A Birthday Poem for Alyssa

| April 19, 2012

Our niece Alyssa – otherwise known as Niece LFM – turned three today. Mrs. LFM and I just got back from celebrating the event. First time on a trampoline for either of us, and I can honestly say that I found it endlessly entertaining once I mastered the rhythm and technique required to repeatedly catapult […]

Facebook: Rules of Engagement

| April 15, 2012

Mrs. LFM and I first opened Facebook accounts in 2007. In that time we’ve watched the site evolve and reveal itself, collecting some observations along the way that a lot of what’s been written about so called “social networking websites” in general, and Facebook in particular, never seem to fully grasp. In fact, I am […]

Mine’s Bigger

| March 20, 2012

A seeming lifetime ago, it took me a few years to scrape off a bad marriage like shit from my shoe. Particularly during the last two of those horrendous years, when it was dead in everything but name, the state of things were kept a closely guarded secret for logistical reasons that have no bearing […]

Dog Days – All Stick and No Carrot

| March 18, 2012

With the current media interest bringing public attention to bear on incidents involving dog bites and others in which police have felt sufficiently threatened by an approaching large dog to shoot it on the spot, some municipalities in Nova Scotia are looking at reviewing and possibly overhauling their existing by-laws to bring them more in […]

Dog Days – Lessons From the Pepper Affair

| March 8, 2012

In the wake of my previous article, I’d like to pause and review. What did I learn from my experience with Pepper in the cemetery? First and foremost, I learned that no matter how many precautions you take, Murphy’s Law will prevail in dog handling just as thoroughly as it does in every other endeavour. […]

Dog Days – Pepper

| February 26, 2012

Most incidents involving an alleged case of a dog biting a human start out with a few common elements: the dog accused of doing the biting; the dog’s owner. who may or may not be present; the dog’s handler, who may or may not be the dog’s owner, and who likewise may or may not […]

Dog Days – Sarge

| February 25, 2012

As promised, I’m back with the first in a new series – Dog Days. Unlike my annual Dark Sentiments and A Long Winter’s Night segments, Dog Days will run intermittently for as long as it needs to. It will focus on municipal dog control legislation and its impact on the realities of dog ownership, examining […]

Back in the Saddle Again

| February 23, 2012

To quell the panic that’s abroad in the land, I’m here today to assuage your fears that ol’ LFM has thrown in the towel or some such. Not a chance. Mrs. LFM and I have been grappling with the latest iteration of black death, and are now well on the mend. In the mean time, […]

No Snowflake Ever Lands In the Wrong Place

| February 12, 2012

A snowflake forms thousands of feet above the ground and makes its way, riding the many risings and fallings and seemingly random swirling pathways of the wind, to land exactly where it was meant to. In the practice of Zen archery, it is understood that as long as the archer does what is required in […]

Dusty – A Treasured Gift Forever

| January 27, 2012

Today, at approximately 12:30 PM Atlantic Time, Mrs LFM and I were with Dusty when he took his last breath. He wasn’t in pain or discomfort, but the past 48 hours had seen a decline in his health and joie de vivre that told us it was time. He was 15, and throughout his long, […]