In My Opinion

Happy Mother's Day

Those photos were taken last October by Northumberland News photographer Peg McCarthy, who does unbelievable work outside the office, as well. I don't think I ever posted any though ... weird.

Just a quick post on a Sunday morning to wish all you ladies out there a Happy Mother's Day.

A special one goes, of course, to the Mom in my house — Amy. In her first 10 months of being a Mom to Layne she has been simply amazing, running on next-to-no sleep for months, raising a little one that is beautiful (and yes, everyone still says she looks like Amy!), smart, independent, and a laugh a minute — all traits she borrowed from her Mother's genes.

We'll hope she gets her Dad's athleticism and coordination, but I digress ...

Unfortunately, Amy and Layne are back home doing family stuff this weekend, so I'm missing Amy's first Mother's Day. I'm sure Mommy is hoping for a quiet one, because there was a stag 'n doe last night and she doesn't get out much anymore, so each Laynie squeal might be a bit tougher on the ol' brain today!

So, instead of sitting at home doing all the jobs I didn't do yesterday because I was tanning on the baseball diamond (I've picked up my umpiring career again), I'm going to go out for lunch with my Mom, and we might even bring Larry along, because he's usually the only one with a wallet.

Obviously, us guys don't say it enough, but Moms are the most amazing people on earth and we love 'em. They know exactly what to do at all times, to make sure their child is well taken care of. They love unconditionally, even when up at midnight, 2, 4, and 6 a.m., they can juggle stinky and fussy babies, work, cleaning, and whiny husbands all at the same time, and they deserve our praise each and every day of the year.

Amy — Happy Mother's Day. Layne and I are the luckiest people on the face of the earth.

Mom — ummm ... I like your shoes.

Oh and happy Mother's Day. You're an amazing Mom to one wonderful kid and Shantel, and a fantastic Grandma to Layne, whose face lights up whenever she sees you. I don't say it enough (or at all?), but I love you and it's obvious Layne does too. Now if Amy would just come around ... (joking, joking, joking!)

Also, to Grandma Gail and Great-Grandmas Barb and Merle, I hope you all have a perfect Mother's Day like you deserve and thanks for raising such a wonderful daughter and granddaughter (and I hope you had a good visit with Layne this weekend!).

A new perspective on the world

I had the pleasure of attending an amazing speech given by Craig Kielburger, the world-renowned philanthropist and founder of Free The Children, last weekend.

Craig, who was 12 years old when he first decided to end the practice of children being sold into sweat shops in Pakistan, has spent the past 13 years making lives better for kids across the world, and building over 500 schools in places that education used to be just a dream.

Craig, who is now 25, is the second youngest person to ever receive the Order of Canada (Terry Fox was the youngest) and has worked with the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Oprah. In fact, on May 26, he's on Oprah to announce a new initiative they are combining forces on.

Not bad for a regular kid (well, he's 25 now) from Thornhill.

He spoke about how kids can make a difference in the world, and it's up to us adults not to stifle them, or tell them they're too young to worry about world or local issues, because kids these days know what's going on globally and aren't just playing hopscotch or jacks (OK, those are admittedly dated references, but you get my drift), oblivious to the world we live in, like we were at their age (pre-Internet).

Craig's life of helping others began when he read a newspaper article about a Pakistani kid killed for being a human rights activist, after spending his youth in a sweat shop for 3 cents a day. Craig went into his classroom and said, "We need to stop this. Who's with me?". His teacher easily could have told him to sit down and let it go, because there was school work to do, but the teacher let him address the class, then the school, and soon he was addressing the United Nations.

Imagine if that teacher told him he was being disruptive and went on with their boring math lesson.

Craig's main message was that every single person can make a difference in the world — 'Me to We' is the term he uses — no matter our age. Whether it's volunteering with Free The Children overseas, or making life better one person at a time in your own town, everything you do has the potential to change lives. He said you need to find an issue that you're interested in and work towards rectifying it.

It was an amazing 90 minutes of listening to the most engaging speaker I've ever heard, and I was happy to take my Little Brother Justin with me (with complimentary tickets from Metroland Durham Region Media Group, a sponsor of the event). At one point, I might have said Justin, 11, is too young to think about the problems the world faces, but after listening to Craig's story and his message, 11 is the perfect age to start thinking about ways to make our area, our province, our country and our world a better place.

I think the main message I took from the day was that you don't have to have lots of money or make sweeping changes across the world, but for every good deed you do, you make the world a better place, and if somebody joins you, it's that much better. And then it just grows from there.

I intend to do may part, and I hope Justin will join or even lead me.

I hope you find your issue and do your part too.

PS-->> I just found regular columns that Craig and his brother Marc write for the Toronto Star, so if you're interested in reading more about their day-to-day thoughts, click here and bookmark it.

10 months and learning too much ...

(See my two new teeth?)

There's a song by an Australian rock group that sounds a lot like ACDC, though I can't think of its name off the top of my head.

I bring it up because their big song is called 'Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast'. Although they're likely talking about their party-hard lifestyles as rock stars, I just have to look around my house after putting Hurricane Layne to bed to see that fits, even in my 100% non-rock star life.

The wild child turned 10 months old on Saturday and it was like a switch flipped. She had been flirting with a few ideas over the past week, but decided this weekend would be when she'd go for broke. So, as Amy and I looked at something on the computer Friday night, we heard a 'hey-look-at-me-people' screech (no rare occurrence) from Layne and we turned around and saw this ...

Yes, she's pretty proud of her little self. Although we didn't get it on camera, she eventually learned how to move from one bar to the next and she walked up and down the rail a couple of times, strutting like a peacock.

Then, she decided that just sitting with her legs sticking out the railing of the crib and screaming at us to get her up wasn't good enough anymore and she used her new-found ability to get into a better position on Saturday. This is what we're greeted with every time we try to put her to bed now (snotty face included!) ...

She is also pulling herself up on the couch with ease and walking from one end to the next tentatively, but I'm sure within a day or two she'll be fearless, which will result in a couple of serious wipe-outs most likely.

Oh, and she's also pointing with her finger at pictures or something she wants, instead of her whole hand. That's new too, but a lot easier to handle than her standing and screeching from the top rail of her crib at 5:30 a.m.!

Yes, we're starting to realize she's not a little baby anymore, as evidenced by this picture ...

What a handful!

Double-murder trial begins

News junkies will want to stay in touch with northumberlandnews.com over the next month or so.

News and Photo Editor Peg McCarthy is once again spending her days in a Cobourg courtroom to cover the double-murder trial of James Boudreau, of Harwood. He's accused of killing two men in 1999 and 2000.

The Crown laid out its case yesterday and the first Crown witnesses took the stand later in the day.

Peg is covering the trial full-time and will be filing nightly reports to our website, which will give our readers exceptional in-depth coverage, and it's only available here.

So check back daily, because from what we've heard on the first two days of the trial, it's going to be a very interesting case.

Water levels dropping

Just an update to an earlier post:

The state of emergency in the Municipality of Trent Hills has officially been scrapped, as of Monday afternoon.

This is good news for an area that has battled high water levels of the Trent-Severn waterway since mid-April.

In fact, water levels have dropped eight to 10 centimetres since Friday, after dropping by the half-inch all of last week. There is now a high water level bulletin, instead of a full-blown flood warning.

So, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for flood victims, although subsiding waters will lead to a whole new slate of problems, including property damage claims, poisoned wells, and septic problems.

Although not out of the woods yet, it's a first step for the water-logged residents and I continue to wish them all the best.

Adding to the trophy case

The Northumberland News has once again been recognized for its editorial excellence, this time by Metroland, the paper's parent company that has over 100 community newspapers under its umbrella.

The News claimed top spot in three categories at the Metroland Awards on Wednesday night, in Mississauga. I'm sure it was a wonderful ceremony, but unfortunately, my navigator Jennifer O'Meara and I didn't make it because a transport truck decided to bump my car from behind during rush hour. Three hours later, which included a screaming truck driver, a chat with police, a tow to the collision reporting centre in Milton, etc. etc., and we were home after those who actually went to the banquet. But no one was hurt in the low-speed (like zero kilometres per hour) accident, and my insurance is covering all expenses with no rise in fees/deductible, so all is good.

Anyway, the bump caused Jen to miss her big night, as she received top spot in the best series (circulation 10,000 to 40,000) category for her unbelievable five-part look at poverty in Northumberland.

The judge said, “Her stories were about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances and her work went a long way to remind all of us that we are all only a few incidents of poor health or bad luck away from poverty.”

News and Photo Editor Peg McCarthy also placed first in the best spot news photo and best photo spread categories with photos from the Hwy. 401 accident, on Feb. 1, 2007.  She also received an honourable mention for her story on the crash.

Peg, the Suburban Newspapers of America Journalist of the Year, has received plenty of recognition for her work on the highway that day, and is up for a Canadian Community Newspaper Association award next month, so we'll likely be adding to the mantle again!

Picture day!

With the appearance of some real spring weather, Amy, Layne and I dropped by the local park for the little girl's first taste of swings and slides.

Our camera — surprise, surprise — made the journey with us, so enjoy!

And some other random shots ...

That last one is her Dad's trick — pretending to read a book, when really watching TV. Nice try little girl, but I invented that ...

Happy Earth Day

I just quickly want to wish everyone a happy Earth Day.

I'd especially like to recognize the jerk-wads who continue to throw their coffee cups, hamburger wrappers, take-out bags, and whatever other crap they compile in their cars, onto the side of the road.

Y'know, where garbage was intended to go.

Amy, Layne and I were out for a walk on Sunday morning, and I actually practiced what I preached in Friday's post about taking an extra bag and picking up garbage while strolling along the streets of our neighbourhood. Within a two blocks of the house I had collected a full bag and had to leave other junk behind.

It's pretty sad.

But, with how mainstream environmental issues are these days, and how much they're taught in schools (global warming was never mentioned in my high school classes way back in the late — OK, mid — 90's, although I wasn't exactly paying attention, as evidenced by the comments from teachers on report cards recently unearthed from Mom and Dad's basement — 'distracts others' my arse, Mrs. Stepaniak/Mr. Gates/Mr. Meldrum/Mr. Inglis and a bevy of other former educators who were obviously given only one option for comments ... but I'm over it ...)

Anyway, maybe the kids that were out picking up Cobourg and Port Hope's trash today will put an end to the senseless littering when us older, less intelligent people are too old to drive, and thus forced to throw used coffee cups on our own lawns, leaving public places beautifully clean, instead of trash-strewn heaps as they often are now.

So happy Earth Day everyone. And if you're one of the people who still, for some reason, rolls down your car window and throws junk out of it — just stop.

Stop and think for a second.

Then, if you feel it is really necessary, go ahead and chuck it. But surely anyone with half a mind will come up with a better answer than that.

Yer outta there!

Baseball coaches in Northumberland County have yet another reason to lose sleep.

I am now a certified umpire and am coming to a diamond near you.

After about 12 years away from umpiring, I decided it would be a good way to spend more time outdoors this summer, while bringing in a bit more cash (Amy mentioned having no summer clothes, after spending last summer with child, so you can understand why I'm looking for new income streams).

So, despite the absolutely gorgeous weather on Saturday, I was stuck in an elementary school gym re-learning the basics of what a foul ball is with a bunch of 13-year-olds, but I persevered to get just one wrong on my test (who really cares how many times a Mosquito manager can visit the mound anyway?) and I exited the building a certified umpire with the Northumberland Baseball Umpires Association.

Now I need to buy new umpiring clothes and equipment — funny how gear can go missing after almost half my lifetime of being 'stored' somewhere — and then get ready for the calendar to fill up.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep practicing. Every time someone mentions the Montreal Canadiens

I'm going to yell "Yer outta there!" at the top of my lungs. Or when Amy tries to change the channel from a playoff game or Blue Jay game, I'm gonna say ... um, I'll likely just say "Yes, Dear".

But you get my point.

I'm ready to get back out there.

Stay safe, Trent Hills residents

Be careful what you wish for, the old saying goes.

After weeks — OK, months —  of complaining about the copious amounts of snow Northumberland County received this winter, it is again wreaking havoc, as the final bits of white melt from the landscape.

Swelling lakes and raging rivers in the northeastern reaches of the county have caused Trent Hills Mayor Hector Macmillan to declare a state of emergency for his municipality, as flooding is expected to worsen over the weekend and continue over the coming weeks.

In fact, residents in low-lying regions of the Campbellford area are being told to pack up their belongings and find alternate (dry) living arrangements for next two or three weeks. As more melting snow makes its way down the Trent and Crowe Rivers, we hope there is little damage done to residents, animals and the land they live on.

Volunteers are now flocking to the rural area to help with sandbagging and trucking of sandbags, but more are always needed. They're working 24/7 up there, as the worst is seemingly yet to come.

Mother Nature is, to quote Seinfeld’s Kosmo Kramer, a mad scientist. She hammers us with snow for months, and, just as we’re getting comfortable with green/brown grass and warmer skies, we get bitten again.

Fortunately for the western part of the county, we’re not facing heavy flooding like those in the east. We do have our own problems though, as some residents felt the winter was a good time to flip Mother Nature the bird by dropping coffee cups, pop bottles, cigarette butts, and countless other types of garbage, wherever they felt convenient. And let’s not start on the pet droppings.

This has left Cobourg and Port Hope with disgusting amounts of litter on their quaint and not-so-quaint streets. What possesses people to be so thoughtless — to throw junk out the car window or think people don’t mind stepping on their dog’s leavings — is beyond me. I have witnessed people, in broad daylight, open their car window and throw fast food bags or coffee cups onto the road. Once I get over my anger, I feel embarrassed for these ingrates.

Luckily, Earth Day falls next week, which means there are plenty of local opportunities for people to grab a garbage bag and pitch in to help clean winter’s litter from their town’s streets. I encourage everybody to get involved, whether in an organized effort, or even if you’re just out walking yourself — take an extra bag and pick up any litter you may come across.

Although you may think one person can’t make a difference, if enough people take that first step, our streets will be clean in no time.