Dog On A Root

- jim Young “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” - Dolly Parton We live in a disposable world. Everything from paper cups to spouses are disposable these days. And it costs us big time (especially the latter). Not only has this become a problem for our environment, it’s also the cause of a lot of our social problems. Excessiveness is also part of the problem. We all have too much stuff. People complain that two incomes are required to survive in today’s world. It is very rare to see a stay-at-home mom anymore. The decision to become a career mom may be based on many facets but economic need remains a major contributing factor. I think our attitude towards material things has a lot to do with it too. We have a pair of scissors in our kitchen. We also have a pair of scissors here in my den. I can’t be bothered walking all the way down to the kitchen to get the scissors when I need them. When I say “all the way down”, I don’t mean down a flight...

- jim Young (originally published July 21, 2020, revised July 9, 2024) When most people think of Northern Ontario, they often think of cold and snow. But we get lots of hot days here in the summer too. When it gets really hot, I turn to something cold and refreshing such as this drink I came up with that I like to call Northern Ontario Sunshine. I make it up ahead of time so no matter when the sun's out, once the work is done all I have to do is put the last few ingredients together and sit back and relax. This is also a great way to make it when you have a few hot and thirsty friends over. Calculating the conversions and costs of this became a real nightmare. It’s no wonder most of the world went metric and for the life of me I can’t understand why the United States, Liberia and Myanmar are the only 3 countries in the world to hold out on switching over. It’s bad enough to make the conversions from ounces to ml and gallons to litres, but there are differences in even ounces and ga...

- jim Young Looking for a good summertime treat? Try this sundae topping. It's a great recipe I got from my Aunt Mary many years ago and it only takes a few minutes to put together. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool so it won't melt your ice cream. The addition of the ButterShots Liqueur was my contribution. And while it's a great topping for any ice cream, Aunt Mary always recommended using it on Kawartha Ice Cream! Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 3 min. Cool Time: 2 hours Total Time:   2 hours, 13 min. Yield:   ½ cup Stuff Required: ¼ cup butter, softened ⅔ cup brown sugar ⅓ cup whipping cream ½ tsp vanilla extract ¼ cup ButterShots Liqueur (optional) Do This: Stir butter with brown sugar and whipping cream in a medium sized microwave bowl. Cook in the microwave on high heat for about 30 seconds. Stir well, then cook in the microwave for another 30 seconds to a minute or until slightly thickened. (Note: cooking it too long in the microw...

- jim Young “Who was that masked man?” - from the Lone Ranger Radio & TV Show To be honest, I’m not sure that I totally buy into the hype of wearing a mask when out in public. There are a lot of pros and cons and debates about the use of masks, which masks should and shouldn’t be used and even how they should and shouldn’t be used. I have seen plenty of very impressive dramatizations online demonstrating the effectiveness of masks although I am not certain they necessarily have any real scientific backing. But, at the same time, I don’t understand why so many people are so resistant to wearing a mask. Vanity Is it vanity? Some people think wearing a mask makes them look silly. Don’t worry about it. Who’s going to recognize you anyway? There’s safety in numbers. So what if you look silly? So does everyone else. Is it worth the risk? How will you feel about how you will look in your coffin? Restrictive Some people will tell you that it’s too hard to breathe and they ...

- jim Young “What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;” - William Shakespeare Last month I touched on the importance of my family name. Family names are an interesting topic.  In Canada and most Western cultures, children typically take on the father’s family name. Of late however, it has become more common for a child to take on a mother’s family name, particularly if she is a single mother or has chosen for whatever reason, not to adopt her husband’s family name. In other cultures such as Cuba, children more often take on their mother’s family name. The Castro family however didn’t follow this rule or Fidel and Raúl Castro would have been known as Fidel and Raúl Ruz. Our family name is often also referred to as our last name in Western cultures although in many parts of the world it is listed first, followed by given names. Family names once described a man’s profession such as Baker or Smith (for a Blac...

- jim Young 20200701 “I'm just a soul whose intentions are good Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.”                                    - Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus  The first thing we learn to do as babies is how to communicate. If we are unhappy or uncomfortable we instinctively cry and our parents will attempt to soothe us. Sometimes, however, they don’t soothe us in the way we want to be soothed. We quickly learn that if we cry one way, they will feed us. If we cry a little differently they will change our diapers and yet another cry will get us rocked. With that communication comes power. Just from crying. As we grow older our needs become more complex and our sounds develop into words to accommodate these needs. The average English speaking adult today knows and uses about 20,000 words and probably knows and understands another 20,000 words. ...