Columns from the St. Thomas Super Shopper publication

When to fold 'em

My back went kerflooey the week before Valentines Day. I needed soy milk to accompany the ibuprofen. On a wintry night, my lovely wife Nancy made the ultimate female sacrifice and drove to the store.
Upon her return, she made noble gesture number two and moved not only her car to the garage. She also squeezed my van into the driveway.
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Advanced ballroom dance class?

Time will tell, but my career as an amateur ballroom dancer may have peaked prematurely.
This realization dawned on me—no, it came crashing down like a ballerina caught en pointe in steel-toed work boots—the first lesson after Christmas.
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Dance, dance wherever you may be

“Smile. You’re looking awfully serious.” A seated friend directed this comment to me as we whirled by him at the Bill Sherry Dance.
Later, this same friend said, “I thought you had taken lessons. You looked like you were counting.”
Hardly the relaxed, smooth look we’ve been seeking.
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Perfect neighbours

When we moved into our home in the downtown area 13 years ago, we had good neighbours, many well-established. Some of them had been here for generations.
The last of this original group moved out in August when they sold their house.
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Life's a gas

I don’t know about you, but the Buddha and I are never totally compatible.
The path to enlightenment involves letting go of the emotions, stifling the greedy impulse, living simply and so on. We know that. Can we do it?
Case in point? Gasoline.
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Of mice and real men

Scratching in the bedroom wall. It went away. Nothing for a few days.
Gnawing in the middle of the night. It stopped for a while. More midnight scratching and gnawing sounds.
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The Many Deals

There was a telephone message from the library at the University of Western Ontario. No, it wasn’t asking me to be a guest lecturer on “The Phenomenological Implications of Starting and Running Your Own Business In a Trans-Gendered and Post-Industrial Age” although I’ve done all the research.
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Chase away the black shadow

Have you heard about the youth suicide rate in aboriginal communities in northern Ontario? And do you find this rather hopeless?
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