A challenging time
There are many factors that determine whether a particular vintage is great, average or poor. We have seen this many times in the County: a late spring that reduces the potential crop, or last year’s early spring promise that was broken by a heartwrenching killer frost. And even if local wine producers make wine from […]
Thank you Halifax
So Halifax is initiating a program called “Fares for Firearms,” whereby gun owners can turn in their weapons for um, well, er, um—bus tickets. That’s right. This is the second time Halifax has tried a manouevre of this sort. In 2009, it started a “Pixels for Pistols” progam that saw over a thousand firearms turned […]
Future arts
Parents, no doubt, want the best for their kids. They dream of their children entering professions a step up from their own generation. Jobs with good pay, job security, a retirement plan. Careers that will allow those children to expand their horizons, get a leg up and even heighten their social status. And, in all […]
9/11
And then it happened. Fifteen years later, the headline story in the Toronto Star for September 11 wasn’t a harkening back to that day in September of 2001. Nope,the Star editors chose to run, as their headliner, a story about TIFF. Yup, the Toronto International Film Festival is headline news today, Sunday September 11, as […]
A very long struggle
There are four teams in the American League East Division that are virtually deadlocked as we approach the final weeks of the season. Following tonight’s game, the Toronto Blue Jays head west to take on the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners on their last western road trip of the season. Traditionally, western road […]
Bleeding out
I caught up with an old friend the other day. She had come home for a few weeks before moving to California to start a new job. After updating each other on our lives and having a bit of a laugh, I asked her a burning question: Why California? From a young age, my friend […]
Labour Day 2016
Last week, I gave you an update on the Canadian Football League. I trust you enjoyed the annual Labour Day Classics in both the East and the West divisions. For those of you more attracted to the American game, the NFL training camps break this week and the season gets underway. They will battle until […]
A perfect time
If you manage to be in the right place at this time of year, you might catch the attention of the vineyard manager (owner, winemaker—basically jack-of-alltrades) agonizing over his vines, trying to determine the correct time to harvest and thinking ahead to the best choice of yeast for fermentation after the harvest. It was such […]
Eats, shoots and shampoos
What motivates me to select a particular shampoo, you ask? I check off the boxes. Price —check. Value for money (which is really just another way of saying price)— check. Biodegradable ingredients—check. Recyclable container—check. Never tested on animals—check. Added UV protectors guarding against environmental pollutants and discolouration—check. Made in Canada—check. Approval by the grammar police— […]
Scribblers and combination locks
September always brings a flood of emotion and memories for me and, likely, many of you. When I was a pre-schooler, I really wanted to go to school. I remember watching, tearfully, as my older sisters trudged across Strathburn Park to the corner where a big Greyhound bus picked them up and whisked them off […]