Canary fish
The thrill, for anyone who loves science, is the idea of discovering alien and unexplored possibilities. Planets with the potential for life. Millions of species yet to be observed. Technology that can change every aspect of our lives. Secrets from the past. The mysteries of our own minds and bodies. The less information there is, […]
A debt of gratitude
As I mentioned last week, deliberate production of alcoholic beverages first took place in the Americas around 2000 BC. In North America, the Iroquois nation made an alcoholic beverage from the sap of the sugar maple, the Pueblo used maize (corn), and the Tohono O’odham (who still inhabit the Sonoran Desert) made a sacramental wine […]
Inspiration and cheap beer
Still in London. Oh yes, I am. London proper hasn’t experienced a drop of rain since our arrival. I’m sure the locals are grateful for our visit. I’ve been following the goings-on in the County and I must say I am not surprised by the weather you’ve been experiencing. April is a tricky month. We […]
The camping option
Three trends are converging. First, real estate prices continue to surge. A couple of Main Street properties are rumoured to have gone recently for around the million-dollar mark; at this rate, a mansion in Wellington could soon fetch as much as a garden shed in Toronto. Second, there is a crying lack of housing stock […]
Choice
Just up the street from the gentrified Hintonburg neighbourhood west of downtown Ottawa, apartment dwellers include the elderly, students and immigrants who don’t have the capital to buy. Apart from the students, most will likely never afford the trendy neighbourhood’s nearby condominiums. I walked along Hilda Street most mornings when I lived there. It was […]
See, like tourists do
In the big scheme of things, travelling should be on the top of everyone’s to-do list. Having said that, I know lots of all y’all can’t afford to travel, at least the way you think I mean “travel”. The thing is, I’m not talking about a cruise or a flight to the other side of […]
Shelter belts
Chokecherry, hawthorn, hedge rose and willow. Farmland that was once partitioned into 10-acre plots; bordered with split cedar fences and filled in with rows of trees and shrubs that when seen from on high transform into a hand- stitched quilt spread about the land. The partition of farmland in previous centuries was a working system […]
Pandora’s box
Depending on your point of view, our species’ ability to metabolize alcohol has been lucky or unlucky. We’ve had this “gift” for a long time. Purposely carved jugs from the late Stone Age show a close association between deliberately fermented beverages and sentient hominidae. Chemical analysis of jugs uncovered in northern China, dating from 6500 […]
Charming with song
One of the talents that Canadian public figures have become known for in recent years is the ability to charm with song. Think of Margaret Trudeau and the song that she made up for the wife of the president of Venezuela; or of her daughter-in-law Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s foray into public song on Martin Luther […]
Along the curve
I confess I am not an early adopter, especially not for my age. I understand technology, I use it because it is useful, but my disdain for it and resistance to it has probably been to my detriment. But like many human beings, I can give in to laziness. When a thing makes my life […]