Last week I visited the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. I took a few pictures in the World War 1 section and then put the camera away in frustration. On the way over, I had made the mistake of driving by that mausoleum on Parliament Hill. My ability to focus on gas attacks and trench warfare was gone: by the time I reached the museum, all I could think about was the war in Afghanistan. Continue reading »
Riders on this float illustrate that Christmas is for all ages as they pass by the delighted crowds at the 2009 Campbellford Santa Claus Parade in Ontario, Canada.
Did you know that until World War II, the only land links spanning Canada from coast to coast were railway tracks? It’s true, the war stimulated the Canadian government to build roads between small towns north of Lake Superior (where I was raised) so motor vehicle traffic could eventually cross the country, too. There were good reasons. Three sets of track stretched over this area. If German saboteurs ever blew up three bridges simultaneously, our country’s only method of land transportation would have been severed, at least temporarily. Continue reading »
When the mighty oak sheds its last leaf and I have to use a scraper to remove frost from my windshield that can mean only one thing — flu season is in full swing. And what a bang it’s made in the media this fall. Swine flu is pandemic. Athletes and boards of directors jumping the queue for inoculation. Strident voices screaming at politicians for botching the emergency measures supposedly in place to protect us citizens. Continue reading »
I couldn’t believe the candor the first time someone admitted to me that he would never try kayaking because it terrified him. I had just pulled my 18-foot kayak up on beach in a park in Peterborough when this pleasant, middle-aged man stopped by. First he asked a few questions and then he made this startling admission. Continue reading »
