June 25th, 2008 writerspice
Today is the last day of school in my neck of the woods. And what that means is that my dear husband will soon be wandering around the house, watching DVD episodes of long-cancelled TV shows in the middle of the afternoon and generally attempting to find something to do. By August, he’ll be hanging around my office – I’m b-o-o-o-red… – as I struggle to maintain my fledgling career.
If he wasn’t a Luddite, I might expect some trouble from those comments, because the truth of it (what can I say? I’m a writer, I make stuff up) is more like this: canoe to be patched in the backyard, sailboat to be painted and polished, summer course to take, solo camping trip to embark on and a whole number of other things that, really, aren’t all that bad at all… I’m sure he’ll still find some time to catch those afternoon naps, closing his eyes against the glare on the TV screen.
And more power to him, I say. After all, who can resist the pull of the season of sun, when a few short months ago the view out our front door looked like this:
Now, instead of snow-shovelling, you might find us plowing through a medium of a different sort. One more watery, more blue, more relaxing, more like this (Lake Simcoe, a couple weekends ago):
HAPPY SUMMER, EVERYONE!
Posted in Orillia, Pretty Pictures, Seasons | No Comments »
June 20th, 2008 writerspice
Last week at this time I was somewhere in southeastern Michigan.
I say somewhere because usually on the last day of a press trip (which it was last Friday) my brain is so addled that I’ve no idea where I am. And to try to remember a whole week later? Forget it.
So, thank goodness, I say, for the 109-page-itinerary which tells me exactly where I need to be and when and is now sitting beside my computer, a handy tool for completing my report and pitches. It says I was in Mount Clemens. And in fact, I should remember that because the Anton Art Center and the cute downtown itself were among my faves.
But it’s a whole other week now. And with lots of check-marks successfully colouring in my to-do list, I’m realizing that it’s nearly time to climb out of the office chair I’ve been stuck in all week, roust out the cucumbers that have started sprouting in my compost bin, plant them properly in the garden and go get a movie for an evening – (dare I say it, a w-h-o-l-e weekend) – of blissful relaxation.
With another trip coming up in a few days and a list of assignments lined up and waiting to take me far into July, I’d say I deserve it. But regardless of all that, I just better take some time for myself, because lately I am feeling quite a lot like Ollie as he is in this picture I took moments ago, up too early, burying himself away from the world (yes, his skill at using pillows is legendary in our family), more than ready for his own weekend of naps.
Psst. Check out my updated clippings page, with some links to newly published stories.
Posted in Writing Life | No Comments »
June 11th, 2008 writerspice
Never mind all the questions – where’s it grown, how’s it grown, is it grass-fed or corn? You can leave those at home for this trip to market. Entirely made up of local ecological farmers (many members of the Simcoe County Chapter of Ecological Farmers’ Association of Ontario) the annual Eco-Farmers’ Market is all organic and ecological, all the time.
Now in its fifth season, the market operates on the grounds of Hempola Farms, just north of Barrie (from Highway 400, take the Forbes Road exit or take Highway 93 north from the intersection with Highway 11, just past Barrie. Hempola is at the corner of Highway 93 and Forbes Road).
A bustling collection of health-conscious farmers and shoppers milling around food-laden tables, the market features fresh non-chemically treated vegetables pulled from the ground or plucked from their bushes as soon as they’re ready.
Start with radishes, greens, peas and strawberries or potted perennials ready to be planted and move into tomatoes, carrots, green onions and corn as the summer season moves along. Simcoe County meat farmers also sell healthy and hormone free animal products like grass-fed beef and free-range pork. Dandelion and lavender jellies, herbs, baked goods and cheeses round out this selection of fresh, local, healthy food.
Opening this Friday, June 13th at 3:30 p.m., the market runs until about dusk and continues all summer, until Thanksgiving weekend.
Photo by Julia Manzerova
Posted in Food, Going Green, Simcoe County | No Comments »
June 8th, 2008 writerspice
Rising gas prices have finally raised the question. Should we stay or should we go?
It’s not an easy one to answer, but since airplanes deliver one of the worst doses of carbon, it’s long overdo that we stop treating travel like it is sacrosanct in the discussion about climate change and start thinking about what staying home can give us.
Read more about this – “the first real end of the exciting and engaging world that those of us in the more prosperous part of the planet (who are prosperous enough to afford it) have learned to enjoy over the past hundred years” – in my most recent post on Celsias.com
Photo by Malias
Posted in Contemplations, Going Green, Issues | No Comments »
June 6th, 2008 writerspice
On my way home from the library last night, yet another bit about the collapsing airline industry was on the radio.
Dubbed the “airline armageddon” by blogger Lou at The Cost of Energy, it seems like passenger costs for plane trips are rising faster than anyone can book their tickets. Despite the disappointment for travelers (or would be travelers – I think of my 7 and 11-year-old nephews who might miss out on seeing very much of the world as they grow up), anyone with half a brain knows this is inevitable.
Back in May, David Suzuki said it himself:
Air travel leaves the heaviest carbon footprint among all modes of transportation and skyrocketing fuel prices are already having explosive effects…. Economists think tourism can continue to grow into infinity. But we have to realize that nothing can grow forever. This unchecked growth only accelerates us on a suicidal path.
But yesterday, when I was cruising through back blog posts at Celsias.com, a wee bit of hope for future adventures sprang up in my soul. I caught sight of a piece by George Monbiot (the writer of Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning
and, the newest, Bring on the Apocalypse: Collected Writing
) discussing the feasibility of relaunching airships.
I know what you’re all thinking. I know because I thought it, too. Starts with H and ends with G, right? Here’s what George says:
The word airship elicits a fixed reaction in almost everyone who hears it: “what about the Hindenburg?”. It’s as if, every time someone proposed travelling on a cruise ship, you were to ask, “but what about the Titanic?”. Yes, there was a spectacular disaster – 71 years ago. It has lodged in our minds because, like the Titanic, the Hindenburg was bigger and plusher than any craft built before it, and it was carrying rich and prominent people. The conflagration was witnessed by journalists and broadcast all over the world. It also become the technology’s funeral pyre: the Hindenburg was doomed long before it burnt, as airships were already being displaced by aeroplanes.
Granted, the solution isn’t perfect. In one of these contraptions – and four companies are working towards getting them off the ground (who knew?) – it would take about two days to get from New York to London. And the resources they would need, writes Monbiot, are somewhat scarce. But nothing in this global quandary – apart from using less and staying home (more on that in days to come) – is infallible.
Despite all our questions and confusion as we face these challenges, the article makes for an interesting read and a bit of black-and-white mental imagining of a future that might have been dreamed up by our great-grandparents, in the days before the airplane industry became the only way to go.
Photo by TeecNosPos
Posted in Going Green, Issues, Recommended | No Comments »
June 4th, 2008 writerspice
I love the United States. The country is full of grand vistas and great people.
And even though lots of Canadians complain about the tough process of getting across the border these days, I’ve never had a problem.
More often than not, I find the folks working the conveyor belts and waving me through the metal detector professional and often personable. Yes, getting through customs is a longer process and the lines are often peppered with panicked people anxious that they’re going to miss their flights, but what can you do? Get there early. Take a deep breath. Leave your liquids behind.
But with today’s news from ABC that “citizens from countries in the VWP [Visa Waiver Program], which allows travelers from certain countries to enter the United States without a visa, will be required to submit their travel plans and personal information before their day of travel,” I’m not so sure I’ll be visiting nearly as much after the requirement comes into effect next January.
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing to hide. But the thought of logging my passport number into a computerized system 72 hours before I’m set to go, to wait as my name is checked against a terror watch list, raises visions of all those zombie-like automatons wandering around that fictitious world of George Orwell’s. According to the article, the Europeans are balking, too, with concerns about what will happen to the collected information and how long it will be held.
And there are other questions, as well. Who is on that list? What is the definition of a ‘terrorist’? Does someone attending a hunger strike outside the U.S. consulate to protest American military policies end up on that list? Stranger things have happened.
Posted in Issues, News, United States | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2008 writerspice
Last year I spent some time chatting with a few local farmers to produce an article about the importance and ease of eating from the fields in the county I call home. Called Think Fresh, Eat Locally, the article is in the May/June issue of Simcoe Life magazine.
With my ever-burgeoning interest in growing food and using wild edibles and herbs (my newly-planted veggie garden is sprouting and a batch of mullien from a neighbour’s driveway is drying in the dehydrator as I type), I poured my heart and soul into this piece.
Unfortunately, in the print issue, it ran with the wrong byline.
Although this has never happened to me before, it is a fairly common occurrence for lots of writers (a few colleagues were quick to share their own tales of woe when I released my sorrows in a forum).
But do me a favour. Should you live somewhere within Simcoe County and come across the magazine, take out your pen, cross out the wrong name and write mine in. That would make me feel a whole lot better.
Chef Doug Porter puts together some locally-grown greens at Collingwood’s Simcoe County Restaurant (photo by Lauren Carter)
Posted in Food, Going Green, Issues, Ontario, Recommended, Seasons, Simcoe County, World, Writing Life | No Comments »
