By Laurie Sweig I can’t say that I give a lot of thought to the amount of iodine I’m consuming. I’m only thinking (and writing) about it now because it came up during a workout…
Racist or just plain stupid?
By Jim Poling Sr. There are clues, but the sensational British royalty whodunnit remains unsolved.Would-be detectives are poring over statements, reading between lines, sifting the clues but no one has found any solid evidence of…
Make take out/ordering in healthy
By Laurie Sweig Going out to a restaurant was always a treat. Sometimes it was to try something I would never cook, and sometimes it was to avoid cooking altogether. This pandemic situation that we’ve…
Instant gratification
By Laurie Sweig It’s taken me a long time but I’m figuring out the perils of instant gratification. Instant gratification is defined as the desire to experience pleasure or fulfillment without delay or deferment. Sadly,…
The great birdsong mystery
By Jim Poling Sr. Our first guess at the source of the bird tweets, twitters and cheeps was a robin.We were in the living room one afternoon when the racket began. It was sharp, penetrating…
Find calm
By Laurie Sweig I am not a fan of getting stuck in traffic. Specifically, the bumper-to-bumper type that has you inching forward at a rate slower than any sloth I’ve seen on a YouTube video.…
Rotisserie chicken for dinner?
By Jim Poling Sr. It is cold, snowing and the car headlights snap on as twilight descends over the final kilometers of the trip back from the Big Smoke.Twilight means it is dinner time and…
Life after the pandemic
By Jim Poling Sr. So here we are, one year later. Who would have thought that in an age when contagions are quickly spotted and quickly dealt with that COVID-19 would still be with us,…
Productive movement
By Laurie Sweig I watched a video on Instagram that made me chuckle. It was a personal trainer demonstrating a workout method that uses a mace (macebell) and tractor tire. A mace is a new style…
Self-awareness
By Laurie Sweig I just finished reading Parker Palmer’s book On the Brink of Everything. This is one of the many great books I’ve read on being in the moment and developing/maintaining self awareness. I’d like to think…
Feeling sorry for the fox
By Jim Poling Sr. The paw prints in the snow make me sad. They go in a straight line, heading nowhere in particular, yet seemingly heading everywhere.They enter a hilltop copse of young maples, then…
Spiritualism or religion
By Jim Poling Sr. The differences between being religious and being spiritual were never more evident than what’s been happening at Trinity Bible Chapel in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.The church has held three inside Sunday services…
Prepare for the next one
By Jim Poling Sr. Bad information vomited across social media is so prevalent that it’s even showing up in U.S. presidential addresses.Newly-sworn President Joe Biden’s inaugural speech last week contained a bad piece of social…
Ice bath
By Laurie Sweig I’m seeing quite a few social media posts with people sitting in incredibly cold water. Sometimes it’s a bathtub full of ice, sometimes it’s a chest style freezer full of water or…
A story behind the storybooks
By Jim Poling Sr. There is a story behind every published story, and a really interesting one behind Treasures from the Deep, a new children’s book by Minden-area author Irene Davidson Fisher.Treasures from the Deep…
Balance test
By Laurie Sweig Stand on one foot. Don’t think about it. Just do it. Hold that position as long as you can. Now, stand on your other foot. Is that harder or easier than the…
Broken bricks, twisted timbers
By Jim Poling So many people are dying in California.Almost 30,00 people in the state have died from Covid-19. Three dozen or more perished last year in the state’s 9,000-plus wildfires. Then there’s the roughly…
Magnesium’s magic
By Laurie Sweig Our bodies require both macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to function. When we’re lacking in any one of the nutrients the body cannot perform optimally. All of…
Bright days and deep lessons
By Jim Poling Sr. This first full week of the New Year is the most important week of the year.It is the third week following the winter solstice, a celestial phenomenon during which we turn…
Call a friend!
By Laurie Sweig Welcome to 2021. It’s a new year. For many there’s a feeling of starting anew. Making commitments, setting goals. I always find it exciting to set out a plan for a change…
O Holy Night
By Jim Poling Sr. My most cherished Christmas moment comes when I sit quietly and recall the Christmas Eve when I heard an angel sing.Fresh-fallen snow protested beneath my gumboots breaking trail down the unploughed…