Perfectly Christmas
The perfect Christmas is a relative thing. That is, the perfect Christmas often hinges on the relatives. As far as my relatives are concerned, I think we celebrate the perfect Christmas every year. It helps to have a sense of humour and low expectations. But I’m okay with a few laughs and setting the bar […]
Remember
Yesterday, December 6, was the 25th annual National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The day was chosen because it falls on the anniversary of the massacre at L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. On that day in 1989, 14 women were murdered because they were women. Last week, the body of a well-respected […]
FGCU Eagles Basketball 2016
Last week, the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles scored the first 16 points in their game against Ave Maria. They finished the game with 120 points, registering their third straight victory. The margin of victory was 60 points, one of those games that you appreciate every now and then. A cakewalk. Two nights previously, the […]
Mulled wine
Food and drink have very important roles at Christmas. Wine, in particular, has a starring role at tables around the world. There you will find reds, whites and rosés of all different types and agings. And, of course, there are the sparkling wines: Champagne from France, cava from Spain, spumante from Italy, sekt from Germany—or […]
For whom the road tolls
Toronto mayor John Tory is finally stepping up to the plate and taking a stand on the thorny issue of revenue sources for his city. He is proposing road tolls for the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway. And he is receiving a lot of support from editorialists and urban planning watchers. So it’s […]
Season for decency
’Tis the season. We ho ho ho. We fa la la. We stress. We stay up late. We get up early. We spend too much. We eat too much. We drink too much. It’s the season, for sure. And Christmas always makes me think of being a kid on Sunset Trail. We went to a […]
A County treasure-trove
There is one remaining weekend to visit County wineries participating in Wassail festivities— to enjoy their newly released wines and to select wine for the upcoming holidays. With the vines laid down to rest and hilled-up to protect against the winter chill, it is entirely fitting that the County wine producers celebrate the end of […]
Luna musings
There is a crescent moon high in the southern sky. It is the last remnant of the Full Beaver Moon or the Full Frost Moon, or the Geese Going Moon, names our First Peoples gave it. Formerly, it was the time to set the beaver traps in the swamps before freeze up, or the last […]
Fake news: where’s the line?
I wrote a column a couple of years ago about a new winery opening up somewhere south of Hillier and north of Consecon that was to feature mud wrestling as one of its many planned entertainments. I ran into a number of people who told me they had been to look for the winery and […]
I am
Santa Claus parades— that’s what we call them at our house. Three down. One to go. This past weekend, our home was full of family. Our grand-friend asked me if I believed in Santa Claus. Her mom heard the question and shot me that “look”. You know, the look a parent has when said parent […]