By Sue Tiffin We joke that it’s March again, but feels like it’s still March, acting as though the point last year when much of the world acknowledged the need for an abrupt pivot in…
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,…
Pandemic as political cover
To the Editor, Using the pandemic for political cover, the Ford government is fast-tracking Highway 413, cutting through 55 kilometres of prime farmlands, conservation land, waterways and protected areas. The corresponding urban sprawl will destroy…
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…
Parade of memories
By Chad Ingram Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I have continued to work from the Minden Times office most days of the week. The office has been closed to the public at various points, but I…
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.…
Primary concern size of setbacks
To the Editor, Re: County to post FAQs for publicI read with interest your article.Following this issue since it lately came to my attention, it strikes me that the property owners might need to create…
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…
A silver lining
By Chad Ingram We are approaching a year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Haliburton County, and in some respects, the pandemic is showing proverbial silver linings for the community. An important qualifier up front here…
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…
An obituary for the snow day
By Chad Ingram As I write this, buses in the county and elsewhere within the Trillium Lakelands District School Board have been cancelled due to inclement weather and road conditions. Buses have been cancelled, but…
Back to the drawing board
By Chad Ingram After some two years of discussions around the council table (and virtual council table) and embarking on a public input process, Haliburton County council has decided to halt its creation of a…
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…
PowerPoint bylaw
To the Editor, Editor’s note: Since this letter was received, Haliburton County council has voted to hire a consultant to draft a new shoreline protection bylaw. In the Jan. 20 paper, Haliburton County Warden, Liz…
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…
On conversion therapy
By Chad Ingram Last week, residents of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock received in the mail paperwork for a constituency referendum by MP Jamie Schmale. Schmale has held a few of these referendums in the past, where he…
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…
Who did this?
To the Editor, Recent events that have taken place, have me and my family riled. Who from the Township of Minden Hills would order five employees to go down to Murdoch Road and shut down…
Where did these orders come from?
To the Editor, Well, hey, everybody that has been following the problems at the Murdoch Road access to Gull Lake for the last three years will know what I’m talking about.On Jan. 12, I was…