If we are open to it, there are teachers and guides all around us as we journey through life. Their lives may be running parallel to ours with the occasional intersection. They may be in disguise as parents, children, sales clerks, colleagues, authors, spouses, even enemies. Perhaps especially enemies. If we are aware (don’t you… Read more »
In the days since Wednesday, October 22, 2014 much has been said, written, and televised about how Canada will be forever changed by the tragic murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, as he stood guard over the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This handsome twenty-four-old reservist from Hamilton has become the face of all that is… Read more »
Several years ago I read about ethical wills. As is always the case, I was intrigued by the idea and believed writing one for each of my kids would be the ultimate gift. Unlike a living will or a last will and testament, this document has no legal, health, or financial implications. Rather, it seeks… Read more »
This fall, because of a convergence of incredible weather and no breakdowns, we were able to finish our harvest in one week. Yeehaw. A lot of the subsequent weather has been cool, wet, and unsettled. Anyone with standing crop or swaths on the ground has been unable to get back out there. So we are… Read more »
This weekend the fortunate will tuck into a Thanksgiving feast. You know the kind: the one where people need to loosen their waistbands to make room for a piece of pumpkin pie. The kind that has some reaching for an antacid and others jockeying for the prime spots for a post-meal snooze. If the hostess… Read more »
What God and Mother Nature took thirty years to accomplish was torn asunder by a man named Adrian, a homeowner named Hazel, and a chainsaw. But let me begin at the beginning. When we first moved to the farm in 1984 I was distressed that Roy’s parents had done no landscaping other than planting a… Read more »
When we were working without ceasing for what felt like a year I kept my spirits up imagining the holiday we would take. One of the possibilities that rattled around in my head included a quickie trip to Las Vegas. We haven’t been there for ages. The appeal is the typically short four days, three… Read more »
Somewhere along the way a bunch of us were sold a bill of goods. We were led to believe that as we got older, life would get easier and slow down to a more reasonable pace. There would be time for leisurely breakfasts spent poring over newspaper crossword puzzles. Mid-day coffee klatches with friends. Volunteering… Read more »
With the Babas & Borshch Ukrainian Festival behind me (except for post-event reporting, packing up supplies, and booking acts and sourcing funding for 2015) it’s time for my time and energy to be directed elsewhere. In the near future my focus is on my role in getting the crop off to market. I operate one… Read more »
In the hazy, crazy days following the big event I coordinated, between trying to re-enter my own life and trying to catch up on some sleep, there have been a few minutes to think. There really hasn’t been much time to talk to my cohort at the County for a real detailed analysis of the… Read more »