Author Archives: Peter Carter

LIFE IN A FAR SIDE CARTOON:  I could see through the bear’s crafty ways. Somewhere along British Columbia’s Highway 16, not too far west of New Hazelton, sits a little wooden kiosk and it’s home to all manner of delicious treats including fresh vegetables and home-made muffins and they’re all there for the asking.  Yes, youContinue reading “Today's the day the teddy bears had no picnic”

TRASH TALKING: The furry critters were in quite the fix, a splendid oxymoron, if you think about it. Yesterday just past noon, my wife Helena and I were at the north Toronto park known as Edwards Gardens, walking in the drizzle. We were ready to leave when one of our umbrellas broke. I went to trashContinue reading “Bin there; done that.”

LET US SPRAY: One of the reasons I never took a shine to washing cars: Among the many nicknames I suffered as the youngest was “Little Squirt.” For Father’s Day this year, my daughter Ria came to my house and detailed my 2011 Chev Malibu. Before I share five reasons Ria’s was one of the best gifts imaginable,Continue reading “Like God and the Devil, love is in the details”

ROSE AMONG THORNS: Pépé, Mateus & Pete Last Sunday, Mateus Remy Carter Chaignet, 5, bravely and singlehandedly led both his grandfathers, (never mind their ages) on a two-and-one-quarter-hour adventure through the woods along the banks of Upper Don River in central Toronto.  Hard on Mateus’ heels, I — Grandpa Peter — and Vincent Chaignet; a.k.a.,Continue reading “The 3 Amis Go”

HALIFAX ROSE:I used this picture to not only illustrate my dashing hairstyle but also in the hopes it’ll get my darling cousin Roseanne to read my blog! I cannot remember what a haircut cost at Gino’s barbershop when I was a little boy;  $1.25 comes to mind. I do remember though that I hated getting my hairContinue reading “Hair on my chest and other tall tales”

CHARLIE FARQUHARSON; a.k.a., Don Harron, ripe for a hair on the couch pun April 28, 2021, 7:35 a.m.  That’s when it dawned on me. (Or, as the late statesman Charlie Farquharson put it,  ‘it’s always darkest before it dawns on ya.’”) White hair.  Most governor generals, at least the two that I met, had white hair. Continue reading “Not until you see the whites of her Iris”

  SMILE, YOU’RE IN A BEETLE: VW Bugs mightbe the only cars that make pedestrians and kids grin. And then punch each other. Yippee! I got a new office! The new place is, on a light-traffic day, a 20-minute drive from our home in the west part of downtown Toronto. A short hop, I realize,Continue reading “On the road again-ish”

ED WHEN I FIRST KNEW HIM:He’s in the Scrabble Dictionary, it’s short for education. For at least as long as my wife of 30-odd years Helena has known me, my brother Ed’s been coming around and we play Scrabble. I almost always win. It’s not because I know a lot of big words (and I do!)Continue reading “My brain on Scrabble”

IRIS REGIMENT: The incoming governor general’s paw guards When I was in second year university, I had a roommate named Vince Ramsay and at the end of that year he landed what sounded like an awfully impressive summer job: He joined the Governor General’s foot guards.  Feet guards are the men and women who, dressedContinue reading “Paw guards agree: Iris as Governor General? A shoo-in”

NOW MUSEUM NOW YOU DON’T: On a lighter note, two Marches ago right now, the much-loved Bug took us to, among other places, this factory museum in Bradford, PA. Sometimes  I talk too much.  Comes as a shock, I know. But get this: A few days ago, on a Friday afternoon around 4:30, my wife Helena slipped andContinue reading “Lessons I learned from my wife, a fallen woman”