stanley Cup playoffs. There is, however, another set of playoffs that are of great concern to many Torontonians. Now that the Leafs have exited the playoff picture, you may now focus on the Toronto basketball team. The Toronto Raptors have begun their playoff round […]

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High density advice

Posted: April 28, 2017 at 8:54 am   /   Columnists

I read last week’s announcement from WestJet Airlines that it is going to operate a new “ultra-low-cost carrier” late this year with a certain amount of puzzlement. The company plans to acquire 10 new Boeing planes that will be configured to WestJet’s specifications as “high-density.” But how can seating possibly get even denser than the […]

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Argey-bargey

Posted: April 28, 2017 at 8:52 am   /   Columnists

I’m back. I am. I’m dealing with a bit of culture shock. Believe it or not, the traffic is the first thing that launched us back into the reality of being back in Canada. The roadways in Ontario are so much more civilized than in London. We arrived during rush hour and navigated from the […]

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The Poet

Posted: April 27, 2017 at 4:00 pm   /   Columnists

I didn’t know Hamish Grieve, didn’t even know his name until this week. To me, he was just The Poet. When I moved to Belleville from the city, before I had even heard about Prince Edward County, I was wary of living in a small place, one city dwellers had warned me was devoid of […]

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Barrel of guerillas

Posted: April 21, 2017 at 9:08 am   /   Columnists

A friend thinks John A. Macdonald looks much better with googly eyes. This friend has been adding the crafty apparel to the statue on Picton’s main street sporadically, only to discover some anonymous vigilante, unimpressed with the guerilla-style artwork, has had them removed. It’s too bad, really. They give J.A.M. a certain charm. I’ve heard […]

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A prevelance of spirits

Posted: April 21, 2017 at 8:43 am   /   Columnists

That the recorded provisions of the Mayflower showed more beer than water reflects the uncertainty of the water purity in England and, in fact, throughout Europe of the time. Rivers and streams were used to dispose of all the sewage from both industry and inhabitants. This tradition of mistrust continued in the Colonies as settlers […]

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The golden pancake

Posted: April 21, 2017 at 8:41 am   /   Columnists

You’ve probably been reading the same reports I have. The Ross/McMullen house, long the home of Picton Legion Branch 78, has been sold to a Toronto architect and is to be turned into an international culinary school. Jonathan Kearns, the purchaser, already has a home in the County and has culinary experience under his belt, […]

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Home

Posted: April 21, 2017 at 8:39 am   /   Columnists

This is our last weekend in London. Three weeks isn’t nearly long enough to see a city of this size, but as far as my budget goes, it is definitely time to head back to the County. I feel a bit homeless in that this is where LOML’s mom and my dad were born, but […]

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The Stinson Block Road

Posted: April 20, 2017 at 8:48 am   /   Columnists

O-ka-lee o-ka-lee o-ka-lee! The call of the red-winged blackbird. It’s a male and he’s somewhere over there, perched in the bulrushes of the nearby creek. The nasal sounding red-wing’s song is the bugle call of spring; when the freshets run through every hollow; the time of year when the cold muck sucked at your gumboots […]

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