Recently I saw in our local paper, a very public airing of issues between our local mayor and three incumbent city councilors.
Now, normally I don’t give much credence to any level of politics, as I find it to be an exercise in self -aggrandizement with various political pundits achieving heights of bullshit that leave one stunned into silence.
Having said that, my reading of the local mayor/councilor fiasco, boondoggle, what-have-you, leaves me less than impressed with the behaviour of so-called “mature” adults.
At heart of this set-to, is a request from the mayor to extend a previously agreed to, and approved, visit to Ottawa by one week so that he could meet with various federal officials and perhaps raise the profile of our “wee burg” on the national stage. The aforementioned councilors have taken it upon themselves to offer reasons that our mayor is not qualified to go that border on the spurious, imbecilic, and petulant.
Even though our municipal elections are a scant eight months away, the political manoeuvering has already begun. It is a shame that these councilors cannot see what most other people see: they have always kept our new mayor on the outside of their little clique; voted down most initiatives put forth by our new mayor; and generally put up roadblock after roadblock to ensure that our “wee burg” never moves forward in a way that would allow our young people to secure well paying jobs to buy homes, raise families, and most importantly, contribute to the tax base.
Sometimes I am left to wonder what exactly is the reason to shun all potential progress in this small town? Worried that a little competition, that knows a thing or two about real customer service, might drive personal businesses out?
Whatever the reason, I am glad to see that many local people have spoken out, and are speaking out against this childish behaviour. The mayor and council would do well to remember that the current mayor was elected by the people to do a job that obviously was not being done by the previous mayor; as well, the councilors are elected to represent the people, not their own personal feelings and agendas.
This coming November hopefully should decide who gets to play in the sandbox, and who gets to stand in the corner in “time out”.

Very recently I had an opportunity to drop in on an old friend that I’ve known for about 25 years, but haven’t had the chance to see in person for some time due to the busyness of everyday life.

I knew that he had been doing some farming activities on his rural, 25 acre property, but I must confess I was quite surprised at the amount of work that he has completed.  He was gracious enough to give me the tour; showing me the pond filled with Koi, turtles, ducks, and two visiting Canada Geese; the large fenced in veggie garden area; the cows (two grown and one baby); the rabbits, chickens,pigs, and bee hive.

While all of this was going on, there was a rambunctious tangle of children (four of which are his own), running about, falling down, getting up, getting dirty and loving it.

His youngest daughter came up to me at one point and deposited a baby rabbit into my hands, which was an absolute treat, as I had only seen baby rabbits on television and in photos.  I wanted to take this cute, tiny little black and white bundle of fur home with me; somehow, I think the Better Half would give me “that look”, and said bunny would be back at it’s original home “toot sweet”.

We strolled his property where he showed off his many grafted fruit trees, and even grafted a few while I was there.  We had a look at his bee hive, which had a goodly quantity of bees, actively working away, getting things ready for the upcoming season.  We spoke of Permaculture principles, Food Forestry, Organic Gardening, and many other things.  It was an absolute pleasure to see someone that I have known since teenhood so at home and completely happy.

Having seen my friend’s Permaculture Food Forest allowed me to look at my own property with fresh eyes.  While I don’t have 25 acres, nor the desire to own such a large piece of land, there is much that can be done on a city sized lot.  I am now on the hunt for columnar or colonnade apple trees to plant down the middle of my raised garden beds, fruiting dwarf-sized shrubs, vines, a couple of dwarf cherry trees…..and the list goes on.

I have a feeling that there will be quite a few trips to nurseries to acquire various and sundry plants and trees in the near future, as well as much trading of plant cuttings and the like.  Spring is definitely in the air!