Christmas Excerpt from Life’s Attic

I thought it might be fun and festive to post a Christmas excerpt from Life’s Attic. As luck would have it, the timing feels perfect since we can join Jay and Leanne as they awake on the same day as this post, November 30th. Hope you enjoy!
 
“TOMORROW IS DECEMBER 1,” Leanne blurted out when they woke the next morning. Her eyes were dancing with delight.

“And today’s November 30.” Jay played dumb. He knew full well what the first day of December meant to Leanne, but he couldn’t resist hearing her describe it to him again.

“As if you don’t remember. It’s tree day!” Leanne was bubbling over with excitement. “And the official start to the Christmas season. You have go out first thing and look at absolutely a ton of trees, picking your favourite shape for the year. It could be dense and strong to hold the heavier ornaments you can’t always use. Or it could the more open and delicate kind for the Charlie Brown years. But whatever the size and type, you’ve got to smell every one. And shake them all for loose needles. And the final test? Tasting a needle or two to make sure it’s nice and piney, really Christmassy.” Leanne’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. And this was from only thinking about it. “The tree’s the best part. It feels like Christmas itself gets brought right inside your home, to see, smell, touch—”

“Taste.” Jay laughed. “I never thought I’d be looking forward to eating a tree, but you’ve got me curious. Continue reading

Comprehensive Coverage by CNN on 'Toxic America'

There was a very interesting program on CNN the other night that I found very refreshing. Their coverage of ‘Toxic America’ as they called it, was very extensive and offered hopeful alternatives as well as the scary chemical facts. It’s not often that I agree with so much of mainstream… Continue reading

Bee Sting Remedy – Hail to the Onion!

Going barefoot is one of the perks of summer. But it’s not without its risks. That was brought home today when I stepped on a bee/wasp of some sort. It’s one of those feelings you forget until you feel it again. Even without severe allergy dangers, there’s still that stab… Continue reading

Chewing Gum Has What In It?

It’s funny how often a story that’s written for one purpose can sometimes also end up informing us of something else entirely. This happened to me when I read a Reuters article about a new recipe for chewing gum that will loosen the gum’s grip. Before you say who cares,… Continue reading

Proposal to Kill and Incinerate 80% of Sable Island Seals

The logic – or should I say skewed thought process in my opinion – is frightening. Because we’ve overfished and depleted the supply, thrown off the balance of nature, the next thing we do is kill the next species in line. It’s not the first time comparable acts have been… Continue reading

Antibiotic Chloramphenicol in Chinese Imported Honey

We may live in a small world, but within that small world are many different sets of national regulations. Whether it’s lead or cadmium found in toys or glasses, or melamine plastic in pet food, we are all too often unwittingly exposed to things that shock us once we discover… Continue reading

Freezing in the Summer – At the Supermarket

I have a question. It’s one I guess I should really ask those in charge of supermarkets, specifically those who make the ambient temperature decisions. Why is it so darn much colder inside some grocery stores in the middle of summer? I don’t accept the argument that it has to… Continue reading

A Tripe Down Dog Food Lane

Given the popularity of a post a few months ago on green tripe for dogs (and cats), I thought today I’d look at dehydrated tripe treats. For years we’ve fed ground up frozen green tripe. I’ve even gotten more or less used to the distinctive ‘farm’ odour of the stuff.… Continue reading

Whale Poop is Nature’s Perfect Carbon Offset

Life is messy, and I don’t just mean figuratively. Literal mess, muck, puke, and poop. We may like to distance ourselves from it as much as possible, but just as we all put our pants on one leg and a time, we all generate the stuff. And good thing we… Continue reading

Where Does Saliva Belong?

I don’t understand spitting. OK, probably not the most appealing way to start a post, but then again, neither is what prompted me to write this. For probably the umpteenth time, give or take a few times, I saw someone walking down the street who decided it was appropriate to… Continue reading