For the past two years, everybody has been talking about the invasion of small-town Ontario by refugees from the city. The traffic in town is now just like Toronto; in fact, it is a little bit worse. … [Read more...]
Suddenly There Came a Tapping
As a writer I rely heavily on the neighbours for inspiration. They have always been a reliable source of suspect information. When I bought the place nearly 50 years ago, Kenny Jardine, the old … [Read more...]
Animal Rights in the Laundry Room
I was in a little arts and craft shop last week when I heard an earnest young woman with two children in tow grilling the saleswoman about a basket of “densely felted organic dryer balls” sitting … [Read more...]
Learning to Visit Again
A few weeks ago, two old friends of mine turned up at the farm unannounced for a visit. Without thinking, I invited them into the house and they sat on the couch in the living room – the first … [Read more...]
OPINION: Today, everyone is an expert but I see red flags unless expert talk includes humility that inspires confidence and trust
Last month my cardiologist put me on a beta blocker to lower my blood pressure and asked me to take daily readings with the little Chinese-made monitor I keep on my desk. After a week, I was alarmed … [Read more...]
Like Manna From Heaven
About five years ago my eldest son developed a keen interest in mushrooms, and suddenly our front yard and garden were littered with stacks of logs he had inoculated with various strains of edible … [Read more...]
OPINION: Got the supply chain blues that only a guy from Georgia with a garbage can bacon smoker can cure
This whole past year has given us a steady diet of bad news about supply chain issues, with hungry factories, tight inventories, shipping bottlenecks, resource shortages and thousands of people who … [Read more...]
OPINION: What is it about rural living? Moments of clarity for the exhausted
I have a friend who moved out of the city with his wife 30 years ago to pursue a career as an editor and a shepherd on a small farm near Peterborough. He was thoroughly urban and, I would assume, … [Read more...]
