Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – The True Arte of Intelligent Discourse

| February 6, 2013

She taught me the art of conversation. How to listen, and how to appropriately respond. She taught me of social rank, and how one must be deserving of it. Of discretion in all things. I learned the importance of a cup of tea, and that it must never be refused if matters of any size […]

Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – Education

| January 30, 2013

Speak the word “education” and the most common image conjured is that of a set of knowledge and skills conveyed under the auspices, and bearing the stamp of approval, of some official grantor of credentials. People seek to learn by enrolling in classes so they can emerge bearing a certificate or diploma they can display […]

No Man Meets a Friend in the Desert

| January 28, 2013

The title of this item is an English translation of an Arab proverb that has always been one of my favourites. It packs a lot of realism into a very small package. It was called to mind by reading a thread on a bushcraft forum I visit periodically in which the original poster asked how […]

Some Observations on Guns and Social Ills

| January 7, 2013

Society is over regulated, and it’s getting worse all the time. This becomes an inevitably self-perpetuating trend when laws put in place to control problem behaviours are crafted without regard for actual causes because when they fail to work, the tendency is to increase the severity on the grounds that measures already taken simply weren’t […]

A Long Winter’s Night – Snow Day

| December 29, 2012

Word is that the first major snow storm of the season is set to land on our region overnight tonight. Many rail at the injustice of it all when this inevitability descends, and every year people suffer consequences up to and including death from ill conceived attempts to defy Nature. Here at the LFM camp, […]

A Long Winter’s Night – The Tomte

| December 28, 2012

Deep in the grip of the midwinter cold The stars glitter and sparkle. All are asleep on this lonely farm, Deep in the winter night. The pale white moon is a wanderer, snow gleams white on pine and fir, snow gleams white on the roofs. The tomte alone is awake. I will never understand the […]

A Long Winter’s Night – A Song of Winter

| December 25, 2012

There’s a dark, joyful lustiness to this time of year that, for Mrs. LFM and me, begins as September yields the field to October, and doesn’t really end until the glorious din of another Spring supplants it. Here’s our gift of the day to you all. A Song of Winter By LFM The equinox of […]

A Long Winter’s Night – What’s a Sibling For?

| December 24, 2012

This is a tale from a Christmas Eve long, long ago. I grew up with a younger sibling – a sister three years younger than me. As the oldest child, and a son at that, I was raised to be responsible, respectful, steadfast, and true; and it took. My sister, on the other hand, was […]

A Long Winter’s Night – Of Partridges and Men

| December 23, 2012

My late Esteemed Friend Michael Baker came from a long line of shotgunners – men who lived for the hunting of waterfowl and upland game. In Lunenburg County, where we both grew up, there lies an island connected to the mainland by a short causeway, and the name of that place is Herman’s Island. The […]

Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – Missed Points

| December 19, 2012

I ask why the definition of a good dog is often, “You can do anything to him.” That wouldn’t make any sense if phrased in terms of other relationships: “I have a really good wife. You can do anything to her.” Creepy! ~ Madeline Clark Gabriel The quotation above came from an excellent article titled […]