The Hoarding Gene

The Hoarding Gene Some people I know are super hoarders, although they might call themselves “collectors” which seems a bit less negative. Someone I know, who owns a lot of property in the country, has two railcars filled with “stuff”, things that I’ve been told, by someone who knows him well, “he’ll never use.” I…

A Trip with Dad

Just yesterday I asked my wife if she knew everything about me.“Yes,” she said, not unexpectedly. This morning, at breakfast, I related a story which she had never heard. Just shows you. I started the day in a good mood. Being Monday, I started singing “Monday, Monday” by the Mamas and the Papas, which segued…

The Fourth Season

The Fourth Season On a walk near our home Naomi and I spotted two ducks flying in a wide circle around Lac Mathilde. They disappeared from view and I assumed that they had taken flight for some place further north. Then I spotted them bobbing in the little open water that existed in the mostly…

The Lesson

The Lesson One thing that baby boomers like to talk about is the freedom that they enjoyed as children compared to the kids of today. It’s true that growing up in the 1960’s (I was 6 years old that year) I would spend most of my free time, in the Montreal suburb where we lived,…

What to do when the snow is up to your wazoo

In a moment (or two) of trying to rein in expenses, my wife and I briefly contemplated cancelling our TV services. I enjoy watching the news while I clean up after supper but Naomi, to be honest, hates it, although I do notice that on occasion lifestyle stories about health or family-oriented reports will have…

The Happy Zone

When it became clear that our new home would not arrive on time as promised – first, Covid-19 reduced the ranks of the crew needed to ship the two modules in mid-December, and then snow accumulation made it too dangerous to deliver them in February, Naomi and I scrambled to find new digs to live…

A Black Diamond Hike

As Naomi, Marlowe and I made our way down the hiking trail, I was busy composing a letter in my head to the mayor of Labelle. “The signage going up La Montagne Verte is excellent,” I say in my letter, “but quite lacking going down…” I am pulled out of my reverie by Naomi’s voice.…

Drive-in Theater

My wife and I don’t watch much TV. One thing we enjoy watching is tennis, especially since both Canadian men and women have of late been performing quite well. We sometimes watch Jeopardy and Shark’s Tank, and for the last 20 years or so we’ve enjoyed watching Survivor. That’s it, except for the evening news.…

Time Out

Little did my wife and I think that just days before the delivery of our new house, with the attendant worries and plans and scattered activities, we’d be faced with an eight-day power outage. A wicked storm blew through Ontario and Quebec on May 21st, killing 11 people, mostly from fallen trees. When this kind…

A Bonding Experience

In the midst of an extended power outage, Naomi and I resorted to making barbeques to cook our breakfasts and suppers. We own a little Turkish barbeque, made from recycled copper, low to the ground, and which we love. This experience got me thinking back to a six-week camping trip that I took with my…