Category Archives: It Really Did Happen!

The crumbs and animal hair of real life.

The cat who cancelled Thanksgiving

Posted on October 12, 2017 by

Regular readers know that I harbour a certain prejudice against cats, and like most prejudices, it’s defined by my own narrow experience. But this summer, our middle daughter Katie moved back home along with her own two cats, Lincoln and … Continue reading →

Posted in It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Bye-bye pool

Posted on September 28, 2017 by

We warned the children we were getting rid of the swimming pool. I swear we warned them. Maybe they didn’t believe us, thinking it was one of our idle threats, like “We’re going to move to the country!” or “We’re … Continue reading →

Posted in It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Got wood?

Posted on August 24, 2017 by

In the 20-plus years my wife and I have been tent camping, we’ve barely changed our routine. We still pile our kitchen gear in a laundry basket – as portable as it is inefficient. We use grocery bags to transport … Continue reading →

Posted in It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Come away, O human Dad, to the waters

Posted on August 17, 2017 by

Written on the beach at Cavendish, PEI, 1100 km from home, with apologies to W.B. Yeats. Come away, O human Dad! To the waters and the wild With a campsite, full of sand, For the tent more needs a sweeping … Continue reading →

Posted in It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

And a 5 6 7 8…!

Posted on July 13, 2017 by

As part of our constant quest for innovation and funkiness, Drinking Tips for Teens is pleased to present the world’s first choreographed blog post. What’s black and white and ready to boogie all over? Read on! I can act. I … Continue reading →

Posted in It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

A strong case against muscles

Posted on July 6, 2017 by

If you were to do an image search for “the ideal man,” and you didn’t mind having that in your browser history, you would come upon image after image of jacked-up masculine figures of steel, sculpted and gleaming, tightly packed … Continue reading →

Posted in It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Reasons why my moustache is the most Canadian thing

Posted on June 29, 2017 by

Canada and my moustache are young. Canada is only 150 years old. My moustache is only five days old. Canada and my moustache were born out of necessity. Canada was created as a means of establishing an east-west alliance between … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada and/or Quebec, It Really Did Happen! | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments