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A French philosopher once asked, “Why do we never expect dull people to be rascals?” He said “dull people” because the demographic we call automobile collision repair appraisers had yet to be invented. We have all had the experience of finding that a dent in a bumper or a scratch in the paint that willContinue reading “DAMN THE RASCALS!”

Get a bunch of kids and adults and insects and lego thingies and yummy treats and mix them all together and you get  ̶  the Science North Roadshow. I wandered down to Marina Park this morning and came upon a tent village on the sward. “Sward” is the unscientific name for grass. The first tentContinue reading “SCIENCE AND NON-SCIENCE”

by Edgar J. Lavoie in Summer 1989 The first time Georg Schuchmann and Emil Jochum saw Canada, they were prisoners of war. They spent months in a remote bush camp near Longlac, Ontario. Huge red bull’s-eyes on their backs presented targets to armed guards. Recently, after a 43-year absence, Schuchmann and Jochum fulfilled a longtimeContinue reading “POW CAMP 26”

WILD STORIES by Edgar J. Lavoie    On the whole, the wild animals in Geraldton District are pretty well behaved. Bears respect humans. Muskrats respect dogs. And pike, well, pike give fishermen a good fight, but rarely attack their boats. It was not always so.    In the summer of 1936, forest fires threatened theContinue reading “WILD STORIES”

On Sunday, July 31, 2022, I joined a group in a tour of the island and lighthouse. The sky was overcast, threatening, but the rain held off till the trip was over. The temperature hovered around 20’ C. My daughter, Laura, and I drove to Rossport, followed by Stacy and Roger and three youngsters. WeContinue reading “BATTLE ISLAND TOUR”

My first (and last) visit to Centennial Park is lost in the mists of time. On Sunday, July 3, 2022, I decided to hike the trail. I had lingering memories of a logging camp and a narrow-gauge railway. I started out after 4:00 p.m., temperature 24’ C., fair weather clouds. I left Arundel Street, westContinue reading “CENTENNIAL PARK TRAIL: FIRST HIKE”

by Edgar J. Lavoie Saturday, June 18, 2022, 10:00 a.m. What a great day for a hike! Sunny, warm, and scarcely any flies. Reviews of this Lakehead Region Conservation Authority preserve describe an easy hike, 4 kilometres, with gentle hills. Whoa! Half of the hike is up and over a mountain. But we octogenarians inContinue reading “SPRING FLOWERS IN THE MILLS BLOCK FOREST”

These photos, snapped Thursday, 16 June 2022, show that Greenstone Gold Mines is in no hurry to complete the job of demolishing the MacLeod-Cockshutt No. 1 headframe. For photo #1, I ignored the No Trespassing sign and stood beside the Geraldton Discovery Centre. It is no longer a museum. Three pickups parked outside suggest itContinue reading “PROGRESS OF HEADFRAME DEMOLITION”

Frequent rains and the snow melt runoff promised a spectacular view of the falls on Saturday, May 28, 2022. Under the auspices of Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, ten of us gathered at the big mall on West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay. Five vehicles travelled about 53 km south on Hwy. 61. It was drizzling, andContinue reading “MIDDLE FALLS ON THE PIGEON RIVER”