Moving Day
I hope that the Binghamton Senators will really enjoy their stay in the Belleville area, which includes vast stretches of land from north of Bancroft to the shores of Lake Ontario, south of Prince Edward County. I was in the crowd recently when it was announced that they were relocating to Belleville. There were a […]
Of wine and volcanoes
In addition to clay, soil is composed of sand, silt, organic material and animal compost—along with mineral particles made of finely ground rock particles. The blend of these elements determines the specific productivity of the soil. (Sand, for example, facilitates drainage.) Volcanic soil contains significant mineral elements ejected from the core of the planet. Volcanic […]
Try, try again
Last spring, as hundreds packed into a parking lot in Belleville to celebrate local breweries, a different kind of event made headlines. Amidst the rush of noise and crowds, one man collapsed, sparking chaos. An apparent heart attack. Another man, local radio personality Tim Durkin, jumped in. With training in first aid, Durkin was able […]
All the rage
Politicians who fly a little too close to the vacation sun often receive their come-uppance. When Justin Trudeau and his family and friends enjoyed the helicoptered hospitality of the Aga Khan at his private island off the Bahamas, he touched a nerve. Then there is the case of Manitoba premier Brian Pallister. Mr. Pallister spent […]
One word sounds like
A few days ago, I forgot the word “lullaby”. I knew there was a word to describe what I wanted to say, but it wasn’t in my “RAM”. I was trying to describe the song I sang to our children when they were infants. The best I could come up with was “This is the […]
Blades continue winning ways
Last Wednesday, the Florida Everblades played the first of three home games against the Manchester Monarchs. They trailed the Monarchs by two points in the Eastern Conference, with both teams sitting on the top of their respective divisions. After Saturday night’s game, the Blades earned their spot at the top of the standings, winning all […]
A distinctive terroir
We often talk about “terroir” and its special effect on wine. And some of the most successful subsets of soil types to affect terroir benefit from the addition of volcanic detritus. You can find this characteristic in regions of the world that have (or in some cases had) volcanic activity. In the long term, the […]
For the birds
By chance or prompted by inner need, during a reshuffle of furniture around my house, the desk ended up in the kitchen: Right beside the fridge. That actually happened back in December and the desk was a recent arrival at the time. It is my late dad’s walnut desk with three drawers on each side […]
All the rage
There’s a new form of entertainment out there in which people pay for the privilege of destroying things. From Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Jacksonville, New York, Toronto and Niagara Falls to England, Hungary, Serbia, Russia and Australia, there are accounts of people setting up shop with the express purpose of giving folks a chance to […]
Slow news
It was with some trepidation that I accepted to writing this column. I had learned that journalists should never present their personal views. They must be completely objective, examine and report on all sides of a story with unbiased clarity. That is a commendable pursuit, and sometimes (I hope) I succeed. But I’ve since learned […]