Posted on in community, environment, travel

Find community connection in your own backyard

High speed train and proposed route

Special guest blog by Alison Taylor

I had some time to reflect over the holidays and decided that in 2026 I would become more involved and aware of the things going on in my community.

Recently retired, I wanted to find more purpose in my days. Don’t get me wrong, living in the country I have plenty of time for long walks, reading and writing, connecting with friends, shovelling snow and embracing wind chills.

However, I wanted more, so I started reviewing local news, and websites and was surprised at how much is going on in my little corner of the woods.  

What also surprised me was how much joy it brings to connect with my fellow “Stone Millers” (what I call those of us who live in Stone Mills Township northwest of Kingston)  

So far this year, I have attended a weaving demonstration at a local museum, an agricultural land use meeting to understand how land is designated in the province, and will be attending an open house for the proposed southern route for the Alto high-speed train rail proposal in eastern Ontario.  

So much going on in my neighbourhood.

The transition from working full-time to retirement can be tricky, but I am finding new ways to discover happiness in my own backyard.

I predict some great local connections in the months to come and look forward to being an active and well-informed “Stone Miller”.

Ed. note: Alto is a crown corporation that was established to plan and deliver the high-speed rail project in the Toronto to Quebec City corridor. The speed of the trains will reach 300 km/hour and the cost of the project is projected to be $80 billion. Alto is evaluating two rail routes between Peterborough and Ottawa, a southern route through more heavily populated but ecologically sensitive South Frontenac, and a northern route near Highway 7. A route along the already established corridor north of Lake Ontario through Kingston is not currently under consideration. If you want to find out more about this project and make your opinions known, Alto is holding a series of Open Houses this month. You can also complete an online form to share your feedback. The times for the Open Houses appear to be the same for all locations.

  • February 18: South Frontenac (11 am – 3 pm and 5-9 pm at Storrington Lions Club, 2992 Princess Rd., Inverary)
  • February 26: Peterborough
  • March 4: Perth
  • March 5: Madoc

Posted on in community, family, Food and drink, Historical

The pick of the crop of breakfast places

Me standing in front of The Orchard Family Restaurant in Mississauga

A few weeks ago, we met my brother at the Orchard Family Restaurant in Mississauga for breakfast.

Whenever I go to the Orchard, it’s like a trip down memory lane. You see “The Orchard” was a regular Sunday morning ritual for my family when I was a child, and especially once my mother passed away.

The Orchard is almost as old as I am. It opened in 1966 a block south of Hurontario and Dundas and was owned by two friends, Angelo Mazaris and Louis Velianou from Florina, Greece. Louis’ son Tom runs it today. An interesting fun fact: my Mom was born in a house on Argyle Street, just a few streets from the Orchard where my grandparents owned a greenhouse for years in the 1930’s. The Orchard was literally in my Mom’s backyard. I’m guessing they called it the Orchard because in those days, that entire area of Mississauga was full of apple orchards.

Back in the 80’s, there was always a long line up at the door to be seated. I loved watching my Dad when he walked into The Orchard. It was like an episode of The King of Kensington or Cheers where everybody knew his name. As soon as my Dad or brother Don were seated, one of the waitresses would come up and give them a hug or kiss. The owners Angelo or Louis would wave in greeting from behind the open counter as they were flipping eggs on the grill.

They say our sense of smell triggers the most powerful memories and that was true with The Orchard. The unmistakeable smell of fried bacon, the intoxicating aroma of the best coffee in town, and that greasy smell of oil from French fries or hash browns that always made your stomach grumble.

At the end of breakfast when we offered to pay for the bill, my Dad would always say, “you can leave the tip”. You paid at the counter on the way out and no one used a debit or credit card in those days–it was always cash.

The Orchard was more than just a breakfast place for our family. As we got older and moved out of my Dad’s house, breakfast at The Orchard was often the only meal we ate as a family together each week. The place where we shared what was happening in each other’s lives. The staff there became an extension of our family, familiar faces on a Sunday morning. And when my father passed away, it was the place we went to honour him and to continue the tradition.

Today, there’s an entire slew of chains serving up breakfast, but few offer the same family feel of a restaurant like The Orchard.

This week’s #HappyAct is to find your favourite breakfast spot that makes you feel like family and help yourself to a big greasy breakfast.

Posted on in health and wellness, humour

My favourite handheld electronic device

Illustration of a woman grinning and looking devious

A few years ago, I invested in a new electronic device. It vibrates, fits easily in my hand and gives me more joy than I could ever imagine.

Every morning, I close the door and turn it on. The pleasant insistent hum makes me lick my lips in exultant anticipation.

I succumb to its rhythmic pulse, groaning with pleasure. I am whisked away from life’s pressing problems, lost in the moment and the incredible sensation tingling through my body.

I really should give it a name. Perhaps Pepe my little friend or Buzz Lightyear for taking me to infinite and beyond.

My impulse is to go fast, thrusting it quickly in and out, but the proper technique is to go slow, clenching, letting the vibrations work their magic.

For years I resisted getting one. The early models came with cords which seemed clunky and unrefined. Then battery-operated versions miraculously appeared which allowed you to tuck it away out of sight when not in use.

Sturdy, dependable, it’s become my daily hedonistic ritual. Self-gratification on steroids. A state of complete bliss.

You can use it alone, or if you’re adventurous, with friends. For maximum benefit and pleasure, you should use it every day. Twice a day is recommended.

And it’s made at least one man in my life very, very happy—my dentist.

This week’s #HappyAct is to get an electronic toothbrush if you haven’t already made the switch. Make your teeth and your dentist happy.

Ed. note: I generated the above image with AI. Would you give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down?

Posted on in dogs, lake living, nature

Find joy in the snow

Saying, "If you choose not to find joy in the snow you will have less joy in your life but still the same amount of snow"

The snow keeps falling in an endless sea of white. Tiny feathery flakes fall in slow motion, causing the minutes and hours to tick by slowly. Winter in all its glory grips the landscape in its icy grasp.

There is something rhythmic and pleasing to falling snow. The world is gentle. Silent. Peaceful. The creatures of the forest seek shelter and rest, waiting for the storm to pass so they can emerge from their dens.

The snowflakes increase in size, the size of peas. I catch them on my tongue. Bentley is covered in white.  

I usually love winter, but a few weeks ago, I said to Dave I’m done with winter. It has worn me down.

I become nostalgic, missing the days when a fresh snowfall was an excuse to go out and play with my children and celebrate winter’s bounty: skating on a frozen lake, racing down our driveway on toboggans, and building snowmen in the yard.

I spy an icicle on the side of my barn. My inner child seizes it and takes a hard, crunchy bite. It’s so brittle, it almost chips my weathered, withered teeth. The cold chunk melts in my mouth slowly as I savour the coolness on my throat and mouth. It’s so cold outside, when I take a second bite, the icy chunk sticks to my lips for a nanosecond.

The snow continues to fall and I realize I am fighting a lost cause. Better to embrace it.

As the saying goes, if you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still the same amount of snow.

Dog covered in snow

Bentley our weatherforecaster, me catching snowflakes and the view from our back deck. Winter is one of the most peaceful and beautiful times on our lake.

Woman catching snowflakes
Snow-laden trees beside a lake
Posted on in arts, Historical, money, shopping

Own a piece of Canadian history

Hudson Bay Company map up for auction

In March 2025, The Hudson’s Bay Company filed for creditor protection, marking the demise of this country’s oldest retailer and the end of the department store era in Canada.

As schoolchildren, we learned about the early history and legacy of The Hudson’s Bay Company. Founded in 1670, the company was granted a royal charter by the King of England to conduct sole trade and commerce in the area known as Hudson’s Bay, giving them a monopoly on the lucrative fur trade throughout much of English Canada.

For centuries, The Bay has been a part of our cultural fabric. Now, you too can own a piece of this storied company’s past.

Heffel Auction House is holding an online auction of Hudson’s Bay memorabilia and assets with bidding open until January 27, 2026. You can see all the items up for auction here.

I assumed most of the items would be rare and expensive works of art in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but was pleasantly surprised to find most of the items were affordable.

Interested in an HBC decorative canoe paddle with the SS Beaver emblazoned on it? It can be yours for $700 (all bids stated are at the time of writing). Or how about a model of the tallship Nonesuch for $1,500? These are just some of the treasures you can find in the HBC Ephermera section. Or maybe you would prefer a decorative pocket watch for $400, commemorative sword for $1,600, a beaver pelt cheque for $500, or the map pictured above for $1,600.

The lots include coins, soapstone carvings and an entire collection of iconic Hudson Bay blankets, ranging from $50 to $3,750.

There are also two art sections, one of Inuit art and one of fine art, featuring works by well-known Canadian artists like Kenojuak Ashevak, Robert Bateman, and Alex Colville. I’m tempted to bid on this piece below called “He Guards the Peace” by David M. General, current bid of $50.

One thing you won’t find on the online auction is the original Royal Charter. It was auctioned off in late 2025, bought by the Thomson and Weston families for a cool $18 million. The families plan to donate it to a Canadian museum so all Canadians can see it.

This week’s #HappyAct is to take buying Canadian to heart and own a piece of Canadian history. Happy bidding!

Ed. note: if you are a fan of Indigenous art, be sure to make a trip to the McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg before March 29, 2026 to catch the exhibit, Early Days: Indigenous Art at the McMichael.

Artwork He Guards the Peace by David M. General up for auction
Posted on in community, global relations, relationships

Seek the true narrative

Poster that says "Live your life in such a way that if someone was to ever speak badly of you, no one would believe them"

I’ve been thinking a lot about narratives and filters lately, both on a global scale but also on a micro level and how people can create their own narrative based on filters that skew how they see things.

I’ve seen this in some of the relationships in my personal life—people seeing things very differently based on their experiences and filters. It’s led to some interesting conversations.

It’s only natural to derive our opinions and views based on the experiences and influences in our life. We all do this. But it seems to me there are more people concocting disturbing and trenchant narratives, often based on misinformation or their warped view of the world and this is causing seismic rifts in our personal lives and in the world.

The scary thing is when people see the world through artificial filters and false narratives, the narrative becomes justification for their actions. They stop caring about what others think, and believe what they want, often despite the facts. The narrative becomes their truth.

So how do we resist creating false narratives in our minds?

  • Actively seek differing opinions.
  • Don’t rely on a single news source. I had a conversation with one person recently who gets all their news from The Epoch Times. They took every word as gospel.
  • Try to see things from other people’s perspectives and filters to build understanding, compassion and forgiveness.
  • Don’t be afraid to question someone else’s narrative. If something doesn’t add up, do your own research.
  • At the same time, challenge narratives you’ve created in your own mind. Are you seeing things clearly? What have you fabricated? What filters are you applying?
  • Know there can be truth on both sides sometimes.
  • Accept that most things aren’t black and white.
  • Remember, actions always speak louder than words: Live your life in such a way that if someone was to ever speak badly of you, no one would believe them.

These are interesting times. We are more divided than ever. If we are going to rise above our own human frailty and fragility, we need to seek the true narrative.

Posted on in health and wellness, mental health, science of happiness

Find your happiness sweetspot in 2026

sign saying The Happiness Sweetspot

It’s a New Year and as always, I wish you my loyal readers, much joy, success and most of all happiness in 2026.

One thing I’ve learned after blogging about happiness for more than a decade is we don’t always know what we want or need to do to be happier. We get caught up in the daily hamster wheel of cooking, cleaning, going to work, taking our kids to activities or rushing out to our own commitments leaving us feeling drained, exhausted and defeated. Or worse, we suffer from a general malaise, where it’s hard to see the happy in our lives.

So in the spirit of the eternal optimism a new year brings, here is a simple little exercise to help you discover what actions to take this year to be happier. I call it the Happiness Sweetspot Table.

  1. On a blank sheet of paper or in a spreadsheet, make a table with six columns across the top. In the first three columns, write
    • Things that make me happy
    • Importance (on a scale from 1-5, 5 being most important to you)
    • Frequency (on a scale from 1-5, 5 being you do them frequently and 1 being you do them rarely)
  2. In the next three columns, do the same for Things that make me unhappy
  3. Start filling out the Things that make me happy and Things that make me unhappy columns. Examples could include playing a favourite sport, spending time with friends, spending time in nature, playing guitar, etc. Try to be specific as possible. Examples of things that make you unhappy could include commuting, eating alone, cleaning the house, a volunteer commitment, etc.
  4. Next, rank how important and how frequently you do each activity on a scale from 1-5.
  5. Multiply the importance and frequency columns to get a total score for each activity.
  6. Add one final column at the end called “Things I’ve Always Wanted to Do/Try but never made time for”.
  7. Analyze your list. Your table should look something like this.
Table ranking things that make you happy

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  1. What items received the highest score on the unhappy list and how can you reduce or eliminate them? For instance, if you hate cleaning the house, can you lighten up on the cleaning or afford a housekeeper once a month?
  2. What items on your happy list did you rank highest for importance but lowest for frequency. How can you make time for these going forward?
  3. What surprised you?
  4. What items did you add to the things you’ve always wanted to do but never made time for? What’s stopping you?

Try to be introspective and as brutally honest with yourself. While we all enjoy watching Netflix, ask yourself does it truly make you happy, or is it just a default for something to do on a cold winter night? If it doesn’t make you happy or unhappy, leave it off the list. The goal is to identify the things in your life that give you the most joy and fulfillment and the things that are acting as a drag on your happiness.

Of course, it isn’t an exact science. If you ranked “playing golf” as a 5 for importance, but 1 for frequency because it’s January, for an overall score of 5, that may not reflect how much golf makes you happy. Feel free to adjust the numbers, but also maybe think outside the box. Play some indoor golf this month, or book a golf trip if you can afford it.

Finally, identify two to three specific actions you can take this year to do more of what makes you happy, and less of what makes you unhappy. For instance, if you discovered that eating alone makes you unhappy and you eat alone seven nights a week, see if any of your friends are interested in starting a rotating potluck supper night one night a week, or suggest meeting a friend in the park for lunch once the weather gets nice.

This week’s #HappyAct is to discover your happiness sweetspots. May 2026 be your happiest year yet.

Posted on in global relations, Historical, inspiration, relationships, science of happiness

The top ten HappyActs of 2025

In compiling this annual list, I noticed a distinct trend this year: macro events influencing my weekly thoughts on happiness. It’s understandable. In a year dominated by Trump, the wars in Gaza and the Ukraine, not to mention all the political shenanigans here in Canada, it was hard to escape the events shaping our times that penetrated our consciousness and impacted our happiness this year.

Here’s the top 10 HappyActs of 2025 (plus a bonus one, because it’s 11, one better):

10: A letter to my American friends: when I wrote this post back on February 16, 2025, it was the early days of Trump. Little did we know just how bad it would get. Still real, still relevant, and my most-read blog post of last year.

9: Golden happiness: the story of the napalm girl. When I attended a talk by Kim Phuc earlier this fall (pictured above), I expected to hear about the horrors of war and importance of peace. What I didn’t expect was to hear a survivor’s inspirational philosophy on faith, happiness and forgiveness.

8: Reflections on life and happiness from my Tanzanian philosopher friend: leave it to my friend Fulgence to keep us grounded with his positive outlook on life

On the human condition

7. Humans by nature are social beings, yet moments of solitude can restore the soul. In my blog posts, Battling the epidemic of loneliness and Spend time in solitude, I explore the dichotomy of the human condition: when to be with others, and when to be alone.

6. It’s okay to be sad: a good reminder in a world hyper-focused on mental health

If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution for 2026

5. Hit delete: in this post I ask people, if you could delete one thing in your life to be happier, what would it be? I had some interesting responses online, including religion (the source of many conflicts), the internet, and WWW!

4. Learn when to say yes and no: one of the greatest skills in life is to learn when to say yes and when to say no.

3. Never lose faith: true on every level, whether it’s the state of the world, having faith in others, your team, or yourself

And in case you need a smile

2. Blame it on your kids

1. A funny thing happened on the way to my improv class: ever thought of trying improv? Guest blogger Jon Begg shares what happens when a bus hits a polar bear in his class.

That’s it! Happy reading. Here’s hoping 2026 brings more sanity, compassion and happiness into the world. Happy New Year everyone!

Posted on in entertainment, family, holidays, pop culture, relationships

Love Actually is in an airport

My daughters Clare and Grace back together again

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Ottawa airport… It seems to me that love is everywhere.

This week, I picked up a very special package from the Ottawa airport. Kid #2 arrived on a Porter Airlines flight on Wednesday morning after being down east at school for the past four months.

So maybe love wasn’t everywhere when I went to pick Clare and maybe I ripped off that line from the opening scene of Love Actually, but the feelings of love and anticipation of seeing Clare after her being away for so long has made me a romantic at heart.

I love that opening scene from the movie, parents reuniting with children, old friends slapping each other on the back, and husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends kissing and hugging each other with misty tearful eyes.

The reality of course was slightly different. I didn’t actually go into the Ottawa terminal. I missed the turn for the arrivals lane after seeing a sign that said Car Rental Return and had to make a U-turn and circle around the endless airport loop, Grace remonstrating with me and calling me a loser the entire way.

If we had entered the terminal, instead of seeing happy smiling faces reuniting, we probably would have seen half a dozen people making a frantic 100-yard dash to the bathroom after their seven-hour flight, another half a dozen cursing at their phones because the person picking them up was late, and at least one exhausted mother with two snotty-nosed kids trying to find her Uber.

I mean, c’mon. It’s not like we were going to see a young buxom brunette hopping into the arms of the Prime Minister. Wait, hold the ministerial phone. Did I just see Katy Perry launch herself at Justin at the gate, his strong arms encircling her while she wears a jaunty beret? Maybe the movie is true to real life after all.

The point is, maybe love actually can be found in an airport terminal. One thing is for certain. You have a better shot at finding love than your luggage if you fly Air Canada.

This week’s #HappyAct is my Christmas wish for you: to have a sweet reunion with someone you love. Happy holidays, and be sure to check back next week for my top ten happy acts of 2025.

Posted on in entertainment, family, Food and drink, holidays, poetry

My favourite holiday things

Cardinal and cardinal garland on a Christms tree

Over the years, I’ve shared many of my favourite things about the holidays. To me, Christmas has never been about one day, or the presents under the tree. It’s about all the small moments and simple joys that make this time of year special and bring me happiness and peace.

Frosty cold mornings and snow laden trees
And favourites like Elf, Home Alone and White Christmas on TV

Pretty green garlands of fresh spruce and pine
Glasses of egg nog, hot cocoa and wine

Local church concerts and carols sung on high
Finding the perfect gift then waiting for the Amazon guy

Filling the gaps in our old Christmas tree
With shiny bright lights, homemade ornaments and memories

White chocolate-dipped Oreos and Mrs. Garrett’s butter tarts
Nanaimo bars and haystacks and shortbreads cut in hearts

Candles glowing softly and red cardinals in the air
Reminders of those we’ve lost but still with us everywhere

Bowie and Crosby, The Pogues and Buble
Handel’s Messiah king of kings on Christmas Day

Gatherings with neighbours and laughter with friends
A time to reflect and to make amends

Fighting over the chocolate in the advent calendar
And constantly refilling the Scotch mint candy jar

The anticipation Christmas Day brings
These are a few of my favourite things

This week’s #HappyAct is to enjoy your favourite things in the lead up to the holidays. What are your favourites?