PART 3 “Sixty-five years ago,” she continued, “I came up here with my husband. This was all bush then and he had to clear every inch of this farm.” “And did you help him?” “Oh, yes,” she laughed. “I’ve chopped down a tree.” “I suppose there were plenty of deer in those days?” “My husband,” […]
LIGHTNING SAFETY WEEK – June 21-27 St. Elmo’s fire was apparently named for St. Erasmus of Formia the patron saint of sailors. This phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its bright blue or violet glowing ball of light. Sailors may have considered St. […]
PIERRE BERTON Like many I have turned to my library looking to re-read, or read, books that I have acquired over time. One such that popped out was by Pierre Berton called “Fast Fast Fast Relief”. I believe at one time I had collected and read most, if not all, of Berton’s books. As a […]
THE DULL MEN’S CLUB Has the COVID-19 virus rendered the DMC relevant? Were the two made for each other? After all how many ways can you spell ‘boring’? I used to say “Welcome to my world” when reflecting upon the ‘lock-down’ protocols that affected most of us which involved mostly staying a home and only […]
THE PREYING MANTIS Learned some interesting information recently about the Preying Mantis while listening to Bob McDonald on the C.B.C.’s popular Quirks and Quarks radio show. Apparently, and someone has studied this, 35% of the time the females eat the male before breeding and 13% after. The males tend to be smaller in size and […]
SYRUP TIME On February 15, 2020, the Ides of February, almost to this day of publication, I attended opening day celebrating the beginning of maple syrup season at Bata Maples which was symbolic of course, but not by much, as the sap began running by the end of that month. I don’t know if there […]
SIGNS OF SPRING Two out of three isn’t bad. Perhaps it’s a Canadian versus American phenomenon. On February 2, 2021, at 8 a.m., Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam called for an early Spring. Sam, by the way, is short for Samantha. She made her prediction an hour before Wiarton Willie, an albino, and Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil. […]
HYDRO POLES AT RISK? When Alan Leedy returned from his moose hunt he asked if I would be interested in doing a story about marauding bears attacking hydro poles. He had noticed the chewed poles, taken some photos and asked a local resident who told him that Hydro had investigated and yes, bears were the […]
ALBERT BOTHA – PHOTOGRAPHER, PRODUCER, SHEPHERD Although Spring had already officially, by the calendar, come to town Mother Nature had evidently missed the memo and dumped more snow in the neighborhood. However, by March 24 when I visited Albert Botha at his Grafton area Shropshirehills sheep farm blue skies and sunshine clearly provided us with […]
PETROGLYPHS PROVINCIAL PARK by BARNEY MOORHOUSE The Peterboro Petroglyphs (petro= rock, glyph= carving) are a remarkable collection of 900+ ancient images depicting turtles, snakes, birds, humans and other images carved into crystalline limestone. Allegedly, it is the largest known concentration of Aboriginal rock carvings in Canada. Apparently the Algonkian people carved them from 900 to […]
