Just a few kilometres down our road here in the resurgent wilderness of Hope Ness on the Bruce Peninsula is perhaps one of the strangest, and certainly one of the most unexpected sights one would expect to find here of all places.
Just where the road passes through the deepest, darkest, most mysterious section of the Hope Ness-Hope Bay forest there’s been for many years a large group of jungle animals hanging on the tree trunks and branches on either side.
Just when I thought I was maybe morphing into a bear (stay out of sight, avoid contact with humans, get lots of rest), along comes this wind turbine thing on the Bruce Peninsula. Continue reading
Ontario’s new Adoption Records Act, which makes adoption information more accessible, opens up some interesting possibilities for the children of adopted parents.
Both my parents were adopted many years ago. My elderly mother who is still alive was adopted by her maternal grandparents. Largely because of that she knows a lot about her Scottish-English ancestral background, especially on her maternal side. Continue reading
The FM function on my car radio hasn’t been working lately, so to while away the hours as I drive to and from visits to family in the deep south of Ontario, I am reduced to searching the AM dial. In the dark of night, when the stars are out and the radio airwaves are bouncing madly off the upper atmosphere, this can be a scary thing.
Pressing the “seek” button leads to the breathlessly frantic intonations of a preacher from the Bible belt warning anyone listening the day of judgement will soon be upon us, so “get ready.” I fear he may be right, though not in the way he means it. The signal fades, a sports talk and phone-in show takes over and I’m listening to someone’s opinion about A-Rod’s recently admitted steroid use, and the latest off-boards exploits of Kobe Bryant. Apparently he’s a surprisingly good dancer for a big man. Continue reading
Members of the new Town of South Bruce Peninsula municipal council had a lot of things on their collective mind this past week, much of it related to Sauble Beach, surely one of the most unique communities in the Grey-Bruce area. Continue reading
I think I’m supposed to be writing about municipal politics and the upcoming municipal election, less than a month away now. But you know what, I feel as much like doing that as eating a mayor for breakfast. Continue reading
There’s a big, multi-level parking garage there now, but many years ago a group of idealistic young men spent many evenings one summer sitting around a table at an outdoor café in Toronto’s old village district north of Gerrard Street, between Bay and University. We solved the problems of the world every night that summer, and in the process befriended another regular, a mysterious, older man-of-the-world. Continue reading
The topic this week was going to be municipal restructuring. Boring, I just heard someone say. But let me hasten to add the crowd of squabbling crows who live in the bush behind our house and are quickly taking over my garden (with the current emphasis on my meagre first-year crop of strawberries) agree. Continue reading
An elderly woman living on her own in a house tucked away in a relatively isolated rural area of Grey-Bruce was surprised one day last year to hear a knock on the door. She may have peeked out the front window to see who it was. She may have had a moment’s anxiety; but, if the sad truth be known, she was also lonely, and pleased at the prospect of having some company. The man certainly looked presentable. And when she slowly, tentatively, opened the door a little he had a nice smile and seemed very friendly. Continue reading
Not long ago in this space I talked about that tragic and neglected period in British history known as The Clearances. Over a period of more than 100 years, beginning in the middle of the 18th Century and lasting well into the latter half of the 19th, many thousands of poor Scottish Highland farmers, known as crofters, were evicted, or “cleared” from the Highlands and the islands off the western coast of Scotland by wealthy landowners. Many immigrated to Canada. Some found their way to this area. Gaelic-speaking Highland refugees were among the first non-aboriginal people to settle in Grey and Bruce counties. Continue reading
Finding Hope Ness 