Red, white—and blue?
We are all familiar with red and white wines—along with rosé wines in the balmy summer months. Some of us may even be familiar with “vin jaune” that is produced in the Jura region of France, and is similar to a fino sherry (but without sherry’s usual alcohol fortification). But are you ready for orange […]
The tearjerker apology
That was quite the tearjerker speech that Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne gave to a Liberal party meeting in Ottawa last weekend. Ms. Wynne acknowledged “Many people in Ontario are not happy with me right now… I think I sometimes have given them reason to think that… Our government made a mistake. It was my mistake… […]
Seasonal Greeting Affective Disorder
It’s that time of year! Yay! Time to celebrate the upcoming season of greetings’ angst. And many of my friends and acquaintances have much angst about how to greet others. I don’t have seasonal-affective-greeting angst, but I’m a bit of a no-internal-dialogue kinda gal. I don’t grasp for a greeting. And, for those of you […]
Bad news
The idea that facts are relative, that the truth is a matter of perception, is as old as Methuselah. From religion to law to the early days of scientific inquiry, human beings have always been prone to believe what makes most sense to us, even after that belief has been wholly debunked. Through the ages, […]
Cramming for Christmas
On a crisp, windy Sunday morning, the small congregation of the Consecon United Church gathers for its weekly service. Amid the prayers and hymns, grandchildren fidgeted in their seats while grandparents looked on and smiled. And from prayer leader, Margaret Miron, a reminder that there is always someone worse off, someone to help. Not for […]
2016/2017 season
I got a bit of a head start on the hockey season this year by purchasing the O-Pee-Chee set. Some of my friends believe that I am a little too old to be messing around with hockey cards. Thankfully, my wife has realized, after forty-some years of marriage, that I am incorrigible. I do not […]
A fine judgement
We should give a major shout-out to the County wines that participated in the Judgement of Kingston—with special congratulations to Rosehall Run (Gold) and Closson Chase (Silver) for their award-winning chardonnays. The last similar upset occurred 40 years ago, when the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay was chosen best at the Judgement of Paris—changing worldwide perception […]
The hot potato
Today, November 16, 2016, is the day the big recommendation will be made public. What big recommendation? Well, Canada does not have a national bird. It has a national animal, the beaver. And it has a national tree, the maple. But no national bird. A couple of years ago, Canadian Geographic magazine decided to change […]
Agent Orange
Ah, The Donald. Deep down inside y’all knew it had to happen. The 2016 American election was like that scratchy throat and slight fever that heralds the approach of a nasty cold. Sometimes you figure if you just think good thoughts, it’ll go away. Other times you throw everything you’ve got at it hoping to […]
After the World Series
There are pockets of euphoria around here respecting the victory of the Chicago Cubs. There are a few die-hard White Sox fans who cheered— listlessly mind you—for the Cubs. For the most part, most South West Florida baseball fans cheer for the Red Sox. A few for the Minnesota Twins. That is perfectly natural, as […]